Business Ethics in Providing Financial Statements: The Testing of Fraud Pentagon Theory on the Manufacturing Sector in Indonesia

The article studies the causes and consequences of manipulating the financial statements of companies, identifies the most influential drivers of fraudulent reporting actions by employees and business owners. This research aimed to examine the effect of fraud indicators in fraud pentagon theory against the detection of fraudulent financial reporting on manufacturing companies. Independent variables in this research were variable pressure proxy by financial stability, external pressure, and financial target, opportunity proxy by nature of the industry, rationalization proxy by total accrual, capability proxy by the change of directors, and arrogance proxy by ownership by management

Coercive Pressures and Anti-corruption Reporting: The Case of ASEAN Countries

This paper aims to investigate the extent of anti-corruption reporting by ASEAN companies and examine whether coercive factors influence the level of disclosure. The authors adopt indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative version 4.0 to measure the extent of anti-corruption disclosures in 117 companies’ reports. Informed by a coercive isomorphism tenet drawn from the institutional theory, the authors propose that several institutional factors influence the extent of their voluntary disclosures. The findings reveal that a large degree of variability difference between the average levels of anti-corruption disclosure in Thailand (434 words) and the Philippines (149 words). The dependence on government tenders and foreign ownership are associated with the level of disclosure. Surprisingly, the United Nation Global Compact membership is not a significant determinant of anti-corruption reporting. This signifies that the membership in the international initiative does not correspond to individual company’s commitment to disclose anti-corruption information. In spite of significant efforts undertaken by global organizations to combat corruption, the level of anti-corruption disclosure is significantly different among the four countries under study. The disclosure of sensitive information such as the confirmed incidences of corruption cases requires careful consideration by the top management as it is subjected to legal implications and reputational risks. Thus, impression management can complement the coercive pressure in explaining the level of anti-corruption reporting. This study is among the first studies which explores the association between coercive factors and the level of anti-corruption disclosure in ASEAN region

Thieno2,3-bpyridine amines: Synthesis and evaluation of tacrine analogs against biological activities related to Alzheimer's disease

In search of safer tacrine analogs, various thieno2,3-bpyridine amine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against cholinesterases (ChEs). Among the synthesized compounds, compounds 5e and 5d showed the highest activity towards acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, with IC50 values of 1.55 and 0.23 µM, respectively. The most active ChE inhibitors (5e and 5d) were also candidates for further complementary assays, such as kinetic and molecular docking studies as well as studies on inhibitory activity towards amyloid-beta (βA) aggregation and β-secretase 1, neuroprotectivity, and cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells. Our results indicated efficient anti-Alzheimer's activity of the synthesized compounds. © 2020 Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaf

Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of N-(di/trimethoxyaryl)-5-arylisoxazole-3-carboxamide

In this study, a new series of N-(di or trimethoxyaryl)-5-arylisoxazole-3-carboxamide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated against human breast cancer cell lines including MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and T-47D. Among the synthesized compounds, 5-(m-tolyl)-N-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)isoxazole-3-carboxamide (8f) showed significant cytotoxicity against all three cell lines comparing with etoposide as the reference drug. Also, Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide and acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining assay were performed to validate apoptotic activity of compound 8f. The results confirmed induction of apoptosis at early stage. © 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC