BEST Scholarly Journals

Independent Accountant Opportunity for Wealth Management Reporting on Crowdfunding Engagements

Dr. Michael Ulinski, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY

Dr. Roy J. Girasa, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY

ABSTRACT

The researchers examined the statutory provisions of crowdfunding as a type of liquidity for business startups. The opportunity for local and regional CPA firms was noted as larger CPA firms may not be agile as smaller sized firms to handle reviews needed in crowdfunding engagements. Both clients receiving funding from this new source of capital and intermediaries charged with researching the viability of projects could use specialty firms able to finish due diligence review requirements in a timely manner. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations for firms interested in a fast growing field of wealth management. The financial crisis of 2007-2009 that occurred in the United States and for a longer period globally that led to the highest level of unemployment since the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a major rethinking in Congress concerning how to deal with the crisis. Legislatively, the Dodd-Frank Act(1) sought to curb the abuses within the financial system with its 1,000 page, multiple titled divisions that encompassed perceived abuses and causes of the crisis particularly by banking institutions. As a result, the statute resulted in major overhauling of substantive financial sectors that also included the Volcker Rule(2) that essentially prohibited banks from engaging in risk-oriented investment activities such as in hedge funds, probation (not successful) of “too-big-to-fail” banks, reform of credit rating agencies, the creation of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC)(3)to regulate financial sectors of the economy that may create financial danger to overall U.S. financial stability, protection of consumers, and other provisions.

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Improving Quality Using Plackett-Burman Screening Designs

Dr. John E. Knight, University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, Tennessee

ABSTRACT

The improvement of product quality can be achieved more effectively using a sequential methodology that includes experimental design as suggested by the six-sigma philosophy {Pande, Neuman, and Cavanagh (2000), Breyfogle (2003). Chowdhury (2001), Lucas (2002)}. Other well-known systematic improvement methodologies developed by Qual Pro Consulting of Knoxville and Joseph Juran (Goetsch, 2014) have different numbers of steps but are equally effective. The final goal of these methodologies builds toward finding break-through improvements using designed experiments that identify and optimize statistically significant factors that influence product quality in light of the many potential ideas that are available to investigate. Plackett-Burman designs (Tyssedal, 2008) are multivariate fractional factorial arrays that strive to identify statistically significant main effects while hinting of possible interactions. The designs also offer the advantage of great reductions in the sample sizes needed to identify significant factors. These multifactor design of experiments provide far greater analytical ability than traditional one factor at a time testing. This paper will demonstrate the usefulness of the multifactor design principles as compared to one factor at a time testing. The approach will be illustrated by the successful application of the principles using a case example in the carbon electrode manufacturing environment. The introduction of systematic quality improvement methodologies such as six-sigma greatly enhanced the logic and organization of statistical improvements in quality.

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Building Trust and Agreement in Negotiations

Dr. David A Robinson, RMIT Asia Graduate School, Vietnam

Dr. Kleanthes Yannakou, RMIT Graduate School of Business and Law, Australia

ABSTRACT

This article expands the theme of ‘meta-modelling’ to embrace an aspect of negotiation theory that never seems to date. To skilfully craft solutions that not only give negotiating parties a short-term ‘win’ but also build a foundation for long-term mutual benefit must surely be the quintessential prize sought by organizations and governments engaged in diplomatic relations and negotiations. But why is it so seldom achievable in one-on-one negotiations between individuals or small groups, whether business, community, or personal relationships? This question has been pondered by many and remains one of the most important aspects of leadership and management. This paper seeks to answer it by integrating negotiation styles theory and traditional wisdom about how to negotiate with allies and adversaries within the values journey meta-model. It examines how ultimate collaborative (win-win) solutions can be brought to fruition when trust and agreement are forged in equal measures within a context of high-level shared values represented by the third paradigm of the values journey model. Negotiation was addressed as one of the themes in the meta-model series (Robinson, Morgan and Nguyen, 2016) and negotiation styles have previously been re-positioned within a values framework (Robinson and Nguyen, 2016), thereby providing a framework by which to predict an individual’s negotiating position in an effort to pre-empt their propensity and ability to seek collaborative outcomes. It was concluded that individuals living higher-level values will be best-placed to win in any negotiation. That being the case, it presents the axiom that when both parties enter into negotiation from a high-values base there is a high propensity for both parties to win.

