Exploring the Relationship between Formal Management Control Systems, Organisational Performance and Innovation: The Role of Leadership Characteristics

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study aims to examine the relationship between the formal management control system (MCS) on organisational performance and innovation. It also evaluates the role of leadership characteristics as the moderating variable between MCS and innovation. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study employs a survey questionnaire, and data collected from business units of Indonesian manufacturing and services firms. The warp partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was employed to analyse the data and test the proposed model. Research findings: The findings demonstrate that: (1) A welldesigned formal MCS can improve organisational performance and innovation; (2) managers with good characteristics such as showing good behaviour through compliance with company rules, involving themselves in subordinates’ activities, and supporting subordinates’ ideas, can improve subordinates’ creativity in producing innovation. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study expands the existing literature by examining the role of leadership characteristics as a moderating variable between the formal management control system (MCS) and innovation. Practitioner/Policy implications: The findings of this study demonstrate that, for Indonesian firms to compete in globally-competitive markets, they need to implement well-designed formal MCS. For formal MCS to contribute to innovation, managers who demonstrate good leadership characteristics are crucial. Research limitation/Implications: Future research can investigate comparative analyses of different ASEAN countries since different Asian countries have different dominant cultures and values, which may have some impact on MCS, organisational performance and innovation. It may also consider how different types of MCS improve organisational performance and innovation performance.

Relative Influences of Review and Engagement Auditor Rotation on Audit Quality: Evidence from China

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study focuses on the effects of audit partner rotation on audit quality (AQ) in China. In particular, we examine the effects of review auditors (RAs) and engagement auditors (EAs) on AQ when they voluntarily and mandatorily rotate. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data in this study are retrieved from the Chinese Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. We develop an OLS regression model and logit model respectively to test the hypotheses developed. Finally, we have 13,856 firm-year observations collected for the first regression model, and 16,893 firm-year observations gathered for the second logit model from 2003 to 2015. Research findings: Findings show that RAs are more likely to behave opportunistically to retain clients by weighing up the benefits and costs of compromising audit quality in the first year after a rotation. The results imply that RAs may have an incentive to acquiesce the clients’ accounting irregularities in their first year of audit engagement when they are mandatorily rotated. However, we do not find this trend in terms of EAs’ rotation, suggesting that EAs are less affected by the auditor-client relationship compared to RAs. In addition, we find that RAs are less likely to issue modified audit opinions (MOPI) as the magnitude of negative discretionary accruals (DA) increases when they are voluntarily rotated. Theoretical contribution/Originality: Previous studies have investigated the relationship between mandatory audit partner rotation and audit quality. The results are mixed and inconclusive. Our study contributes to the extant literature by considering RAs’ opportunistic behaviour after mandatory rotation, which has not been explored in previous studies. In China, only a few studies have examined the relationship between mandatory audit partner rotation and audit quality. Our study is one of the first study focusing on the RA’s influence on AQ. Practitioner/Policy implication: The findings of our study can help Chinese authorities, listed firms and academics gain more understanding on whether mandatory audit partner rotation improves audit quality in practice. Since RAs have greater incentive to retain the existing client, we propose that RAs should bear more responsibility for the audit work, instead of the equally shared responsibility with EAs. Research limitation/Implications: Our study is subject to some limitations. First, our study adopts the performance-adjusted discretionary accruals as a proxy for audit quality. However, there can be a measurement error in estimating discretionary accruals. Second, we focus on the auditor rotation and exclude the case of audit firm rotation. Since the AQ can be affected by various factors, audit firm rotation can also affect AQ. Third, although we test the relative effects of RAs and EAs in audit work, we do not examine the effect of RAs’ characteristics such as their professional experience, educational background, and years of service. AQ can be affected by RAs’ characteristics.

Materiality Disclosure in Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Malaysia

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This paper aims to examine the determinants that influence companies to report material sustainability information in their corporate annual reports. Design/Methodology/Approach: To validate the determinants influencing materiality disclosure, content analysis was conducted on the annual reports of the top 113 Malaysian public listed companies in 2016, and the smart partial least squares technique was employed to examine the proposed relationships. Research findings: The empirical results indicate that board activity and board independence play a significant role in the determination of materiality disclosure. The results also reveal that board size, company size, profitability, leverage and industry are insignificant predictors of materiality disclosure. The results indicate that many listed companies in Malaysia disclose some amount of material sustainability information. However, the level of disclosure remains relatively low. Theoretical contribution/Originality: Notwithstanding that materiality is regarded as a key reporting principle in the preparation of sustainability reports, research on the application of the materiality concept in sustainability reporting remains to be an unexplored theme in Malaysia. This work sheds light on materiality disclosure in sustainability reporting of large companies operating in Malaysia through the combined views of the stakeholder and legitimacy theories. Practitioner/Policy implications: The results should be of great interest to policymakers who are concerned with formulating sustainability policies to achieve greater materiality disclosure. It also provides strategic insights to companies that board characteristics, such as board activity and board independence, influence materiality disclosure. Board members are urged to consider the importance of the reporting materiality determination process; otherwise, poor reporting may result in conflict with major stakeholder groups who do not see the material issues disclosed in the sustainability reports. Research limitation/Implications: The results are limited to the context of Malaysia. Future researchers can compare materiality disclosure with other countries, such as Singapore and Thailand, to enrich the sustainability reporting literature.

