Faisal S. Alanezi

Factors Influencing Kuwaiti Companies' Internet Financial Reporting

The purpose of this study is to investigate empirically factors influencing Kuwaiti companies to disseminate their financial reports on the Internet. A regression model is estimated using logit analysis for a sample of 179 Kuwaiti companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange for 2007 to test the hypotheses of the study. The study’s results indicate that an Internet financial report is significantly influenced by the auditor type, company size and industry type. The results, however, do not provide evidence of a significant relation between Internet financial reports and any of the corporate governance attributes that were examined in this study.

Dual/joint auditors and the level of compliance with international financial reporting standards (IFRS‐required disclosure): The case of financial institutions in Kuwait

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of a dual-audit/joint-audit process and the level of compliance with IFRS in listed Kuwaiti financial institutions. Design/methodology/approach - An OLS-regression model was used to test the relationship among dual-audit/joint-audit process and the level of compliance with IFRS-disclosure. The sample was based on 33 firm observations in 2006. Findings - The main results reveal that financial institutions audited by dual-auditors were more compliant with IFRS-required disclosure than financial institutions audited by joint-auditors. Research limitations/implications - The authors have assumed that the work done by both auditors is as per the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) circular which obligates both auditors to do their fieldwork independently and then consolidate their work before issuing the final audit report. In the authors’ opinion, it is less likely that both auditors will not comply with CBK regulation, especially because CBK has the right to ban a non-compliant audit firm from auditing banks. The authors did not ask audit firms whether they are complying with this circular because it was believed that audit firms would not disclose a non-compliance issue with regulators to outsiders. Practical implications - This paper provides empirical evidence about the effectiveness of using dual-auditors in promoting compliance with IFRS-disclosure. Originality/value - To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the association between the levels of compliance with IFRS-disclosure and the dual/joint audit process in the financial institutions listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

Accounting students’ perceptions of effective faculty attributes

Purpose This study aims to explore the attributes of an effective accounting faculty from the student perspective. It also examines similarities and differences in the perceived importance of these attributes between bachelor’s and associate’s accounting degree students in two public higher education institutions in Kuwait, namely, Kuwait University (KU) and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was developed to identify ideal accounting faculty attributes. It was administered to a sample of accounting students at the two institutions in the 2014-2015 academic year. Descriptive statistics were collected and independent samples t-tests were run. Findings The most highly ranked attributes related to instructor characteristics and class delivery. Significant differences were found between KU and PAAET students in the perceived importance of attributes. KU students ranked class preparation and delivery attributes significantly higher than PAAET students. In contrast, PAAET students ranked attributes related to instructor characteristics and evaluation methods significantly higher than KU students. Practical implications These findings provide an insight into the attributes of an effective accounting faculty from the students’ perspective. A direct implication is that accounting faculty can incorporate the most important attributes into their course design and delivery. This may improve teaching effectiveness and ultimately student learning. Originality/value This research is timely because the College of Business Studies at PAAET has applied for accreditation with the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. As teaching effectiveness is a major consideration in the process, these findings may help it to enhance its performance and improve the chances of its accreditation application being successful. The study bridges a gap in the literature on teaching effectiveness because there appears very little, if any, research into the attributes of effective accounting teaching.