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In 2001, the US moved to regulate internal control reporting by management and auditors. While some jurisdictions have followed the lead of the US, many others have not. An important question, therefore, is the relevance of internal control to stakeholders. The more specific issue of the benefits of US-style regulation of internal control reporting is also topical. We review studies on the determinants of internal control quality and its economic consequences for stakeholders including investors, creditors, managers, auditors and financial analysts. We extend previous reviews by focusing on US studies published since 2013 as well as all non-US studies investigating IC quality including countries regulating IC disclosure as well as unregulated settings and both developed and developing economies. In doing so, we identify research questions where evidence remains mixed and new directions in which there are research opportunities.

Three main insights arise from our analysis. First, evidence on the economic consequences of internal control quality suggests that the quality of internal control can have a significant effect on decision making by users of financial information. Second, the results of research on the empirical association between ownership structure, certain board characteristics and internal control quality is generally mixed. Empirical evidence concerning the association between audit committee characteristics and internal control quality generally supports a positive and significant association. Finally, while studies in non-US jurisdictions are increasing, opportunities remain to explore the determinants and consequences of internal control in other jurisdictions. Our review provides evidence for policy makers of whether there are benefits from requiring management and auditors to report on internal control over financial reporting.

This paper aims to report the results of numerical analysis of turbulent fluid flow and forced-convection heat transfer in solar air channels with baffle-type attachments of various shapes. The effect of reconfiguring baffle geometry on the local and average heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop measurements in the whole domain investigated at constant surface temperature condition along the top and bottom channels’ walls is studied by comparing 15 forms of the baffle, which are simple (flat rectangular), triangular, trapezoidal, cascaded rectangular-triangular, diamond, arc, corrugated, +, S, V, double V (or W), Z, T, G and epsilon (or e)-shaped, with the Reynolds number changing from 12,000 to 32,000.

The baffled channel flow model is controlled by the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, besides the k-epsilon (or k-e) turbulence model and the energy equation. The finite volume method, by means of commercial computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT is used in this research work.

Over the range investigated, the Z-shaped baffle gives a higher thermal enhancement factor than with simple, triangular, trapezoidal, cascaded rectangular-triangular, diamond, arc, corrugated, +, S, V, W, T, G and e-shaped baffles by about 3.569-20.809; 3.696-20.127; 3.916-20.498; 1.834-12.154; 1.758-12.107; 7.272-23.333; 6.509-22.965; 8.917-26.463; 8.257-23.759; 5.513-18.960; 8.331-27.016; 7.520-26.592; 6.452-24.324; and 0.637-17.139 per cent, respectively. Thus, the baffle of Z-geometry is considered as the best modern model of obstacles to significantly improve the dynamic and thermal performance of the turbulent airflow within the solar channel.

This analysis reports an interesting strategy to enhance thermal transfer in solar air channels by use of attachments with various shapes

Safety data sheets are documents developed by chemical manufacturers to identify and label hazardous materials. The occupational safety and health administration regulations state that employers must make safety data sheets available for employees. When firms use hundreds of chemicals, tracking their safety data sheets becomes difficult. Safety Data Sheet Management Systems are developed to track safety data sheets. This paper aims to propose a multi-attribute decision-making framework for selecting a Safety Data Sheet Management System.

A total of 12 attributes are proposed based on a real-life project conducted at a firm in New York and the software selection models existed in the literature. Fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution is used to assess the proposed attributes and alternatives. A case study and sensitivity analysis are conducted to show the robustness of the proposed model. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process is used for validation.

Safety Data Sheet Management System is important for firms to track and manage safety data sheets. The proposed framework is practical and easy to implement.

The proposed decision model is useful for firms to select a proper Safety Data Sheet Management System. The system developers can use the model to update their systems.

This paper develops a new multi-attribute decision-making model for selecting a Safety Data Sheet Management System. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has developed such a model.

The warehouse industry is one of the backbones in the logistics operation which involves several activities i.e. storage, receiving, picking and shipping of goods/cargoes. This study analyzes the most important warehouse productivity indicators for improving warehouse operation efficiency.

This study presents an empirical methodology of the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) method, an integration between the fuzzy logic method with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method incorporated with the adoption of quantitative and systems theories under the modern management theory approach.

The results indicate that the weight values of the main criteria which lead by the criterion “Space (0.4005)” at the top ranking, followed by Information System (0.2445), Labor (0.2065) and Equipment (0.1484). In addition, the weight values and ranking of the 16 sub-criteria are also highlighted which the sub-criterion “Warehouse Management System (0.2445)” scores the highest weight value and followed by Storage Space Utilization (0.1043) and Throughput (0.0722) accordingly.

Finally, this research contributed to enrich the literature, while highlighting a series of recommendations on the top three most significant productivity performance indicators that can be useful in further research.

A generic analysis model developed with the adoption of three study theories: quantitative, system and productivity theories.

This paper aims to explore the use of Bostick’s (1992) Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) in a developing country perspective to find out the level of anxiety among university students and to identify the underlying factors that contribute to this phenomenon.

A slightly modified 43-item LAS was used to collect data from 350 students at Dhaka University. For data analysis, negatively worded statements were reverse-scored so that all the statements are scored in the same direction. The statistical significance is measured using Mann–Whitney (M-W) and Kruskal–Wallis (K-W) tests. The M-W tests were conducted to examine the differences in students’ library anxiety scores in terms of their age and educational levels. The K-W tests were conducted to examine the differences in students’ ratings on LAS items in terms of their age and faculty enrolment. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the survey data to examine the factors contributing to students’ anxiety. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the convergent validity of the measures chosen to represent each factor construct.

