In practice, generally the accountants are facing complex decision-making situations where they aggregate simultaneously several conflicting and incommensurable factors (dimensions). They look for ...the decision of the best compromise. The goal programming (GP) is one of the multi-criteria decision aid models that have been applied to the field of accounting. The aim of this paper is to provide an exhaustive literature review of the GP application within the field of accounting and to propose a new typology which serves as a guideline for the accountants to identify the most appropriate variant of GP to deal with specific accounting related decision making situation.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the financial performance of Islamic banks operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ...countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The study measures IC by the value added intellectual coefficient model. A regression analysis was used to assess the impact of IC on financial performance. The research sample consisted of Islamic banks operating in the GCC countries during the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. Data originated from the annual reports of Islamic banks.
Findings
The results support the thesis that IC has a positive impact on the financial performance of Islamic banks. Even though the average IC is lower than that reported in other studies, the positive effect on financial performance is obvious. The findings also show that human capital (HC) is higher than capital employed (CE) and structural capital (SC). The study reveals that SC has an insignificant impact on the financial performance of the Islamic banks compared to CE and HC.
Practical implications
The findings provide empirical evidence that IC affects the Islamic banks’ financial performance. It helps Islamic banks in the GCC countries to understand how to use their IC efficiently, especially SC as it is yet to be used efficiently. Also, the findings benefit the relevant authorities (e.g. legislators and central banks) who could use them to emphasise strategic policy reforms whenever required.
Originality/value
The current research adds to the empirical studies in the GCC countries as it views the region as a collective as opposed to individual countries. It also extends the IC and performance measurement literature of Islamic banks in the GCC countries. Moreover, the current study enriches the limited literature on IC in the context of Islamic banking.
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the association between organisational culture (OC) and the extent to which risk governance (RG) practices are implemented in Qatar.
Design/methodology/approach
...It relies on the institutional theory and OC perspectives to generate testable hypotheses and explain the empirical findings, using data from 85 Qatari firms collected based on questionnaires. It also applies ordinary least squares regression to examine the associations between five OCs (innovation, outcome orientation, attention to detail, team orientation and tight versus loose control) and the level of implementing RG practices, whilst controlling for the presence of internal audit (IA), firm size, listing status, type (private/government) and sector (financial/non-financial).
Findings
An OC of “tight control”, the presence of an IA and being a private firm are significantly associated with implementing RG practices. An OC of teamwork is negatively associated with RG practices.
Practical implications
Policymakers and corporate managers are encouraged to set guidelines governing the formation of cohesive cooperative teams within organisations. They must develop strategies that promote the “risk culture” as a major component of OC. Policymakers should also monitor the culture and institutional forces behind the successful implementation of RG that involves the collaboration of employees at different organisational levels.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is novel because it empirically examines the OC–RG relationship in an emerging market economy (Qatar).
Purpose
This study aims to explore the role that culture and language play in the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
Design/methodology/approach
The ...Hofstede–Gray and Huerta et al. (2013) models were used to collect data on language and accounting culture. Paired-sample t-test, regression and factor analyses were conducted on data from a sample of 101 respondents. This study also used ordinary least squares to test hypotheses.
Findings
The cultural dimensions of professionalism, secrecy and uniformity significantly influence the implementation of IPSAS. Furthermore, this study finds a significant link between culture, language and IPSAS implementation, which underlines the need for careful consideration of International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board policies in the promotion of IPSAS internationally.
Research limitations/implications
While this study is limited to its research method, using secondary data would have been challenging given the setting and accessibility issues. This study overcomes this problem by using a self-administered questionnaire. Prior studies confirm the reliability of the constructs. Despite providing justifications for why the authors use judgemental sampling, the authors acknowledge the limitation of the technique in survey distribution. Furthermore, the findings cannot be read without caution, as the authors focused on one country. However, interactions between accounting practices and culture in one country may be transferred to other countries that share a common language and culture with Qatar. The authors believe future research in this area will complement the understanding of the determinants of IPSAS implementation should the study be replicated.
Social implications
Policymakers, standard setters and regulators should promote and enforce an integrated approach that reflects the need for accountants and auditors to be conscious of the effects of culture and language, given the likelihood of widespread IPSAS adoption.
Originality/value
This study offers insight into the significance of culture and language in reforming public-sector accounting systems in developing nations and emerging economies.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the financial performance of Islamic banks operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ...countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The study measures IC by the value added intellectual coefficient model. A regression analysis was used to assess the impact of IC on financial performance. The research sample consisted of Islamic banks operating in the GCC countries during the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. Data originated from the annual reports of Islamic banks.
Findings
The results support the thesis that IC has a positive impact on the financial performance of Islamic banks. Even though the average IC is lower than that reported in other studies, the positive effect on financial performance is obvious. The findings also show that human capital (HC) is higher than capital employed (CE) and structural capital (SC). The study reveals that SC has an insignificant impact on the financial performance of the Islamic banks compared to CE and HC.
Practical implications
The findings provide empirical evidence that IC affects the Islamic banks’ financial performance. It helps Islamic banks in the GCC countries to understand how to use their IC efficiently, especially SC as it is yet to be used efficiently. Also, the findings benefit the relevant authorities (e.g. legislators and central banks) who could use them to emphasise strategic policy reforms whenever required.
