Bedford, DS, Brown, DA, Malmi, T & Sivabalan, P 2008, 'Balanced scorecard design and performance impacts: some Australian evidence', Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 17-36.
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Academic literature is giving increased consideration to the use of performance measurement systems, notably the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). However, there has been limited empirical investigation into the particular benefits that result from the use of the BSC (Ittner and Larcker, 1998). This study empirically examines how the BSC has been applied in practice and whether different BSC designs result in varying performance outcomes. Data is from a cross sectional survey, which provided a sample of 92 Australian firms using BSC. It is hypothesised that the BSC provides greater benefits when 1) cause and effect logic is used between measures 2) nonfinancial measures are tied to compensation and 3) implemented at multiple levels within the organisation. Results support the first proposition, although cause and effect logic appears to be more important if the BSC is tied to compensation. These results are discussed, and implications for practice and future research are presented.
Brown, DA, Bedford, DS & Sivabalan, P 2008, 'Use and impacts of the balances scorecard in Australia: what's the state of play?', In the Black, vol. 78, no. 09, pp. 56-59.
Brown, P, Ferguson, A & Stone, K 2008, 'Share Purchase Plans in Australia: Issuer Characteristics and Valuation Implications', Australian Journal of Management, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 307-332.
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Share purchase plans (SPPs) are offered exclusively to a company's registered shareholders, who may purchase up to $5,000 worth of shares in a 12-month period at a discount to the market price and without any brokerage charge. They have become one of the most frequently used mechanisms for raising publicly traded equity capital in Australia, yet little is known about them from a financial markets perspective. We address this deficiency by documenting the characteristics of Australian firms that have adopted SPPs and assessing their short-term and long-term valuation implications. We find that SPPs are more likely to be issued by firms with lower levels of liquidity and relatively large numbers of shareholders. They have a negative announcement effect, which is associated with the size of the issue, the prior share-price runup, the issue-price discount, the firm's industry, and whether there is enough time for non-shareholders to buy shares in order to participate. Long-run underperformance is also found over extended periods, consistent with much of the seasoned equity offering (SEO) literature. The SPP-issuer did not perform as badly if it was in the mining industry, if it was audited by a ‘Big-N’ firm, or if the issue was underwritten. Conversely, the greater the issue discount, the worse the issuer's long-run performance.
Bugeja, M & da Silva Rosa, R 2008, 'Taxation of shareholder capital gains and the choice of payment method in takeovers', ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS RESEARCH, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 331-350.
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From December 1999, shareholders who disposed of shares in Australian takeovers in exchange for scrip could elect to defer capital gains taxation until the disposal of the shares received. We investigate payment method choice by acquiring firms before and after this regulatory change to assess whether target shareholder capital gains tax liabilities became an important factor considered in choosing the form of payment. The results show that, subsequent to the regulatory change, there is a significantly higher probability that equity will be offered as consideration where target shareholder capital gains are greater. This finding confirms the importance of shareholder level taxation in explaining corporate acquisition structure and adds to previous European and US evidence on factors associated with payment method choice in takeovers.
Chua, WF & Taylor, SL 2008, 'The rise and rise of IFRS: An examination of IFRS diffusion', Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 462-473.
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We seek to understand the ever-increasing push towards the international harmonization of accounting standards and particularly the inexorable rise of standards produced by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). While the primary justifications for the increasing recognition given to these standards (IFRS) are economic, we question whether the empirical evidence to date has yielded convincing support for these arguments. We therefore offer an alternative explanation for the origin and diffusion of IFRS that incorporates social and political factors. Outsourcing the manufacture of accounting standards to a single private agency appears to be a rational, lower cost option lowering both economic and political costs for individual states as long as they continue to retain residual decision rights with respect to the adoption of IFRS. However, such outsourcing must also be perceived to be legitimate. IFRS confer institutionalized legitimacy because they possess three characteristics required of a technology for global governance. These are sponsorship by powerful interest groups/regulators, internationality and plasticity. We therefore conclude that the widespread diffusion today of IFRS can at best be only partially explained as an economically rational phenomenon. Rather, the demand for legitimate action in the face of tightly coupled and complex global markets is at least equally important in generating support for IFRS.
Lai, CY & Taylor, SL 2008, 'Estimating and Validating a Firm-Year-Specific Measure of Conservatism: Australian Evidence', Accounting & Finance, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 673-695.
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We provide new evidence on the asymmetric timeliness with which economic gains and losses are recognized in Australian financial reporting (i.e. conservatism), as well as some of the factors associated with variation in conservatism. We first derive, and
Lu, F, Balatbat, M & Czernkowski, RMJ 2008, 'The Role of Consideration in China's Split Share Structure Reform'.
