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The aim of this paper is to examine the academic performances of first-year accounting students using a discussion board.

The paper develops a model to determine the impact of discussion board usage on overall student performance. A number of variables are controlled for including academic aptitude, previous accounting experience, gender and student background. Included in the model are diagnostic information indicators of student use of the discussion board, obtained from the Web-based learning environment tracking reports.

The multiple regression analysis shows a positive benefit in terms of greater marks for students who post on the discussion board compared to those who do not post, even after controlling for academic ability.

The improved knowledge construction gained by actively using discussion boards may be used by teaching staff to promote greater student acceptance and voluntary participation in discussion boards resulting in more interaction and possibly higher academic achievement.

While technology and WBLEs have been well accepted in accounting education, and are widely used (Watson et al., 2007), the introduction of discussion boards has resulted in a dearth of research on their use and effectiveness. In-depth accounting educational literature reviews (Apostolou et al., 2013, 2010; Watson et al., 2007; Watson et al., 2003; Rebele et al., 1998) have reported very few studies on discussion boards over three decades.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how farm management and farm accounting may be improved from the accountant’s perspective.

There has been a dearth of qualitative studies examining accountant’s attitudes to financial reports. This study therefore interviews 13 rural accountants regarding their opinions on the usefulness of financial information they provide to farmers, and what types of financial information could aid farm management.

Accountants generally agree that the present financial reports provided to farmers are of little decision-making value, since they are made for the purposes of compliance. In response, the accountants suggest a number of management accounting reports can better aid farmers.

Accountants are important to the success of farms, yet in-depth responses have not previously been sought on the reports that accountants produce for farmers. This research provides accountants’ opinions on how reports could be more useful for farmers and how more focused management accounting reports can assist decision-making.

The qualitative approach used in this research provides a fresh and richer perspective on the usefulness of accounting to farm management. Interviewing the adviser rather than the business owner is relatively uncommon in agricultural organisations. The interviews have allowed the thoughts and concerns of accountants to come to light in a manner not previously achieved in organisational studies which relate farming and accounting.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reality of financial and management accounting in a small group of small firms. Specifically, from the owner's perspective, an exploration is undertaken to see what financial information is collected, how it is used (or not) to make business decisions and evaluate the firm's performance, and the role played by the accountant in that process.

A phenomenological paradigm underpins this exploratory study. Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with the owners of ten small firms, where the focus was on understanding what happens in an organisational setting, as opposed to theory and textbook practice.

The qualitative data supported prior research in other countries. The in‐depth analysis revealed a very basic understanding of accounting information and problems with the financial literacy amongst these small firm owners. Accounting reports were not widely produced or used, so an informal assessment, such as how much cash was in the bank, was the primary means of assessing business performance. Accountants were used for taxation services, although some owners sought more general business advice.

An understanding is developed of why there might be a gap between textbook rhetoric and reality of accounting practice in small firms. The conclusion is that accounting textbooks need to include more information about the reality of financial management in small firms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of five determinates of performance in students (N = 677) who completed three years of financial accounting to obtain a Bachelor of Accounting Science (BCompt) degree by distance education through the University of South Africa.

Regression analysis is used on three yearly measures of performance with five independent variables (age, gender, prior accounting knowledge, mathematics background and academic aptitude).

Results show that mathematics background and academic aptitude are both significantly associated with student performance, throughout the financial accounting subjects. Prior accounting knowledge is also important in the first year of study but not thereafter.

Prior research has found that other factors may influence student performance, and future studies which include these variables will add to these findings.

The results of this study have important implications for instructors, students and career advisers, particularly as research linking various factors with performance in accounting subjects over the length of a degree is limited.

The current study considers the determinants of student performance over three financial accounting years (rather than one year or one subject) and from a distance education perspective. As distance education becomes a more important delivery method of study in the future, these results have important implications.

