Effects of Corporate Governance on Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure among Listed Firms in Nigeria

This study examined the effects of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms on corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSED) among firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Forty firms were selected for the study using judgmental sampling technique. A content analysis of information in the corporate annual reports and websites of the selected firms for the period 2006-2010 provided data for the study. CSED was measured using 50 items of information and CG mechanisms examined were CEO duality, Board size, proportion of nonexecutive directors and audit size. Data obtained were analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. Findings revealed a significant negative relationship between CEO duality and CSED; and significant positive relationships between proportion of non- executive directors, board size, audit size and CSED. The study concluded that an effective board with higher number of non executive directors (independent directors) and larger size and higher quality audits will be more supportive of firms disclosing a wider range of information to stakeholders including social and environmental information

Firm Characteristics and Performance Disclosure in Annual Reports of Nigerian Banks using the Balanced Scorecard

This study investigated the influence of four firms’ characteristics (size, organisational structure, age and systemic importance) on the extent of performance disclosures by Nigerian banks using the balanced scorecard (BSC) model. The population of the study comprises publicly listed banks in Nigeria, in operation from 2012 to 2014.  Using a self-designed disclosure checklist, the annual reports of a sample of 15 publicly quoted banks in Nigeria were content-analysed for performance disclosure for the period 2012-2014.Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, spearman correlation-test, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 5% significance level were applied in data analysis. It was observed that firms did not significantly differ in the extent of performance disclosure in each of the four BSC perspectives on one hand, and the overall BSC measure on the other hand, on the account of the four firm attributes examined. Considering that annual reports are mainstream amongst the media used to communicate performance to the public, it was recommended that preparers of such documents should consider disclosing financial and non-financial performance results; this will not only help in providing a comprehensive basis to judge organisational performance but will also help in diffusing the clout created by asymmetry of information between preparers and users of performance reports.&nbsp

DOES THE USE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES CREATES AND SUSTAINS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE? SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

This study examined the extent to which the usage of strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques such as customer accounting and competitor accounting can create and sustain competitive advantage, with a focus on the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. Data obtained from the annual reports of fifty-six (56) publicly-quoted companies covering a 10-year period (2008-2017) were analysed using descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, cross tabulation, Chi-square test of association, and discriminant analysis. Whereas the frequency of high-adopters of customer-based and competitor-focused techniques was less than those of low-adopters, the adoption rate of SMA was noted to be generally moderate. Further, the usage of SMA positively and significantly impact competitive advantage. The observation that intense users of SMA were able to consistently outperform competitors at both the industry- and sector- level in the long-term supports the conclusion that to a large extent, SMA usage can both create and sustain competitive advantage. Seeing that it is not the mere adoption of SMA that sustains competitive advantage but its intense usage, organisations seeking strategies to improve their competitiveness may consider the rigorous application of SMA. 

MANDATORY ADOPTION OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS (IFRS) BY NIGERIAN LISTED BANKS: ANY IMPLICATION FOR VALUE RELEVANCE?

In January 2012 Nigeria adopted IFRS. Sequel to that adoption, the pressing question agitating the minds of researchers as well as other stakeholders in financial reporting is whether the mandatory adoption of IFRS has given rise to an enhanced value relevance (or quality) of financial information in Nigerian banks. To address this, we relied on the fundamental Ohlson (1995) model which has also been severally employed in prior researches. By means of criterion based sampling technique, we selected 13 out of the 21 listed commercial banks in Nigeria for our study. Our findings revealed that Book Value of Equity (BVE) and Earnings per Share (EPS) are positively associated with share price. We also observed that BVE is less associated with share price than EPS. We recommended inter alia that sustainable development of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) can be boosted through credible financial information. When the integrity of the Financial Report is being threatened, investors (both local and international) are likely to shun or shrink from investing adequately in Nigerian Capital Marke

The design and use of performance measurement innovations and organizational outcomes in Nigerian listed companies

Performance measurement innovations (PMI) provide frameworks for the improvement of organizational performance. While developed economies have widely accepted PMI, little is known about their design and use in developing economies. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the design and use of PMI and organizational outcomes among listed firms in Nigeria. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was adopted for the analysis using cross-sectional survey data comprising 126 corporate managers in the sampled listed companies. The results showed that all the path coefficients for design of PMI and customer perspective (β = 0.325, p < 0.0001), financial (β = 0.314, p < 0.0001), internal business process (β = 0.346, p < 0.0001), and learning and growth perspectives (β = 0.367, p < 0.0001) were significantly positive. This suggests that designing performance measures to include a diversity of measurement incorporating financial and non-financial measures would positively affect organizational outcomes. Besides, diagnostic use was found to have a negative effect on customer perspective (β = –0.315, p < 0.01), while the interactive use (β = 0.411, p < 0.01) of PMI demonstrated a positive effect on it. This implies that using PMIs in a diagnostic manner brings about a negative image of the customer perspective, but it is divergent for interactive us

Strategic management accounting and decision making: A survey of the Nigerian Banks

This paper attempts an empirical examination of the practicality of strategic management accounting (SMA) adoption in banks in Nigeria, a developing country. It investigates the extent of practice and contributions of SMA to strategic decision making. Survey data were obtained from 71 bank managers across 20 registered banks in Nigeria. Simple regression estimation technique and Pearson Chi-square test were used for data analysis. The results suggest that SMA is distinct in its features and orientation towards the practice of management accounting. The study found out that banks in Nigeria practice SMA; not as a concept, but as a principle of operation, and that SMA contributes significantly to strategic decision making in the area of competitive advantage and increased market share. The study offers value for banks in other developing economies in that it supports the argument that they can benefit from SMA adoption as part of banking strategies. Keywords: Strategic management accounting, Decision making, Market share, Banks, Nigeri