Accounting for the recognition of information as an asset

Tangible assets as property, plant and equipment continue to be important factors in the production of both goods and services. However, their relative importance has decreased through time as the importance of intangible, knowledge-based assets has increased. This shift in importance has raised a number of accounting questions critical for recognizing the information as an asset in nowadays financial statements. Attempts to recognize “information” as an asset in the financial statements has lead to an increased awareness of why these invisible valuable recourses are not yet recognized. This paper aims to develop a model based on a three-circled set of criteria for the pre-measurement phase of an asset recognition process. This model should be applicable to all types of assets but we mainly focus on information as an intangible based asset. The three-circled set of asset recognition criteria presented in this paper breaks free from the narrow definitional and rule based perspective of accounting epistemology to offer an alternative view based on the recognition of artefacts

Revisiting the role of the grounded theory research methodology in the accounting Information systems

The aim of this paper is to explore the role of grounded theory (GT) as a research method in the accounting information systems. The GT research method can able the GT researcher to generate a rigour theory. This research paper seeks to investigate how researchers can use GT in relation to its epistemological perspective, methodological stance and research methods. GT as a research philosophy provides clear understanding of how to generate and develop rigorous theory. GT offers an interpretative perspective based on its epistemological stance. This interpretative perspective can be a foundation for GT researchers in interpretative accounting information systems researches

ERP customization failure: Institutionalized accounting practices, power relations and market forces

Purpose: This paper examines a detailed case study of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) customization failure in an Egyptian state-owned company (AML) by drawing on new institutional sociology and its extensions. It explains how ERP customization failure is shaped by the interplay between institutionalised accounting practices, conflicting institutions, power relations and market forces. Methodology/Approach: The research methodology is based on using an intensive case study informed by new institutional sociology, especially the interplay between conflicting institutions, power relations and market forces. Data were collected from multiple sources, including interviews, observations, discussions and documentary analysis. Findings: The findings revealed that the inability of the ERP system to meet the core accounting requirements of the control authorities (the Central Agency for Accountability) was the explicit reason cited for the ERP failure. The externally imposed requirements of the Uniform Accounting System and planning budgets were used to resist both other institutional pressures (from the Holding Company for Engineering Industries) and market and competitive pressures. Research limitations: There are some limitations associated with the use of the case study method, including the inability to generalize from the findings of a single case study, some selectivity in the individuals interviewed, and the subjective interpretation by the researchers of the empirical data. Practical implications: The paper identifies that the interplay between institutional pressures, institutionalised accounting practices, intra-organizational power relations, and market forces contributed to the failure to embed ERP in a major company. Understanding such relationships can help other organisations to become more aware of the factors affecting successful implementation of new ERP systems and provide a better basis for planning the introduction of new technologies. Originality/value of paper: This paper draws on recent research and thinking in sociology, especially the development and application of new institutional sociology. In addition, the paper is concerned with ERP implementation and use and management accounting in a transitional economy, Egypt, and hence contributes to debate about exporting Western accounting practices and other technologies to countries with different cultures and different stages of economic and political development. Classification: Research paper/ case stud

Reconstruction of Long Anterior Urethral Strictures by Dorsally Quilted Penile Skin Flap

Objective. To present the results of reconstruction of long (>5 cm), penile, bulbar, and bulbopenile urethral strictures by penile skin flap as dorsal onlay in one-stage procedure. Patients and Methods. Between January, 1998 and December, 2004, 18 patients (aged from 28-65 years) presented with long urethral strictures, 5.6–13.2 cm (penile in 6, bulbar in 2 and combined in 10 cases), those were repaired utilizing long penile skin flaps placed as dorsal onlay flap in one stage (Orandi flap 6 cm in 6 cases, circular flaps 7–10 cm in 8, and spiral flaps 10–15 cm in 4). Followup of all patients after reconstruction included urine flow rate at weekly intervals, RUG at 6–12 weeks, and urethrocystoscopy at 12 and 18 months. Results. The urethral patency was achieved in 77% of patients. The complications were fistula in one patient (5.5%), restricture occurred in 3 patients (16.6%) that required visual internal urethrotomy and two patients (11%) showed curvature on erection that dose not interfere with sexual intercourse. Diverticulum (penile urethra) was seen in one patient (5.5%) containing stones and was excised surgically. There was penile skin loss in 3 patients (16.6%). All patients completed at least one-year followup period. Conclusion. Free penile skin flaps offer good results (functional and cosmetic) in long penile and/or bulbar urethral strictures. Meticulously fashioned longitudinal, circular or spiral penile skin flaps could bridge urethral defects up to 15 cm long

Modeling the viscoplastic behavior of Inconel 718 at 1200 F

A large number of tests, including tensile, creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue were performed to characterize the mechanical properties of Inconel 718 (a nickel based superalloy) at 1200 F, the operating temperature for turbine blades. In addition, a few attempts were made to model the behavior of Inconel 718 at 1200 F using viscoplastic theories. The Chaboche theory of viscoplasticity can model a wide variety of mechanical behavior, including monotonic, sustained, and cyclic responses of homogeneous, initially-isotropic, strain hardening (or softening) materials. It is shown how the Chaboche theory can be used to model the viscoplastic behavior of Inconel 718 at 1200 F. First, an algorithm was developed to systematically determine the material parameters of the Chaboche theory from uniaxial tensile, creep, and cyclic data. The algorithm is general and can be used in conjunction with similar high temperature materials. A sensitivity study was then performed and an optimal set of Chaboche's parameters were obtained. This study has also indicated the role of each parameter in modeling the response to different loading conditions

An independent audit oversight system in a non-developed market: the case of Egypt

YesThis study aims to provide a better understanding of oversight the audit profession in Egypt, including its motivations, objectives and its working approach. Further, it reaches a better understanding of the Egyptian Big 4 partners’ perceptions of the new Audit Oversight Board (AOB). Previous studies have frequently examined the audit oversight system in developed countries (US and UK in particular), but little is known on how the system works on developing countries. We believe that facing different problems and challenges demands that audit regulators in developing countries follow different approaches in order to improve the quality of their audit markets. Lack of skilled auditors, lack of transparency and public accountability, and a high level of corruption are the main problems facing the audit profession in Egypt (Awadallah, 2006, Wahdan et. al., 2005: a). Our findings suggest that establishing an audit oversight board in Egypt has been motivated by the need to attract foreign investments and follow the global trend of auditing in developed countries. A number of legal changes are needed in order to improve the AOB’s efficiency

Exact implicit Solution of Nonlinear Heat Transfer in Rectangular Straight Fin Using Symmetry Reduction Methods

In this paper, the exact implicit solution of the second order nonlinear ordinary differential equation which governing heat transfer in rectangular fin is obtained using symmetry reduction methods. General relationship among the temperature at the fin tip, the temperature gradient at the fin base, the mode of heat transfer, and the fin parameters and ℰ is obtained. Some numerical examples are discussed and it is shown that the temperature of fin increases when approaching from the heat source. The relationship between the fin efficiency and the temperature of fin tip is obtained for any value of the mode of heat transfer . The relationship between the fin efficiency and both the parameter and ε the temperature gradient at the fin base is obtained. To our best knowledge, solutions obtained in this paper are new