Strategic Flexible Working Arrangement: The Realignment between Human Resource and Management Accounting

Purpose of the study: This paper aims to pioneer the investigation of human resource (HR) and management accounting (MA) realignment in delivering organizational working flexibility strategy. The core idea is to rebranding the HR and MA framework for strategic flexible working arrangements (FWA), so that FWA implementation or enhancement can be both effective and efficient. Methodology: This study is based on the epistemological of the social constructivist approach and qualitative in nature. We conducted semi-structured interviews and analyzed the collected data by using thematic analysis. Main Findings: The results revealed that HR and MA have overlapping responsibilities that add value to effective and efficient FWA implementation/enhancement. There is a definite prerequisite for HR and MA to sit together to manage employees' performance appraisal, compensation, and benefits. To ensure the efficiency of FWA, HR critically needs MA information such as budgeting, return on investment, variance analysis and, cost monitoring of FWA implementation/enhancement. Applications of this study: This study provides insight beyond FWA adoption, whereby we proposed a framework for strategic FWA, which bridges the connection between HR and MA so that FWA implementation or enhancement can be both effective and efficient. We thoroughly discussed how the synergy between HR and MA can be achieved through several key elements, which is expected to yield strategic outcomes for the organization. Most importantly, the organization shall be able to overcome the redundancies between HR and MA roles to create a more compelling strategic planning for FWA implementation. Hence, leading towards greater strategic outcomes such as strategic dynamic acquisition, effective HR cost, a strategic link between HR outcomes and business, strategic return on investment, as well as comprehensive HRM measurement and performance. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study developed a conceptual framework of HR and MA integration and strategic outcomes for FWA implementation. The features of this framework are of greater importance for FWA success and advance the notion of FWA literature by unveiling the strategic alignment between HR and MA

Utilization of Electronic Business Plan for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

A business plan is a formal statement of business goals, the reasons they are attainable, and plans for reaching them. Currently, the manual template of a business plan is the main reference in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) but there is no standard template that exists as all templates that available in the Internet is different from each other’s. This leads to confusion as to which is the best template to be used. Significantly, there is unavailable of electronic platform of the business plan. Thus Electronic Business Plan (EBP) for SMEs is proposed and developed using the Expectation-Confirmation Theory approach. This EBP is a windows-based program that is developed to serve as an electronic platform for SMEs in order for them to generate a business plan for starting a new business or for applying any financial support. Results indicate that EBP is a useful tool for business plans and that the majority of the users give positive feedback on this developed EBP. Hopefully, by utilizing this program into business plan, it can play an important role for any individual especially young entrepreneur in SMEs to generate and write their business plan properly and easily

Convergence to IFRs and Audit Report Lag in Malaysia

The Financial Reporting Foundation (FRF) and the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) have decided to bring Malaysia to full convergence with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by 1st January 2012. This has inspired the study to investigate the effect of the convergence of IFRS proxied by the implementation of new accounting standards (FRS 4, 7, 123 & 139) on the audit report lag (ARL) in Malaysia since the requirement of the IFRS is much complicated. The samples of the study were drawn from the public listed companies on the main market of Bursa Malaysia. The study reveals that the ARL increases as new accounting standards implemented. Significantly, the ARL in Malaysia is found to be longer compared to other developed and developing countries. Keywords: IFRS, Audit Report Lag, Malaysi

Utilization of Electronic Business Plan for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

A business plan is a formal statement of business goals, the reasons they are attainable, and plans for reaching them. Currently, the manual template of a business plan is the main reference in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) but there is no standard template that exists as all templates that available in the Internet is different from each other’s. This leads to confusion as to which is the best template to be used. Significantly, there is unavailable of electronic platform of the business plan. Thus, Electronic Business Plan (EBP) for SMEs is proposed and developed using the Expectation-Confirmation Theory approach. This EBP is a windows-based program that is developed to serve as an electronic platform for SMEs in order for them to generate a business plan for starting a new business or for applying any financial support. Results indicate that EBP is a useful tool for business plans and that the majority of the users give positive feedback on this developed EBP. Hopefully, by utilizing this program into business plan, it can play an important role for any individual especially young entrepreneur in SMEs to generate and write their business plan properly and easily

Accounting Information System (AIS) users' perception towards the system effectiveness : preliminary findings in the context of the Malaysian Federal Government

This paper presents a preliminary work in understanding the practice of Accounting Information System (AIS) in the Malaysian Federal Government setting by investigating AIS users’ perception towards the system effectiveness. Recently, the Government had upgraded its AIS to cater the function of accrual accounting treatment as well as to improve the financial reporting practice. The advancement of the system entailed a huge investment in both money and human capital preparation. As such, the installed system is expected to be effective in order to make the investment worth. However, past literatures have shown that the measurement for system effectiveness is rather ambiguous and inconsistent due to the variation in system effectiveness definition. This has caused difficulties to both researchers and practitioners in terms of making comparison between studies to objectively assess the AIS effectiveness. Due to this, there have been continuous debates on the measurement of system effectiveness among academicians, as well as practitioners. Therefore, this study is significant as it presents qualitative evidence from an unstructured preliminary fieldwork by combining group discussion and observation approach. The data collection was conducted at the Accountant General’s Department of Malaysia and Accounting Division of the Ministry of Finance Malaysia. As a result, this preliminary study (i) provide insight into the history of AIS enhancement and AIS current practice in the Malaysian Federal Government; (ii) provide understanding of AIS user’s perception towards AIS effectiveness; and (iii) discover nine (9) criteria of an effective system

Perceptions of accounting information effectiveness : preliminary findings from the Malaysian Federal Government

