Search results

Mandatory auditor firm rotation (mandatory rotation) has been a controversial issue in the United States for many decades. Mandatory rotation has been considered at various times as a means of improving auditor independence. For example, in the United States, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has considered mandatory rotation as a solution to the independence problem (PCAOB, 2011) and the European Parliament approved legislation that will require mandatory rotation in the near future (Council of European Union, 2014). The concept of implementing a mandatory rotation policy has been encouraged by some constituents of audited financial statements and rejected by other constituents of audited financial statements. Although there are apparent pros and cons of such a policy, the developmental process of such a policy in this country has not necessarily been an open-democratic, objective process. Universal mandatory rotation may or may not be the ideal solution; however, an open-democratic, objective process is needed to facilitate the development of a solution that considers the needs of all major stakeholders of audited financial statements – not simply accounting firms and public companies, but also investors. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine key issues relating to mandatory rotation and to encourage and stimulate future research and ongoing dialogue regarding this issue, in spite of efforts by certain constituents to silence the issue. This paper provides an overview of the various reasons, including practical, theoretical, political, and self-motivated reasons, why a mandatory rotation policy has not been implemented in the United States in order to address the potential conflict of interest between the auditor and client. This paper will also discuss how some deliberations of mandatory rotation have been flawed. The paper concludes with a summary of key issues along with two approaches for regulators, policy makers, and academics to consider as ways to improve the process and address auditor independence. The authors are not advocating for any specific solution; however, we are advocating for a more objective, unified approach and for the dialogue regarding auditor rotation to continue.

The results of recent research suggest that certain provisions of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) may have been less successful than intended (e.g., Abbott, Parker, & Peters, 2009). Based on two different descriptions of economic bonding between auditors and their clients, we propose an explanation of why this might be so by showing that the effect of SOX mandates, and regulation in general, aimed at enhancing auditor independence is dependent on whether shareholders or managers monitor the auditor. The results of prior empirical studies are examined in context of the framework we describe, and suggestions for future research on this important topic are outlined.

Purpose – This paper focuses on a unique historical case study of industry evolution in order to develop a road map where historical and strategic research could develop a common ground for trans-disciplinary inquiry.

Design/methodology/approach – The industry I explore is the Universal Credit Card Industry since its inception with the Diners Club in 1949 until its maturity in late 1990s. My empirical objective here is to develop a historically detailed and theoretically rich case study in which evolutionary processes are discovered as a result of the historical narrative.

Findings – The historical account of the industry demonstrates how the evolution of alternative business models as organizing forms has led to the establishment of interorganizational platforms with unique ecosystems. These alternative business models, through various experimentations, have ultimately produced two critical interorganizational organizations, one based on an open-loop system represented by Visa and MasterCard, and the other based on a closed-loop system represented by Diners Club and the American Express. The historical account also shows that in a given industry competition is not only among specific firms in the industry but also among the business models and the platforms created by these models.

Originality/value – I conclude that historical analyses reveal the nature of competition not only among firms but also among alternative business models where traditional strategy research rarely covers.

This paper examines how medical practice, like all other productive activities, has been subject to the transformative elements of the forces and the relations of production involving class struggle and intra-class conflict. It will explore changes in the relations of production of medical practice which have been catalyzed by powerful productive forces. The current period of medical production involves the transformation of simple commodity production into a transitional stage of capitalist production with the seemingly unbounded growth of the medical productive forces. This development was precipitated by the intervention of capital as a whole, to restrict the drain on their variable capital through the placement of units of financial capital into the management of medical production, using the leverage of access to patients. In response, physicians have consolidated and centralized their practices to create enterprises with market power to limit the extraction of surplus by financial capital, and by their own employment of productive labor to extract surplus from hired physician labor and other clinical workers. Rationalization of the production of medical service commodities, and the sharing of surplus generated from exploitation of an expanded labor force by managed care financial capital and their capitalist partners owning medical enterprises, constitutes the contemporary relations of production. The contradictions of this mode of medical production and the potential for its reproduction will be analyzed.

Recent refugee integration policy agendas include education on the lists, despite many other issues to address. Higher education can also be an instrument to prevent a generation of a war-stricken nation from becoming “lost” for not only for Syria but also Europe. Following the drastic inflow of (mostly young) refugees, Belgian higher education institutions started to work on fresh strategies and initiatives to embrace refugees in their university and colleges. Yet, the number of Syrian refugees at the Belgian universities does not exceed 400, while the estimated eligible young people are above 1,500. In order to increase the participation in higher education, national authorities and higher education institutions should re-work on flexible but efficient procedures for the recognition of degrees and prior gained qualifications. Moreover, all individual efforts by the colleges and the universities can be empowered by a collaborative network among all Belgian higher education institutes, governmental offices and the non-governmental organizations. Surmounting the lack of central coordination and developing a national action plan is needed. Short-term actions are immediately required to battle against the contemporary challenges with tertiary education access of the refugees; however, the need for actions that aim at long-reaching sustainability is eminent to secure refugees’ integration into their host communities.

This chapter investigates whether signing more hospital contracts with Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), hospital affiliation in a system, having more system hospital members located in the same area, and increased competition from area hospitals, contributes to improvements in the cost efficiency of U.S. Midwestern hospitals. Hospitals may offer HMOs and PPOs discounts on contracts to provide health care services to firm employees enrolled in HMOs and PPOs (discounts would lead to smaller price mark-ups over costs for hospital services). Enacting policies to enhance cost efficiency may help hospitals maintain a specified level of profits.

Despite continuing debate about costs and benefits, managed care became an integral part of the health care sector during the 1990s. In this paper, we examine the organizational and practice variation in the managed care industry at two points in the 1990s using a national census of organizations operating in those years. We use a definition of managed care that captures the increased diversity within the industry while still distinguishing it from traditional indemnity, fee-for-service care. We draw on institutional theory to begin to formulate a framework for understanding why certain organizational forms and practices emerged when and where they did.