The Impact of Value Co-Creation Behaviour within the Social Media Context

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study investigates the impact of value co-creation behaviour on customer loyalty within the context of social media. It also attempts to determine the role played by customer brand experience and customer satisfaction as mediating variables. Design/Methodology/Approach: Drawing upon the service-dominant logic theory, a research framework is developed and tested using the structural equation modelling. The data comprise the input of 449 respondents from Lebanon. Research findings: The findings provide substantial evidence showing the relationship between customer value co-creation behaviour and customer loyalty. This relationship is partially mediated by customer brand experience. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study expands on existing literature by investigating how customer value co-creation behaviours can lead to customer loyalty within the social media context of Lebanon. Practitioner/Policy implications: The findings can assist managers in understanding how customer loyalty can be promoted through co-creation behaviours within social media. The results suggest that managers should provide the means which can encourage more behavioural, intellectual and affective customer reviews/feedback. Research limitation/Implications: The limitation of this study rests on its findings which cannot be generalised to a wider business community as it focuses only on the context of Lebanon.

Dividend Payout Policy and Global Financial Crisis: A Study on Malaysian Non-Financial Listed Companies

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This paper examines the impact of the global financial crisis on Malaysia non-financial index firms’ dividend policies. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper used panel data of 495 firm-year observations of Malaysian non-financial index firms from 2006 to 2016. Research findings: Our findings indicate that firms adjust their dividend policies during the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods; more profitable and larger firms are more likely to distribute their dividend payouts, whereas firms with higher leverage are more likely to omit their dividends. Moreover, dividend policies that will increase firms’ valuation are adopted in Malaysia. This is reflected in the signalling theory with evidence that higher profitability exerts a positive influence on firms’ propensity to increase and/or maintain dividends over different study periods, implying that markets attach a high valuation to firms that can pay, especially during the crisis period. We also find the role of catering theory and smoothing hypothesis lost relevance in both crisis and non-crisis periods. Thus, the catering theory and smoothing hypothesis were not supported in Malaysia. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study investigates the impact of the global financial crisis on Malaysia non-financial index firms’ dividend policies. This paper suggestion can act as a catalyst to more comprehensive and detailed researches and studies on dividend policy in any economic landscapes. Practitioner/Policy implications: This paper may also guide companies on the structure and use of dividend distribution over the precrisis, during the crisis, and post-crisis periods. Research limitation/Implications: One limitation of the study is that the measures used for dividend payout determinants are only based on the theory investigated. These measures may not completely reflect all the payout determinants. Future research could address this limitation by employing other factors in the study of dividend policy such as inflation, economic growth, and corporate governance.

Buying Perfume in the Digital Age: A Study on E-Shoppers’ Perceptions and Typologies

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study aims to shed light on the factors that facilitate online purchase of perfume. It specifically: 1) explores the antecedents of online purchase behaviour in the case of experience goods; 2) analyses the motivations, perceived benefits and perceived risks associated with online purchase of perfume; and 3) identifies perfume e-shoppers’ profiles. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative research approach involving interviewing 27 perfume e-shoppers from Brazil, Iran and Portugal was adopted. Research findings: The findings of this study reveal that there are three types of perfume e-shoppers: 1) experienced e-shoppers, 2) bargain e-seekers, and 3) expert e-shoppers. Competitive prices, enjoyable online experiences and greater varieties of perfumes are among the perceived benefits that motivate the online shoppers. The inability to test the perfumes, particularly those that are never tried before, appears to be the major drawback. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study provides interesting cues on a topic that has so far been disregarded by the literature despite its growing importance as a business sector—online purchase of perfumes. It offers the categorisation of three e-shopper profiles, based on consumers’ narratives, and highlighted the importance of further addressing the dynamic nature of consumer behaviours, particularly in the online context. Practitioner/Policy implications: The findings show that the main trigger of buying perfume online is the price discounts, which is particularly important to less experienced Web shoppers. This indicates that experience goods such as perfume should, at the initial stage, be sold in stores that offer an assortment of products. Online perfume stores should consider alternatives to provide perfume testing. Research limitation/Implications: Purposive sampling does not allow results’ generalisation; hence future research is needed to further validate the findings.

