Strategic Cost Management as a recession survival tool in the Nigerian Manufacturing and Financial Service Industries

The financial crisis in 2008 caused business priorities to shift from growth and leveraging up profits to issues of survival until the good times return. There was an understandable emphasis on costs; cost management was therefore seen as one of the best ways to maintain profits in the face of softening sales and shrinking margins. The objectives of the research were to determine whether Strategic Cost Management (SCM) techniques are practically used by Nigerian companies and the extent of their utilization- particularly in the Nigerian manufacturing and financial services industries, identify the factors influencing the adoption of strategic cost management and investigate whether strategic cost management can be used as competitive strategy for survival in recessionary times. Collected data were subjected to statistical procedures using the Mann-Whitney test. The research found out that although Nigerian companies are receptive to the philosophies of SCM, there are challenges inhibiting their adoption and implementation in the Nigerian environment. Manufacturing concerns also utilize the SCM tools more than the Financial Service companies. Nigerian companies were encouraged to embrace strategic cost management tools and the Nigerian government implored to formulate policies that create enabling environment to facilitate the adoption of SCM. Keywords: Strategic Cost Management, Recessionary Times, Financial Markets, Survival,       Nigerian Companies

Performance Measurement in the United Kingdom (UK) retail banking industry

The assets size of the UK commercial banking industry accounts for a significant proportion of the European commercial banking total assets. Given the developed nature of the UK country and its attendant economic transitioning; the significant growth in the financial service industry; the divergence of banks’ ownership structures; recurring incidence of business combinations; proliferation of financial institutions; strategic cost management; and lax regulation in the UK banking industry, it is considered important to examine the Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) adopted by UK retail banks to cope with these vagaries. Besides, studying the PMS utilised by banks operating in leading economies like the UK, could provide useful insights, guidance, and practice-adoption for other developed and emerging nations. The research was undertaken to address these concerns. Data was collected through a survey of 15 UK retail banks. Statistics such as charts, percentage analysis, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Pearson Chi – square, Kruskal Wallis test, and Mann- Whitney U test were utilised for data analyses. There is empirical evidence from the study that within the UK retail banking industry, the three most common PMS utilised are; the Balanced Scorecard, Performance dashboards, and financial performance measures. Notwithstanding that the PMS in the UK banking industry is symmetrical across banks, and relatively balances a mix of financial and non-financial measures, it is the recommendation of this research that the UK banking industry can be improved by making PMS more flexible in order to embed and account for changes in banks’ strategies. Keywords: Performance measurement, risk, strategy, strategic cost management, UK Bank

Social sustainability business practices and organisational performance in Nigerian banks

is study examines employee involvement in organisational affairs as an important facet of social sustainability in the Nigerian banking sector, because providing good customer service requires committed employees rather than coerced labour. Data extracted through quantitative content analysis fromthe financial reports of fifteen commercial banks were analysed using descriptive statistics, Z test, One-way ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis techniques. e study found that employee involvement correlates positively and significantly with organisational performance; and banks differ in performance on the account of the level of employee involvement; firms with deeper level of employee involvement performed better than others with shallow level of employee involvement, thus stressing the relevance of employee involvement as an aspect of social sustainability business practices. Organisations are enjoined to involve their employeesmore to achieve better results; and embrace the modern philosophy of regarding employees as strategic resources that can be used to bolster core competence

Comparative Analyses of Strategic Financial Management Practices In Faith-Based and Community-Interest Organisations

Non-profit organisations render certain services not provided by business or public sectors such as skills development, employment creation and fostering of pathways for social inclusion. In spite of their generally-acknowledged significant contribution to the society, researches on the management of their finance are not much. This research therefore advances the frontiers of knowledge by comparatively analysing the financial management practices of two non-profit organisations; a faith-based and a community-interest organisation. The research adopted a field-based approach by evaluating the financial management practices of study organisations using methods such as interviews, study of documents, artefacts and published annual reports. The research found out that though the two organisations are fully aware of the risks involved in the management of finance, different strategies are adopted to mitigate the risks. Though not established for commercial purposes, Non-Profit organisations are encouraged to embark on cost control and reduction to justify their funding by financier

Impact of corporate governance mechanisms on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance

