Search results
1 – 10 of 416
This study investigates whether corporate executives, who are university alumni, influence each other's firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates whether corporate executives, who are university alumni, influence each other's firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on social network theory, the authors hypothesise that a firm's CSR performance is positively associated with its peer firms' average CSR performance when the executives of the firm and its peer firms are university alumni. The study employs data from 1,685 listed firms and 4,906 executives who graduated from 585 different universities in China and runs multivariate regressions.
Findings
The results reveal a sizeable university peer influence on CSR performance. Such influence is even stronger for executives who graduated from elite universities (e.g. 985 or 211 universities), and universities or programmes that provide more opportunities for alumni reunions or networking (e.g. MBAs/EMBAs). Executives who are more influential in making firm decisions (e.g. CEOs/CFOs), as well as firms that are more likely to mimic the behaviour of others, also show higher degrees of university peer influence.
Practical implications
The results highlight the role of education in ethical decision-making.
Originality/value
This study documents evidence on a new determinant of firm CSR performance. The study sheds light on the impact of non-institutionalised personal ties, for example, university alumni networks, on CSR performance.
Details
Keywords
Abdul Rashid and Muhammad Saarim Ghazi
The objective of this study is to present a theoretical framework, which helps ascertain the meanings of the Sharīʿah audit quality and identify the factors that affect it.
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to present a theoretical framework, which helps ascertain the meanings of the Sharīʿah audit quality and identify the factors that affect it.
Design/methodology/approach
The current literature of conventional and Islamic finance on audit quality is critically reviewed to propose the theoretical framework for the quality of Sharīʿah audit.
Findings
The paper suggests that for a better Sharīʿah compliance at Islamic banking institutions (IBIs), the role of audit practitioners is very much indispensable. The competency of the practitioner is one of the important factors that affect the quality of the Sharīʿah audit. Assessment and identification of Sharīʿah risk in different financial arrangements, contracts and transactions require a unique competency on the part of the auditor, that is, gripping Sharīʿah law besides traditional assurance skills and techniques.
Practical implications
The Sharīʿah compliance is one of the primary objectives of IBIs, which works at the conceptual level, product development and implementation level, various business models and governance level. Sharīʿah audit function, internal or external, is an important component of Sharīʿah governance framework and provides an independent assessment of IBIs’ compliance with the Sharīʿah rules and principles and helps in managing the Sharīʿah non-compliance risk and ensuring sound internal Sharīʿah control system.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a theoretical framework for defining the Sharīʿah audit quality and determining the factors that are significant in affecting the Sharīʿah audit quality in the IBIs of Pakistan.
Details
Keywords
Kim Ittonen, Emma-Riikka Myllymäki and Per Christen Tronnes
This paper focuses on bank audit committees and examines whether audit committee members who are former auditors are associated with the acquisition of audit and non-audit…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper focuses on bank audit committees and examines whether audit committee members who are former auditors are associated with the acquisition of audit and non-audit services from their former employers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study empirically examines a sample of large banks that are included in the S&P Composite 1500.
Findings
The paper reports significantly lower audit fees and a higher proportion of non-audit fees to total fees when the audit committee chair is an alumnus of the incumbent audit firm. Moreover, additional analysis reveals that these findings are stronger for banks with more earnings management.
Research limitations/implications
Overall, the findings indicate that audit firms might consider banks using their alumni as audit committee chairs to be less risky or easier to audit, thus requiring relatively less effort from the auditors. The reduced effort required to audit clients with audit firm alumni on their audit committees then has the effect of reducing the audit fees charged. Alternatively, their auditing experience and cognitive proximity might influence the assessment of the need for auditing or the ability to negotiate lower audit fees on the part of audit firm alumni.
Originality/value
This paper provides empirical evidence of the association between audit firm alumni in influential positions on an audit committee and fees paid to those audit firms in the banking industry. The findings contribute to the literature by suggesting that banks with affiliated former auditors chairing their audit committees not only have significantly lower audit fees but also a higher proportion is spent on non-audit services.
