Discretionary risks disclosure: a management perspective

Discretionary risks disclosure practices by managers provide useful information to investors and other users of accounting information in assessing the risk profile of a company. A managers’ ability to disclose relevant risk information that reflects more accurately the companies’ current and future financial performance will facilitate these users in making effective investment decisions. This paper aims to examine empirically the effect of management perception on the disclosure of risk-related information in companies’ annual reports, thus, exploring the current practices of risk reporting by managers of listed companies in Malaysia. The findings should provide useful information to regulators and other policymakers in identifying the factors that influence managers’ perception of risk-related information and, consequently, affect the extent and nature of risk information disclosed in companies’ annual reports. Overall, the findings reveal that enhanced understanding and perception on the overall risk concepts are important drivers that can facilitate managers in disclosing more comprehensive and relevant risk-related information. This, in turn, improves the trust and confidence of investors and other users of financial statements as their evaluations are influenced by the choices of information being disclosed in annual reports by managers

The discursive construction of teachers and implications for continuing professional development

The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 is a document that spells out a plan of action for revamping the Malaysian education system. Therefore, it is no surprise that references are made to teachers and their role in ensuring the successful execution of the action plan. Although the blueprint does not set out a course of action for teachers of individual subjects, specific reference is made to English language teachers and this is ideologically significant. In order to understand this significance and how the blueprint positions Malaysian English language teachers, the document needs to be located within the wider discourse community, vis-à-vis through an intertextual reading. In this paper, we first examine the discursive construction of English language teachers in the blueprint as well as media texts to illustrate how these texts have collectively constructed the identity of Malaysian English language teachers. Next, we argue that this discursive construction of Malaysian English language teachers has had consequences for the way continuing professional development programmes have been organised for them in the first of three waves of the Malaysian Education Blueprint action plan from 2013 to 2015. The findings reveal that continuing professional development programmes during this period have focused predominantly on the training of the discursively constructed inept Malaysian English language teacher to ensure they possess the desired proficiency and are able to make changes to existing classroom practices that are aligned with the government agenda

Market Orientation, Firm Performance And The Mediating Effect Of Corporate Social Responsibility

This study examines the effect of CSR disclosure and MO on firm performance as well as the mediating effect of CSR on the relationship between MO and firm performance. These relationships are examined based on content analysis of 242 Malaysian public listed companies’ annual reports for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Results of this study provide evidence that CSR activities communicated in corporate annual reports are important business strategy in creating continuous superior performance for organisations. The results also indicate that MO companies are integrating CSR activities into their business strategies. However, the insignificant mediating effect of CSR on the relationship between MO and firm performance indicates that MO and CSR strategies have not been effectively integrated in creating a synergistic effect that can bolster firm performance. Overall, findings in this study indicate the strategic value of CSR in creating economic sustainability for organizations even in an environment characterised by concentrated ownership structure where the companies may be less market focused

Examining the Link between Ethical Culture and Integrity Violations: The Mediating Role of Integrity Climate

Integrity violations are actions that can cause harm to the economy and society at large. These violations would cost the organisation losses or devalue their reputation. Many initiatives were taken to mitigate integrity violations at the organisation level. Creating a positive ethical culture was argued as a crucial approach to minimise the incident of integrity violations. However, to date, little research was done to provide empirical support on whether ethical culture contributes significant effect to integrity violation. This paper aims to investigate whether ethical culture can impact integrity violations. Data were collected using questionnaires distributed to 459 state government departments. There are a total of 343 out of 459 (75%) questionnaires distributed to Malaysian state government departments were received. The findings indicate that integrity climate mediates the relationship between ethical culture and integrity violations. The practicality of the research provides a further understanding of public sector organisations and their behaviours. The viewpoint of whether having ethical culture as a social norm in an organisation provides insight towards the occurrence of integrity violations

Board Competencies, Network Ties And Risk Management Disclosure Practices In Non-Profit Organizations

In the current challenging economic environment, non-profit organizations (NPOs) are exposed to an array of risks and some of these risks are unique due to the characteristics of the organizations.  Understanding and managing these risks are crucial in ensuring sustainability of the NPOs and the responsibility lies with the board. However, risks management and disclosure of risks in NPOs is less well developed relative to for profit organizations and this may affect boards’ role in enhancing risk management practices of these organizations. As such, this study aims to examine the relationships between certain board characteristics: board competencies, network ties and risk management disclosure practices in NPOs. Information on these variables are obtained from content analysis of annual reports and Financial Information Forms of 219 NPOs registered with Companies Commission of Malaysia for the financial period 2011. Results of this study reveal that the overall extent of risk management disclosure practices is at a moderate level. In addition, only board competencies are significantly positively related to the extent of risk management disclosure practices while network ties are not. This infers that some board members acknowledge the importance of being engaged in risk management decision. However, lack of specific guide on risk management in NPOs may reduce the motivation of some board members to do so. The guidelines and relevant trainings to board members provided by relevant authorities may increase the understanding of key risks and management of these risks as part of good governance in NPOs

Value-based intermediation for islamic banking institutions directed towards sustainable development goals

n Malaysia, the adoption of sustainable investing activity started with the initial development of the Islamic funds industry in the 1980s. Moving forward, the Islamic financial industry needs to realign their focus beyond compliance towards more wholesome value-based activities in ensuring long term sustainable growth. In moving towards this focus, the Central Bank of Malaysia issued a Strategy Paper titled Value-Based Intermediation (VBI): Strengthening the Roles and Impact of Islamic Finance in July 2017. This paper aims to provide a simulation of VBI banking practices in Malaysia. The simulation affirms the potential benefits identified in the Strategy Paper: (1) Innovation: Impact-driven mind-set creates new market opportunity through development of innovative financial solutions, (2) Efficiency: Adapting current practices to enhance impact, and (3) Effective Ecosystem: Improving existing skills, supply chain or solving common issues faced by communities or other stakeholders, which eventually facilitates business success and socioeconomic wellbeing of the nation

The prediction of transfer pricing manipulation among public listed companies in Malaysia / Adzhamsyah Abdul Hamid, Roshayani Arshad and Nur Farahah Mohd Pauzi.

