Volume 14, 2014

 

Cousins Separated by a Common Language: Perceptions of Information Technology Risk James L. Worrel, Ashley A. Bush and Paul M. Di Gangi Published January 2014
The authors employ a seeded, ranking type Delphi to answer the following research question: how do each of the major stakeholder groups within organizations (representing both strategic and operational levels) conceptualize the risks associated with IT in operations? Using three expert panels drawn from Big 4 IT audit groups and Fortune 1000 business/IT managers, we identify the IT risks most salient to these groups, explore areas of convergence/divergence among them, and offer theoretical and practical implications from this research.
The Effect of Fundamental Determinants on Voluntary Disclosure of Financial and Nonfinancial Information: the Case of Tehran Abdolreza Ghasempour. and Mohd Atef bin Md Yusof Published March 2014
Recent tendency of businesses towards voluntary disclosure has improved the quality of financial reporting. High-quality financial reporting helps users of financial information trust the business, and thus, creates value for the business. Also, during the last decade there has been a profound revolution in the information technology by means of the Internet, and obviously accounting has been directly affected by this change. The present study divided voluntary disclosure into two groups of financial and non-financial information and investigated the effects of fundamentals on voluntary disclosure by businesses. The population was composed of 65 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2005 to 2012. The hypothesis testing results showed that firm size, business complexity, earnings volatility, and firm value had a significant and positive impact on voluntary disclosure whereas financial leverage had a significant and negative impact on voluntary disclosure, while no relationship was observed between voluntary disclosure and financial performance.
Determinants and Characteristics of Voluntary Internet Disclosures in GCC Countries Ehab K. A. Mohamed and Mohamed A. K. Basuony. Published May 2014
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants and characteristics of voluntary Internet disclosures by listed companies in three Gulf Cooperation Council countries. This paper uses archival data from 192 listed companies in Qatar Stock Exchange, Muscat Securities Market, and Bahrain Bourse. Binary Logistic Regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of Internet financial reporting. Kruskal-Wallis test is used to examine the differences in disclosure characteristics among the three countries. The results reveal that firm size is the major influencing factor that impacts Internet financial reporting in the GCC. A number of disclosure characteristics differ significantly between the three countries. The paper provides insights into corporate Internet disclosure in the GCC that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting in this important region of the world. The results are consistent with previous literature that corporate size is a major determinant of Internet financial reporting.
A Cost Model for E-learning projects in the United Kingdom Sue Moseley and Raul Valverde Published July 2014
This research aims to address the problems of estimating e-Learning development costs particularly within the United Kingdom. Hundreds of managers with no prior experience of managing e-Learning development often find themselves needing to produce cost estimations for e-Learning development and rely on structured expert judgement to produce accurate cost estimates. The lack of prior experience in e-Learning development means that these managers will not be able to apply structured expert judgement to their cost estimations and the risk of inaccurate estimations will be high, with all the subsequent problems this will bring with it. A solution needs to be found whereby these managers can produce accurate estimates without past experience. This research seeks to create a cost model, built on data from e-Learning projects in the United Kingdom which managers can use to produce cost estimates for e-Learning development.
Codification vs. US GAAP Hierarchy: A Preliminary Study of the Accounting Lexicon Post-Codification Margaret R. Garnsey., Sandra L. Zelka. and Ingrid E. Fisher Published September 2014
The FASB Codification project, announced in 2004, aimed to simplify user access to authoritative GAAP and to create a searchable retrieval system. It entered the verification phase on January 15, 2008 and was completed on July 1, 2009, becoming the single source of authoritative non-governmental U.S. GAAP. Throughout the project authors were charged with changing as few words as possible. Our initial comparison of terms used in the first three levels of the GAAP hierarchy to those terms used in the Codification finds that although the authors were generally internally consistent in the Codification, there are instances where terminology differs from the terminology used in the original pronouncements. We are also able to identify the introduction of new terms. Notably, an overwhelming percentage of these new terms are not included in the Codification Glossary. Our review of the incorporation of these new terms into selected accounting textbooks and academic literature indicates they have been slow to adopt new terms. The introduction of new terms combined with the failure to include those terms in materials used by students is likely to create barriers to students‘ successful information seeking.
The Typology and Role of Online Information Sources in Destination Image Formation: An Eye-Tracking Study Anastasia Mariussen, Cathrine Von Ibenfeldt and May Kristin Vespestad Published December 2014
The construct of destination image and its formation are well researched. Numerous studies are conducted to investigate how destination images impact tourists‟ attitudes, behaviour and destination choice and what factors influence their destination image formation. However, much of this research focuses on post-visit images, and little is still known about the actual process of destination image formation as it unfolds, particularly prior to visiting a destination. Understanding this process of image development is meanwhile critical, as tourist numbers worldwide continue to grow. Destinations face fiercer competition, and their expanding image representations on the Internet are more frequently created outside Destination Management Organisations‟ (DMO) offices. This study attempts to shed light on a destination image formation process prior to visiting a destination. By triangulating click-stream, eye-tracking, questionnaire and interview data, the work explores the types of online information sources involved in this process and examines their significance for destination image formation.