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The objectives of financial reporting encompass a decision usefulness role for accounting information. Information is decision useful when it assists users to make decisions about investing in or doing business with an entity. Decision usefulness is therefore an essential part of the framework within which financial reporting standards are developed. The aim of this research is to assess the decision usefulness of the recently promulgated Financial Reporting Standard 15 (FRS15). To this purpose a random sample of 48 Chartered Accountants and Financial Controllers completed a self‐administered survey regarding various aspects of FRS15 and other factors related to the concept of decision usefulness. Statistical analysis of the responses indicates that respondents agree that overall FRS15 has a positive impact on providing decision useful information. There is strong support for the balance sheet approach on which the standard is based but respondents consider taht the matching approach also provides decision useful information, particularly in respect of allowing the recognition of provisions that do not meet the definition of a liability. The research also considers what respopndents intend to do with current provisions and future provisions following the implementation of FRS15. Although the respondents support consistency, they indicate that, in the case of contingencies, prudence should override consistency. The findings provide an important contribution to the knowledge pertaining to provisions and contingencies.

An empirical investigation of the relative emphasis placed by high‐tech firms on various sources of competitive advantage. Five strategies are identified. The most widely used, called “balanced”, employs a number of different sources of competitive advantage. One strategy is based heavily on product quality, another purely on technological performance. A further strategy, “mass marketing”, places emphasis on heavy promotion and wide distribution. The final strategy is a “value for money” position placing emphasis on both competitive pricing and technical performance. Also shows that choice of strategy depends on product type, market type, market sector and the rate at which products are replaced.

The French law uses joint‐auditing as an audit quality device. This regulation also indirectly preserves market competition by reducing the domination of the large audit firms. However, concerns emerge about the effects of recent auditor mergers on the effectiveness of joint‐auditing: the reduced number of audit suppliers may favour the development of too frequent joint‐auditing collaborations, causing routine cross‐reviews and interdependencies between co‐auditors. This study aims to address this issue.

The market shares, individual performance, and joint‐audit interconnections (attraction‐repulsion indices) of the main audit networks in France are investigated for the year 1997 and again for the year 2003.

Despite the concentration of the audit market for listed companies globally, descriptive market analyses suggest that competition in the audit market has not decreased: the PricewaterhouseCoopers merger in 1998 did not produce any gain in market share to the newly‐formed network; the French member of Arthur Andersen suffered an effective erosion of its audit portfolio resulting from the infamous Enron case; and some national audit networks have maintained significant market positions. Contrary to expectations, the increased concentration did not result in abnormally frequent collaborations between the main audit firms.

The joint‐auditing interconnections are based on the number of common audit clients, and this approach does not take into account the different sizes of the auditees.

This paper is an original approach of auditor concentration in a joint‐auditing environment. To regulators, the results of this study suggest that joint‐auditing can be utilised as a mechanism to preserve market competition and thus potentially maintaining audit quality.

Proposes that the best way to eliminate theft and turnover is through improved hiring practices. Argues in favour of in‐house recruitment from a quality pool of applicants. Provides suggestions to improve the effectiveness of the interview and goes on to discuss the merits of employment referencing. Covers testing and evaluates different methods.

VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by the Information Officer for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for the articles rests with the British Library Board and opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for 1984 to VINE is: £23 for UK subscribers, £26 to overseas subscribers (including airmail delivery). Second and subsequent copies to the same address are charged at £14 for UK and £16 for overseas. VINE is available in either paper or microfiche copy and all back issues are available on microfiche.

The purpose of this study is to explore fathers’ experiences of raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), taking into consideration how this experience fluctuates as their child develops from infancy to adulthood.

Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate the experiences of fathers who have a young adult with ASD. Seven fathers participated in this study. Data was analysed using thematic analysis.

Four themes were identified, these were: ubiquitous impact, divergent support, impeding factors and facilitating factors.

Findings from this study highlighted the pervasive impacts of having a child with ASD. This study highlighted the need to educate health-care professionals, the general public and prospective fathers. Creating “dads groups” could help to direct fathers towards other people who understand their situation. Finally, trialling methods to accelerate fathers’ acceptance, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), could help to reduce psychological stress.

To date, most research largely focusses on mothers’ experiences, as mothers are typically seen as the primary caregiver. Previous research also tends to focus on the earlier years of life. This research addresses the often-overlooked topic of fathers’ experiences, investigating their experience of having a child with ASD from birth through to adulthood.