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The Impact on Firm Value of LIFO Adoptions Revisited

Dr. John R. Wingender, Jr., Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska

Dr. Thomas A. Shimerda, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska

Dr. Thomas J. Purcell, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska

ABSTRACT

In this paper the impact of the corporate decision to switch their GAAP inventory valuation to the LIFO (Last In, First Out) method. Research from 30 to 40 years finds significant positive abnormal returns from the adoption of LIFO. However, economic conditions were very different then with the high inflation rates in the 1970s than in the 21st Century. We replicate these studies with data starting in 2000. In our sample we find a significant positive impact on firm value from LIFO adoptions which is surprising given the low inflation environment of this sample. Traditional work on the impact of firm value from managerial decisions to change GAAP postulates that accounting changes do not change firms’ cash flow, thus should have no impact on firm value. As the Literature Review section recounts, most all tests of accounting changes with event methodology indicate no statistically significant change in firm value as measured by the average abnormal return on the event date of the change in the accounting method. The exception to the rule has been switches from FIFO (First In, Last Out) method to LIFO (Last In, First Out) method. There are many reasons for this finding. The main reason is that switching to LIFO in high inflation times leads to immediate costing to increase, with no change in actual cash outflow or change in cash value of inventory. An increase in accounting expenses leads to lower earnings before taxes. This leads to lower taxes, which is a lower cash outflow. This results in higher after-tax cash flow today. Thus there is a direct impact on cash flow without any change in overall risk which should lead to increased firm value today. Although the accounting changes washout over time, the impact on the time value of money from getting cash sooner rather than later is significantly positive.

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Evaluation of Questionnaire for Transfer Pricing Issue of SMEs in Europe

Dr. Veronika Solilova, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic

Dr. Danuse Nerudova, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

Although SMEs present more than 99 % of enterprises acting in the non-financial business sector in EU and contribute significantly to national and global economic growth, they are facing a lot of obstacles resulting into the higher compliance costs of taxation and lower participation on the international markets. Our research focused on the transfer pricing of SMEs and its compliance costs, which present one of the obstacles which SMEs are facing. The current approach of transfer pricing for SMEs and its related costs were evaluated based on the results of the questionnaire performed in Europe. Based on the results we can concluded that SMEs would appreciate the introduction of specific measurements for transfer pricing which would decrease their increased compliance costs of transfer pricing. Their costs for managing of general transfer pricing requirements were estimated up to EUR 2,000 per year, however, in case of documentation up to EUR 6,000 per year. The European Commission (2003) defines the Small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter SMEs) according to the number of employees, turnover or balance sheet total as enterprises which employ less than 250 employees and have an annual turnover of less than EUR 50 million, and / or their balance sheet total is less than EUR 43 million. The European Commission (2015) states that SMEs present 99.9 % (i.e. 22.3 million) of all enterprises acting in the non-financial business sector in 2014. Although SMEs contribute significantly to national and global economic growth (i.e. 28 % of GDP in EU28), they are facing a lot of obstacles such as increased level of regulation, reduced availability of skilled staff, 27 different tax and accounting systems and others.

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Teaching Economics, In-class versus Online Effectiveness

Dr. Doina Vlad, Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA

ABSTRACT

This research paper looks into the advantages and disadvantages of switching from traditional in-class teaching of economics, to online teaching. The research data comes from student evaluations and surveys. Some advantages from the online class delivery format noted by students are: time saved not having to travel to and from school, especially during the wintertime and for night classes; the advantage of having recordings available for them, so they can listen to them as many times as needed until they feel confident in mastering the material; students enjoyed learning more about the technology and new software, which are transferable skills to the modern workplace; increase student self-confidence and the ability to work independently in an online environment. For future research I want to include student assessment measures and compare the learning achieved in the regular face-to-face classes to results achieved by students in the online courses. Let’s take a walk on one of the big universities campuses and look around; what we’ll probably see are buildings, parks, a Student Center, sports arena, and many buildings and places meant to make students feel comfortable and "live the true life of a student." That happened to me as well while in Graduate School. I remember one of my "take a break from studying" routine during a cold day was to "get lost" in the Student Center lounge, many times with a cup of coffee in front of a TV watching something that wasn't really interesting, but relaxed me; or during a sunny day, walking around the lake and sitting on the benches and looking at the water, that relaxed me as well. Fast-forward 15 years later; how do students relax, interact, and what do they expect from the "college experience" today?