Malmi, T & Brown, DA 2008, 'Management control systems as a package—Opportunities, challenges and research directions', Management Accounting Research, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 287-300.
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There has been very little explicit theoretical and empirical research on the concept of management control systems (MCS) as a package despite the existence of the idea in management accounting literature for decades. In this editorial we discuss a range of ways researchers have defined MCS and the problems this has created. We provide a new typology for MCS structured around five groups: planning, cybernetic, reward and compensation, administrative and cultural controls. The typology is based on the distinction between decision-making and control and addresses those controls managers use to direct employee behaviour. We discuss the conclusions of the articles included within this special issue and provide ideas for further research. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Richardson, G & Lanis, R 2008, 'Corporate effective tax rates and tax reform: Evidence spanning Australia's Ralph Review of Business Taxation Reform', Australian Tax Forum: a journal of taxation policy, law and reform, vol. 23, pp. 109-123.
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Our study analyzes corporate effective tax rates of Australian firms for two periods: the years preceding the Ralph Review of Business Taxation reform (1996-99), and the years following the tax reform (2001-04). We investigate differences in both the level and variation of corporate effective tax rates during these periods, and also identify firm-specific characteristics that explain the changes in corporate effective tax rates over these periods. Evidence is presented which shows that the Ralph Review tax reform caused a significant reduction in both the level and variation of corporate effective tax rates. Moreover, our regression results indicate that corporate effective tax rates are related to some major firm-specific characteristics in Australia before and after the tax reform, including capital intensity, inventory intensity and R&D intensity. Our results suggest that while one of major objectives of the Ralph Review was to promote equity in Australias corporate tax system, it still appears inequitable at least regarding several of the firm-specific characteristics considered in this study.
Sandhu, R, Baxter, J & Emsley, D 2008, 'The Balanced Scorecard and its Possibilities: The Initial Experiences of a Singaporean Firm', Australian Accounting Review, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 16-24.
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This paper examines the multiple possibilities that arise from the translation of actors' hopes and aspirations when implementing a balanced scorecard. The issue is studied in the context of a Singaporean security company in the initial stages of implementing a BSC. We find that the BSC is a ‘messy’ object, being different things to different people. This messy object is a result of the many possibilities that the BSC might become which ultimately require translating into the local setting. As such, this view challenges Kaplan and Norton's idea of the BSC as a generic and unitary object of performance measurement that is readily applicable to a variety of situations.
Shan, Y, Taylor, SL & Walter, TS 2008, 'The Role of Non-Accounting Information in Understanding Stock Return Volatility'.
Sivabalan, P & Brown, DA 2008, 'To plan and control', In the Black, vol. April.
Teo, STT, Lakhani, B, Brown, D & Malmi, T 2008, 'Strategic human resource management and knowledge workers', Management Research News, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 683-696.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of adopting a strategic approach to human resource management (HRM) in professional service firms (PSFs). It provides the empirical evidence by comparing and contrasting the adoption of a strategic approach to HRM in two Australian PSFs.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study approach is adopted. Data were collected from multiple sources. The secondary sources comprised annual reports, press releases and industry reports. In total, 40 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with senior partners, professional staff, HR managers and ex‐employees of the two firms.FindingsThe findings suggest that differences in the performance of PSFs could be explained by organizational control systems such as personnel and cultural controls. The qualitative data generated by the two PSF cases provided evidence to support the notion that strategic human resource management is an important factor in explaining firm performance. Our findings provide empirical support for the importance of strategic approaches to HRM.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation of this study is the adoption of case study method, the findings of which cannot be generalized to a wider population. Thus, the study provides only a limited body of accumulated knowledge. Future studies could adopt a longitudinal research design to test the relationships between HRM systems, control systems and firm performance.Practical implicationsTo be competitive, PSFs must restructure their ...
Bairstow, GC, Brown, PJ & Lanis, R 1970, 'The impact incentive types on organisational performance in anglo cultures: a reply to Drake, Haka and Ravenscroft (1999)', 2008 AFAANZ/IAAER Conference website papers, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, AFAANZ, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-48.
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Experimental research suffers from biases introduced by experiment design choices, such as the choice of alternative incentive and reward structures. We propose that framing rewards in a broader typology when researchers make decision about which reward structures to use in an experiment will minimise the potential for a false choice bias. To highlight this problem we replicate Drake, Haka and Ravenscrofts (1999) incentive structure experiment using a simpler, more theory driven design. Drake et al (1999) propose that organisational performance maybe be better if group compensation is given in preference to individualistic compensation, within the context of an information rich environment (using activity based costing). In particular, Drake et al (1999) apply an experimental research design to test that proposition using U.S. MBA students. Their results suggest that, ceteris paribus, given a group in preference to an individualistic incentive scheme, innovation, efficiency and profitability may improve. We argue that this conclusion is inconsistent with the incentive structure choices faced by managers, the societal values of the U.S., culture and agency theories in general. A possible explanation for Drake et als (1999) result is the use of a tournament incentive scheme as the basis for individual compensation. As such, we replicate the Drake et al (1999) experiment using Australian university students and an individual profit incentive scheme as the basis for individual compensation. Our results, in contrast to Drake et al. (1999), indicate that given an individual in preference to group incentive scheme, task performance improves in an information rich environment. This experiment highlights the false choice bias that reduces the generalizability of experimental research in general and highlights the value of propositions couched in a broader reward typology.