This thesis contains three research papers on the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance using international evidence of top multi-national entities (MNEs) along with an introductory and concluding chapter. The essays present interconnected studies on; (i) the impact of board composition on ESG performance; (ii) corporate governance drivers of environmental performance; and (iii) impact of board diversity on ESG performance in the millennium development goals (MDGs) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) eras. The first research paper investigates the association between board composition and ESG performance. We test the impact of five board composition elements on ESG performance, notably board independence, CEO duality, board gender diversity, interlocking directorship, and ESG committee, whilst controlling for other corporate governance variables, firm-level attributes, and country-level governance factors. Panel quantile regression (PQR) was applied to analyse data covering a 15-year period (2006–2020) from 336 top MNEs, operating in 42 non-financial industries, located in 32 countries and 5 geographical regions. Fixed effect regression (OLS), multiple discriminant analysis, two-stage least squares (2SLS), and propensity score matching (PSM) regression analysis were used to analyse data. Whereas results from linear models show that board independence, board gender diversity, and existence of ESG committee are positively associated with ESG performance, PQR reveals that the relationship is curvilinear. Linear models show that CEO duality has no significant impact on ESG performance, but PQR reveals that sustained CEO duality erodes ESG performance. Furthermore, whilst linear models show that interlocking directorship has negative impact on ESG performance, PQR reveals that the presence of interlocking directors with vast cross-directorship experience enhances ESG performance. The second research paper examines the extent to which corporate governance (CG) mechanisms affect corporate environmental performance (CEP). The study tested the impact of seven key CG mechanisms on CEP, broadly categorised into board structure and operations (board meeting, board independence and CEO duality), board diversity (board gender diversity and board nationality diversity), and ESG structure (ESG committee and ESG-linked compensation). Panel quantile regression (PQR) was applied to analyse data covering a 15-year period (2006-2020) from 244 top multinational entities operating in 30 environmentally sensitive industries located in 31 countries distributed across 5 geographical regions. Binary logistic regression, two-stage least squares regression (2SLS)/ instrumental variables (IV) regression and propensity score matching (PSM) regression analysis were applied to assess the robustness of result. Result shows that at the aggregate/ combined level for all countries, board gender diversity and presence of ESG committee are the strongest drivers of CEP. However, when disaggregated into geographical regions, the impact of CG mechanisms on CEP is contextual and varies across jurisdictions. Following from the positive impact of board gender diversity and board nationality diversity on CEP, to strengthen board effectiveness and environmental sustainability performance, board nomination committees should select or recommend for selection director nominees that strengthen gender diversity and nationality diversity. The third research paper investigates the impact of board diversity (namely board nationality diversity, board gender diversity, and board skills diversity) on ESG performance using a sample of Forbes 500 top multinational entities (MNEs), spanning 45 industries, 36 countries and 5 geographical regions, covering a 15-year period (2006-2020) of the millennium development goals (MDGs) era and sustainable development goals (SDGs) eras. Fixed effect linear regression, two-stage least squares (2SLS)/ instrumental variable (IV) regression, and propensity score matching regression were used to analyse data. Results show that at the aggregate level, board nationality diversity, board gender diversity, and board skills diversity are positively associated with ESG performance, with board nationality diversity emerging as the foremost determinant. When disaggregated into industries, the impact of board nationality diversity and board skills diversity on ESG performance is greater in the non-financial industry, whereas the impact of board gender diversity is more in the financial industry. When assessed from the standpoint of the MDGs/SDGs era, board nationality diversity and board skills diversity have greater impact on ESG performance in the MDGs era (2006-2015), whilst the impact of board gender diversity is more in the SDGs era (2016-2020). Overall, the study concludes that board diversity is an effective strategy for improving ESG performance

Dataset supporting the University of Southampton Doctoral Thesis "Impact of corporate governance mechanisms on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance"

This dataset is supporting the University of Southampton Doctoral Thesis &quot;Impact of corporate governance mechanisms on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance&quot;. The dataset contains data on impact of corporate governance mechanisms on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance using evidence from multinational entities. Data was collected and compiled from multiple sources including Refinitiv database, annula reports and world bank. The data can be readily viewed on excel documents. The data includes an excel file: Oyewo_Thesis_Data.xlsx</span

The Global Management Accounting Principles (GMAP) and the relationship between organizational design elements

Purpose: this study investigates the relationship between organizational design elements (i.e., quality of management accounting skills and performance management system, PMS), management accounting practice (MAP) sophistication and organizational competitiveness using the Global Management Accounting Principles (GMAP) framework.Design/methodology/approach: survey data was obtained through a structured questionnaire from 131 Nigerian firms. Measures of the quality of management accounting skills, robustness of PMS structure, MAP sophistication and organizational competitiveness were derived from the GMAP framework. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to explore the complexity of relationship among variables.Findings: whilst the quality of management accounting skills was found to have a positive but insignificant impact on MAP sophistication, the impact of PMS structure on MAP sophistication was positive and significant. MAP sophistication has a positive impact on organizational competitiveness, but the magnitude of its contribution appears to depend on the quality of management accounting skills and the robustness of PMS structure. The inability of MAP sophistication to exert much influence on organizational competitiveness is attributable to the low contribution of management accounting skills. Result supports the proposition that performance is optimized when all organizational design elements are concurrently improved.Originality/value: the study contributes to knowledge by investigating the quality of management accounting skills and the robustness of PMS as organizational design elements affecting MAP and organizational competitiveness using the GMAP framework. The study operationalizes some elements of the GMAP framework by developing measurements that can be used by future studies. Practical implications: the study shows that organizations need to critically look into the quality of skills possessed by personnel in the accounting function, as all organizational design elements must be given equal importance to achieve the best results. <br/

Who cares about corruption in Africa?: China or the USA?

Considering the growing criticism by the USA of the bribery and corruption surrounding China's trade with Africa, this study uses panel data on 48 African countries over 17 years to examine whether the relationship between corruption and China's trade in Africa differs from that of USA–Africa trade relations. Contrary to expectations, we find that the relationship between corruption and trade with Africa is the same for both countries. Africa's trade with China and the USA increases as corruption increases. Our results imply that both countries have a similar trend of trading with African countries, and they might not care about corruption in Africa. Ultimately, both countries engage with Africa for their parochial economic and political interest. The results are robust to an alternative measure of corruption and endogeneity test using a two-stage least-square estimation technique.</p