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Monitoring and Accelerating Structural Change via Exports: A Capability Based Approach for Turkey

Dr. Hayrettin Kaplan, Marmara University, Istanbul

ABSTRACT

Development is shifting resources from low productive activities to high productive ones. So development should be understood as a dynamic endless process. The process should be responsive to the development of the capabilities that a country has. In this regard we try to determine the activities that a developing country should focus when the already developed capabilities are taken into account. We monitor the development of export performance and the structural change Turkey has experienced between 1995 and 2013. We evaluated the existing industry structure and determined the potential sectors that are more productive and suitable with the capability stock of Turkey. These sectors are proposed to be the potential accelerators of the ongoing structural change. Development is a process of structural change towards sectors which have higher productivity. Since sectors are differentiated among their productive capacity and demand elasticity, heading towards more efficient sectors increases the overall productivity in the economy (Prebisch, 1950; Kuznets, 1966, Paus, 2012). During the process of structural change, developing countries first tends to shift resources from agriculture to industry in the sense of Lewis (1954) by importing foreign technology and capital to increase productivity. As the country develops, increasing productivity via importing capital and technology tends to reach its limits in conjunction with the diminishing inactive labor force supply in the agriculture sector (Eichengreen et. al. 2011). But as development in the sense of structural change towards more productive sectors is an endless process; countries should focus on and shift resources towards more productive sectors within the industry (Hausmann, Hwang ve Rodrik, 2005; McMillan ve Rodrik, 2011; Rodrik, 2011). There raises two issues: (i) which sectors would increase the productivity of the country most, (ii) has the country own enough capabilities to have production in those sectors efficiently?

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An Iterated Variable Neighborhood Search Algorithm for a Single-Machine Scheduling

Problem with Periodic Maintenance and Sequence-Dependent Setup Times

Dr. Chun-Lung Chen, Takming University of Science and Technology, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

ABSTRACT

We consider the scheduling problems in a single machine with periodic maintenance and sequence-dependent setup times. The objective is to minimize the total weighted tardiness of the problem. The problem considered in the paper is a NP-hard in a strong sense. It requires much computation time to find the optimal solution; therefore, heuristics are an acceptable practice for finding good solutions. In this paper, an iterated variable neighborhood search algorithm is proposed to solve the problems. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, several algorithms are examined on a set of 320 instances. The results show the proposed algorithm performs effective. In this research, an iterated variable neighborhood search algorithm is proposed to solve the problem of single machine scheduling with periodic maintenance and sequence-dependent setup times. The objective is to minimize the total weighted tardiness of the problem. For convenience, we refer to the proposed algorithm as IVNS. The single machine scheduling problem does not necessarily involve a single machine; issues in a complicated machine environment, such as a single bottleneck (Gagne et al., 2002; Liao & Juan, 2007) or other complex scheduling issues, can also be fully reduced to single machine scheduling; for instance, a group of machines may be treated as a single machine (Al-Turki et al., 2001; Ying et al., 2009). In order to simplify the scheduling problems, the researchers in the past assumed that all the machines were available all the time in their studies, but it is not the case in real situation. This unavailability is due to certain causes that result in the machine halt. For example, routine maintenance or repair would limit the availability of the machine. In addition, companies nowadays emphasize the need for problem prevention and maintenance, so the machine are usually scheduled for periodical maintenance to make sure that the machines won’t fail and thus result in greater loss of production capacity.

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Analyzing Financial Time Series Using Monte Carlo Bayesian Approach

Dr. Jae J. Lee, State University of New York, New Paltz, NY

ABSTRACT

This paper explains how to analyze financial time series data using Bayesian inference with Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) algorithm. Many business and economic time series are parsimoniously modeled by Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. Bayesian inference provides a systematic way to incorporate researcher’s prior knowledge in the analysis of data and provides a sequential way to update analysis given new data. Rather than repeated sampling paradigm, its paradigm is to treat the unknown entities as a random vector and to derive a posterior probability density for the random vector. Summary of the random vector is usually based on random draws of the posterior probability density. MCMC algorithm helps generate random draws of the posterior probability density that doesn’t have an analytical form from which random draws are easily obtained. In this paper, several ARIMA models are modeled using simulated data. Prior density and posterior density of parameters of each ARIMA model are obtained by Bayesian inference. A random walk Metropolis and Hastings algorithm is used to generate random draws of posterior density. Random draws are used to summarize characteristics of parameters of ARIMA models. Some convergence diagnostics of MCMC approach are discussed. A business and economics time series is a stationary if the joint distribution of a time series is not affected by a change of time origin. If a time series shows a stationary pattern, autoregressive (AR), moving average (MA) or mixed (ARMA) model is very useful to model a stochastic structure that generates the series. However, many business and economics time series do not show the stationary pattern. A particular nonstationary pattern is a homogeneous nonstationary that is homogeneous except in level and/or slope. Such behavior can be modeled using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA).

