Susan F. Haka

Information overload: A temporal approach☆

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide a more precise definition of information overload than previously found in the literature. Such a definition is essential to designing usable information systems. Drawing upon work in organization theory, information overload is defined as occuring when the information processing demands on an individuals time to perform interactions and internal calculations exceed the supply or capacity of time available for such processing. Cited empirical evidence demonstrates the reasonableness of the proposed definition.

Sophisticated capital budgeting selection techniques and firm performance

Firms using sophisticated capital budgeting techniques (i. e., those that employ present value analysis and account for risk) should theoretically perform better than firms using naive models such as the payback period or accounting rate of return. However, previous empirical work examining this question has produced mixed results. To correct for limitations in these studies, several tests were conducted on firms that adopted sophisticated selection techniques versus a control group of firms that employed naive techniques. After controlling for differences in systematic risk, industry effects, and size, interrupted time-series tests of relative market returns were performed. Based on the results of this study we conclude that the adoption of sophisticated capital budgeting selection techniques will not, per se, result in superior firm performance. It is possible that the adoption of sophisticated selection techniques is one of many policies the firm pursues in the face of economic stress, and this, in combination with other policies, may help to bring about economic recovery for the firm.

A Review of the Literature on Capital Budgeting and Investment Appraisal: Past, Present, and Future Musings

Abstract This chapter provides a historical appraisal of the development of current capital budgeting practices and reviews capital budgeting academic research. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the industrial revolution was instrumental in creating demand for capital budgeting processes and techniques. Academic research, beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s, is categorized by its focus on appraisal techniques, individual decision-maker effects, organizational issues, and environmental factors. Experimental, analytical, agency-based, survey-based, and case-based research is reviewed. The chapter concludes with a compilation of issues identified by academic research and a set of questions that have not yet been addressed.

Capital budgeting techniques and firm specific contingencies: A correlational analysis

Abstract By combining analytic developments in the financial theory of capital budgeting with contingency theory, an empirically testable contingent theory for DCFT (discounted cash flow techniques) was constructed. This theory was tested by correlating an effectiveness measure for DCFT, based on stock return data of the sample firms, with hypothesized contingent variables, measured via interview and questionnaire. The results indicated positive correlations between the effectiveness of DCFT and predictable environments, the use of long-term reward systems, and the degree of decentralization of the capital budgeting process.

Evidence of agency conflict among management, auditors, and the audit committee chair

Abstract This research examines perceptions of agency conflict via survey results from external auditors, internal auditors, management, and the audit committee chair of the board of directors. The results suggest the existence of agency conflicts between management and audit committee chairs regarding variables that constitute full financial disclosure and for variables that influence discretionary accounting procedure choices. In addition, the results provide evidence with regard to both internal and external auditor positions in agency conflicts. The external and internal auditors exhibited significant perceptual differences with the audit committee chairs about the variables hypothesized to influence accounting choices, but did not exhibit significant differences with managements perceptions.

Strategies for information systems implementation: The case of zero base budgeting

Abstract The objective of this study was to develop specific strategies that could be used to ease the implementation of a zero base budgeting (ZBB) information system. Drawing from the organizational design literature, a model was constructed to test a hypothesis concerning the relationship between several coping strategies and the information imbalance an organization may experience with ZBB. The results of an empirical study suggested that organizations could use certain strategies to lessen the likelihood of an unsuccessful implementation of ZBB resulting from information processing requirements exceeding information processing capacity.

Comments on the Proposed SEC's 2010-2015 Draft Strategic Plan

SYNOPSIS: The SEC has proposed a strategic plan that sets out its mission, vision, and values, four strategic goals, a set of desired outcomes associated with each strategic goal, and a list of performance measures for assessing the SEC’s effectiveness in attaining its goals. We affirm the need for vigorous enforcement of securities law and offer some research-based insights and performance indicators. We also acknowledge the importance of disclosure, but propose that the SEC needs to develop a disclosure framework and develop better operational indicators of quality of disclosure. It is important to appreciate the benefits of disclosure as well as its limits and potential dysfunctional consequences. We also discuss the need for an independent accounting standard setter and recommend that the SEC take a greater role in enhancing the independence of the FASB.

Fixed cost allocation and the constrained product mix decision

Abstract This paper focuses on the benefits of fixed cost allocation in product mix decisions. We show that in a constrained production environment where at least one factor of production is fixed and in short supply, oligopoly firms can earn higher profits by allocating the costs of these fixed factors The higher profits occur because the use of full absorption product costs leads firms closer to mix decisions that would be made if they were able to collude. A duopoly example is presented to illustrate these profit effects, and the necessary conditions for higher absorption costing profits are developed and explained.