William N. Dilla

Interactive Data Visualization: New Directions for Accounting Information Systems Research

ABSTRACT: Many companies today utilize interactive data visualization to present accounting information to external users on their investor relations websites and to internal users in applications such as enterprise resource planning, Balanced Scorecard, network security, and fraud detection systems. We develop a taxonomy for examining the current state of interactive data visualization research related to accounting decision making. We organize our review around three themes: the relationship between task characteristics and interactive data visualization techniques, the relationship between decision maker characteristics and interactive data visualization techniques, and the impact of interactive data visualization techniques on decision processes and outcomes. The review categorizes relevant research, describes the research questions addressed, and suggests avenues for further research.

The effects of alternative supplementary display formats on balanced scorecard judgments

Abstract Using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to evaluate performance is a complex judgment task involving a large set of performance measures. Commercially available BSC software provides capabilities for providing decision guidance to the user through the design of supplementary information displays. This study compares the judgment performance of decision makers who received BSC data for two divisions of a simulated company in one of three formats: (1) individual BSCs for each division, (2) individual divisional BSCs supplemented by a side-by-side tabular summary of each divisions performance, and (3) individual divisional BSCs supplemented by a side-by-side graphical comparison of each divisions performance. Providing supplemental tabular displays did not improve judgment consensus, relative to viewing separate displays, but did improve consistency between performance evaluation and bonus allocation decisions. Consensus for participants using supplemental graphical displays was lower than that for participants viewing separate displays for each division. Further, participants given supplemental graphical displays exhibited lower judgment consensus and lower consistency between performance evaluation and bonus allocation decisions than those using supplemental tables. Inconsistency and lack of consensus are likely to create perceptions of unfairness, thereby increasing dissatisfaction with and resistance to continued use of the BSC. Thus, our findings indicate the need for care when designing and implementing BSC decision aids.

The relationship between internal audit and information security: An exploratory investigation

The internal audit and information security functions should work together synergistically: the information security staff designs, implements, and operates various procedures and technologies to protect the organizations information resources, and internal audit provides periodic feedback concerning effectiveness of those activities along with suggestions for improvement. Anecdotal reports in the professional literature, however, suggest that the two functions do not always have a harmonious relationship. This paper presents the first stage of a research program designed to investigate the nature of the relationship between the information security and internal audit functions. It reports the results of a series of semi-structured interviews with both internal auditors and information systems professionals. We develop an exploratory model of the factors that influence the nature of the relationship between the internal audit and information security functions, describe the potential benefits organizations can derive from that relationship, and present propositions to guide future research.

Using Information Display Characteristics to Provide Decision Guidance in a Choice Task under Conditions of Strict Uncertainty

This paper investigates the effects of two display characteristics on decisions in a preferential choice task under conditions of strict uncertainty. Participants receiving information in tabular format (n = 83) made fewer compensatory choices, more maximin choices, and selected dominated alternatives more often when outcome distributions were described in terms of a midpoint and variability rather than minimum and maximum values. In contrast, participants given data in a graphical format (n = 80) made more compensatory choices with midpoint‐variability than with min‐max graphs. Participants given information in graphical format selected fewer dominated alternatives than did participants who received the same information in tabular format. These findings have important policy implications. While it may be desirable to use display characteristics to influence employees to make decisions consistent with organizational policies, the desirability of providing such “persuasive” decision guidance is problematic...

Data visualization for fraud detection: Practice implications and a call for future research

Analysis of data to detect transaction anomalies is an important fraud detection procedure. Interactive data visualization tools that allow the investigator to change the representation of data from text to graphics and filter out subsets of transactions for further investigation have substantial potential for making the detection of fraudulent transactions more efficient and effective. However, little research to date has directly examined the efficacy of data visualization techniques for fraud detection. In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework to predict when and how investigators might use data visualization techniques to detect fraudulent transactions. We use this framework to develop testable propositions and research questions related to this topic. The paper concludes by discussing how academic research might proceed in investigating the efficacy of interactive data visualization tools for fraud detection.

The Assets Are Virtual but the Behavior Is Real: An Analysis of Fraud in Virtual Worlds and Its Implications for the Real World

ABSTRACT: Virtual worlds are computer-generated, immersive environments where participants interact with others while engaging in social, entertainment, and economic endeavors. To illustrate how virtual worlds can be used to study fraud, we examine documented virtual world fraud cases using the “fraud diamond” model (Wolfe and Hermanson 2004). Our findings have real-world implications regarding the causes and prevention of fraud. They include: (1) perpetrator motivations often include non-monetary achievement and manipulation, as well as financial gain, (2) fraud victims tend to have misplaced trust and overestimate the capability of fraud prevention governance mechanisms, (3) participant-designed record-keeping systems may protect corporate assets from theft, and (4) virtual worlds may serve as a laboratory for evaluating risk management strategies. We also identify future research questions related to these issues. This research illustrates how parallels between fraudulent behaviors in virtual and real ...

SECURQUAL: An Instrument for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Enterprise Information Security Programs

ABSTRACT: The ever-increasing number of security incidents underscores the need to understand the key determinants of an effective information security program. Research that addresses this topic requires objective measures, such as number of incidents, vulnerabilities, and non-compliance issues, as indicators of the effectiveness of an organizations information security activities. However, these measures are not readily available to researchers. While some research has used subjective assessments as a surrogate for objective security measures, such an approach raises questions about scope and reliability. To remedy these deficiencies, this study uses the COBIT Version 4.1 Maturity Model Rubrics to develop an instrument (SECURQUAL) that obtains an objective measure of the effectiveness of enterprise information security programs. We show that SECURQUAL scores reliably predict objective measures of information security program effectiveness. Future research might use the instrument as a surrogate effecti...

Assurance on Environmental Performance and Investor Judgments: The Impact of Environmental Attitudes

This study extends prior research by investigating and finding that nonprofessional investors’ attitudes regarding environmental sustainability affect their views on the relative importance of environmental versus financial performance and whether environmental performance affects firm investment returns. It also investigates how these views moderate the influence of environmental performance and assurance information on investor judgments. Environmental performance has a positive effect on the investment desirability and amount judgments of nonprofessional investors who find environmental performance relatively more important, and assurance has a positive effect on the investment desirability judgments of this same group of investors. However, neither environmental performance nor assurance affects the investment judgments of nonprofessional investors who believe that environmentally responsible companies yield higher returns. The results suggest that investors’ environmental attitudes are important in influencing the effects of environmental performance information on investment judgments.

Investor Attitudes, Investment Screen Use, and Socially Responsible Investment Behavior

There is an increasing demand for socially responsible investment (SRI), and SRI screens are an important source of information for investors. Yet, little is known about the relationship between investors’ attitudes, use of SRI screens, and actual SRI behavior. To examine this relationship, we gathered data on investors’ environmental attitudes, use of SRI screens, and SRI behavior. We find that four out of five components of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, a measure of basic environmental attitudes, are associated with specific attitudes towards environmentally responsible investment. These specific attitudes in turn are positively associated with SRI screen use, and SRI screen use is positively associated with the percentage of investors’ portfolio held in SRIs. There is also a significant direct relationship between specific environmentally responsible investment attitudes and SRI holdings. Our results suggest that there are complex, multi-dimensional relationships between investor attitudes, SRI screen use, and investment behavior.

Can Avatars Fight Fraud? How Virtual Business Environments Facilitate Learning More About Fraud Investigation and Prevention

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses how virtual business environments can accelerate the advancement of research in fraud investigation and mentions two topics within the issue including fraud in virtual world and role of Embodied Conversational Agents in interviews.