Corporate governance and intellectual capital disclosure : evidence from the Scandinavian countries

In the modern society intellectual capital (IC) disclosure offers valuable insights on the information transparency between the organisation and its stakeholders. The purpose of the present study is to analyse the determinants of IC disclosure based on the firm data collected from the Scandinavian countries. We have chosen to analyse 123 annual reports in the local language for the period of 2008 to 2012. The annual reports act as one of the best sources of data revealing important information about firms that are beyond the reporting requirements of the accounting regulations. This paper combines the empirical research of IC disclosure with the previous literature to identify its strategic implications on corporate governance. The aim is to examine the relationship between firm size, leverage ratio, information asymmetry and industry-specific factors on the level of IC disclosure. Our results call the potential need for more IC disclosure

Accounting conservatism, financial reporting and stock returns

Research Question: One of the aims of this paper is to examine accounting conservatism using a robust set of data collected from the recent years to better understand how accounting conservatism affects the relations between stock returns and accounting variables. Motivation: Financial reporting is increasingly dependent on an in-depth understanding of the imperfections in the capital markets as well as the impact of the accounting standards on firm performance. Idea: The effect of accounting regulations on the firms’ reporting practices can be evaluated via a firm’s change in cash investments and its operating assets. Data: This study employs a robust set of data with different market to book ratios and corporate governance characteristics collected from Compustat North America Fundamentals Annual firm year observations for the time period of January 1998 to December 2015 fiscal years to better understand how accounting conservatism affects the relations between stock returns and accounting variables. Tools: Compared to the previous studies, any potential improvement in the research method is provided using a regression weight averaged over the years. Findings: There is an improvement in the explanatory power of the estimates of the coefficients on earnings levels and earnings changes when the variables associated with accounting conservatism are incorporated in the analysis. Contribution: Given the ample amount of research done in the international aspects of financial reporting, analyses of differences in results compared to the previous studies and future research opportunities will be provided

Goal-driven Command Recommendations for Analysts

Recent times have seen data analytics software applications become an integral part of the decision-making process of analysts. The users of these software applications generate a vast amount of unstructured log data. These logs contain clues to the user's goals, which traditional recommender systems may find difficult to model implicitly from the log data. With this assumption, we would like to assist the analytics process of a user through command recommendations. We categorize the commands into software and data categories based on their purpose to fulfill the task at hand. On the premise that the sequence of commands leading up to a data command is a good predictor of the latter, we design, develop, and validate various sequence modeling techniques. In this paper, we propose a framework to provide goal-driven data command recommendations to the user by leveraging unstructured logs. We use the log data of a web-based analytics software to train our neural network models and quantify their performance, in comparison to relevant and competitive baselines. We propose a custom loss function to tailor the recommended data commands according to the goal information provided exogenously. We also propose an evaluation metric that captures the degree of goal orientation of the recommendations. We demonstrate the promise of our approach by evaluating the models with the proposed metric and showcasing the robustness of our models in the case of adversarial examples, where the user activity is misaligned with selected goal, through offline evaluation.Comment: 14th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems (RecSys 2020

Comparative Study of University and Polytechnic Graduates in Finland : implications of higher education on earnings

