New product development strategies of suppliers of emerging technologies—a case study of expert systems

Rapid change, high levels of risk and uncertainty is the context in which suppliers of emerging technologies are developing strategies for new product development. Collaboration with “progressive” customers and the formation of lateral links with suppliers and manufacturers are options available for effective innovation. Approaches to innovation of established and start‐up companies operating in the embryonic expert systems market in the UK are discussed and salient features of a nascent product market outlined.     

Developing interviewing skills of accounting students on the Web – a case study approach

Increasing emphasis on the need for accounting graduates to develop personal skills has led to changes in many undergraduate programmes. This paper discusses one project at a Scottish university aimed at developing interviewing skills, using Web technology. Based on the theory of experiential learning, the project involves case study material delivered via a specially-written application which tracks students' questions and provides feedback on their interviewing styles. The interpersonal skills required in interviewing in a workplace context are analysed, and expressed in terms of the attributes of the questions used. The problem of providing feedback without excessive input from tutors is addressed and, finally, a method of evaluating the effectiveness of the learning experience is suggested.     

Natural Language Processing in Accounting,Auditing and Finance: A Synthesis of the Literature with a Roadmap for Future Research

Natural language processing (NLP) is a part of the artificial intelligence domain focused on communication between humans and computers. NLP attempts to address the inherent problem that while human communications are often ambiguous and imprecise, computers require unambiguous and precise messages to enable understanding. The accounting, auditing and finance domains frequently put forth textual documents intended to communicate a wide variety of messages, including, but not limited to, corporate financial performance, management's assessment of current and future firm performance, analysts’ assessments of firm performance, domain standards and regulations as well as evidence of compliance with relevant standards and regulations. NLP applications have been used to mine these documents to obtain insights, make inferences and to create additional methodologies and artefacts to advance knowledge in accounting, auditing and finance. This paper synthesizes the extant literature in NLP in accounting, auditing and finance to establish the state of current knowledge and to identify paths for future research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discretion in accounting for pensions under IAS 19: using the ‘magic telescope’?

We use a panel data set of UK-listed companies over the period 2005–2009 to analyse the actuarial assumptions used to value pension plan liabilities under IAS 19. The valuation process requires companies to make assumptions about financial and demographic variables, notably discount rate, price inflation, salary inflation and mortality/life expectancy of plan members/beneficiaries. We use regression analysis to analyse the relationships between these key assumptions (except mortality, where disclosures are limited) and company-specific factors such as the pension plan funding position and duration of pension liabilities. We find evidence of selective ‘management’ of the three assumptions investigated, although the nature of this appears to differ from the findings of US authors. We conclude that IAS 19 does not prevent the use of managerial discretion, particularly by companies whose pension plan funding positions are weak, thereby reducing the representational faithfulness of the reported pension figures. We also highlight that the degree of discretion used reflects the extent to which IAS 19 defines how the assumptions are to be determined. We therefore suggest that companies should be encouraged to justify more explicitly their choice of assumptions.     

Walk the talk: ESG mutual fund voting on shareholder proposals

Review of Accounting Studies - We document that U.S. mutual funds with investment objectives designated as “Sustainable Investment Overall” by Morningstar (ESG funds) are more likely...     

Effective teaching,student engagement and student satisfaction during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from business students' qualitative survey evaluations

We investigate the influence of unanticipated prolonged disruption on effective teaching, student engagement and student satisfaction during campus lockdown due to COVID-19. Qualitative comments provided by undergraduate business students in the university end-of-semester survey were analysed using a variety of methods, including sentiment analysis. Our findings indicate that effective teaching through the characteristics of the instructor, can lead to enhanced student engagement and higher levels of student satisfaction in an emergency remote teaching environment. Our findings highlight the critical role of the instructor in providing cognitive and affective support to students, along with clear communication, during times of substantial change.