This paper presents preliminary work towards understanding the use of the Accounting Information System (AIS) in the Malaysian Federal Government setting, by investigating AIS users’ perceptions of the system’s effectiveness. Recently, the Government upgraded its AIS to cater for the function of accruals accounting treatment, as well as to improve financial reporting practice. The advancement of the system entailed a huge investment in both money and human capital preparation. As such, the installed system is expected to be effective in order to make the investment worthwhile. However, past literature has shown the measurement of system effectiveness to be rather ambiguous and inconsistent due to variations in the definition of system effectiveness. This has caused difficulties for both researchers and practitioners, in terms of making comparisons between studies to objectively assess AIS effectiveness. Therefore, this study is significant, in that it presents qualitative evidence from unstructured preliminary fieldwork, combining both group discussion and observational approaches. This preliminary study: (i) provides insight into the history of AIS enhancement and AIS current practice in the Malaysian Federal Government; (ii) provides an understanding of AIS users’ perceptions of AIS effectiveness; and (iii) uncovers nine criteria for an effective system

Accounting information system effectiveness : multiple methods

Abstract: Rapid changes in technology have forced many organisations to upgrade their technology function in order to be more effective and able to compete with others. This includes accounting processes and its related data. As evidence, the changes in technology have replaced manual accounting processes to more automated tasks which reflected in the evolvement of Accounting Information System (AIS). AIS is defined as an application of technology and computer in performing accounting processes. The upgrade of AIS requires huge investment including money and human resources. Nevertheless, an accurate condition of AIS effectiveness is rather difficult to be concluded due to multidimensional nature of effectiveness itself. Inconsistent measures of AIS effectiveness were reported in literature review as a result of variation in effectiveness definition as well as lack of theory grounding. The measurement is continuously debated and a comprehensive measure is yet to be established. Therefore, this study offers multiple methods demonstrating qualitative and quantitative method in order to investigate a comprehensive measure of AIS effectiveness measurement and fill the research gap within AIS field. The objectives of this study are, (i) to investigate the dimensions criteria of AIS effectiveness; (ii) to develop a comprehensive measure of AIS effectiveness. Thus, in depth interviews were held with top management of accounting department in the Malaysian Federal Government. As a result, the measurement of AIS effectiveness is proposed based on user satisfaction that is classified into three main characteristics (i.e. perceived system quality, perceived information quality, and perceived benefit/usefulness of the system), consisting of 13 items. The proposed measurement is quantitatively examined through a survey conducted among accounting personnel (middle and lower management) in the Malaysian Federal Government. This study found only 10 items that are significantly reliable and valid to represent the three dimensions based on user satisfaction to measure AIS effectiveness

Audit Firm Governance: An Overview from Malaysia

AbstractThis paper presents a preliminary analysis of survey data in a study to examine the governance of Malaysian audit firms. Data on 30 audit firms including big four and non-big four audit firms is used to describe four dimensions of the audit firm governance, namely, leadership, values and ethical requirement, independent non-executive, and operation. The survey study is still in progress, hence the presentation of the current analysis to highlight the level of awareness and compliance to the global standard of Code of Audit Firm Governance (CAFG) issued by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of United Kingdom. However, descriptive statistics thus far are found to provide useful insights into the governance of Malaysian audit firms. The preliminary analysis suggests that Malaysian audit firms are aware on the issuance of the CAFG, and have been in compliance to the CAFG except for matter in relation to transparency report and designation of independent non-executive directors. The establishment of Audit Oversight Board (AOB) in Malaysia does influence the level of compliance to the CAFG amongst Malaysian audit firms

ERP Post-Implementation Phase: Deployment of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Model on User Acceptance

The fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) has unfurled its wings over all industries, and its positive impact on the modern global economy has already emerged significantly. The need for a real-time, integrated information environment to enhance business operations has motivated companies to employ enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Once implemented, the organization’s attention has shifted to the most efficient deployment of the ERP post-system usage. User acceptance of the ERP system during the post-implementation phase could determine the overall system’s success or failure since the system benefits reside in the exploitation of the integration capabilities. This study aimed to investigate the determinants of user acceptance of post-ERP system usage in Malaysian organizations by adopting the UTAUT model. The five identified factors comprised of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and behavioural intention. The result suggests that these five factors have a significant positive influence on ERP acceptance among Malaysian ERP users. From a theoretical point of view, the findings open new doors of opportunities by providing new insights into the user’s acceptance of ERP in the Malaysian environment. The practical contribution includes recommendations provided to organizations to emphasize the specific factors that increase the effectiveness of the ERP post-implementation phase

A preliminary analysis of non-accounting students perception towards introductory accounting course among private institutions in Sabah

The introductory accounting course is mostly covered at undergraduate level as one of the core courses in many business degree programmes for both public and private institution in Malaysia. This research came to the attention of the researcher due to the students’ poor performance, repeats and pre-conceive accounting as difficult and unattainable. The aim of this paper is to examine the perception of non-accounting students in introductory accounting course among private institution. A study was carried out covering 244 students from 8 different private institution in Sabah. The study focused mainly on aspects of program structure, assessment and external factor. Our preliminary descriptive findings suggest that the criteria of program structure have no effect towards their perception of introductory accounting course. Meanwhile for the assessment factor, time allocated during final examination, assessment which need to be matched with the course outcome and marks allocated address no impacts against their perceived perceptions. Yet, a small number of students strongly agree with the statement that the language/terms used in the questions are not understandable, the format of exam question do not consistent with the past year exam and exam questions are not clearly structured. External factors of family, facilities, transportation and relationship problems revealed no importance. The non-accounting student perceived these external factors to be insignificant in influencing their decision whether accounting course is acceptable or not in their learning environment. However, a big number of students perceived financial problems to be an important factor. Finally, results revealed that students are generally still in favour with the assessment and program structure of introductory accounting course