Ethical decision making of Malaysian external auditors / Razana Juhaida Johari

Numerous incidences of unethical behaviours of auditors being reported globally have marked significant dishonours to the auditing profession. The incidences of audit failures have brought the issues of auditors’ ethical decision making quality and independence to the forefront and closely scrutinized. In auditing profession, the ethical decision making is a complex process due to the auditors’ fiduciary obligation to their audit clients and public. The requirements to meet the expectations of these two parties serve as the point where the auditors’ conflicts could arise thus providing threats to auditors’ independence. Despite increased attention from practitioners and scholars in enhancing the ethical values within the auditing profession, the incidences of some wrongdoings involving the auditors stand as evidences that they are continuously making questionable professional judgments that have ethical overtones. A few studies conducted on the auditors’ ethical decision making provides a limited of ethical decision making models to explain certain effect of antecedent factors on the auditors’ ethical behaviour.Hence, based on the social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986); Rest Theory (1986) and Jones (1991) Model, this thesis addresses this shortcoming by taking into account the combination effect of individual, professional environment and contextual factors on the auditors’ ethical decision making

Malaysian DNFBPs’ Perceptions on Awareness, Perceived Impact and Views on the AML/CFT Requirements

AbstractMoney laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) continues to be an on-going threat which has the potential to adversely affect the country's reputation and investment climate which may lead to economic and social consequences. A 2004 amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act (AMLATFA), 2001 has redefined “Reporting Institutions” (RIs) to include accountants, auditors, lawyers and other selected professionals. Previous studies on the AML/CFT in Malaysia (e.g. Mohamed & Ahmad, 2012 and Shanmugam & Yhanasegaran, 2008) in general did not specifically address the issue of DNFBPs’ awareness, perceived impact and views on the AML/CFT requirements. Our study is the first in our knowledge to evaluate the understanding on the AML/CFT requirements in Malaysia from the perspective of the accountants

Assessment of accountability practices in the public sector in Malaysia / Jamaliah Said, Md. Mahmudul Alam and Razana Juhaida Johari.

Ensuring accountability in the public sector is a very crucial issue as it could lead to failures in governance, fraud, inefficacy, corruption as well as weak financial management. This study evaluated the state of the present accountability practices among public sector employees from various Malaysian service schemes. Primary data were collected, using a questionnaire survey approach with 194 heads of departments in the Malaysian federal ministries. Data was collected in accordance with the perspective of 12 factors in accountability practices, using a five-point Likert scale. Factor analysis and descriptive statistics were utilized for data analysis. In addition, data reliability was checked by the Cronbach’s alpha test; data normality was examined by the Skewness and Kurtosis tests, and data validity was tested by using the Kaiser-Meyer Olkin test and Barlett’s test. The findings show that 94.9% of the participants reported that they practised accountability within their departments. Nevertheless, the priority for these accountability factors varied according to the service schemes. In general, the perceived accountability practice was the highest within the group in the administrative scheme and the lowest among the employees under the accounting scheme. Moreover, the perceived accountability practice of the audit scheme was below the general average level. These findings would help policy makers to take necessary steps to improve the practices of accountability for creating a more dependable and efficient public sector in Malaysia

Factors influencing whistleblowing intentions among government officials: A Malaysian study

The aim of this study is to determine the factors that influence the intention of officials in the ministries of the Malaysian Federal Government to engage in whistleblowing. Specifically, this study investigates whether individual belief, societal pressure, level of misconduct, and the status of the perpetrator can influence government officials in whistleblowing. Data from 147 officials is collected by questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 28. Empirically, this study shows that two factors, namely, societal pressure and the level of misconduct, significantly influence the intention of government officials to engage in whistleblowing, but not the individual belief and status of the perpetrator. The results of this study suggest that the government can support government officials to increase their awareness of whistleblowing so that they fully understand the importance of whistleblowing to the government and society. This can be done through training programmes for government officials. This study can help the government identify the officials' perspectives on whistleblowing intentions and understand the potential issues that may influence the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of whistleblowing in their organisation

Comparative Judgment of Novice and Expert on Internal Control Tasks: Assessment on Work Effort and Ethical Orientation

AbstractAuditors’ judgment performances are being questioned and the public has become less trusting on profession's ability and willingness in protecting the interests of investor and stakeholders. There are three objectives addressed in this study with the first two objectives is to analyze the relationship between effort and personal ethical orientation on audit judgment performance. The third objective is to examine the differences in the audit judgment performance between audit trainees and auditors. A research instrument was developed and included a set of audit case and Forsyth's (1980) Ethics Position Questionnaire. The results show that there is a significant relationship between the respondent's effort and audit judgment performance