Originality/value
The current research adds to the empirical studies in the GCC countries as it views the region as a collective as opposed to individual countries. It also extends the IC and performance measurement literature of Islamic banks in the GCC countries. Moreover, the current study enriches the limited literature on IC in the context of Islamic banking.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of readiness of the public sector in Qatar to adopt International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), based on the innovation ...diffusion theory. The responses of accountants (preparers) and auditors employed in the public sector are explored in this regard, and challenges faced in IPSAS implementation are highlighted.
Design/methodology/approach
A primary research approach was adopted using a questionnaire that yielded 101 responses. Five dimensions are focused on: relative advantage, top management support, satisfaction with the current accounting system, barriers to adopting IPSAS, and attitudes towards innovation.
Findings
Relative advantage, barriers to adopting IPSAS and satisfaction with the current system were found to be the most significant. The influence of these variables appears to promote or hinder the implementation of IPSAS in the public sector of Qatar and, perhaps, the wider region.
Practical implications
Even if professionals understand the potential benefits of adopting IPSAS, they are unlikely to advance such adoption without upper echelon-sanctioned cost-benefit analyses and approval. Hence, policymakers should consider the need for a top-down shift in the way IPSASs are viewed and promoted to enable their successful implementation in the public sector.
Social implications
The positive association between satisfaction with current systems and the level of IPSAS implementation suggests that respondents view the usefulness and ease of use of their current systems as a primary reason to adopt IPSAS as an ‘upgrade’.
Originality/value
This study advances the understanding of the pre-transition process by drawing on innovation theory, which reveals determinants of IPSAS implementation in the case of Qatar. This study adds to prior studies on government accounting in developing nations.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is significantly associated with life events stress.
To investigate the relationship between ulcerative colitis, and life events stress.
A prospective study of 30 patients ...with ulcerative colitis and 30 healthy controls. A semi-structured psychiatric interview and clinical mental state examination were used in the psychiatric assessment of the patients and controls. Psychiatric diagnoses were made according to ICD-10. A modified version of Life Events Scale by Tennant and Andrews was used in the assessment of life events stress.
Life events stress were significantly experienced by more patients than the controls. The total number of life events, the number of individual significant life events and the total number of unpleasant events were all significantly more in patients than the controls.
In this study the association between the ulcerative colitis and life events stress is substantiated at all levels. However, further more extensive studies are needed to elucidate the nature of this relationship.
There has been little research on intellectual capital (IC) reporting practices of UK firms or on the incentives/disincentives that motivate them to disclose information about their value drivers. ...Therefore, this study explores annual report disclosures and seeks to explain why managers choose to disclose. The sample consists of 100 London Stock Exchange firms from nine knowledge-based sectors. Whilst adopting a primarily positive accounting theory explanation of disclosure, a new combination of theories (capital market transactions theory, proprietary costs theory and corporate governance theory) is used to generate explanatory variables. The results show that there is a skewing toward relational capital. However, there were large differences in the amount of information disclosed, both across sectors and, in many cases, inside sectors, suggesting that different sectors, or even different companies, may have quite different value drivers. Initial analysis of possible motives was conducted using an OLS regression including all possible explanatory independent variables. However, neither corporate governance nor proprietary costs are well-theorised, and several different variables were used to proxy each of these. Therefore, reduced regression models were also employed. Principal component analysis was used to generate one composite measure of corporate governance and proprietary costs. The results showed that reporting IC is negatively associated with the extent of external financing, while firms with high market-to-book values also disclose less IC information. However, contrary to expectations, the acquisition variable was insignificant although as expected, the relation between human capital disclosure and foreign operations was found to be positive and significant. For proprietary costs variables, there was a significantly positive relation between entry barriers and IC disclosure, and a negative relationship between IC and the intensity of industry competition. Finally, there was a significant, positive relationship between corporate governance and the disclosure of all types of IC.
There has been little research on intellectual capital (IC) reporting practices of UK firms or on the incentives/disincentives that motivate them to disclose information about their value drivers. ...Therefore, this study explores annual report disclosures and seeks to explain why managers choose to disclose. The sample consists of 100 London Stock Exchange firms from nine knowledge-based sectors. Whilst adopting a primarily positive accounting theory explanation of disclosure, a new combination of theories (capital market transactions theory, proprietary costs theory and corporate governance theory) is used to generate explanatory variables. The results show that there is a skewing toward relational capital. However, there were large differences in the amount of information disclosed, both across sectors and, in many cases, inside sectors, suggesting that different sectors, or even different companies, may have quite different value drivers. Initial analysis of possible motives was conducted using an OLS regression including all possible explanatory independent variables. However, neither corporate governance nor proprietary costs are well-theorised, and several different variables were used to proxy each of these. Therefore, reduced regression models were also employed. Principal component analysis was used to generate one composite measure of corporate governance and proprietary costs. The results showed that reporting IC is negatively associated with the extent of external financing, while firms with high market-to-book values also disclose less IC information. However, contrary to expectations, the acquisition variable was insignificant although as expected, the relation between human capital disclosure and foreign operations was found to be positive and significant. For proprietary costs variables, there was a significantly positive relation between entry barriers and IC disclosure, and a negative relationship between IC and the intensity of industry competition. Finally, there was a significant, positive relationship between corporate governance and the disclosure of all types of IC.
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