The effect of corporate governance mechanisms on Jordanian listed companies’ performance

Following the collapse of a number of companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during the period since 2001, the issue of corporate governance and firm performance has become a major concern in Jordan. There is an increasing attention among the various stakeholders, including the government and investors, towards reforms and practices of corporate governance that can enhance firm performance. Thus, this study is set to investigate the effects of corporate governance mechanisms (i.e. ownership structure, board characteristics, audit committee, internal audit and auditor quality) on the performance of Jordanian listed companies. The theoretical foundation of such a relationship is explained by agency theory, the resource dependence theory and the signalling theory. The Dynamic GMM estimator was used to estimate the relationship based on the data of 204 companies listed on ASE during the period 2009 to 2013. The findings suggest that performance is influenced significantly by board size, board independence, board meeting, CEO duality, political connectivity, auditor’s brand name and independence. However, this association is not unique across measures of performance, namely accounting and market based measures. The relationship also varies between financial and non-financial industries, reflecting their uniqueness and significant difference in their structure. Overall, the impact of corporate governance on performance is shaped differently for financial and non-financial sectors as well as across the performance measures. The results of the study provide insight and significant implications for the stock market, industry players and policy makers in Jordan. It may pave way for those parties to consider a different governance structure within the boundaries of regulations which might help in enhancing the firm performance. Future research may adopt other governance factors as predictors of performance. Also, future research may apply primary data to examine the reasons why some governance variables are ineffective in performance enhancement. However, this study is limited by the time and resources available, hence, care need to be taken into consideration while interpreting the result of the study

Electronic Financial Crimes: The Required Skills, Education and Qualifications for Forensic Accountants to Predict and Prevent

The main objective of this study is to explore the essential requirements that are required for accountants to perform their duties as forensic accountants (FAs) from the perspectives of two key stakeholders (professional accountants and lawyers) —including the main skills, level of education, area of specialisation and forensic accounting credentials that FAs should possess to practice forensic accounting services effectively and efficiently. A semi-structured interviews were conducted to the target population who are the user of forensic services. The NVivo software was used to assist the raw data in a systematic method process. The findings identified the master’s degree as the appropriate level of education for FAs. The results also indicated the importance of numerous skills that accountants should possess such as communication skills, presentation skills, simplify accounting information, analytical skills and objectivity

The Impact of Creative Accounting Practices on Financial Performance in Industrial Companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange

The study sought to determine the effects of creative accounting practices on financial performance of industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). In order to fulfill the study’s goals, the primary data were collected from the financial statements of 42 industrial companies listed on ASE. Moreover, a multiple regression analysis was used to examine the study’s hypotheses. The study’s results revealed that creative accounting practices, which were income smoothing and earnings management, impacted financial performance that was measured by the return on assets and the return on equity. Therefore, the researchers recommend managers to pay attention to the levels of earnings management and income smoothing practices in evaluating the financial performance of industrial companies

Board meeting and firm performance: Evidence from the Amman stock exchange

This study examines the impact of board meeting frequency on the firm performance of the firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange from industry and service sectors for the 2009-2013 period. The study controls for endogeneity and simultaneously problems using the dynamic panel technique of Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The findings of the study suggest that a positive association between the frequency of corporate board meetings and firm performance. This suggests that through meetings, board members determine operational issues through discussing and engaging with each other frequency meetings enhancing the decision making process, and consequently the performance of the firms. The findings also show that lagged dependent variable in the estimation model is important in explaining the relationship, which further indicates the appropriateness of the estimation models in our study. This study provides insightful evidence to policy makers on the effectiveness of the of the 2009 Code of Corporate Governance

High performance work system and sustainable development among Jordanian SMEs: knowledge sharing as a moderator

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS), sustainable development, and knowledge sharing in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan. In this study it is hypothesized that the ability, motivation, and opportunity (AMO) improving the human resource (HR) practices of SMEs leads to better organizational performance of their employees through the role of knowledge sharing moderation. The results of this study confirm the hypothesis of the causal relationship between AMO practice with sustainable development, and the hypothesis of AMO practice with sustainable development are influenced by knowledge sharing. This study has implications for practice and theory, also can help project managers from these organizations to plan better human resource management (HRM) practices to promote sustainable development through innovation and creative performance of their employees. Therefore, this is one of the first studies to discuss the HRM productivity in AMO practice, and its important role in knowledge sharing

Go Cashless! : Mobile Payment Apps Acceptance in Developing Countries : The Jordanian Context Perspective

Despite the expanding global usage of mobile phones in money transactions, the adoption of mobile payment systems in Jordan remains slow. This study employed the technology acceptance model (TAM) to identify the factors with a potential impact on mobile payment systems acceptance. The impact of perceived privacy (PP) and the mediating function of perceived certainty (PC) on the behavioral intention (BI) of mobile payment systems among Jordanian ministries were examined. Data obtained from 270 respondents were analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The empirical findings show a positive link between perceived usefulness (PU) and PC on the BI of mobile payment systems. The mediation analysis demonstrated that PC partially mediated the association of PP with the BI of mobile payment systems. The final section concluded the paper by presenting the key theoretical and practical ramifications, as well as the research’s limitations and future directions.peerReviewe