Booth, PJ, Brown, DA & Sundin, HJ 1970, 'Perspectives on multiple stakeholders and management control systems: institutional and stakeholder theory: friend or foe?', Program of American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association (AAA), Anaheim, USA.
Brown, DA & Sutton, NC 1970, 'Management control systems in enabling university research performance', 2008 AFAANZ/IAAER Conference website papers, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, AFAANZ, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-35.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate how management control systems (MCS) are used to enable university research performance at the operating level. At the sector level, institutionally framed research within New Public Management literature has observed the more uniform use of managerialist and programmed approaches to university research management. However, empirical contingent studies within the private sector Research and Development setting have substantiated how such approaches are ineffective in enabling operating level research performance. Drawing on both literatures, as well as wider MCS package research, this paper uses an exploratory case study to examine two high performing faculties with contrasting research characteristics. From these micro-level accounts, the paper develops a conceptual model demonstrating how a combination of institutional and technical factors contributes to the use of MCS. A similar complementary package of socioideological, administrative and incentive controls is used to satisfy the diverging managerial and collegial institutional interests within each operating unit. However, managers tailor the use of these categories of controls to suit their respective particular research cultures and contexts in order to enable university research performance.
Brown, DA, Malmi, T & Booth, PJ 1970, 'Loose coupling theory of management control systems', Program of American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association (AAA), Amaheim, USA.
Lanis, R, Bairstow, GC & Brown, PJ 1970, 'The impact of incentive types on organisational performance in anglo cultures: a reply to Drake, Haka and Ravenscroft (1999)', Program of American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association (AAA), Anaheim, USA.
Petroulas, E, Sundin, HJ & Brown, DA 1970, 'Management control systems and generational differences: An exploratory case study of a professional services firm', 2008 Global Management Accounting Research Symposium (GMARS), Global Management Accounting Research Symposium (GMARS), School of Accounting UNSW, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-36.
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This research investigates how generational culture is reflected in the design and use of Management Control Systems (MCS) within a Professional Services Firm. Literature suggests that each generation has its own characteristics or culture. This culture gives rise to preferences within each generation that potentially impact how they interface in organizations and impact the design, use and effectiveness of MCS. This issue is come to the fore in the current tight labour market and especially in accounting firms. The paper adopts an exploratory case study approach of a Big 4 Accounting Firm. The research demonstrates that generational culture has been an influential factor in the case firms MCS design. In doing so it provides insights as to how organisations can design their MCS in order to satisfy the preferences of different generations. Furthermore, the research shows that the firm aligned the MCS design to the preferences of Generation Y and explains why this was done. This improved retention rates in a tight labour market. However, it also raises concerns that this design may be at the detriment to the firm through changes in firm culture, creation of conflict between generations, and a problems with the performance of Generation Y.
Richardson, G & Lanis, R 1970, 'Corporate effective tax rates and tax reform: evidence from Australia', 31st Annual Congress European Accounting Association Conference Website papers, Annual Congress of European Accounting Association, European Accounting Association (EAA), Rotterdam, Netherlands, pp. 1-10.
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The Ralph Review of Business Taxation, which submitted its recommendations to the Australian Government on 30 July 1999, represented an important event in the corporate tax reform process in Australia (Cooper et al., 2002, p. 20; Gilders et al., 2004, p. 16). Some of its key recommendations were designed to promote equity in the corporate tax system by removing several major tax incentives (Ralph, 1999, p. 15). For example, accelerated depreciation, which favors capital intensive firms, was recommended for removal. The Ralph Review also recommended a phased-in reduction of the corporate tax rate as trade-off to firms for the removal of accelerated depreciation. The Australian Government implemented these key Ralph Review recommendations, and they came into law in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, applying from the 1999/2000 tax year.
Shan, Y, Taylor, SL & Walter, TS 1970, 'The uncertainty of non-accounting information in analysts' forecasts and stock return volatility', Program of American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association (AAA), Anaheim, USA.
Sivabalan, P, Malmi, T, Booth, PJ & Brown, DA 1970, 'Organisational characteristics, alternative reasons to budget and two budget forms', 2008 AFAANZ/IAAER Conference website papers, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, AFAANZ, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-42.
