Critical human and behavioral factors on the adoption of sustainable supply chain management practices in the context of automobile industry

Built upon the resource-based view, the study examines the critical human and behavioral factors (HBFs) on adopting sustainable supply chain practices in the automobile sector (AS). The Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method is applied to understand the causeeffect relationships between (HBFs), evidenced by a case study in the automobile industry of India. The causeeffect relationships are informed by an expert team consisting of 18 members working in academia, the automobile industry, and professional consulting companies. The experts provided their inputs based on their direct experience and expertise in this subject matter. The research findings highlight that sustainable supply chain cost (end to end) is a critical success factor. Mangers in the AS should prioritize and focus on sustainable supply chain costs (end to end) to pursue sustainable practices because such critical success factors can foster information sharing behavior. The firms could develop both hard and soft critical HBFs such as Information technology (IT) infrastructure and employee training to build up HBFs to integrate a supply chain. The study provides insight to academicians, policymakers, and practitioners about critical HBFs and develops sustainability goals and policies accordingly.     

Earnings manipulation and similarity of annual report disclosure: Evidence from China

The Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section is an important component of a company's annual report, where the management team provides a textual analysis of the company's performance for investors. Due to the existence of agency problems, management is likely to mask any earnings manipulation in order to maximise their salary, build a corporate empire or obtain more financing, which will reduce the reliability of the company's financial information. Utilising 13,679 Chinese A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2020, this study examines the correlation between management earnings manipulation and annual report MD&A similarity. We find that earnings manipulation leads to increased MD&A similarity in order to reduce the transmission of useful information and thus stymie investors. As such, we recommend that regulatory authorities should monitor the level of similarity and validity of MD&A disclosures in addition to the authenticity of numerical financial information.