Accounting for Goodwill: An Examination of Factors Influencing Management Preferences

Abstract—This paper investigates factors that influenced the position of managements of UK-listed companies in the heated debate that surrrounded proposals for a new standard on goodwill accounting, i.e. the factors influencing whether managements preferred immediate write-off or capitalisation-based approaches. The factors investigated are derived from contracting cost theory, and include those associated with debt covenant restrictions and profitbased management schemes. They also include non-agency contracting costs. A key feature of the design is that, compared to prior research, we specify more rigorously circumstances where such contracting cost effects are, or are not, likely to be binding. In addition, the paper investigates the effects on management preferences of their beliefs about revisions in market perceptions of their companies resulting from changes in goodwill accounting. Our results support certain contracting cost-based hypotheses, but they also indicate that management beliefs about changes in market perceptions of their companies constitute a strong influence on their preferences

An effective interest alignment mechanism or a tool to expropriate: A review of Malaysian ESOS adoption

Employee Shares Option Scheme (ESOS) is theorised as a solution to bridge the interest of managers with owners of the firms particularly in setting where ownership is widely held.Modern corporations in developing countries are characterised by controlling shareholders who are also actively involved in the management of firms.The resultant conflict of interests between the majority and the minority shareholders questions the suitability of ESOS in aligning their interests towards the firm’s common goal.Findings from the study suggest that the usual determinants of ESOS adoption in the West do not hold in the environment of high ownership concentration.The post-adoption performance has not improved and there is no significant difference between the adopting and the non-adopting firms after controlling for size and industry.Nonetheless, there is evidence of better performance for adopting firms in terms of profitability albeit very weak in magnitude

Penghampiran Linear dan Kuadratik untuk Kaedah Kamiran Sempadan bagi Persamaan Laplace Tiga Dimensi dengan Putaran Simetri.

The boundary integral method is used for solving the three dimensional Laplace's equation with rotational symmetry numerically. Linear and quadratic approximations are presented. Accuracy for both linear and quadratic approximation will be compared

Classification of frontal alpha asymmetry using k-Nearest Neighbor

Frontal alpha asymmetry is used as the EEG feature in this study. Total number of 43 students participated in EEG data collections of relax and non-relax conditions. The spectral power of the alpha band for both left and right brain are extracted using data segmentations and then the Asymmetry Score (AS) is computed. Subtractive clustering is used to predetermine the number of cluster center that are presented in the data. While Fuzzy C-Means (FCM), is used to discriminate the EEG data into an appropriate cluster after the total number of cluster had been determined. The classification rate obtained from the k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) classifier is 84.62% which gives the highest classification rate

Pengoptimuman pra-olahan air sisa kilang kelapa sawit (pome) menggunakan kaedah elektro-penggumpalan

Palm oil industry is one of the industries that contribute pollution in Malaysia. The discharge of palm oil mill effluent (POME) which contains organic materials is the main cause of serious water pollution in Malaysia. Nowadays, electro coagulation treatment systems are widely used to treat water and wastewater. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of electro-coagulation treatment in treating palm oil mill wastewater. This study examines the characteristics of POME collected from an oil palm mill in Kahang, Johor. This study also examines the optimum conditions of the removal of pollutants in POME such as in the effects of current density, effective distance between the electrodes, pH and deposition time. In addition, the efficiency of the treatment was determined by analyzing the particle size after treatment. Two types of electrodes are used in these studies which are aluminum and iron. The study also looked into the effects of electro coagulation treatment system for the removal of COD, ammonia nitrogen, suspended solids and color from POME samples. The electro coagulation experiments were conducted using 4-liter volume glass reactor and the samples were electrolyzed by direct current power supply for 30 minutes. Experimental results show that the Al-Al pair plate achieved the optimum conditions of current density, distance between electrodes, pH and deposition time respectively at 70.7 A/m , 5 cm, pH 4 and 30 minutes. Al-Al plates successfully remove 81.4%, 83%, 84.7% and 90.4% respectively of COD, ammonia nitrogen, suspended solids and color at the optimum condition. Fe-Fe plate pairs showed optimal conditions achieved at 53.3 A/m 2 2 , 10 cm, pH 4 and 15 minutes respectively for the current density, distance between electrodes, pH and deposition time. COD, ammonia nitrogen, suspended solids and color successfully removed as much as 81.4%, 92.6%, 95.6% and 77.9% respectively. The combination of Al-Fe plates showed 80.7% COD, 86.3% AN, 88.1% SS and 89.6% Color were removed in the optimum condition. The current density, distance between electrodes, pH and deposition time achieved at 53.3 A/m , 5 cm, pH 4 and 15 minutes respectively. The combination of Fe-Al pair plate showed the same optimum conditions on the use of Al-Fe plate pairs. Removal of COD, ammonia nitrogen, suspended solids and color respectively by 82.9%, 88.3%, 87.2% and 90.3% was achieved. Particle size analysis showed that on the average size of the particles before treatment was 20 microns. Doses of 500, 1000, 2000, 2500 and 3000 mg / L Al2SO4, respectively resulted in flock sizes of 96, 101, 113, 116 and 86 μ for Al-Al pair plate. In addition, mixing the same dose of coagulant in POME resulted in particle size of 73, 86, 92, 126, 105 and 101 μ, respectively. In general, the results showed that the electro coagulation treatment system is capable of treating POME and can be an alternative treatment for the palm oil industry

