Monika Kansal

Voluntary disclosures of intellectual capital: An empirical analysis

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate inter firm intellectual capital (IC) disclosures and its variations in top 20 listed pharmaceutical companies in India, study the category wise and element wise IC disclosures (ICD), find out the impact of ICD on the creation of IC in monetary terms, find out correlation between IC valuation and its disclosure, and test significance of correlation.Design/methodology/approach – This is an exploratory and empirical study of ICD by sample companies in 2009 using content analysis. IC is valued as market value minus book value. Five‐point scale (0‐4), mean disclosure score, range, Chi‐ squares, Karl Pearsons correlation and Students t‐test are used for analysis and interpretation.Findings – Although top 20 companies of knowledge‐led industry, ICD are low, narrative and varying significantly among companies. ICD score varies in range of 4 to 36 against expected score of 96. External capital with mean score of 18.78 is the most disclosed category. Brands and business co...

Intellectual capital and financial performance: an evaluation of the Australian financial sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the intellectual capital (IC) performance of the Australian Financial Sector for the period 2006‐2008. It also aims to examine the relationship between IC performance and the financial performance of the financial sector.Design/methodology/approach – The value added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) approach developed by Pulic is used to determine the IC performance of the Australian financial sector. The required data to calculate different constituents of IC was obtained from the annual reports of Australian Financial Sector companies.Findings – The value creation capability of financial sector in Australia is highly influenced by human capital. About two thirds of the sample companies have very low levels of intellectual capital efficiency. The performance of various components of VAIC and overall VAIC differs across all subsectors in the financial sector. Investment companies have high value VAIC due to higher a level of human capital efficiency, as comp...

Measurement of corporate social performance: an Indian perspective

Purpose - This paper aims to: design a comprehensive, review-based and statistically tested corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) index; measure item-wise and theme-wise the social performance of the top 82 companies in India; and investigate item-wise and theme-wise the variations in CSRD. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents an empirical study of CSRD in 2009-2010, using content analysis, Cronbachs Findings - CSRD shows less satisfactory social performance, mainly narrative, and varies significantly among items and themes. Community development, with a mean score of 14.30, is the most disclosed theme, followed by HR, with a score of 11.20. The human element is the center of social performance in India. More than equal focus should be given to the environment and to emissions, which impact the greater interests of the world. Some burning global issues like water usage, alternative sources of energy, product safety and innovation have not received adequate attention. Research limitations/implications - The study offers ample scope for the further studies as each and every theme and item considered in the model/index requires individual focus to serve the future generations of mankind. Longitudinal/transnational studies in the area of CSR could be carried out to set the scene for further studies. Practical implications - The paper recommends mandatory CSR norms leading to improved disclosure, the sharing of innovative knowledge, cost reductions and enhanced effectiveness in managing scarce resources. Originality/value - The paper evaluates social performance in the economic, social, religious environment and highlights the emerging philanthropic attitude. The paper improves an existing model by incorporating an emerging dimension, i.e. “Emissions of carbon and other harmful gases”. The CSEEE index designed here is highly appropriate for developing economies like India. The paper measures CSRD using six-point scales for the first time.

Measuring intellectual capital performance of Indian banks: A public and private sector comparison

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to measure the intellectual capital performance of Indian banks and established a relationship between intellectual capital and return on assets (ROA). The paper also compared the intellectual capital performance of public sector and private sector banks. Design/methodology/approach - – This study is based on secondary data from the top 20 Indian banks. Ten banks were selected from each of the public and private sectors on the basis of paid-up equity capital. The analysis was made using the value added intellectual coefficient, the coefficient of variation, exponential growth rates, trend analysis, Yule’s coefficient, the coefficient of correlation, the Findings - – The study revealed that private sectors have performed relatively better regarding the creation of total information coefficient (IC). However, the ROA was still below the international benchmark of > - 1 percent. The major cause of the lower IC and the reduced ROA is disproportionate to the increase in capital employed and escalating non-performing assets in the Indian banking sector. Practical implications - – The study focussed on managers and identified the causes of lower performance. It proposed numerous strategies to improve the aggregate score of IC, which is closely related to bank profitability. Originality/value - – This is the first study to make a comparative analysis of intellectual capital performance in public and private sector banks in India and in addition to the traditional style of measuring sectoral performance. Further, the study employed new statistical tools, such as Yule’s coefficient of association, to establish the association between performance variables.