Details
Keywords
The article aims to determine the implementation extent of the regulations around appointment and characteristics of audit committees and regulations concerning disclosure of…
Abstract
Purpose
The article aims to determine the implementation extent of the regulations around appointment and characteristics of audit committees and regulations concerning disclosure of information about the audit committee in Polish practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The author analyzed the informative content of management reports and corporate governance statements. The survey covered all domestic companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the years from 2017 to 2021.
Findings
The new guidelines resulting from hard law had a significant impact on the corporate governance on the Polish capital market. According to the research results, over the analyzed years, the share of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, which appointed an audit committee within the supervisory board, clearly increased. Moreover, the research found that in the period under study, not all companies fulfilled the obligation to disclose information about the audit committee resulting from hard law. In particular, this applies to disclosures on how the members of the audit committee acquired competencies in the area of accounting.
Practical implications
The article concerns the operation of the audit committee in public companies listed on the Polish capital market. The study can serve as a reference point for further research on corporate governance. The results of the research may be an indication for those who create legal solutions in the area of corporate governance.
Originality/value
This is the first such comprehensive study on the characteristics of the audit committee and disclosures about the audit committee resulting from the introduction of hard law in this area.
Details
Keywords
Julia A. Fulmore, Jude Olson and Linda LaCoste
The purpose of this qualitative study is to conduct an exploratory investigation of the impact and sustainability of coaching on career and leadership development of students and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative study is to conduct an exploratory investigation of the impact and sustainability of coaching on career and leadership development of students and later, alumni, in an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample for this qualitative study consisted of 14 alumni of an EMBA program at a private university in the Southwestern US who graduated between January 2012 and May 2019. Eleven alumni participated in the focus groups, and three alumni participated in personal interviews.
Findings
The open coding of the data resulted in three emergent themes (personal development by overcoming personal deficiencies, coaching translates to learning about leadership and coaching motivates sustained change) that confirmed the positive long-term effect of coaching as part of an EMBA program.
Practical implications
By participating in an executive coaching engagement, the EMBA students learned a development process that they could repeat for themselves after graduation and transfer to others. In addition, the EMBA students were able to leverage knowledge gained from the coaching experience for the development of others.
Originality/value
While the positive impacts of coaching are well-documented, its long-term impact on EMBA students/alumni has not yet been studied. This study builds on other evaluative studies to identify the benefits of executive coaching.
Details
Keywords
Marjolein Zweekhorst and Dirk Essink
In order to address the complex problems of society, the innovation research process should incorporate technical, social, economic and ethical factors, but also actively involve…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to address the complex problems of society, the innovation research process should incorporate technical, social, economic and ethical factors, but also actively involve a diverse group of non-scientific actors. One way to prepare students for this type of research is to create “Citizen Scholars,” students who want to work for the betterment of society. Arvanitakis and Hornsby (2016) argue that we need to change how we teach and train students in specific proficiencies. The purpose of this paper is to assess how the pedagogical approach applied within the program contributes to building the proficiencies and attributes as described by Arvanitakis and Hornsby (2016).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a total of 12 interviews with alumni who started their program in 2014, one focus group discussion with lecturers and 132 questionnaires with alumni to discuss to what extend the proficiencies are trained in the program and whether these are used in their current jobs. The authors also included data of an earlier study conducted in 2014. These data contain 26 interviews with students during the first year of the program. These students graduated in 2017 and are thus from the same cohort as the alumni.
Findings
The results show that the pedagogical approach in the management policy analysis program trains all the attributes. Important elements in the program are: the inquiry-based approach intertwined with community service learning (CSL) throughout the program; gradually increased complexity of the real-world problems addressed; students working in teams; and gradually reducing support of the lecturer.
Research limitations/implications
The authors conclude that our pedagogical approach applied in the program contributes to learning the proficiencies. The authors argue that for the training of inter- and transdisciplinary, the proficiency knowledge integration should be added.
Practical implications
The result show that more inquiry-based approaches and CSL programs can stimulate the four clusters of proficiencies, which should hold a central place in universities if we want to create citizen scholars.