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Development of Marketing Capabilities Along the Life Cycle of the Firm

Katharina Buttenberg, University of Latvia

ABSTRACT

Marketing capabilities have gained a lot of interest in resource-based theory literature in the last decade. Customer- and Brand-oriented marketing capabilities have been identified as one of the key capabilities for business performance. Therefore, these capabilities have to be acquired and developed at a very early stage in the firm. The purpose of this paper is to identify the specific challenges firms have to face in the development of capabilities during their life cycle, specifically marketing capabilities. The approach is a literature review. For the analysis, the author draws on the literature of the resource-based theory for marketing capabilities and life cycle theory. Key findings are that young firms have to specifically establish marketing capabilities to be successful in terms of business performance and later on they have to further develop these capabilities. Since the development of capabilities in young firms very often is an unstructured process, practical implications of this paper prompt that a structured process for the development of marketing capabilities should be established to ensure successful future development. This is a theoretical paper and includes the findings of the literature analysis of the resource-based theory on marketing capabilities in connection to business performance and the life cycle theory on capability-development, as well as findings and suggestions for future steps in empirical research. The resource-based theory (RBT) is based on the theoretical approach that a firm can gain competitive advantage by acquiring a unique set of resources (Barney, 1991). Amit and Schoemaker evolved the concept of resources by introducing capabilities, which are firm-specific processes, developed over time. (Amit & Schoemaker, 1993, p. 35) To develop these capabilities and benefit from their full potential, firms and their managers must carefully pick, manage, monitor and sometimes shed them. (Sirmon & Hitt, 2003, pp. 344–348)

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How Idol Admiration Affects Audience's Willingness to Watch Broadcasts of Japanese

Professional Baseball Games: A Case Study of Taiwanese Baseball Players in Japan

Dr. Yu-Chih Lo, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan

Dr. Tu-Kuang Ho, Taiwan Hospitality & Tourism University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Professional baseball has been very popular in Taiwan. As more Taiwanese baseball players are scouted and signed by overseas professional baseball organizations, these overseas professional baseball leagues with Taiwanese players have attracted more audience in Taiwan. The study aimed at exploring Taiwanese baseball audience’s willingness toward broadcasted Japanese professional baseball games (NPB), subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and idol admiration, these factors’ effects on behavior intent. For the study, the researchers utilized purposive sampling and administered 310 questionnaires in total. After filtering 10 invalid questionnaires, the study collected 300 valid questionnaires, yielding a 96.8 percent survey response rate. In terms of data analysis, the researchers first processed demographic variables with descriptive statistics in SPSS 20.0, followed by multivariate analysis and model rationality validation, which were further analyzed as measurement model and structure model, in AMOS 20.0. The results found that firstly, audience’s willingness toward broadcasted NPB games, perceived behavior control, and idol admiration, have significant influence on behavior intent. Whereas, for the audience’s subjective norms toward broadcasted NPB games, the study found no significant impact on behavior intent. In conclusion, based on the findings, the researchers then made recommendations for future studies on idol admiration and spectator behavior in sports. In recent years, sports activities have increasingly become professionalized. Famous baseball players from Taiwan have been recognized and valued by baseball teams in Japan.

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Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Organic Growth within Vertical Software Firms

James Simak, Jacksonville University, Florida

Steven T. Kelley, Jacksonville University, Florida

Dr. Vikas Agrawal, Jacksonville University, Florida

INTRODUCTION

Growth in competitive industries is often pursued through mergers, acquisitions and consolidations, frequently with less than desirable, lasting results as the outcome. However, a larger balance sheet or increased revenues are initially certain, providing organizations with confidence that the growth objectives will be met. In contrast, organic growth is abstract and uncertain, historically pursued by development of strategic competitive advantage through superior marketing efforts refining or redefining product, place, price and promotion to gain market share. As an alternative, a growing number of theories and models have been developed around the importance of risk taking through entrepreneurship and innovation as the principal method of achieving long term, sustainable growth. This study investigates factors identified by senior managers as contributory to entrepreneurship and innovation within diversified, established vertical software firms and tests hypotheses related to such factors for growth and success of the firm. Further, this study attempts to determine if sustained organic growth of the firm must include innovation and entrepreneurship as fundamental competencies. Interviews were conducted with senior leaders responsible for overall business unit results including sales and marketing, operations, product development and competitive strategy in niche software vertical markets. Confirmatory empirical data and research findings are presented that test hypotheses of underlying relationships of key factors as drivers or barriers to innovation and related organic growth within the firm. Drucker (1954) declared that business has only two basic functions, marketing and innovation. This perspective of innovation as a critical business function has endured more than sixty years and suggests entrepreneurship and innovation provide competitive advantage for growing and sustaining business (Crossan & Apaydin, 2010).