IFRS adoption challenges in developing economies: an Indian perspective

Purpose This study aims to examine the perceptions of accounting practitioners and users about implementation challenges with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) at the pre-implementation stage. Under institutional pressures, India conveyed its decision to implement IFRS beginning 1 April 2016, despite initial reluctance to adopt IFRS. It specifically explores the responses of accounting professionals (preparers) and the banking industry professionals (users) in India to challenges in IFRS implementation, rather than more widely researched dimensions of IFRS implementation such as reasons for adoption, experience effects and diversity in practice. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach was adopted, using a questionnaire survey that provided 192 responses from accounting practitioners and banking professionals working in India. Findings The findings convey IFRS implementation preparedness perceptions of participants with respect to education, training and information technology (IT) infrastructure. Respondents acknowledged the efforts and capability of the accounting body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, but expressed reservations about training, cost, interpretation, IT infrastructure and staffing. The accounting practitioners and the users have similar perspectives on the subject of awareness and preparedness challenges of IFRS implementation. Practical implications The study heightens awareness of the challenges facing jurisdictions who express initial reluctance, although they ultimately decide to adopt IFRS on account of institutional pressures. The analysis suggests that the International Accounting Standards Board should increase focus on implementation issues, in addition to updating and making IFRSs. Originality/value The study is distinct from the studies in abundance on the creation of accounting standards, implementation benefits and their implication in a specific geography.

Reporting human resources in annual reports: an empirical evidence from top Indian companies

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of corporate disclosure on human resources (HR) in the annual reports of top performing Indian companies. Design/methodology/approach - – The paper explores the extent to which top 82 companies from India present information about HR in their annual reports. This study examines the annual reports of each of the top Indian firms listed on the Bombay stock exchange, using the “content analysis” method. Statistical tests have been performed to analyse the difference between the HR disclosure score across public and private sectors and disclosure variations among various industrial sectors. Findings - – In-house training programmes has been noticed to be the favourite item of disclosure followed by safety awards/certifications and statements regarding cordial relations with the employees/unions. A majority of the Indian firms have ignored significant HR issues such as employee welfare fund, maternity/paternity leaves, holiday benefits, employee loans and adopting old age homes, etc. Overall, the study reflects low HR related disclosures. No statistically significant difference has been found between the mean HR disclosure from one industry to another and disclosure practices of the private and the public sector companies. Practical implications - – The disclosure pattern of the Indian companies suggests that they only a few companies are concerned about employees’ welfare than the rest. This may motivate a change of the disclosure policy of the rest of the firms who may follow the reporting pattern of the most disclosing ones. Originality/value - – This is first study on the disclosure of HR by the Indian corporate sector in the CSR domain with a disclosure analysis for a period of nine years . This research provides new directions for the literature in this area and may promote comparative studies on HR-based studies from different perspectives.

Awareness of intellectual capital among bank executives in India: a survey

Purpose This paper aims to explore the awareness of terminology related to intellectual capital (IC) among executives of Indian banks and the sources in which they mostly find IC-related terminology. The paper also explores relative and specific contributions of each selected source of information in creating IC awareness among bank executives in India and determines difference among the executives from the public and private sector. Design/methodology/approach This research paper follows a survey-based approach to capture the perceptions of Indian bank managers working middle and top management across different banks. Regression analysis and ANOVA were applied to data from 166 responses. Findings The study finds that IC awareness among Indian banking executives is reasonably high and is equally spread across the three sub-categories of capital (external capital, human capital and internal capital), though the relative awareness of external capital is on the higher side. However, the sources of awareness of IC terminology differ among executives from the public- and private-sector banks. Research limitations/implications The sample was limited to middle and top managers in the Indian banking industry and suffers from the usual limitations of survey-based research such as the design of the survey instrument and the personal biases of the respondents. Some limitations may also have arisen because of the definitions of IC elements adopted by this study. Originality/value This research adds a new dimension to the IC research by exploring the practical application and awareness of IC that deviates from traditional annual report-based disclosure and valuation studies. No existing literature has examined the survey-based awareness study, particularly on the banking industry. This paper provides a foundation for future studies that examine the operational awareness and application of IC in the service industries.