Social implications
With the approach, students contribute to research issues of local communities.
Originality/value
Despite the increasing interest of higher education to involve civic activities in the curricula, few pedagogical approaches are described. The research shows that theoretical insights in the adaption of a model to realize a citizen scholar.
Details
Keywords
Robert Barbato, Richard De Martino and Paul H. Jacques
A nonemployer business is one that has no paid employees.The number and revenues of nonemployer businesses are increasing at a faster rate than other businesses, and they are an…
Abstract
A nonemployer business is one that has no paid employees.The number and revenues of nonemployer businesses are increasing at a faster rate than other businesses, and they are an increasingly important alternative to other forms of entrepreneurship.Yet very little is known about these businesses. This study uses a survey of 1,600 MBA alumni to compare the entrepreneurial motivations of nonemployer entrepreneurs to conventional entrepreneurs and no entrepreneurs. The findings indicate that nonemployer entrepreneurs differ in important ways, and future research is needed to understand more fully this large and important group of entrepreneurs.
Abdelhamid K. Abdelmaaboud, Ana Isabel Polo Peña and Abeer A. Mahrous
This study introduces three variables related to brands that have the potential to enhance university students' advocacy intentions. The research explores how university brand…
Abstract
Purpose
This study introduces three variables related to brands that have the potential to enhance university students' advocacy intentions. The research explores how university brand identification, the perceived prestige of the university brand and the social benefits associated with the university brand impact students' advocacy intentions. Additionally, the study examines the moderating role of gender in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Cross-sectional surveys of 326 undergraduate students enrolled in a Spanish university, and structural equation modeling was used to test and validate the conceptual model.
Findings
The findings from the structural equation modeling indicate that university brand identification, perceived university brand prestige and university brand social benefits significantly influence students' advocacy intentions. Furthermore, the multigroup analysis reveals a gender difference in the factors influencing advocacy intentions. Female students demonstrate significance in all three antecedents, whereas male students only show significance in university brand identification and perceived university brand prestige.
Practical implications
The current study's findings provide several insights for higher education institutions in developing enduring and committed relationships with their students.
Originality/value
This study offers relevant insights into the body of research on university branding, explaining the students' advocacy intentions through the variables of university brand identification, perceived university brand prestige and university brand social benefits. Also, this study is a novelty in introducing empirical evidence for the importance of the moderating role of students' gender.
Details
Keywords
Gustav Hägg, Diamanto Politis and Gry Agnete Alsos
This study aims to examine the role of gender balance in forming individuals’ understanding of entrepreneurship as manifested in the graduates’ occupational choices, asking: Does…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of gender balance in forming individuals’ understanding of entrepreneurship as manifested in the graduates’ occupational choices, asking: Does gender balance in entrepreneurship education influence start-up behaviour after graduation? Based on gender mainstreaming, this study builds on the assumption that gender balance influences classroom and student community discourses. This study presents two hypotheses suggesting a positive relationship between gender balance (student and mentor gender balance, respectively) and the likelihood of engaging in start-up behaviour after graduation.
Design/methodology/approach
The context is an international one-year master's programme in entrepreneurship and innovation, which adopts an experienced-based pedagogical approach to support learning. This study applies binary logistic regression analysis to test the hypotheses on a sample of 107 graduates who responded to a web-based questionnaire on post-graduation career paths.
Findings
This study finds support for the first hypothesis indicating that student gender balance in the classroom has a significant positive impact on graduates' likelihood of engaging in start-up activity post-graduation. In the interpretation of these findings, this study emphasizes that a master's programme in entrepreneurship is an important arena where students' attitudes, values, aspirations and intentions towards entrepreneurship are shaped and their identity developed.
Originality/value
While studies have demonstrated gender bias in the discourses on entrepreneurship education and content, there is little evidence of its consequences or how it is addressed. Findings of this study point directly to this gap by revealing that improved gender balance is not only beneficial to the underrepresented gender, but to the overall student group.
Details