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Effect of Deferred Tax Reporting – Case of Publicly Traded Companies in Czech Republic

Dr. Hana Bohusova, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

Dr. Patrik Svoboda, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT

The reporting of deferred tax is an instrument for distributable profit or loss regulation in a form of an accrual or a deferral. The research aimed at deferred tax in European companies is very limited. The majority of studies carried out in this issue concerns firms incorporated in the USA and covers period beginning in 1994. The contribution to the current research in this issue is that the research is concerned to non US companies reporting according to IFRS. The structure of deferred tax category of publicly traded joint-stock companies in the Czech Republic and its impact on financial analysis ratios are subjects of the research. According to information of Prague Stock Exchange (2016), there were 24 publicly traded companies trading their stocks on Prague Stock Exchange in researched period in total. The financial institutions (5) were excluded from the research. Additional 5 companies were excluded due to incompletely information provided. The research is built on results of the authors´ previous research. The processed data were obtained from annual report of the companies. The materiality of deferred tax category within our sample was examined and details on the most significant components of temporary differences were presented. The relation between deferred tax expense and the total corporate income tax expense in the period and the relation between deferred tax changes and EBIT and EAT were tested. According to CreditRiskMonitor (2016), there are 73.458 parent entities traded on regulated capital markets over the world.

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Mitigating Risk from Railcar Bearing Failures: A Predictive Model for Identifying Failures

Dr. Vikas Agrawal, Jacksonville University, FL

Kimberly Bynum, Jacksonville University, FL

John Jinkner, Jacksonville University, FL

Frank Lombardo, Jacksonville University, FL

ABSTRACT

Previous research on accident rates for trains has shown that, when trains are traveling above 25 miles per hour, the main cause of accidents is equipment failure that, to a high degree, includes bearing failure. Using data collected from acoustic wayside defect detectors along railroad tracks, statistical analyses were conducted to build a model that will predict the percent probability of bearing failures. This information may be useful to better detect defective bearings before a failure, and to create maintenance schedules using predicted failure rates to maximize railroad safety and minimize maintenance costs. Railroad companies use wayside detectors and automated analyzers to identify railcars and associated equipment that exhibit operating parameters which warrant repair or replacement. Three United States railroads (CSX, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern) have partnered to develop the Joint Wayside Diagnostic System (JWDS). Although each railroad operates its own separate portion of the JWDS system, all data is fed into a single database, and this database is available for information exchange between the railroads. Equipment failure and/or car downtime prove expensive for railroad companies. Real-time condition monitoring and reporting provided by JWDS mitigates downtime and accidents, and therefore costs. The system identifies and prioritizes rail car conditions allowing inspectors to move from finders to fixers by proactively flagging real-time readings rather than waiting until after an equipment failure or derailment occurs. Data mining the JWDS database allows trends and patterns to be discovered early which may reduce equipment down time, and in extreme cases, may even save lives.

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Market Reactions to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Merger

Chiawen Liu, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Taychang Wang, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Wan-Ting (Alexandra) Wu, University of Massachusetts Boston, MA

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the market reactions to the merger of Coopers & Lybrand (CL) and Price Waterhouse (PW) in 1997. The results show that, when the merger plan was announced, there are no significant abnormal returns for CL clients, PW clients, or clients of both accounting firms. Further analyses show that the market reactions to the merger plan are indifferent between firms with varying monitoring demand. Although the monitoring hypothesis is rejected, we find evidence consistent with the insurance hypothesis: financially-distressed clients have more positive abnormal returns around the date of announcement than financially-healthy clients. Such results imply that investors of a financially-distressed client expect more benefits from the merger of its accounting firm which enhances auditors’ insurance role against a corporate failure. Merger and acquisition has been a corporate strategy to expand market share or improve company performance. Accounting profession is no exception. In 1989, Ernst & Young was formed by the merger of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young. In the same year, Deloitte, Haskins & Sells and Touche Ross merged and became Deloitte & Touche. In this merger wave, the Big 8 shrank to the Big 6. On September 18, 1997, Coopers & Lybrand (CL) and Price Waterhouse (PW), at the time the fifth- and the sixth-largest accounting firms in the U.S., announced to establish the world’s accounting giant, with combined annual fees of $11.8 billion in worldwide in 1996 and about 135,000 employees across the globe. The accomplishment of this merger created PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on July 1, 1998 and further reduced the Big 6 accounting firms to the Big 5.

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