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This study examines contingency relationships between organisational characteristics and four alternative operational reasons to budget, across two budget forms (fixed budget and rolling forecasts). Furthering the work of Hansen and Van der Stede (2004), results show that contingency relationships between organisational characteristics and the importance of operational reasons to budget were different for performance evaluation reasons, in comparison to operational planning reasons.
Sundin, HJ, Brown, DA & Booth, PJ 1970, 'Perspectives on multiple stakeholders and management control systems: institutional and stakeholder theory', Technical Program of 2008 AFAANZ/IAAER Conference, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, AFAANZ, Sydney.
Sutton, NC & Brown, DA 1970, 'Management control systems in enabling university research performance', Program of American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association (AAA), Anaheim, USA.
Sutton, NC & Brown, DA 1970, 'Management control systems in enabling university research performance', Program of 31st Annual Congress of European Accounting Association, Annual Congress of European Accounting Association, European Accounting Association (EAA), Rotterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 1-26.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate how management control systems (MCS) are used to enable university research performance at the operating level. At the sector level, institutionally framed research within New Public Management literature has observed the more uniform use of managerialist and programmed approaches to university research management. However, empirical contingent studies within a private sector R&D setting have evidenced how such approaches are ineffective in enabling operating level research performance. Drawing on both literatures, as well as wider MCS package research, the research uses an exploratory case study to examine two high performing faculties with contrasting research characteristics. From these micro-level accounts, the paper develops a conceptual model demonstrating how a combination of institutional and technical factors contributes to the use of MCS. More specifically, while a similar complementary package of socio-ideological, administrative and incentive controls is used to satisfy the diverging managerial and collegial institutional interests, within each operating unit managers tailor the use of these categories of controls to suit their respective research cultures and contexts in order to enable university research performance.
Wakefield, JA & Giacobbe, F 1970, 'The implications of motive divergence on international joint venture management control systems and performance', 2008 AFAANZ/IAAER Conference website papers, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, AFAANZ, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-30.
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International Joint Ventures (IJVs) are increasingly regarded as an important means of international expansion. A large body of literature has investigated the key characteristics of IJVs, however most of the research has been exploratory rather than confirmatory. This paper has developed a model to investigate (i) the effect of parent partner motive divergence and parent partner resource contributions to IJVs on parent partner management control systems (MCS) choices, (ii) the impact of parent partner resource contributions to IJVs on parent partner motive divergence and (iii) the impact of parent partner motive divergence and parent partner management control system choices on IJV performance. The data for this paper was gathered from a cross sectional survey questionnaire which collected data from Australian based parent partners of IJVs operating abroad. The results provide confirmatory evidence that motive divergence has a significant impact on performance and some impact on parent partner management control system choices. Resource contributions made by parent partners to IJVs was also found to have a significant impact on parent partner MCS choices and motive divergence. These findings provide confirmatory evidence of exploratory results and sound suggestions to the world of practice.
Waller, DS & Lanis, R 1970, 'An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure by Advertising Agencies', Communications, Civics, Industry: Proceedings of ANZCA 2007, Australian New Zealand Communications Association Annual Conference, Australia and New Zealand Communication Association and La Trobe University, Melbourne, pp. 1-9.
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The corporate annual report has become more than a mandatory financial report for public companies, with many companies also using it as an important marketing communication tool. As corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an issue of growing interest in the business world, many publicly listed companies, including advertising agencies, are voluntarily disclosing information regarding their CSR activities in their annual report. This descriptive study analyses the annual reports of the top six holding companies in the global advertising industry, in order to observe which advertising companies disclose their CSR activities and what activities they undertake, and the development of a CSR disclosure index for advertising agencies. The results indicate that some advertising companies do engage in CSR activities and disclose them in the annual report, but the level of these CSR disclosures is different between the organisations.
White, A & Harding, N 1970, 'Identifying auditor stopping rules in decision making under uncertainty', 2008 AFAANZ/IAAER Conference website papers, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, AFAANZ, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-36.
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A stopping rule is a mechanism whereby the decision maker chooses to stop the search for information and make a decision (Gigerenzer and Selten 2001). This study analyses rich verbal protocol data provided by experienced auditors completing a detailed risk identification case to increase our understanding how stopping rules are applied by auditors, the impact of different stopping rules on judgment performance, and the influence of taskspecific experience and the availability of a decision aid on the relationship between stopping rules and performance. The results revealed that while auditors use a combination of stopping rules, those rules involving the development of a mental model of the client were generally favoured and led to superior performance. Participants generally ignored a decision aid checklist that was made available as a structured alternative to their own stopping rule.
