Accounting for Health and Safety costs: Review and comparison of selected methods

A part of the emerging sustainability management accounting is corporate health and safety performance. One performance dimension is the costs of occupational accidents in companies. The underlying logic for calculating these costs is that if occupational accidents are prevented then these costs could be avoided. This chapter presents and discusses selected methods for calculating the costs of occupational accidents. The focus is on presenting the characteristics of each method and disclosing the benefits and drawbacks of each methodNo keywords;

Experienced and Novice Investors: Does Environmental Information Influence on Investment Allocation Decisions?

This paper examines the effect of environmental information on the investment decisions of investors. The motivation for the experimental design applied in this study is that unless actual decision making is observed, the potential usefulness of environmental information (or lack thereof) cannot be taken for granted. The study is based on an experiment where groups of investors (varied by experience) were asked to make investment allocation decisions based on financial information and on supplementary environmental information (varied between cases). As an investment allocation decision (varied by investment horizons) the groups were asked to allocate funds to two companies based on the available information. The findings suggest that environmental information has the potential to influence investment allocation decisions. The findings also suggest that the influence of environmental information on investment allocation decisions is mitigated by the variables considered explicitly in this study, i.e., the investment horizon (varied as short and long) and investor experience (varied as novice and experienced investor). It is concluded that because allocation decisions are multifaceted problems, mixed results related to the influence of environmental information should be expectedEnvironmental reporting; Environmental disclosures; Allocation; Decision making; Investment horizon; Investors; Experiment;

Do as you say - Say as you do: Measuring the actual use of environmental information in investment decisions

This paper focuses on the use of environmental information in investment decision making. The research approach employed was based on an experiment where three groups were asked to allocate investment funds between two companies based on financial accounts and information material from these companies. The overall con-clusion of the paper is that even though environmental information is not enough in itself to shift decision preferences, it seems to have some impact on decision mak-ing. However, there seems to be a discrepancy between what decision makers say they do and what they actually do. First, environmental information apparently has greater impact on decision making in the short run than the long run despite deci-sion makers saying that they value environmental information more regarding long-run investments. Second, decision makers downplay the value of environmental information in corporate information material but this information seems to affect their decision making just the same. Third, qualitative information seems to affect decision making regarding short-run investments more than the combination of qualitative and quantitative informationNo keywords;

Identifying the effects of Enterprise System implementation and use: Examples from Denmark

This paper reports the results of an explorative study of six large Danish companies regarding the effects of ERP implementation and use. The study is part of a larger ERP study programme at the Aarhus School of Business. The data collection approach applied was based on interviews and management case writing. The main results show that the effects of ERP implementation and use are seldom fully predictable by management. The ERP system can be seen as an organisational actor in its own right as it to a large extent influences values, culture, behaviour, processes and procedures of other actors in the organisation. Given the complexity, size and organisational embeddedness of ERP systems, it can be said that the implementation project never ends and the ERP system becomes a significant variable in the future direction of the organisationNo keywords;

The Emergence of Enterprise Systems Management - A Challenge to the IS Curriculum

This paper proposes four cornerstones of a future Information Systems curriculum. It analyzes the challenges of the IS curriculum based on the development of enterprise systems, and further argues that the practice and the research into enterprise systems have progressed to a new stage resulting in the emergence of Enterprise Systems Management (ESM). Enterprise Systems Management calls for new competences and consequently represents new challenges to the IS curriculum. The paper outlines potential teaching issues and discusses the impact on the IS curriculum. Finally the paper suggests ways of approaching the challenges.No; keywords

Business Process Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Control: A Research Agenda

Integration of risk management and management control is emerging as an important area in the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and with ongoing development of frameworks such as the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework from the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on an inductive methodological approach using literature review and interviews with managers engaged in risk management and internal control projects, this paper identifies three main areas that currently have management attention. These are business process risk management, compliance management and internal control development. This paper discusses these areas and identifies a series of research questions regarding these critical issuesRisk management; Internal control; Business processes; Compliance; Sarbanes-Oxley Act; ERP systems; COSO; COBIT

Continuous Fraud Detection in Enterprise Systems through Audit Trail Analysis

Enterprise systems, real time recording and real time reporting pose new and significant challenges to the accounting and auditing professions. This includes developing methods and tools for continuous assurance and fraud detection. In this paper we propose a methodology for continuous fraud detection that exploits security audit logs, changes in master records and accounting audit trails in enterprise systems. The steps in this process are: (1) threat monitoringsurveillance of security audit logs for ‘red flags’, (2) automated extraction and analysis of data from audit trails, and (3) using forensic investigation techniques to determine whether a fraud has actually occurred. We demonstrate how mySAP, an enterprise system, can be used for audit trail analysis in detecting financial frauds; afterwards we use a case study of a suspected fraud to illustrate how to implement the methodology

Occupational health and safety disclosures in sustainability reports: An overview of trends among corporate leaders

The purpose of this study is to assess the comprehensiveness of voluntary occupational health and safety (OHS) disclosures of large business entities. We devise a composite disclosure index, relying on well‐established performance indicators, and focus on the information found in the sustainability reports of corporations pertaining to the oil and gas, chemical, airline, and construction industries, in an attempt to shed light on the current status and emerging trends in OHS reporting from a diverse group of business entities. The findings indicate that companies tend to place emphasis on their overall management approach to OHS, but fall short in reporting quantitative and qualitative information beyond the ‘conventional’ metrics of occupational injury rates. OHS issues within the supply chain and relevant monitoring systems/mechanisms in place are topics that are underreported, while OHS training programmes are an aspect that is inadequately analyzed in quantitative terms, being the least reported indicator in the sample reports. In contrast, companies from all four industries seek assurance for the OHS information that they report and place emphasis on the externally developed management standards/initiatives that they subscribe to, support, or have adopted

Implementation Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for ERP: Do they contribute to implementation success and post-implementation performance?

Extent: 55 p.Frequent commentaries in the literature have stated that certain critical success factors (CSFs) have to be accomplished in an organisation for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system project to be successful. In this study we argue and demonstrate empirically that success in implementing an ERP system and in gaining performance improvement should be conceptualised as two separate dependent variables. The distinction is made because the former aspect is based upon project delivery outcomes, while the latter assesses post-ERP project performance. We question whether some factors labelled as 'critical' success factors for ERP projects are in practice actually critical for achieving success in implementation and improving output performance. To examine this we report an empirical study that has investigated whether four major CSFs are in practice critical for achieving organisational performance improvements, and the role that successful implementation may play in influencing the relationship between CSFs and improvements in organisational performance. A conceptual model was devised and then analysed using structural equation modelling, based on data collected from 217 organisations. We found that some CSFs were not critical to achieve success in ERP implementation but were critical to help an organisational achieve performance improvement from an ERP system. Additionally, we also found that achieving successful ERP system implementation mediates the degree to which a CSF affects output performance improvement. The managerial and research implications of these findings are discussed and the limitations of the study noted.Jiwat Ram, David Corkindale, Ming-Lu W