Peer reviewe

Palvelun näkyvyys globaalisessa hankinnassa

As a result of a merger between Nokia and Siemens, information transparency, resource allocation and business culture need to he readjusted and clearly defined. This suggests changes in the current processes and tools, specifically in the areas of supplier visibility and service infrastructure. This research concentrates on the management of service visibility in Nokia Siemens Network's Global Procurement Sector. The objective of this research is to explore the current status and the business needs of service visibility from the process and tool points of view. In addition, vision and corporate strategies are delineated to suggest future improvements. Consequently, the research methodologies are descriptive and proposal in tone. The primary data gathering method is interview research. The results are obtained via the contribution of numerous experts, business managers and process owners from various sectors in Nokia Siemens Network. The strategic, tactical and operational decisions have implications on a company's core business, product portfolio, functional units, human resource, organizational values and information systems both in the short run and in the long run. Consequently, risk management, feasibility analysis and acceptance approval should proceed with care. Proactive communication and data sharing invite the tearing down of silo walls, achieving information transparency. In addition, long-term planning, mid-term forecasts and short-term demand visibility all support the effective management of service visibility through supplier visibility in service procurement. New research avenues are opened in process co-design where the optimal level of customer participation in global procurement reveals further opportunities on this very topic.Nokian ja Siemensin fuusion seurauksena selkeä määrittely ja uudelleen säätäminen tarvitaan tiedon näkyvyydessä, resurssien allokaatiossa ja yrityksen kulttuurissa. Tästä syystä muutokset nykyisissä prosesseissa ja työkaluissa varsinkin toimittajien näkyvyyden alueissa ja palvelun infrastruktuurissa ovat välttämättömiä. Tutkimus keskittyy palvelun näkyvyyden hallintaan Nokia Siemens Networkin globaalin hankinnan yksikössä. Tutkimuksen tavoite on selvittää yrityksen nykytilaa sekä hankinnan että palvelun näkyvyyden tarpeet prosessin ja työkalun näkökulmasta. Lisäksi muotoillaan parannusehdotuksia tulevaisuuteen vision ja yrityksen strategian avulla. Tutkimusmenetelmät ovat mm. deskriptiivisiä, haastattelunpohjaisia ja luonnostelevia. Tulokset on koottu Nokia Siemens Networkin asiantuntijoiden, managereiden ja prosessin omistajien inputeista eri yksiköistä. Strategisilla, taktillisilla ja operatiivisilla päätöksillä on tärkeä merkitys yrityksen ydintoiminnassa, tuotesalkussa, funktionaalisissa yksiköissä, henkilöresursseissa, organisaation arvoissa ja informaatiosysteemissä sekä lyhyellä että pitkällä aikavälillä. Riskinhallinnan, kannattavuudenanalyysin ja hyväksymisehdotuksen suhteen kannattaa edetä harkinnallisesti. Oma-aloitteinen kommunikaatio ja datan jakaminen tarkoittavat tiimin ja organisaation siiloseinien repimistä ja näin saavutetaan tiedon näkyvyyttä. Lisäksi pitkän aikavälin suunnittelu, keskipitkän aikavälin tarpeiden ennustaminen sekä lyhyen aikavälin kysynnän näkyvyys tukevat tehokkaasti palvelun näkyvyyden hallinnointia. Tämä tapahtuu toimittajien näkyvyyden kautta palvelun hankinnassa. Uusia tutkimuskohteita löytyy prosessin suunnittelussa, jossa tutkitaan asiakkaiden osallistumisen optimaalista astetta globaalisessa hankinnassa. Tämä tarjoaakin uusia mahdollisuuksia saman aiheen alla

An In-Depth Analysis of Learning Goals in Higher Education: Evidence from the Programming Education

Previous research has shown that, despite the importance of programming education, there is limited research done on programming education experiences from the students’ point of view and the need to do so is strong. By understanding the student behaviour, their learning styles, their expectation and motivation to learn, the quality of teaching can be improved. The goal of this paper is to examine the connection between educational theories and student-centred pedagogy via an empirical study. While research results have confirmed student difficulties in learning programming in terms of the retention and completion rates of the programming courses, we will propose some of the solutions to overcome these challenges. We will also classify the various definitions of learning goals both theoretically and empirically in order to further our understanding in the subject field. New research opportunities are opened in the applied work of a personalised learning environment.Peer reviewe