This paper aims to examine: the status and the use of financial and non‐financial measures, and the balanced scorecard (BSC) in Bangladeshi companies; the reasons for BSC adoption; and associated problems.

Data via a questionnaire were obtained from the chief accounting and finance officers of a cross section of 60 Bangladeshi companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. A combination of descriptive statistics, bi‐variate, and multi‐variate techniques of statistics were used to test three research questions.

The results indicate that financial measures are more widely used, but that 78.4 per cent of companies use some non‐financial indicators. Further, the exercise of a full BSC is limited to only 10 per cent of the sample. The results also show that companies adopt these frameworks to aid decision making, and the problems associated with the adoption of BSC include a cost‐benefit perspective and a lack of management support.

The findings suggest many companies are using a dashboard of financial and non‐financial performance measures that could possibly be a precursor to adopting more holistic performance measurement frameworks like the BSC.

There have been recent calls for more in‐depth analysis of the management accounting systems of emerging countries and these findings contribute further knowledge to an under researched area. In particular, the paper demonstrates how a performance measurement framework may evolve in an emerging country context.

This chapter examines student responses to the usefulness of online course materials available through WebCT in an introductory accounting unit. Of particular importance was whether students felt that WebCT provided the key interactive opportunities for effective teaching and learning as outlined by Moore (1993). Results showed that students overwhelmingly felt that WebCT was useful and provided efficient interactions between the content and the learner. WebCT also has the potential for effective interactions between the instructor and the learner. Among learners, however, these are yet to be fully realized. Given the dearth of research in this area, the findings have implications for faculty members, students, and university administrators.

The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by banks in the developing economy of Bangladesh. This paper also aims to examine the users' perceptions relating to CSR disclosures issues.

The study collected two types of data. First the annual reports of 20 selected banking companies, which are listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), were considered. A questionnaire was also used to investigate the level of users' understanding and their perception of CSR reporting.

The principal findings are twofold: first, the study shows that the selected banking companies did some (albeit little) CSR reporting on a voluntary basis. Second, that the user groups are in favor of CSR reporting, and would like to see more disclosure. The current disclosures by the selected banks, however, are not ample at all to measure the social responsiveness of the organizations.

The paper provides useful informaiton on users' perceptions relating to CSR disclosures issues.

The purpose of this paper is to examine professional accountant’s views on their satisfaction with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) offered by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). While there is a great deal of research on CPD and accountants in developed countries, less developing countries are absent from this literature, and there have been calls for this type of research.

The present study employed a survey of members of the ICAB.

Results show that accountants in Bangladesh are satisfied with the CPD provided by their profession, and when satisfaction is compared with more developed countries, Bangladesh is greater on a number of measures. ICAB members would like to also be provided with opportunities to undertake CPD in more ways than just face to face.

The study has important implications not only for accountants from emerging economies such as Bangladesh, but also for the International Federation of Accountants and other less developed countries (LDCs). The results advance the understanding of professional accounting bodies from an international perspective.

This is the first study of CPD and accounting professionals in LDCs. The information obtained can inform the development and practice of other professional accounting bodies in emerging economies.

This paper aims to examine the social responsibility (SR) by Australian football clubs during the late nineteenth century. While there has been some contemporary research linking SR with sporting clubs, there is a dearth of such studies in the historical context.

This paper uses a qualitative approach and in the absence of annual reports, relies on The Suburban newspaper narratives of club annual general meetings (AGMs). The National Library of Australia’s newspaper digitisation programme was used which is a unique archive in management research.

Even though it was well-known that football provided a social outlet for watching games, this paper found clubs also engaged in a number of SR-related activities that benefited many stakeholders and the surrounding communities.

Deficient in much of the history of Australian football is the SR that clubs displayed to their stakeholders. This paper lengthens the historical SR literature for sporting clubs, and provides rich and detailed evidence of SR. While Australian football club histories continue to highlight winning teams, premierships and major personalities, their SR contribution is also significant and extends to the foundation of the game.