Hype or Hope: Digital Technologies in Auditing Process

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study aims to examine how technological,organisational and environmental (TOE) factors affect digital technologies’ utilisation and its impact on auditors’ performance. Design/Methodology/Approach: A survey was conducted on 4 large and non-large companies in Jordan, and data were retrieved from 168 external auditors. The partial least squares (PLS-3) structural equations modeling was used to analyse data and to test the proposed model. Research findings: Results show that the TOE factors have a significant and positive effect on digital technologies utilisation. It also appears to enhance auditors’ performance. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study fills a gap in the literature of accounting by empirically assessing how digital technologies utilisation impacts the performance of auditors in Jordan. It also expands on previous literature by determining how the TOE factors affect such technology usage in the auditing process. This study also has a methodological contribution in the form of measuring the client’s complexity of IT system from a different perspective, which is from the external auditor’s perspective. Practitioner/Policy implications: This study is expected to help regulators and audit companies to update their policies and regulations so that auditors are trained in using advanced technologies, and in protecting the security of accounting information. In this regard, efficient auditors will be able to protect investors, thereby creating an attractive environment for investment which can boost economic growth. Research limitation/Implications: This study is based on the Jordanian context. There was no comparison made with developing or developed countries, hence no distinctions can be detected. Future studies should focus on looking at other countries so as to provide new insights into the auditing profession, and specifically, auditors’ performance. Finally, this study is a practical guide for external and internal auditors who have not considered digital technologies, in the context of Jordan. Future studies may thus consider internal auditors and their relationship with external auditors in digital technologies utilisation.

Effects of Safety Climate and Employee Engagement towards Organisational Citizenship Behaviour of Sewage Workers

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study aims to investigate the effects of safety climate and employee engagement on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Design/Methodology/Approach: Drawing from the social exchange theory and flow theory, a theoretical framework was developed and tested using data collected from 610 freelance sewage workers. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data, while structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was used as the data analysis approach. Research findings: The results reveal that both safety climate and employee engagement have significantly positive impact on employees’ organisational citizenship behaviour amongst sewage workers in Indonesia. This finding indicates that although the sewage cleaners are often employed based on contract and may not be in a position to demand more from the organisations, they do appreciate the organisational commitment in producing a safe workplace environment. They, in return will demonstrate a higher engagement towards their work. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study contributes to the organisational citizenship behaviour literature by examining how workplace environmental factors such as safety climate affects organisational citizenship behaviour. In the context of sewage cleaning, safety climate is important, as sewage workers are frequently exposed to and threatened by serious health problems. Yet, there has been a paucity of research on the sewage cleaning sector to understand the relationships. Research limitation/Implications: The study implies that when organisations are willing to improve safety climate, their employees will perceive improved safety climate, and then will have more engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour.

‘This Isn’t My Expectation’: Excel in Auditing

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: This study examines the perceptions of undergraduate accounting students about the use of Excel in an auditing course. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative interview design is employed in this study. A total of 20 participants shared their perceptions in three group interviews. Their statements were analysed using thematic analysis. Research findings: Themes of agility and undesirability appeared central to the experience of Excel usage in auditing. The agility theme refers to students’ rapid adaptation to the use of Excel for auditing purposes. The undesirability theme deals with students’ expectations of using software beyond Excel. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study generated an understanding of expectations around technology from the perspective of accounting students, which is rarely examined. For students, the future of the accounting and auditing profession relies on up-to-date technologies, and universities should provide experiences in accessing and learning to use such technologies in accounting education. Practitioner/Policy implications: The findings of this study provide an understanding for accounting educators and higher education institutions about the expectations of students related to the type of technology that must be covered in accounting curricula. Research limitations: This study collected data from only one public university in Indonesia. Students’ perceptions in this institution may not be the same as those in other institutions. Caution must be taken when generalising and interpreting the findings to other institutions.

What Drives Excess Trading during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Manuscript type: Research paperResearch aims: This study aims to examine the underlying psychological and sociological factors that drive excess trading in the Malaysian stock market during a global health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/Methodology/Approach: A self-administered online questionnaire was collected from 271 individual investors to examine the association between big-five personality traits and trading frequency. Demographic information and investment behaviours of investors were also included in the study. The multinomial logit regression model was used to test the research hypotheses. Research findings: Findings show that personality traits such as openness to experience and agreeableness have a significant influence on trading frequency. Demographic factors and investment behaviours such as gender, household income level, years of investment experience and type of investor all have a significant positive relationship with trading frequency. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study contributes to the current investor behaviour literature in Malaysia, which remains to be very limited, especially during a global health crisis. The study indicates that personality traits, demographic, socio-economic factors, and investment behaviours affect the trading frequency of Malaysian. Practitioner/Policy implication: This study offers insights for financial institutions and individual investors on the type of personality traits, demographic, socio-economic factors, and investment behaviours that drive excess trading during a global health crisis. The findings provide important contributions to avoid serious mistakes in investment analysis and trading profitable investment strategies, thus improving individual and team performance. Research limitation/Implications: Some results are not significant and may be limited due to the small sample size used in this study. Future research could recruit more retail investors to confirm the significance level of those variables. Besides, the study can be conducted after the COVID-19 pandemic to explore whether there is any significant difference in the variables during and after the global health crisis.