Internal auditor’s objectivity threats: an exploratory study in Malaysia

Recently, there has been a growing criticism on the internal audit profession for the failure to discharge their responsibility as independent assurers diligently.Amongst the root causes that contribute to the flaws in internal audit judgment is the objectivity issue.The dual roles of an internal auditor (providers of both assurance services within the organization and consultancy services to managers) expose them to the conditions that could threaten their objectivity. The criticality of objectivity concept in the auditing profession is predominantly explored in the context of an external auditor; nevertheless, limited in the context of internal auditor. This paper sought to identify the existence of objectivity threats in the Malaysian internal auditing environment.Data were collected based on the survey of 50 internal auditors working in Malaysian Public and Private Sectors. The survey findings indicated that all nine objectivity threats listed in the “International Standards for Professional Practices of Internal Auditing (IPPF): Practice Guide on Independence and Objectivity” did exist in the Malaysian internal audit environment. The most prevalent objectivity threats included social pressure threat, personal relationship threat and familiarity threat. An internal auditor ranked social pressure threat, economic interest, and personal relationship as the top three threats that could threaten objectivity.The paper provided basic empirical evidence of a potentially serious risk of objectivity threats that may impair the Malaysian internal auditors’ objectivity, thus reducing their ability to make an objective judgment.These empirical evidences are important to create awareness to the individual internal auditors as well as their stakeholders on the condition that could impair the internal auditors’ objectivity. Individual internal auditors need to be able to manage the objectivity threats to provides confidence on their services as independent assurers, whereas stakeholders, especially the Management, could address such threats by implementing preventive measures to ensure that the purpose of having an internal auditor as the second line of defense is fully utilized

Effects of organizational structure on social value: mediating role of financial performance / Nur Aima Shafie ... [et al.]

Social enterprise (SE) is a hybrid organisation, which combine two different goals in their mission and vision. In an attempt to sustain their operation, social enterprise must ensure that both mission (social and financial) is equally balanced and achievable. The existence of SE is to fill the gap leave behind by traditional profit organisation, non-profit organisations (NPOs) and the government. The aim is to positively impact the social, cultural and environmental issues through their unique business model. Their uniqueness, while can benefit the community and society as a whole is prone to fraud and misuse of funds which would eventually affect the survival of SE. The issues are originated from weak governance particularly the structure of their organisations. Hence, this study is aims to examine the relationship between the organisational structure, financial performance and social value of SE in Malaysia. On the other hand, the study also aim to examine the mediating role of financial performance on the relationship between organisational structure and social value. Organisational structure is vital as carefully selected, well designed and well managed organisational structure will improve the impact of social enterprise on the society. This study is based on the 134 data obtained from the SE in Malaysia and registered as Company Limited by Guarantee (CLBG). The study found that, organisational structure and financial performance significantly influence the social value of SE. Furthermore, it was also found that financial performance indeed mediate the relationship between organisational structure and social value. It is hoped that the study can contribute to the improvement of performance of SE in Malaysia and as well as encourage the development of research in the area of SE

Techno self online learning PEVAR as a new learning alternative: Paradigm and construction

This article aims to build paradigms, strategies, and stages of learning models that can reduce learning barriers. The learning process can benefit changes in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects for the better. This research was conducted because it saw the reality of the problem of low learning achievement. This was qualitative study employed induction approach. The analysis of generic analytic style employed as theory development. This research found an online independent learning model consisting of five stages: preparation, exploration, verification, analysis, and reflection called PEVAR. Techno self online learning PEVAR offers a technology-based self-study alternative. Techno self online learning PEVAR is built based on the paradigm of behaviorism, constructivism, and cognitive. This learning model increases learning achievement, which is marked by increasing students' affective, cognitive, and psychomotor abilities. The strategies used to achieve the goals are commitment, discipline, motivation, confidence, creativity, activity, effectiveness, and efficiency in learning

The Innovativeness and Value of Quick Response Code Payment for MSMEs: The Influence of Security-Related Factor

The implementation of QR code technology aims to make it easier for MSMEs and consumers to create a cashless society. However, many MSMEs still need to implement digital payment methods over time. This research aims to evaluate the acceptance of QR codes for MSMEs, especially regarding the role of innovativeness, security, and ease of use. This research targets MSMEs in Indonesia that have used the QR Code as a tool for making transactions. Questionnaires were distributed via Google form online, totalling 489 respondents who filled out. After the data is obtained, it is analyzed using a partial least square using smart-pls 4.0. Behaviour intention (BIQ) is the most influential construct on user behaviour (UBQ). The other most significant factors are convenience (PEUQ) and security (PSQ) for users. Meanwhile, other variables such as Personal innovativeness (PI), PEUQ, PSQ, and perceived usefulness (PUQ) can increase the positive impact on Perceived value (PVQ). Several factors, such as PEUQ and PSQ, can positively influence PUQ. However, there is a construct with few results: Perceived usefulness on intention to use. This is because MSMEs are more oriented toward consumer needs to buy products and services. So these findings provide insight for the government and service providers to improve security, convenience, and necessary QR code features that support MSME business activitie

Exploratory factor analysis of the ethical orientation scale

This study is to validate the 20 items of Ethics Position Questionnaire scale, developed by Forsyth (1980) within the Malaysian environment. It is necessary to find out the relevancy of the items towards Malaysian culture since the scale is originated from the western country. In addition, this study is also aims to understand the structure of correlations among each measured variables. An exploratory factor analysis is applied in order to generate simpler and more explicitly defined constructs to classify the ethical orientation scales based on Malaysian respondents. The results revealed that there are only 13 items of the Ethics Position Questionnaire scale used to measure the ethical orientation of an individual. The seven (7) items are dropped from the total items due to two reasons: (1) Insufficient item loading on the component and (2) Duplication of questions. In contrary to the previous findings, the constructs found in this study are being classified into three dimensions rather than two dimensions of ethical orientation. The rationalization of the new dimensions and implications of the findings are discussed