Acceptance and usage of webcasting among users of selected cyber cafes in Klang Valley

The Malaysian public now has access to the Internet not only at home and the workplace, but also at cyber cafés. This study aims to examine the level of acceptance of webcasting among users of selected cyber cafés in the Klang Valley. The specific objectives of the study are: to determine the profile of webcasting users and its usage; to determine the types of webcasting technology most frequently used, level of knowledge of webcasting and the main source of knowledge in becoming aware of webcasting; to determine the acceptance of webcasting among non-users of webcasting; and to determine the relationship between behavioral intention to use and the actual usage of webcasting among users of webcasting. This study used the survey design, using purposive sampling to select the cyber cafés and visitors of these cafés. The findings indicate that usage of webcasting is still relatively low among users of selected cyber cafés in the Klang Valley. Users of webcasting were found to be mostly male, young and relatively well educated with at least a diploma as the highest level of education obtained

Culture and Corporate Governance Statement Disclosure

This study examines the influence of culture on Corporate Governance Statement disclosure in the annual reports of the major airline companies in Malaysia and Australia. The cultural research of Hofstede (1980) and the accounting value dimensions of Gray (1988) imply that Malaysian Airlines, from a large power distance country, will disclose less Corporate Governance Statement information in their annual report than Qantas Airlines, from a small power distance country. The results obtained from a comparison of the differences showed Malaysian Airlines disclosing more pieces of additional information in certain areas than Qantas Airlines and vice versa. However, the net result was that Qantas Airlines provided more pieces of additional information than Malaysia Airlines. This result supports Hofstede (1980) and Gray (1988). The implication for regulators of both countries is that while these culturally different countries do not disclose completely identical information they both suggest fruitful areas of additional corporate governance disclosure. Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully appreciate the helpful comments of the sessions moderator and participants at the International Conference on Corporate Governance and Reporting, Malaysia (2004) on an earlier draft of the paper.

Determinants of the decision to capitalize finance leases by lessees : Australian evidence

The objective of this study is to examine the economic factors motivating Australian listed lessee firms to adopt capitalization or footnote disclosure of their finance lease commitments from 1985 to 1987 as permitted by the transitional provision of AAS 17. Six research hypotheses are developed from the economic consequences perspective. It is hypothesised that the decision to capitalize finance lease commitments is positively related to firm’s : (1) corporate structure, (2) size, {3) political visibility, _(4) financial performance, and (5) overseas association, and negatively related to (6) debt contract financial constraints. Support for these hypotheses would be construed as suggesting that capitalization is a means for lessee firms to reduce or mitigate agency and/ or political costs and concurrently as a signal to the market that they are high quality firms. A-pooled multivariate cross-sectional analysis for 1985 to 1987 was performed incorporating sensitivity analysis to determine the best logistic regression model This model was then assessed to determine its validity and predictive, efficacy

Voluntary disclosure of cash flow information in Australia

The purpose of this study is to investigate the economic incentives of firms to voluntarily disclose cash flow information prior to the operation of the approved standard AASB 1026 Statement of Cash Flows in 1992. This study theorises that firms voluntarily disclose such financial information because they believe that (1) the cash flow information is useful and relevant (in addition to information in income statement, balance sheet and funds statement), and (2) by voluntarily disclosing cash flow information, it will reduce the agency cost and the political cost. A review of contracting theory and the literature on voluntary disclosure identified the possible determinants as firm size, ownership control status, leverage, political sensitivity, proportion of assets in place, exchange listing, and subsidiary relationship. The relationship between these possible determinants and the disclosure policy of 172 firms - 18 in the treatment group and 154 in the control group- as listed on the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) Annual Report Microfiche File for the year 1990, was tested using both univariate tests (parametric and non-parametric) and multivariate analyses. Based on univariate statistical tests performed, the incidence of voluntary disclosure of cash flow information is related to: (1) firm size, (2) foreign exchange listing, and (3) proportion of assets in place, and moderately related to (4) financial leverage of a firm. The decision appears to be unrelated to (5) whether a firm\u27s shares were widely held, (6) market concentration ratio, (7) profitability ratio, and (8) whether a firm is a subsidiary of a foreign parent in Canada or New Zealand or the USA. Furthermore, multivariate analysis reveals that the eight independent variables significantly explain 52.4% (R2 of OLS regression) of the variations in the firms\u27 decisions to voluntarily disclose cash flow information