Transfer pricing has become one of the main issues in the Malaysian tax perspectives since the pioneer legal case has proven to attract more scrutiny and supervision of the related authorities. In 2012, the comprehensive act by the Inland Revenue board to replace the Transfer Pricing Guidelines 2007is believed to curb any manipulation and malpractice among related party transactions. This study aims to examine the relationships between three risk indicators of transfer pricing and the probability of transfer mispricing practices among Public Listed Companies (PLCs) in Malaysia. Using a micro backward-looking approach for seventy companies consisting of 350 firm-years provides evidence that the number of tax haven subsidiaries and gross profit margin affected the extent of Effective Tax Rate yielded. These findings show that transfer pricing practices among PLCs may amount to a serious tax evasion scheme if the practices are not properly controlled and monitored by the authorities

Board Composition And Accountability Of Non-Profit Organizations

Non-profitorganizations (NPOs) are generally subjected to less stringent regulatory requirementsthan for-profit organizations. As such, NPOs are generally reluctant to sharemore comprehensive information with the various stakeholders and may notrecognize the need for accountability. The purpose of this study is to examinethe influence of board composition on the level of accountability for NPOs inMalaysia. Board composition and the level of accountability are obtained fromthe content analysis of annual reports of 234 societies registered withRegistrar of Societies in Malaysia for the financial period 2010. The level ofaccountability (ADI) examined is based on two main components, transparency andcompliance while board composition examined in this study consists of boardsize, board professionalism and board members with political connections.Results of this study provide evidence that the overall level of accountabilityis low. This infers that more comprehensive regulatoryrequirements or at the very least, the existence of best practices with regardsto accountability can be a useful mechanism in enhancing the accountability ofNPOs. In addition, theresults also highlight that an optimum mix of board members mattersin ensuring efficient resource strategy and consequently enhance the level ofaccountability in NPOs. Overall,the findings in this study provide useful information to regulators in theircontinuous efforts to improve accountability in the non-profit sector. This inturn can enhance the credibility and sustainability of the NPOs

Islamic Banking: The Firewall Against The Global Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis that devastated many of the world’s financial systems in a manner never seen before exposed the glaring weakness in risk management and interest-driven policies. The crisis brought the collapse of several iconic financial institutions once perceived to be too strong to capitulate. The crisis engulfed one economy after another from corporations to eventually bring about the collapse of governments of countries reeling from the impact of the crisis. Asset values plummeted and the crisis clearly demonstrated the fragility of the western capitalist system and the free market economy. The Islamic economic and financial system is anchored on universal honorable values, ideals and morals - honesty, credibility, transparency, co-operation and solidarity. These fundamental values uphold stability, security and safety in any financial transactions. Of paramount consideration is that the Shari’ah prohibits any economic and financial transactions that involve usury, lying, gambling, cheating, unsubstantiated risk or uncertainty (gharar), monopoly, exploitation, greed, unfairness and taking other people’s money unjustly. Another key aspect to the philosophy behind the Islamic financial system is money issued must be fully asset backed. It is impermissible to allow money to be traded for money except at par. Islam is not just the prohibition of riba and zakah (alms); it is a comprehensive system to fulfill society’s basic necessities (food, clothing and shelter). History has demonstrated that Islam has the capacity to deliver and has succeeded in providing a viable economic system

Exploring Risk Management Disclosure Practices In Non Profit Organisations In Malaysia

This study examines the extent of risk disclosure of NPOs in Malaysia. The level of risk disclosure examined is based on six main risks; organizational risk, operational risk, compliance risk, financial risk, reputation risk and money laundering risk. The extent of risk disclosures are examined based on content analysis of annual reports of 50 NPOs registered under Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) as Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLBG) that had been chosen randomly for the financial period of 2011. The result of this study found that most of the organisations are more motivated to disclose financial item in order to comply with mandatory requirements of the financial reporting requirements and other regulatory requirements in Malaysia. However, there are lower incentives for voluntary disclosures under governance, operational, compliance, reputation and money laundering risks. Overall, the statistical results from six variables had indicated that there is lack of risk disclosure item reported in the annual report and it will increased the likelihood of risks that may harm the organisations. This study provides a significant feedback to NPOs in Malaysia to analyse the level of risk they exposed to as well as to formulate the best strategy in tightening their risk management as an early prevention to the likelihood of fraud occurrences. Besides, this study can help to facilitate the regulatory body such as CCM in formulating new requirements, policies, procedures, and guidelines and also to facilitate them in revising and strengthening the existing regulation for organisation to establish NPO and law enforcement in deterring fraudulent activities. Keywords:  Non-profit organisations, Unique Risks, Organizational Risk, Operational Risk, Compliance Risk, Financial Risk, Reputation Risk, Money Laundering Ris