Factors that Influence the Learning Curve: Evidence from Cost Behavior in Clinical Labs*

Clinical labs belong to a mature industry and fulfill a critical function in the health-care value chain. We examine factors that influence the opportunity, motivation, and ability to learn in clinical labs. We hypothesize that with respect to learning about cost: (i) organizational design, such as the extent of outsourcing can impede the opportunity to learn, (ii) quality focus (measured by mortality rates and length of stay (LOS)) can reduce the motivation to learn, and (iii) related task variety (measured by product-mix breadth) and information technology investments can enhance the ability to learn. Our empirical tests calibrate learning effects on disaggregate (technical and supervisory hours and cost) and aggregate (salary and total direct cost) cost and time pools. Using longitudinal data from clinical labs in California for the period 1997–2015, we find that clinical labs with greater cumulative output have lower average costs, consistent with learning effects in clinical labs. We also find results consistent with our hypotheses about the contextual factors that influence learning rates in clinical labs. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of learning rates with implications for budgeting, forecasting, and performance measurement. The results highlight that learning can be a crucial source of cost reduction in health-care settings.     

Replacing executive stock options with share units: A Canadian study

Are share units a better compensation tool than stock options? This paper studies the impact of a transition within the compensation structures of CEOs of companies listed on the TSX Composite Index. Specifically, we ask whether replacing options with units-based compensation reduces the volatility of these companies' stock prices while promoting better returns. Our findings show that a shift to share units reduces large-cap Canadian companies' total risk through its idiosyncratic component. This transition is also accompanied by an increase in their risk-adjusted accounting and market performance. This suggests that share units are better for compensation contracts.     

It may be urgent,but is it important? A look at how employees evaluate their emails

This paper presents the results of a study designed to identify the cues employees use to identify an email as important and/or urgent. Taking an emic perspective, a qualitative research methodology is used to analyze interview responses from knowledge workers. Our findings support the notion that employees use strategies similar to those encapsulated in Mitchell et al.’s (1997) operationalization of stakeholder salience when evaluating an email's importance and/or urgency. Results from this study can be used to design email policies to support knowledge worker performance.     

Supervisors' overtime hours,abusive supervision and leader–member exchange: How supervisors' long work hours harm their relationships with subordinates

The current research examines the consequences of supervisors' overtime hours on subordinates. Drawing upon the stressor-emotion model of counterproductive behaviors, we argue that supervisors' overtime hours positively relate to abusive supervision behaviors through negative emotions, which in turn undermine leader–member exchange relationships. We further posit that this process is exacerbated among subordinates with a strong relational self-concept. Multisource multilevel data collected from an organizational sample of 181 employees and longitudinal data from 416 employees from multiple organizations support our predictions. This research indicates that the consequences of working overtime extend beyond supervisors, as subordinates may be negatively affected when their supervisors work long hours. We discuss implications for both theory and practice.     

A Knowledge Synthesis of Anti-Black Racism in Accounting Research*†

This structured literature review synthesizes studies that have investigated questions related to anti-Black racism—namely, the discrimination and marginalization of Black people—in the accountancy literature and identifies opportunities for future research. This study is part of a larger research project that reviewed 161 articles and identified four themes relevant to accounting research on discrimination in general: anti-Black racism, imperialism and postcolonialism, intersectionality, and diversity. Based on the 25 anti-Black racism articles reviewed, this paper finds four key subthemes: demand for accountancy services and racial discrimination in accountancy practice, the racialization of professional accounting qualifications, Black professionals in academia, and the supply-side fallacy. Furthermore, because studies at the intersection of anti-Black racism and accounting are limited, this study proposes future research directions that will advance knowledge on various topics related to anti-Black racism.     

Herbal Pharma Inc.: Conducting an Effective Group Audit*

As the relative weight of global economic activity continues to shift toward non-OECD countries (OECD 2018), audit firms are more likely to encounter clients with significant business operations in foreign jurisdictions. The associated need to engage and oversee local component auditors in these jurisdictions can lead to challenges arising from different business cultures and the resulting intra-audit miscommunications. Audit deficiencies related to these challenges have been detected by regulators (PCAOB 2011, 2010; CPAB 2012, 2015). Standard setters such as the IAASB and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) have responded by issuing an exposure draft proposing revisions to ISA 600 (IAASB 2020) and CAS 600 (AASB 2020) to strengthen the auditor's approach and provide enhanced guidance to practitioners. In light of this evolving area of assurance, this case was developed to deepen students' understanding of both group and component audits in an international context. The case takes the perspective of the group auditor and features an audit senior in a specialized role overseeing the component audit of a client's increasingly material Chinese subsidiary. Deficiencies in the prior year component audit, along with a change in the component auditor, further underlines the importance of robust risk analysis for the upcoming engagement.     

Sanders Foods: Planning for Success—An Instructional Case*

This case describes the second-generation importer Sanders Foods, which requires improved profitability. A new CFO has been hired to improve profits and thereby increase the market value of the firm for a possible future sale. The firm's strategy, although still completely valid, has not been carried out as intended. The board of directors has reaffirmed the firm's strategy. The CFO and CEO have developed a five-year plan to implement the strategy; the plan has been approved by the board. The task for the CFO is to develop a bottom-up budget for next year that accomplishes the first year of the plan. The operational improvements to achieve the existing strategy with the next year's budget will be demanding, which means it will likely need to be frequently updated with forecasts. Students will be tested on their knowledge and skills in implementing a committed budget, complete with a process for forecasts.     

导控型溢流阀调压弹簧的单调分析优化设计法

本文提出采用单调分析法作为导控型溢流阀调压弹簧优化设计的一种新方法,根据液压振动控制原理,建立了调压弹簧自振频率最大为目标函数的优化设计数学模型,并介绍其求解步骤,给出设计计算实例。     

A Simple Approach to Better Distinguish Real Earnings Manipulation from Strategy Changes*

Researchers typically infer real earnings management when a firm's operating and investing activities differ from industry norms. A significant problem with classifying deviations from industry averages as myopic earnings management is that companies can change their operating and investing decisions for strategic business reasons rather than to mislead stakeholders. Using principal components analysis, we systematically evaluate existing measures and develop a comprehensive real activities measure to better capture earnings manipulation. Our measure reflects (i) deviations from industry averages across multiple activities and (ii) other signals of manipulation. This approach is promising because, although there are many sources of abnormal activities, manipulation is more likely the cause when managers engage in multiple income-increasing abnormal activities that coincide with other signals that indicate an elevated risk of manipulation. This simple approach results in a metric that associates negatively with future operating performance and earnings persistence, yields high-power tests, and captures manipulation reasonably well across most life-cycle stages. Importantly, this approach performs better than the standard real earnings management metrics across all dimensions. Specifically, it generates the expected reduction in future earnings and reduced earnings persistence in 82% of the tests compared to 36% and 46% in common alternatives. Also, because this innovation does not require a long time-series or rely on future period realizations for classification, it can be useful in more research settings than other recent innovations in the literature.