Asymmetric Perceptions of Ethical Frameworks of Men and Women in Business and Nonbusiness Settings

This paper examines the relationship between individuals' gender and their ethical decision models. The study seeks to identify asymmetries in men's and women's approaches to ethical decision making and differences in their perceptions of how same-sex and other-sex managers would likely act in business and nonbusiness situations that present an ethical dilemma. Results indicate that the models employed by men and women differ in both business and nonbusiness settings, that both sexes report changing models when leaving business settings, and that women were better predictors of both sex's likely ethical models.     

Teaching accounting information systems using a case study approach

The Accounting Information Systems course has been a difficult and frustrating course to teach. This article explains the case study approach taken at BYU that seems to solve many of the problems encountered with this approach. The cases used are described as well as the benefits and problems encountered with this approach.     

On the use of risk analysis for the evaluation of industrial R&D expenditures

This paper focuses on a particular aspect of the R&D decision process, i.e. the screening of alternative projects at the firm level. A review of the traditional methods of risk analysis, based on two-parameter measures of risk and return, strongly suggests that they are unable to capture the essential skewed nature of R&D decisions due to the underlying assumption of normal distributions. Fortunately, the availability of alternative models based on ‘distribution free’ methods has significantly increased our ability to evaluate highly skewed returns. This paper sets out, in some detail, the case of using one such model, the stochastic dominance paradigm, to screen R&D proposals.     

Developing priorities for improving the urban social environment: A use of Delphi

A specially modified Delphi exercise was designed to satisfy two study objectives: (1) to develop components for satisfaction indicators of the modern urban milieu, and (2) to determine the importance and alterability of components of dissatisfaction experienced by the urban dweller. The study of both importance and alterability of components of dissatisfaction leads to priorities for application of resources in both improving existing conditions in modern cities and in developing plans for the design of new cities.     

Governance,media and the quality of environmental disclosure

Given the rising emphasis on environmental disclosures and the expressed importance of ‘good’ governance in determining the extent of information disclosure in general, we examine the relation between specific aspects of governance and media coverage and the quality of voluntary environmental disclosure (VED). Using a sample of 127 firms over a 6-year period (2000–2005), we empirically test characteristics of governance and media in relation to VED. Our results suggest that VED quality is positively associated with environmental media coverage, negative environmental media and board attributes of independence, diversity, and expertise. Results from supplemental analysis suggest that institutional investors exert influence over managerial decisions on environmental reporting only in the face of negative environmental media. Additionally, results from longitudinal analyses indicate that the quality of environmental disclosures increases over time. Our conclusion discusses the implications of these findings.