The use of instructional videos and notes in teaching agricultural knowledge and skills: an experimental study at Universiti Putra Malaysia

A quasi-experimental research study was conducted with first-year Diploma of Agriculture students to find out the effects of instructional multi-media on their knowledge and skills achievement during their fieldwork training at the farm. The students were divided into five groups of 30 students each, and each group was assigned a different treatment. The skill selected for the experiment was marcotting of guava (Psidiu1Il. guajava). The findings of the study show that an instructional video and notes are beneficial and effective to the students before they carry out their fieldwork training. Students who watched the instructional video had significantly higher knowledge than the students who did not watch the video. However, instructional notes did not have any significant effect. The results also show that an instructor trained in using multimedia had a significant effect on the students' skill in making the marcot

Lease Accounting in Australia: Further Empirical Evidence

Key words: Australia; Accounting standard; Efficient contracting; Lease accounting; Signalling The objective of this study is to examine the economic factors motivating Australian listed lessee firms to adopt capitalization of finance leases policy from 1985 to 1987 as permitted by the transitional provision of AAS 17. Capitalization is considered as the preferred accounting policy for finance leases compared to footnote disclosure. Adopting a joint efficient contracting and quality signaling perspective, support for the research hypotheses would be construed as suggesting that capitalization is a means for lessee firms to reduce or mitigate agency and/or political costs and concurrently as a signal to the market that they are better quality firms. The sample consists of3l4 lessee firms; 67 firms as capitalizers and 247 firms as non-capitalizers. A pooled multivariate cross—sectional analysis for 1985 to 1987 was performed incorporating sensitivity analysis to determine the “best” logistic regression model. This model was then assessed to determine its validity and predictive efficacy. the results provide evidence that lessee firms adopted the capitalization as response to the media attention as being politically visible firms and concurrently as a signal to the market that they are better quality firms. The evidence also suggests limited usefulness of a lengthy transitional period

Relationships between leadership communication practices and organisational commitment in a selected higher education institution

The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership communication practices and organisational commitment among the staff in a selected institution of higher education. The chosen organisation is located in the Klang Valley and was established 37 years ago. Stratified random sampling was used for sample selection and a total of 235 respondents participated in this study using a questionnaire survey method. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson Product Moment correlation, and Multiple Regression using both enter and stepwise methods. With regard to the levels of organisational commitment, the study shows that the employee’s affective, continuance and normative commitments are moderate. Correlation analysis showed significant relationships between leadership communication practices and organisational commitment. While communication climate tended to be a good predictor of organisational commitment. Through effective leadership communication practices, a leader is able to influence and convince employees to be more committed towards their organisation in order to achieve organisational objectives. In conclusion, this research shows that leadership communication practices can contribute towards higher staff commitment in an organisation

Critical purviews where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can promote sustaineble development in Nigeria

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become the buzz word in academia, government, business, economy and many other social purviews of human society, especially in the areas of sustainable development. From a mere acronym, ICT has over the last decade metamorphosed into the driving force behind many monumental changes and innovative development in the world. The author reviewed e-journal articles, chapters from e-books and other relevant literature that critically examined ICT and its wider applications in the realms of making life better for the majority of the people, particularly the indigent and information have-nots. The paper critically discusses and analyses some of the key areas where a successful application of ICT can effectively engender the much needed sustainable development in society, focusing on Nigeria. Moreover, the paper outlines, inter-alia, agriculture, culture, economy, education, governance and tourism as paramount realms in which the proper application of ICT can help in the management of natural, human and capital resources for effective utilisation by the present generation without jeopardising the ability of future generations to benefit from them. The paper concludes that for ICT to serve as a catalyst for sustainable development, the following facts should be taken into consideration and adjustments made to accommodate them: ICT is a long-range investment (outcomes may be delayed); and, for natural resources to be sustainably harnessed, human resources ought to be adequately mobilised to appropriately manipulate the capital resources for better results