Building a Research Model and Hypotheses Development for Internal Audit Consulting: Insights from Literature and Findings of Exploratory Interviews

This study identifies two main variables and one moderating variable that have an influence on the consulting role of internal auditors and the impact on a firm’s growth opportunities and performance and specifies how each of them can exert its influence. This study is based on a literature review, underlying theory that is stewardship theory and findings of exploratory interviews by the present researcher; and contributes to the literature by developing a specific and structured research model. Firstly, it explains the development of hypotheses based on the literature and findings of exploratory interviews. It presents a detailed review of the variables influencing the internal audit consulting in which it gives an impact on the firm’s growth as well as the performance. Finally, the theoretical linkages between each relationship in the framework of this study are presented in this study.

ESG Strategy Through the Integrated Business Model in Congruence with Circular Economy: Does Independent Board Members Matter?

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the integrated Business Model disclosures on the financial performance of the top 30 Malaysian PLCs, moderated by a 50% presence of Independent Board of Directors as proposed by the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance 2017 (MCCG 2017). The paper’s design will adhere to the purposive sampling methodology, utilizing descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and quantitative content analysis derived from the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)’s Integrated Report, along with previous studies. This approach aims to analyze the annual reports and integrated reports, aiming to explore the Integrated Business Model disclosures within the top 30 Malaysian PLCs. The originality of this paper lies in the design of the new Independent Board of Directors Scoring Index, which aims to identify the best disclosures among the top 30 Malaysian PLCs. This scoring index could prove beneficial to both academicians and practitioners, extending its utility beyond the Top 30 PLCs. The study serves as a systematic review of recent research developments in Integrated Business Model disclosures within the Integrated Report and the Annual Reports of the top 30 Malaysian PLCs. Keywords: ESG, Circular Economy, Governance, Integrated Report, Business Model, Independent Board of Director

People and audit process attributes of audit quality: Evidence from Malaysia / Noor Adwa Sulaiman, Suhaily Shahimi and Ranjit Kaur Nashtar Singh.

This study seeks to add to understanding of the concept and attributes of audit quality from the perspective of those responsible for delivery audit services, the auditors, as a key constituent group in the auditing system. The study surveyed two groups of external auditors (group 1- audit partners and managerial level and, group 2 - senior auditors and junior auditors), as a basis to compare their perceptions on important of auditors and audit process attributes in achieving audit quality in practice. The study was conducted in the form of a survey, with data being gathered via questionnaire. Returned surveys from external auditors yielded a 37% response rate. Overall, top 5 highest rated attributes of audit quality reported to be most important in determining audit quality are: compliance with the International Standard Quality Control (ISCQ) 1, obtaining credible and sufficient audit evidence, technical expertise of audit team, audit work meeting the audit firms’ quality standards, and competency of the audit team. Further analysis shows that the two groups of respondents have differential views on attributes of audit quality in practice. Group 1 perceived attributes of audit quality are related to auditor’s assessment of risk and internal quality review procedures within the audit firm. In comparison, group 2 perceived auditors’ competency and compliance with relevant standards as indicators of audit quality. This study suggests differences in underlying view about attributes audit quality in practice by the two groups of auditors. Public accounting firms might be interested to understand such underlying differences so that efforts in improving audit quality in practice would be focusing on the key attributes that perceived to be important on delivery high-quality audit services. This study is significant by extending the literature on audit quality and also provides useful input to public accounting firms in improving audit quality in practice

Cost of Governance and Economic Development: An Empirical Analysis of Presidency, National Assembly and Judiciary Expenditure in Nigeria

It is expected that increase in cost of governance by government should bring about a commensurate increase in the level of economic development of a country, but this seems not to be the case in Nigeria. It is on this premise that the study investigated how cost of governance is related to economic development in Nigeria. The focus of the study is on how presidency expenditure, national assembly expenditure and federal judiciary expenditure are related to economic development (unemployment rate, gross domestic product per capita and inflation rate). The study used time series methodology and it covered a period of five years (2016-2020). The data for the study were obtained from Central bank of Nigeria Website and analyzed using inferential statistics. Findings from regression analysis showed that presidency expenditure and national assembly expenditure have negligible and insignificant relationship with unemployment rate. It was also found that judiciary expenditure is insignificantly and negatively related to unemployment rate. Moreover, results revealed that presidency expenditure and national assembly expenditure are negatively related to gross domestic product per capital, whereas there is a positive relationship between judiciary expenditure and gross domestics product per capital, although these relationships are significant. Besides, results showed that presidency expenditure is positively and significantly related to inflation rate. It was also found that there is insignificant positive relationship between national assembly expenditure and inflation rate. However, the study found that the relationship between judiciary expenditure and inflation rate is positive and significant. The study concludes that increase in presidency expenditure and national assembly expenditure tends to worsen economic development, while increase in judiciary expenditure may improve economic development in Nigeria. Therefore, it is recommended that government should reduce budget allocations to presidency and national assembly, while there should be increase in budget allocation to the judiciary to improve economic development

