Does audit quality matters in Malaysian public sector auditing? / Aida Hazlin Ismail... [et al.]

Auditors play a key role in contributing to the credibility of the financial statements on which they are reporting. High-quality audits support financial stability. The responsibility for performing quality audits of financial statements rests with the auditors. However, audit quality is best achieved in an environment where there is support from and appropriate interactions among participants in the financial reporting supply chain. Most prior studies look into audit quality from the perspective of private sector however this study focus on the quality of public sector auditing in Malaysia. There are three independent variables being investigated in this study that are the auditor’s independence, auditor’s competency and auditor’s workload. Data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires to 114 samples of auditors involved in public sector audit in Malaysia. The data were analysed using correlation test and regression test. The findings of this study show that there are positively significant relationship between auditor’s independence and auditor’s competency on audit quality. The results revealed that auditor’s competency is the most significant factor affecting the audit quality in public sector audit. However, results show that auditor’s workload has a negative and insignificant impact on audit quality. Hence, this study recommends that the audit departments to strengthen the audit quality and could improve the quality of the financial reporting in the public sector. In addition, auditor’s competency should be enhanced among the auditors in public sector to ensure high quality of audit work performed. Future studies should explore other variables such as client satisfaction, auditor switching and auditor’s turnover in public sector auditing

Intellectual capital and social performance of Islamic banks in Indonesia and Malaysia: the moderating role of sharia supervisory boards

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Intellectual Capital (IC) and Social Performance and to further examine whether Sharia Supervisory Boards (SSB) moderate this relationship. This study employed a longitudinal sample of Islamic banks in two countries leading Islamic banking industries in the south-east Asia region, Malaysia and Indonesia, with a sample of 31 Islamic banks during the period 2008-2020. Panel data regression model analysis was applied to test the study research hypotheses. The findings revealed that IC has a positive impact on the social performance of Islamic banks, demonstrating that greater utilization of IC leads to improved social performance. SSB meeting frequency has a positive impact on the social performance of Islamic banks, indicating that the more active the boards are, the more SSB can perform the social performance. Meanwhile, the gender diversity of SSB members has does not influence Islamic banks’ social performance. On the moderating role of SSB aspects, which are SSB meeting frequencies representing SSB activities in monitoring and SSB gender diversity, both proven to strengthen the relationship between IC and Islamic banks’ social performance. Overall, this research contributes to a better understanding of the impact of IC and SSB governance in improving Islamic banks’ social performance functions. This study implies that Islamic banks should be more aware of their intellectual capital resources and the monitoring role of SSB so that the Islamic banks can perform their social functions more optimally

ACKNOWLEDGING INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL IN MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES PERFORMANCE

  In today's knowledge-based economy, intellectual capital has emerged as a crucial component for boosting productivity and sustaining organizational performance. The intellectual capital approach has assumed a preeminent position in the higher education industry, where knowledge is the primary output and input. The majority of its valuable input consists of researchers, managers, and students who are acquainted with the university's procedures, rules, and regulations, as well as its network of relationships. Principal outputs include research results, publications, educated students, and productive stakeholder relationships. If universities are to continue providing high-quality services and ensure their long-term viability, these intellectual capital components must be properly identified and managed. Malaysian public universities were chosen as the sample for this investigation into how universities extract the value of their intangible assets. This study seeks to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between the intellectual capital of universities and their performance. IBM-SPSS analysis software was applied to the dataset of 56 respondents. The analysis demonstrates that intellectual capital significantly influences universities’ performance, especially on financial, internal process and learning growth performance perspectives. This study provides a deeper understanding of how universities measure their intellectual capital and the significance of its value in enhancing the performance of public universities. The indicators discovered in measuring intellectual capital are anticipated to become a model applicable to ASEAN public universities for managing and reporting intellectual capital and its significant influence on a university’s performance.   Keywords: Intellectual Capital; Public Universities; University Performance; Measuremen

Annual reporting practices: human capital information by Malaysian services companies

The importance of human capital reporting has increased in recent years. Stakeholders such as financial analysts and investors are calling for more transparency and fuelling interest in the value that employees bring into a company. To date, annual reports rarely provide quantitative data on human capital; the information provided is often general and of little value. This study examines the human capital disclosure practices of listed services companies in Malaysia. The study uses a qualitative approach of content analysis to analyze disclosure in the 2009 annual reports of companies. The findings reveal that human capital disclosure varies across industries. This study indicates that majority of firms (in trading and services, finance, and hotel industries) generally provide more information on the related attribute of “employees”. Among the three industries, the finance industry provides the highest frequency. However, firms in the technology industry disclose more information on attributes related to “training and development”. These findings indicate that the nature of work expectation leads to variance of disclosure on human capital attributes (HCA) among firms within the services industries. Technology firms disclose more information on training and development to indicate that these attributes will help their employees stay updated with new developments in the technology industry. This study also indicates that there is inconsistency in disclosing HCA among firms in the services industry. Firms in the finance, technology, and hotel industries disclose more information on “facilities and benefits provided” whereas firms in the trading and services industry disclose more on attributes related to “effort for human capital development”

Assessing technology competency of small and medium accounting practitioners in Cambodia: A qualitative investigation

This study aims to examine the technology competency of the Small and Medium Practitioners (SMPs) in Cambodia. Using a qualitative approach on SMPs in Cambodia, this study shows that the technology competency of the SMPs are adequate in accommodating the needs of their clients. The level of technology competency among the SMPs however, vary, partly due to the type of clients and the type of services demanded by their clients. Specifically, this study showcases a rather consistent view on the technology competency among the SMPs. The findings show an adequate level of technology competency from the technology capability, as most of their clients relied on either Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks to account for their transactions and the SMPs do not encounter much problem in providing such services. This study also shows that the SMPs are innovative since efforts have been made to store their data using Cloud and provide training to their clients in relation to the use of audit software. Finally, this study shows that the SMPs practice e-business since they have websites which they use to attract current and potential clients. In addition, their willingness to collaborate with other accounting firms provide some confirmation on their e-business practices. Such findings indicate that the SMPs would be able to accommodate the demand of their clients by providing services via technology. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of accounting bodies in strategising ways to assist the SMPs so that they would be able to serve their clients better and consequently, enhance firm agility