Corporate disclosure theories and financial accounting research

Sound corporate governance has an important role in providing transparent and reliable information to the financial markets concerning firm performance. Consequently, it has remained a popular topic of research in the accounting and finance arena. When it comes to policy implications, research results in corporate governance provide important guidelines for the EU member states and top business decision makers around the world. While corporate governance theories can be applied in different research scenarios based on a given set of premises, in this thesis we focus on corporate disclosure theories and accounting conservatism building an empirical methodology to verify the research hypotheses using statistical models. The thesis is divided into three parts. In the first two parts, the relation between firm specific characteristics and corporate disclosure are discussed in the context of Scandinavian firms. Corporate disclosure is often used to understand the increasing need to reduce managerial opportunism and insider trading as well as the risks related to moral hazards and the agency problem, which are some of the most fundamental theories established in the domain of managerial science. By the specific geographical focus, new insights on the regional differences and transferability of the existing results is obtained. As a principal research tool in addition to modelling the publicly available financial data, a linguistic analysis of financial reports is performed. Correlation and regression analyses reveal that in terms of firm size, leverage ratio, the existence of audit committee and the independence of CEO, there is a correlation between firm specific factors and the level of disclosure. In the second part of the thesis, the more specific context of intellectual capital disclosure is discussed. The third part of the thesis discusses accounting conservatism. In the earlier literature, the two types of conservatism common in the literature are known as conditional and unconditional conservatism while the work in this thesis covers both cases. In this context, the presence of accounting conservatism is discussed using a set of recent data containing a large amount of financial information. The empirical study verifies that accounting conservatism occurs in the form of undervaluation of investments in positive net present value projects, whereas no strong evidence is found to the undervaluation of assets due to factors such as an overly aggressive deprecation policy. In contrast to a large part of the earlier literature, in all the models in the thesis a special precaution is taken in order to address the possible presence of heteroscedasticity.Goed ondernemingsbestuur speelt een belangrijke rol bij het verstrekken van transparante en betrouwbare informatie aan de financiële markten over bedrijfsprestaties. Bijgevolg is het een populair onderzoeksonderwerp gebleven op het gebied van boekhouding en financiën. Als het gaat om beleidsimplicaties, bieden onderzoeksresultaten inzake corporate governance belangrijke richtlijnen voor de EUlidstaten en leidinggevende zakelijke besluitvormers over de hele wereld. Hoewel corporate governance-theorieën kunnen worden toegepast in verschillende onderzoeksscenario's op basis van een bepaalde reeks uitgangspunten, richten we ons in dit proefschrift op theorieën over de openbaarmaking van bedrijfsgegevens en boekhoudkundig conservatisme, waarbij een empirische methodologie wordt gebruikt om de onderzoekshypothesen te verifiëren met behulp van statistische modellen. Het proefschrift bestaat uit drie delen. In de eerste twee delen wordt de relatie tussen bedrijfsspecifieke kenmerken en openbaarmaking van bedrijfsgegevens besproken in de context van Scandinavische bedrijven. Openbaarmaking van bedrijfsgegevens wordt vaak gebruikt om de toenemende behoefte te begrijpen om opportunistisch handelen door het management en handel met voorkennis te verminderen, evenals de risico's in verband met moreel wangedrag en het principaal-agent probleem, die enkele van de meest fundamentele theorieën zijn in het domein van de managementwetenschap. Door de specifieke geografische focus worden nieuwe inzichten verkregen in de regionale verschillen en overdraagbaarheid van de bestaande resultaten. Als een belangrijk onderzoeksinstrument naast het modelleren van de openbaar beschikbare financiële gegevens, wordt een taalkundige analyse van financiële rapporten uitgevoerd. Correlatieen regressieanalyses laten zien dat er, wat betreft bedrijfsgrootte, leverage ratio, het bestaan van een auditcomité en de onafhankelijkheid van CEO, een correlatie bestaat tussen bedrijfsspecifieke factoren en het niveau van openbaarmaking. In het tweede deel van het proefschrift wordt de meer specifieke context van openbaarmaking van intellectueel kapitaal besproken. Het derde deel van het proefschrift bespreekt boekhoudkundig conservatisme. In de eerdere literatuur staan de twee soorten conservatisme die gebruikelijk zijn in de literatuur bekend als voorwaardelijk en niet-voorwaardelijk conservatisme, terwijl het werk in dit proefschrift beide types omvat. In deze context wordt de aanwezigheid van boekhoudkundig conservatisme besproken met behulp van een reeks recente gegevens die een grote hoeveelheid financiële informatie bevatten. De empirische studie verifieert dat boekhoudkundig conservatisme optreedt in de vorm van onderwaardering van investeringen in positieve netto contante waardeprojecten, terwijl er geen sterk bewijs wordt gevonden voor de onderwaardering van activa als gevolg van factoren zoals een te agressief afschrijvingsbeleid. In tegenstelling tot een groot deel van de eerdere literatuur wordt in alle modellen in het proefschrift een speciale voorzorgsmaatregel getroffen om de mogelijke aanwezigheid van heteroscedasticiteit aan te pakken

Strategic implications of voluntary disclosure and the application of the legitimacy theory

A broad and in-depth review of voluntary disclosure, as the consequential reflection of corporate governance, provides alternative explanations for some the research results discussed in the traditional literature. With regard to the implications of the information asymmetry and the agency theory on voluntary disclosure, we see that the correlation of such is not absolute. In this paper, our understanding in the subject matter is deepened, as we evaluate the various dimensions of corporate disclosure both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. We discuss the strategic effects as well as the incentives behind corporate disclosure while mirroring the disclosure theory to the legitimacy theory in real life business settings. As we discuss the potential conflicts and drawbacks that researchers and practitioners may have encountered in their previous research, we have discovered that many fundamental research questions related to voluntary disclosure have, in fact, remain unanswered as a result of mixed interpretations. Finally, we propose directions for future research, and subsequently open new research arena to be tested by further research