A study on wettability properties of rutile-phase TiO2 nanostructure film

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a very well-known material for applications such as photocatalysis, solar cell and self-cleaning applications. This material can also be coated on glass surfaces, especially for car windows and building windows as well. Glass in the market nowadays, the material that coated on the glass weakens as time passes and harmful to the environment. Since TiO2 material has advantages such as being inert and environmentally friendly, thus the study of the wettability properties of rutile-phase TiO2 film is introduced for self-cleaning application. TiO2 is fabricated using the hydrothermal synthesis method at 150°C. The fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) is used as a substrate to grow the TiO2 nanostructure by mixing hydrochloric acid (HCl), deionised water (DI) and titanium (IV) butoxide (TBOT). The effects of the duration of the hydrothermal process, the volume of HCl, the volume of TBOT as well as the use of surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) toward the synthesis growth of nanorods are thoroughly evaluated. The samples are analysed by using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) for structural properties, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) for morphology structure and water contact angle (WCA) measurement for wettability properties. FE-SEM shows that the layer of TiO2 nanorods is successfully grown on the FTO substrate. The contact angle results for different hydrothermal reaction times and different HCl and TBOT volumes reveal that TiO2 has wettability properties of hydrophilicity (<90°). Even though different structures are achieved from different parameters, none of the samples exhibit hydrophobic characteristics. From the XRD data analysis, all of the samples are rutile�phase TiO2. The optimum amount of hydrothermal reaction time, volume of HCl and volume of TBOT are at 16 hours, 130 mL and 5 mL, respectively, where TiO2 has a crystalline structure with fine tetragonal shape and the highest contact angle. The use of HTAB have a change in wettability properties as it makes the sample become super�hydrophilic compared to as-prepared sample which is hydrophilic only

A Corporate Strategy for AIROD Sendirian Berhad (1988 - 1994)

AIROD Sendirian Berhad (ASB) was incorporated in early 1985 as a business firm, being the first Government project to be privatized. Its principal activities range from providing overhaul and repair services of military and commercial aircrafts and its related equipment and components. ASB clearly set its short-term and long-term goals and are made known to all its employees. Its organization structure is based on seven formal departments under the overall direction of the Managing Director, an expatriate from Lockheed Aircraft Services International (LASI). The main problems faced by this company are: its inability to penetrate open market; high overhead costs; and inadequate skill and expertise to keep in pace with the rapidly changing environment of aircraft maintenance services. The case is analyzed using the framework suggested by Leslie Rue and Phyllls Holland. Thus, the following are analyzed: mission, strategies and objectives, strategic capabilities, the broad environment, the competitive environment, and the SWOT analysis. The alternative options/ solutions to overcome the stated problems are presented in two-fold: the improvement of current capabilities, and the search for new capabilities. In the former, the options available are to: redefine mission statement, restructure the organization, set functional area standard refine corporate goals, adopt strategic management, of excellence, improve marketing and financial management, develop human resource, and acquire civil work certification. In the latter alternative, the options available are to: upgrade A-4 aircraft, and add new lines of business which include manufacturing aircraft parts and flight data recorders, developing capability in ground communication systems, servicing of cathodic protection device, undertaking subcontract work, negotiating with aircraft manufacturers to become the licensed assembler and/ or manufacturer of aircraft and aircraft parts, and establishing the Aeronautical Training School. In recommendation, the summary of strategies to be adopted are presented according to short-term and long-term implementation. Then the impact of these strategies are summarized by proposing the two management key goals: to expand sales at a growth rate of 10% per year, and to achieve an annual net profit margin of 10%. Then the projected sales and profit f or the period 1988 to 1994 is proposed based on the actual results of the past three years of operations. The implementation plan and review and control method are then presented to allow the company to translate the strategies into plan and action; and to review the plan when environmental changes affect the attainment of goals. The three types of control techniques proposed are: strategic control, management control, and operational control. The newly formulated corporate goals for the next seven years (1988 - 1994) will hopefully bring ASB towards another phase of organizational development