The result of this study indicated that library anxiety exists amongst Dhaka University students, as most LAS scores fell above 3 on a 5-point Likert scale. The individual differences in terms of gender, age, educational level and frequency of library visit were not significant for most of the items. The EFA, after several iterations, yielded a five-factor solution for library anxiety constructs although only two factors were found to have met the required reliability scores. The CFA, however, failed to produce any meaningful results. This paper made several recommendations to the university library administration to alleviate the problems that appear to have triggered library anxiety.

This is a pioneering study of the use of Bostick’s LAS in Bangladesh. It is hoped that the findings of this study will encourage researchers to develop anxiety scales which would address the need for library services in developing country context.

This study investigates the flow and heat transfer in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) ternary hybrid nanofluid (HNF), considering the effects of viscous dissipation and radiation.

The transport equations are transformed into nondimensional partial differential equations. The local nonsimilarity (LNS) technique is implemented to truncate nonsimilar dimensionless system. The LNS truncated equation can be treated as ordinary differential equations. The numerical results of the equation are accomplished through the implementation of the bvp4c solver, which leverages the fourth-order three-stage Lobatto IIIa formula as a finite difference scheme.

The findings of a comparative investigation carried out under diverse physical limitations demonstrate that ternary HNFs exhibit remarkably elevated thermal efficiency in contrast to conventional nanofluids.

The LNS approach (Mahesh et al., 2023; Khan et al., 20223; Farooq et al., 2023) that we have proposed is not currently being used to clarify the dynamical issue of HNF via porous media. The LNS method, in conjunction with the bvp4c up to its second truncation level, yields numerical solutions to nonlinear-coupled PDEs. Relevant results of the topic at hand, obtained by adjusting the appropriate parameters, are explained and shown visually via tables and diagrams.

This paper provides a quantitative review of the literature on the repercussions of idiosyncratic information on firms’ cost of equity (CoE) capital. In total, I review the results of 113 unique studies examining the CoE effects of information Quantity, Precision and Asymmetry. My results suggest that the association between firm-specific information and CoE is subject to moderate effects. First, the link between Quantity and CoE is moderated by disclosure types and country-level factors in that firms in comparatively weakly regulated countries tend to enjoy up to four times greater CoE benefits from more expansive disclosure—depending on the type of disclosure—than firms in strongly regulated markets. Second, a negative relationship between Precision and CoE is only significant in studies using non-accrual quality proxies for Precision and risk factor-based (RFB)/valuation model-based (VMB) proxies for CoE. Third, almost all VMB studies confirm the positive association between Asymmetry and CoE, but there is notable variation in the conclusions reached when ex post CoE measurers are used.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the two-dimensional blood flow in the artery slant from the axis at an angle with mild stenosis under the joint effects of the electro-osmotic, magnetic field, chemical reaction and porosity using a new analytical method. In addition, the mathematical model presented by the researchers Tripathi and Sharma (2018c) was successfully developed by adding the effect of electro-osmosis and studying the impact of the new addition in the developed model on blood flow.

A new analytical method was used to find the analytical approximate solutions of two-dimensional blood flow in artery slant from the axis at an angle with mild stenosis. This technique is based on integrating the Akbari-Ganji and the homotopy perturbation methods.

The results of axial velocity, concentration, temperature and the wall shear stress for blood flow were analyzed in the cases of the absence and presence of electro-osmosis. Furthermore, in these two states of electro-osmosis, a contour plot was created to show the difference in the profile of velocity to the flow of blood when the magnetic field was increased and the altitude of stenosis was increased. The results showed that the new technique is effective and has high accuracy to determine the analytical approximate solutions of two-dimensional blood flow in artery slant from the axis at an angle with mild stenosis. The validity, utility and necessity of the new method were illustrated from the graphs of the new solutions; in addition, there is an excellent agreement with the results of previous studies.

This paper focuses on developing the mathematical model which was presented by the researchers Tripathi and Sharma (2018c), by adding the effect of the electro-osmosis to it, which has been successfully developed. According to the authors’ modest information, the new system has not been studied before. This current problem is solved by using an innovative approach known as the Akbari-Ganji homotopy perturbation method (AGHPM) which has not been used before in two cases: the presence and absence of the effect of electro-osmosis. This new technique afford new with effective and has high accuracy results. Furthermore, the new study (i.e. adding effect of electro-osmosis) with the applications of (variable viscosity, magnetic field, chemical reaction and porosity) illustrated the importance of applying electro-osmosis and how doctors can benefit from it during surgeries through proper use.

This paper aims to explore the flow of nanofluid over bi-directional stretching sheet in the presence of magnetic field and linear thermal radiation.

In this study, water is taken as a base fluid, and copper is diluted in the base fluid. Further, four different shapes of nanoparticles are considered for the analysis. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed into the system of ordinary differential equations after using the feasible similarity transformations. Solution of the model is then performed by means of Runge–Kutta scheme.

Influence of the emerging dimensionless parameters on velocity, temperature, skin friction coefficient and local rate of heat transfer are studied with the help of graphs.

The study is presented in this paper is original and has not been submitted to any other journal for the publication purpose. The contents are original, and proper references have been provided wherever applicable.