The Level of Non-Mandatory Disclosures in Developing Countries: a Fijian Perspective

Purpose Investigates the influence of society, harmonization and market orientation on the level of non-mandatory disclosures in a developing country context - Fiji. Design/methodology/approach Theoretically, this paper uses legitimacy theory. A content analysis of the non- mandatory disclosures of the 15 listed public companies in Fiji was undertaken. Findings Findings indicate that outright adoption of International Accounting Standards (IASs) by Fijian public limited companies does not engender in adequate disclosure of information on a non-mandatory basis. This is largely ascribed to the differing cultural values of societies and monopolistic characteristics of markets in Fiji that discourage individuals to exercise judgement. Further, findings suggest that the influence of society, market concentration and harmonisation of accounting standards has not rendered increased disclosure of non- mandatory information than those considered mandatory by the subject listed companies. Research limitations/implications While the methods utilised delivered a great deal of useful quantitative data, it must be remembered that the results were based on 15 listed companies in Fiji’s Stock Exchange. Further studies using similar variables to this one from other developing countries would provide understanding of the extent to which these results are generalisable across other developing countries and industries. Practical implications Results provide a resource for individuals, organisations and policy makers attempting to explicate or understand what induces particular entities to voluntarily disclose non- mandatory information in their annual report. Original/value of paper Adds to our understanding of non- mandatory disclosure and therefore represents a substantial addition to, and extension of, the international literature engaged in efforts to interpret the motives for such disclosure.Harmonisation, Non-Mandatory Disclosure, Culture, Developing Economies, International Accounting Standards, Fiji

On Information Technology Competencies for Collaborative Organizational Structures

There is an uptake of organizations’ involvement in collaborative organizational structures (COS). Consistent with the resource-centric views of the firm, we suggest that the COS members need to contribute their managed IT competencies to their COS, whose synergies would create COS IT competencies. We suggest three key IT competencies for COS: proactive top management decision synergy, collaborative and agile IT infrastructure, and cross-functional tactical management synergy. Using survey data, we found evidence of a positive association between these COS IT competencies and the collaborative rent-generating potential of the COS. We also found a positive association between the collaborative rent-generating potential of the COS and the business value of the COS members. The results suggest that developing COS IT competencies add value to a COS and its members. This study provides guidance for organizations looking to leverage their involvement in a COS

Regional integration 2.0 : facilitating regional integration and development with collaborative technologies

The current global economic instability and the vulnerability of small nations provide the impetus for greater integration between the countries of the South Pacific region. This exercise is critical for their survival. Past efforts of regional integration in the South Pacific have mostly failed. However, today&rsquo;s IT collaborative capabilities provide the opportunity to develop a shared IT infrastructure to facilitate integration in the South Pacific. In developing an IT-backed model of regional integration, this study identifies and reports on the antecedents of the current stage for integration in the Pacific. We conducted interviews with twenty five individuals from various sectors and find that while most respondents were optimistic about the potential of IT-backed regional integration, significant challenges exists. The study identifies and discusses these challenges providing policy implications to stakeholders in the regional integration process. The findings will assist in suggesting a model of regional integration 2.0 for the Pacific region.<br /

Beyond normal competencies: understanding organisation designs to develop and sustain IT-related capabilities

Information technology (IT) is an important resource in organisations. Organisations leverage their IT resources with their IT-related capabilities to achieve, and sustain their competitive position. However, IT resources are dynamic, and evolve continually. Furthermore, competitive pressures and turbulent economic conditions mean that organisations continually invest in these dynamic IT resources. These situations mean that organisations need to sustain their IT-related competencies to leverage opportunities offered by the new IT resources. Research about ways to develop new, and sustain existing, IT-related capabilities is limited. A possible reason for the lack of research in this area is the lack of validated measurement items of theoretical constructs necessary to investigate ways to create new, and sustain, existing, IT-related competencies and capabilities. In this study, we suggest an environment in which organisations could build new, and sustain their existing IT-related capabilities. We report on the resources and processes that establish this environment. We also report on the development of valid measures of the elements of this environment. Analysis of pilot test data revealed that the measurement items purport to measure what they intended to measure. This study's outcome is useful in extending our understanding of IT-related competence development to secure sustainable IT-related business value from the IT resources

On Facilitating Regional Integration and Economic Development with Collaborative Technologies in the South Pacific

The current global economic instability and the vulnerability of small island nations are providing the impetus for greater integration between the countries of the South Pacific region. This exercise is critical for their survival in today’s turbulent economic environment. Past efforts of regional integration in the South Pacific have not been very successful. Reasons attributed to this outcome include issues related to damage of sovereignty, and lack of a shared integration infrastructure. Today, the IT resources with collaborative capacities provide the opportunity to develop a shared IT infrastructure to facilitate integration in the South Pacific. In an attempt to develop a model of regional integration with an IT-backed infrastructure, we identify and report on the antecedents of the current stage of regional integration, and the stakeholders’ perceived benefits of an IT resources backed regional integration in the South Pacific. Employing a case study based approach, the study finds that while most stakeholders were positive about the potential of IT-backed regional integration, significant challenges exist that hinder the realisation of this model. The study finds that facilitating IT-backed regional integration requires enabling IT infrastructure, equitable IT development in the region, greater awareness on the potential of the modern IT resources, market liberalisation of the information and telecommunications sector and greater political support for IT initiatives. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol5/iss2/3

Towards an Effective Structure of IT Governance for Organizations in Developing Economies.

The pervasive use of IT is prominent amongst organizations in developing economies. However, there is growing evidence that these economies fail to capitalize on their IT investment to transform their organizations to be competitive both locally and globally. IT-related benefits are possible with appropriate governance of the IT-related resources, and we need to broaden our understanding on the IT governance mechanics suitable for organizations in the developing economies. In this study, we adopted an initial interpretive design to obtain a deeper understanding of the IT governance (ITG) environment and conceptions of the stakeholders on effective IT governance structures for the developing economies. We found that the presence of an IT Strategic Planning Committee, Multiple level of authority, and a Forum for informal discussions as the crucial components of an ITG structure in developing economies

On Cloud Computing Service Considerations for the Small and Medium Enterprises

The concept of cloud computing services is appealing to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with the opportunity to acquire modern information technology resources as a utility and avoid costly capital investments in technology resources. However, the adoption of the cloud computing services presents significant challenges to the SMEs. The SMEs need to determine a path to adopting the cloud computing services that would ensure their sustainable presence in the cloud computing environment. Information about approaches to adopting the cloud computing services by the SMEs is fragmented. Through an interpretive design, we suggest that the SMEs need to have a strategic and incremental intent, understand their organizational structure, understand the external factors, consider the human resource capacity, and understand the value expectations from the cloud computing services to forge a successful path to adopting the cloud computing services. These factors would contribute to a model of cloud services for SMEs