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University Accountancy faculty need criteria to assist with the selection of textbooks, to ensure that the subject matter is congruent with the level at which students are taught. Readability is one such criterion. The purpose of this study is to assess the readability of two Managerial Accounting and two Financial Management textbooks, using three different readability evaluation methods.

The sample for the study included 281 Accounting students from an Eastern seaboard university. Each student was requested to complete two passages – one from a Management Accounting textbook and one from a Financial Management textbook. The Gunning Fog Index, Flesch Reading Ease and Cloze Procedure readability evaluation methods were used to measure readability.

The findings suggest varying levels of readability among the textbooks. Results from the Cloze Procedure reveal that three of the four textbooks were being read at the Frustration Level and the fourth marginally above the Frustration Level. The readability formulae returned varying results demonstrating that some of the textbooks were at a level that the students ought to be able to read.

Only two Managerial Accounting and two Financial Management textbooks of many published were assessed, and only three readability evaluation methods were used.

The findings have implications for university faculty, authors, publishers, editors and students.

The readability of Managerial Accounting and Financial Management textbooks used at South African universities, has received scant attention in the literature. The analysis of the readability of the accounting textbooks, presents a synthesis that adds important knowledge in this under‐researched topic.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the understandability of an accounting textbooks written in English and the language learning motivation of international students. Previous research assumed that native speakers of a language and second-language speakers would understand a given accounting text similarly and little attempt has been made to ascertain any individual differences in users’ capacity to read and understand a foreign language.

The 107 participants in this study comprised of full-time English as a Second Language postgraduate commerce students studying at a major Australian university. The authors used two-part questionnaire to examine the motivation of participants and the understandability of an accounting textbook using the Cloze test.

The results suggest that most international students have difficulty in understanding the textbook narratives used in this study. Furthermore, the results show that students’ motivation to learn a foreign language impacts on the understandability of an accounting textbook.

This study will help the educators, textbook publishers and students to understand the needs of ESL students. It is expected to provide guidance for authors and instructors to enhance the effectiveness of the accounting courses.

The accounting literature shows that there have been efforts by accounting researchers to measure the understandability of accounting texts or narratives. This research provided valuable insights of the learning challenges of international students and valuable recommendations to educators and publishers to enhance the delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanation for the way the reality in the world of finance comes to be formed, among other things, by the theory of finance. It is based on the idea that financial behavior is not independent of the theory of finance. The paper, therefore, examines certain aspects of the academic field of finance. That is, it examines theories, PhD programs, journals, and conferences in academic finance. It notes that they adhere, almost exclusively, to a certain worldview, called the functionalist paradigm. Then, the paper discusses the role of finance graduates as employees of universities, corporations, and financial institutions in the practice of finance. In this way, the paper provides an explanation for the social construction of the world of finance.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a viewpoint on the 1961 scientific method and research methodology used by Miller and Modigliani to derive the conclusion that dividends are irrelevant, with reference to the UK Companies Act of 2006, specifically Sections 829‐840 that concern distributions, and Section 172 that stipulates the duties of the directors in their promotion of the success of the company.

The relevant sections of the UK Companies Act of 2006 concerning distributions and the duty of directors to promote the success of the company were studied. It was followed by a detailed analysis of the article by Miller and Modigliani, in particular the purpose, assumptions, the 30 equations that comprise their model, and their interpretive logic in drawing conclusions from their equations.

In effect, Miller and Modigliani exclude dividends as a determinant of share value, side‐step the purpose of their research, do not state assumptions upon which their analysis and interpretations are reliant, and disregard the conceptual difference between income and capital. On the basis of their interpretive logic not only is the dividend decision irrelevant but so too is the financing decision and important aspects of company law. Nonetheless, the erroneous doctrinal view that is presented by Miller and Modigliani continues to have obstinately resolute adherents, as evidenced by its uncritical presentation in authoritative textbooks on financial management.

This paper's view is that the continued uncritical presentation of Miller and Modigliani cannot be justified as an approach consistent with sound research methodology.

Describing marketing practices is fundamental to understanding both the scope of marketing practice and the actual value it adds to the organization. This paper aims to clarify the reach of marketing practice and the nature of activities that marketers carry out.

The study uses mixed methods, involving qualitative document analysis, qualitative interviews and a quantitative managerial survey.

The findings reveal consistency in the views of academics and practitioners across the following disaggregated elements of practice: stakeholder and relationship marketing, customer analysis, marketing-mix management/marketing planning, and the centrality of customers. However, when these themes are integrated into broader categories of practice, the activities are parceled and prioritized in different ways by the different data sources.

The findings have implications for how marketing is practiced and taught and for the future research agenda.

This study considers the functional practices within marketing and clarifies the scope of marketing practice.

Now that debt has replaced equity as the preferred source of finance for many UK companies, the correct calculation of the cost of debt assumes even greater importance than it has done formerly. While financial management textbooks are in agreement on how to calculate the pre‐tax cost of debt, there is much less agreement on how to calculate the after tax cost of debt. The different approaches taken by different authors leave students and practitioners confused and unsure as to how they should proceed. This article explores the calculation of the after tax cost of debt in order to help both students and practitioners to understand the interaction of tax and debt in the current UK environment and to be aware of the limitations of the various simplifications which are made, explicitly or implicitly, in the textbooks.

