Christine Helliar

Frameworks Underpinning Corporate Governance: Evidence on Ugandan Perceptions

The evidence indicates that attempts to improve governance standards in a particular nation require more than the simple publication of codes of best practice. Root and branch changes in a wide-range of contextual factors, including at political and cultural levels, are required to provide the conditions in which meaningful improvements in corporate governance will occur. The results suggest that corporate governance standards in developing countries may appear on paper to be broadly similar to those in developed countries. However, a widespread perception exists that Ugandan frameworks are not yet strong enough to support what might normally be considered to be good practice. Sound corporate governance is seen as being a multi-faceted notion, with a range of political and social frameworks requiring strengthening before meaningful improvements can be made. The findings suggest that pervasive corruption and weaknesses in underlying frameworks have hampered attempts to improve practice. The results indicate that the mere emergence of detailed governance codes in developing countries does not necessarily mean that de facto practices will improve. This paper sets out to investigate perceptions about corporate governance practices in the developing African nation of Uganda. The study employs interview and questionnaire analysis to examine the part played by a range of factors in supporting effective governance.

Managerial attitudes to risk: a comparison of Scottish chartered accountants and U.K. managers

Abstract This paper examines attitudes to risk by Scottish chartered accountants and considers whether their risk-taking attitudes are similar to or different from those of other business managers in the U.K. The papers also investigates whether the respondents focus on simple heuristics rather than on statistical outcomes in their decision-making process. The findings reported here are based on a large survey of accountants and managers in different functional areas. The results suggest that accountants and managers exhibit many of the biases that have been documented for executives in other countries. A focus on the framing of a decision, an emphasis on the magnitude of negative outcomes and an insensitivity to probability estimates are all characteristics of the responses to the scenario cases provided. In addition respondents display clear views about the factors that influence the riskiness of a decision. A number of strategies are likely to be adopted by the respondents to control risk, including the gathering of information and consultation with colleagues. Finally, the respondents suggest that several groups, such as customers, competitors and large shareholders, influence risk decisions taken.

Attitudes of UK managers to risk and uncertainty

The authors provide an overview of their research into the attitudes of UK managers to risk and uncertainty. They find that, when it comes to decision making, managers in UK enterprises tend to focus on loss aversion rather than risk aversion. They found that managers’ personal attitudes to risk were often more important than risk management systems and their appropriateness.

The costs and benefits of IFRS implementation in the UK and Italy

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the opinions of national stakeholders on the costs and benefits of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation and to determine whether countries with disparate social, economical and political backgrounds have different experiences when complying with IFRS. Design/methodology/approach - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with preparers, users and auditors of annual reports and accounting regulators in the UK (including Ireland) and Italy. Findings - There were some differences in the experiences of IFRS implementation between stakeholders from different countries. However, there was widespread agreement that costs exceeded the benefits of reporting under the new standards. Further it is recognised that international standard-setters have a large set of stakeholder views to manage and it is therefore important that standard-setters are aware of the costs and benefits of their accounting requirements. Originality/value - This analysis is useful for companies that have not already adopted IFRS. It explains the differences and similarities of the costs and benefits of IFRS implementation from an Anglo-Saxon and an EU continental perspective.

Generic Skills in Audit Education

The academic literature and higher education benchmark statements identify groups of skills that are desirable both for students seeking employment and for employers seeking to recruit students. Professional accounting education pronouncements also stipulate skills that are necessary for an individual to possess in order to act as a competent accountant and auditor. Through a questionnaire survey, this research examines: (i) which of these skills audit and accounting practitioners expect UK universities to teach; (ii) which skills audit and accounting academics believe are important for students to acquire; (iii) which skills audit academics believe that employers require; and (iv) which skills audit academics teach in the UK. Institutional theory is used to develop and interpret this research.

The Ludwig report: implications for corporate governance

The Ludwig report concerning currency trading losses at AIB plc was issued in March 2002. This paper reviews the Ludwig report and assesses possible implications of the report for internal control and corporate governance procedures in treasury departments.

Evaluating FINESSE: a case-study in group-based CAL

Abstract The FINESSE project (Finance Education in a Scalable Software Environment) 1 addresses problems associated with the teaching of finance courses in the UK Higher Education sector by constructing a networked, computer-based portfolio management game. The FINESSE consortium consists of finance lecturers at the Universities of Dundee, Strathclyde, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Glasgow Caledonian University, and members of the Computer Sciences division at the University of St Andrews. Subject-specific resources were developed to exploit access to real-time stock-market data thereby allowing students to explore portfolio management strategies in a new and exciting way. This paper focuses on the need for a mix of methods when evaluating a CAL project, and on the desirability of including evaluation as part of the design stage and of the development process. We describe the various approaches employed to evaluate different aspects of FINESSE throughout the first 2 years of its use, and present the results of a student questionnaire.

Control of the treasury function

High profile disasters such as those experienced at Barings in 1995 and more recently at Enron and AIB Group, have resulted in increasing attention being focused on the internal control procedures of companies, in particular on the control mechanisms and processes in place in treasury departments. This paper uses interviews to investigate the internal control procedures at 11 treasury departments in the UK.

The Development of Trainee Auditors' Skills in Tertiary Education

This research examines the skills that practitioners, academics and students think are important for trainee auditors to possess for a successful auditing career. The research is based on the educational theories of experiential learning and information-processing. These theories suggest that graduates expecting to go into the auditing profession should have: (i) some concrete experience upon which to base an understanding of the techniques that they will be expected to learn once they begin audit work; and (ii) an understanding of basic constructs upon which new learning can be applied and built to then be able to critically examine and question the evidence that is presented to them on an audit. This study investigates the teaching methods that are used at UK universities on accounting degree programmes and assesses whether these two objectives are being met.

Practitioners’ Perspectives on the IPO Process and the Perils of Flotation

Abstract A substantive literature examines the short- and long-run performance of share returns following an Initial Public Offering (IPO). However, the related issue of why companies seek to raise money through an IPO, or the factors that are important in this equity-issuing process, have attracted very little academic attention. The current paper seeks to redress this imbalance by investigating attitudes to these issues in the UK using two research methods: (i) a detailed questionnaire survey of companies that have recently undertaken an IPO; and (ii) interviews with managers and advisers who have been involved in the IPO process.