The Impact of Financial Determinants on Malaysian Reits’ Performance

Property investment in Malaysia has experienced tremendous growth and is considered one of the prime investments by investors due to its stable return growth over the years. This study examined the effects of six financial determinants (earnings per share, debts to assets, price- to-book value, dividend yield, market capitalisation, and return on equity) on the annual return of Malaysian Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The common performance indicator of company can be seen in the percentage change in stock price plus when the dividend paid at the end of the year is used to measure the annual return performance of REITs. A total of 154 firm year observations for a sample of 14 Malaysian REIT companies were examined for a period of 11 years (2008-2018) from the Bloomberg terminal. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings showed that there is a positive relationship between earning per share, price-to-book value and dividend yield and REITs’ annual return. On the other hand, this study showed that there is no significant relationship between debts to assets and REITs’ annual return. The results also showed that market capitalisation and return on equity are negatively related to Malaysian REITs’ annual returns. Overall, the results highlighted two key features. First, earnings per share and return on equity should be used by investors and management to assess the profitability and operational efficiency of REITS. Second, the investors should use dividend yield as one of the key investment criteria when assessing REIT investment decisions. This study contributed to the literature in REITs by increasing the effects of the explanatory power of financial determinants on REITs’ annual returns

Consulting role of internal auditors: The influencing factors and the impact on the firm’s growth opportunities and performance / Suhaily Shahimi

For the past few decades, the business environment has experienced rapid and revolutionary change with extensive consequences for organizations all over the world. In this radical changed phenomenon, internal auditing gained an important role in organizations. The Institute of Internal Auditors has delineated new changes on the definition of internal auditing which have widen the internal audit scope by explicitly incorporating consulting activities. Maximizing the internal audit function (IAF) is imperative to meet the challenges of today’s business environment and to add value to different stakeholders’ expectations. Yet, it has highlighted two issues i.e. internal auditors face the balancing act of dual roles (consulting and assurance) and stress of “to do more with less” in the current economic situations. Therefore, this study explores the consulting role of internal auditors in Malaysian context as it identifies factors that can influence its success and whether the internal audit contribution to consulting activities gives impact on firm’s growth opportunities and performance. Future growth is an important element to most companies especially to boost the economy of developing countries such as Malaysia. Stewardship theory is used to explain the internal audit role in consultancy and motivations created within IAF to support the board and audit committee in achieving organizational goals by providing professional advice. An exploratory study is conducted in Malaysian context as the study in internal audit consulting is relatively new. In preliminary stage, five interviews were conducted with the Chief Audit Executives of large Malaysian organizations to investigate the extent of consulting activities that internal auditors perform in Malaysia. Internal audit consulting’s survey instrument was developed based on past literature and exploratory interviews’ findings. A pilot study was conducted to gain feedback on the readability and clarity of the survey questions, to improve the scaling and the survey questions. For full data collection, these questionnaires were sent to all in-house internal audit departments (IADs) of public listed companies (417 companies) on Bursa Malaysia. Finally, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 Chief Audit Executives in IAD from different organizations for further insights on issues of internal audit consulting and to validate the survey data. Random sample was adopted and the final number of sample was 112. The analyses included multivariate regression, reliability test, descriptive statistics, factor analysis and naming the factors. The results revealed that corporate governance variables i.e. 1) intentions/ambitions of IAD (all dimensions) and 2) expectations of board and audit committee (partially), influenced internal audit contribution to consulting activities. From survey and interview data, internal audit consulting was shown to influence firm’s growth opportunities and performance. It is inferred that IAF is effective in delivering their consulting job to help in achieving organizational goals. The quantitative and qualitative phases of empirical enquiry undertaken contributed significantly to the study. The interviews fully complimented survey questionnaires’ design as well as interpretation of results. Finally, this study highlights aspects of goal congruence and motivation derived within IAF as suggested by the stewardship theory to support the board audit committee to navigate the organization

Undergraduate Internship Attachment in Accounting: The Interns Perspective

Increasingly, internship has become an essential component of the undergraduate programme. It provides students with a smooth transition from the on-campus environment to the working environment. It is often viewed as a ‘win-win’ situation for both the intern and the intern’s employers. Students are able to learn about the profession and gain practical experience while simultaneously being able to reflect on what they have learned in the classroom. Employers benefit from internships as interns are sources of future employees. This paper examines whether the expected benefits of internship, as perceived by interns before going for their internship, are actually achieved