Little is known of how accounting is used in the home, or about the potential relevance of business‐like techniques in this domain. This paper reports findings from an exploratory study into the practices of home accountants. Ten cases based on interviews with both accountants and lay people were used to investigate four broad areas of accounting practice: budgeting, record‐keeping, decision making and long‐term financial planning. The findings suggest that simple accounting practices are used in the home to serve multiple purposes. Domestic cash budgets, financial records and decision‐making rules of thumb offer a valued sense of financial control and security. Home accounts are also drawn on in rationalising financial choices, and accounting practices reinforce a personal sense of identity. This study revealed little difference between the practices of accountants and those of lay people, suggesting that the “mind‐set” and practices of home accountants may be attributed to factors other than command over technique. Any “theories” of home accounting and prescriptions for practice may have limited relevance, therefore, if they fail to account for the particular characteristics of the home as an accounting domain.

The aim of this paper is to gain insights into the gap that persists between management accounting education (MAE) and practice.

MAE is examined from four perspectives of the balanced scorecard (BSC), in terms of what is being taught at tertiary level: customer satisfaction, learning and growth, internal business and financial. A survey questionnaire was sent to management accountants selected randomly from a list of practicing management accountants identified by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in South Africa.

The study finds support for allegations that a gap exists between MAE and practice and indicates that to address this gap, a holistic focus using the four perspectives of the BSC would be useful to investigate the gap.

Previous studies in relation to the gap in management education have focused on the lack of skills provided by tertiary education. As one of the few studies to focus on the overall performance of MAE, this study identifies that the gap is not limited to the provision of adequate skills. The findings show that the gap is significant in terms of customer perspective but is not significant in relation to the internal business, learning and growth and financial perspectives of the BSC. The study provides deeper insights into the gap and will help tertiary education providers to improve their performance.

As one of the few studies on gaps between MAE and practice, the study provides insights to the potential gaps. The findings serve as a basis for further empirical and theoretical enquiries.

The study contributes to the management accounting literature by focusing on the gap in MAE using a BSC approach. Rather than single out the lack of skills provided by MAE as a reason for the gap, this paper provides information on the four areas of the BSC as ways to identify the gap.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theory of intertemporal stewardship that incorporates stewardship, based on a foundation of spirituality, into financial decision‐making models.

Argues that stewardship, which shares some common ground with sustainable development, must become an integral component of financial decision‐making. Using agency theory as a point of departure, discusses the Anglo‐American and Continental European‐Japanese models of financial decision‐making, and how they can be reformulated to embrace stewardship and the spiritual foundation upon which stewardship is based. The key to linking spirituality and stewardship is our concept of self‐fullness – the simultaneous pursuit of reasonable self‐interest and reasonable concern for the common good of all human beings. The reformulated model of financial decision‐making is labeled intertemporal stewardship theory.

The merger of spirituality, stewardship, and financial decision‐making is crucial for the survival and prosperity of businesses and the people they serve. The failure of businesses in the new economy can be traced to the loss of values regarding spirituality and stewardship.

Empirical research must be conducted to test the validity of the proposed intertemporal stewardship theory.

It is essential that managers base their decisions on internalized spiritual and stewardship values that they do not “park at the door” when they arrive at work. Managers should never lose sight of these values, and their decisions should always be grounded in these values. Without such grounding, it is very possible that once again managers will be caught in a cycle of “irrational exuberance”. Therefore, it is critical that these values become not only an integral part of financial decision‐making but also an integral part of education for financial decision‐making.

The financial bottom line is that financial decision‐making can no longer be devoid of spiritual and stewardship considerations if an organization is to survive and prosper over the long term. Neither can business organizations deny spirituality and stewardship considerations if they are to be socially responsible members of society, contributing to and upholding a moral existence for all humanity. In this sense then, the conception of intertemporal stewardship theory that is offered in this paper takes a step toward realizing these greater goals.

Capital structure decisions rely on a complex array of theoretical foundations and practical considerations. At the managerial level, it is impractical to base decisions purely on theory. While one can develop a perception of an optimal capital structure, the decision is often obscured by practical limitations to the theoretical base. In order to be useful to practicing managers, policies and decision techniques need to be efficiently accomplished and based on available information. This paper seeks to provide that practical framework.

This paper recounts the simple theoretical base for capital structure, highlights some of the problems encountered when applying the theory to reality, and suggests a framework for practical managerial decisions about capital structure. This exposition is especially useful in undergraduate business curricula, in particular for finance majors considering professional management as a career.

While application of traditional capital structure theory is often impractical, numerous tools are available for use by professional managers to make informed decisions about capital structure.

The conclusions from this paper provide a framework for current and prospective professional managers for making appropriate capital structure decisions in their management careers.

Proper managerial techniques and considerations for leverage and capital structure can potentially benefit society through more prudent use of debt, based on the variety of measures presented in this paper.

Topics discussed in this paper have been in development since the 1950s. The contribution of this paper is the creation of a framework for understanding and applying these topics, for pedagogical and management training purposes.