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This study contributes to the limited literature dealing with ethical perceptions of earnings management in developing capital markets by investigating the perceptions of managers, accountants, and investment analysts in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand, to ethical issues concerning the management of earnings. The results are compared to similar studies undertaken in the US and UK. The results show that East Asian managers, accountants, and analysts tended to be less willing to condemn situations as clearly unethical and use a narrower range of ethical responses than their US/U K counterparts. However, there was a remarkable overall consistency of perceptions between East Asian and US/UK managers, accountants, and analysts in relation to many issues.

The main objective of the paper is to examine and evaluate how security analysts in Thailand and Malaysia appraise ordinary shares and what sources of information they use. A questionnaire was sent to 570 sell‐side Thai securities analysts working for 63 stock brokering firms, and to 160 Malaysian analysts working for a sample of 24 stock brokering firms. Responses were received from 191 Thai analysts and 75 Malaysian analysts. The results reinforce and support our expectation that fundamental analysis is the primary method of investment appraisal. Of the Thai analysts, 147 (77 per cent) reported that fundamental analysis is ‘almost always’ used to value common stocks and a further 38 (nearly 20 per cent) reported that they ‘usually’ use fundamental analysis. Similarly, 73 per cent of Malaysian respondents indicated that fundamental analysis is almost always used and a further 18 per cent usually use it as a basis for valuing common stocks. The results also reveal that both groups rate profit and loss account, balance sheet, half‐yearly results, company annual report, and company visits as the most important sources of information. In terms of relative importance, Thai analysts view company visits as the most important source, while their Malaysian counterparts rate the profit and loss account first.

The purpose of the paper is to describe the development and operation of an innovative, work based, distance delivered foundation degree developed by the University of Chester and the British Civil Service. The paper is both a case study in its own right but also the basis for a further quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the programme.

The paper describes the development of the programme in the broader context of UK Civil service modernisation and the application of the University of Chester's established Work Based and Integrative Studies (WBIS) framework. Important features of the programme are described including academic content, learner support, assessment and management.

The paper concludes by identifying three areas for formal evaluation. These are: the implications of employer involvement in the design and management of the programme; the differential nature of the learner experience and the factors underlying performance and the impact of the programme in meeting employer goals.

There are limitations in generalising from a particular case study. No formal research questions are posed in the paper or method suggested. Further work is necessary to develop a strategy for evaluation of the programme.

The conclusions are exploratory, awaiting formal evaluation.

The case study is of interest to educators engaged in flexible and distance work based learning. The issue of employer involvement in programme design, management and delivery is of considerable interest to those developing and delivering Foundation degrees and similar programmes. The issues in relation to the student experience are also of considerable interest to those engaged in workplace delivery. The organisational impact of the programme is of interest to employers and educators alike.

Major changes have taken place in sport in recent years, which has consequently led to the emergence and development of an associated sport management literature. To date, this literature has been confined to the margins of management theory and research, although the development of sport has been such that a multitude of opportunities now exist for academics and practitioners to address the most pertinent issues facing sport management. This paper aims to focus on the changes and to address the issues arising from them.

The paper begins by providing a brief overview of the development of sport. It then explores the fundamental elements of sport that mark it out as being different from other products or industrial sectors. This covers the following areas: the uncertainty of outcome; competitive balance; contest management; collaboration and competition; and performance measurement. The paper then considers the management issues pertaining to the models of sport employed in, for example, the United States and Europe. Following on from this, the internationalisation and globalisation of sport, linked to developments in new media technology, are examined.

Some emerging issues in functional management areas are highlighted, including the development of sponsorships; the need for sport to adopt a strategic approach to PR; and ensuring the needs of multiple market places are met through appropriate scheduling of games and events, alongside a range of possible foci for future sport management researchers.

This paper highlights a range of issues for sport management researchers and highlights which aspects of sport management require the specific attention of researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential factors that may affect the level of corporate internet reporting by Egyptian listed companies.

The content analysis approach to examine the information cited by the largest Egyptian companies is used in their web sites. The paper modifies and uses the disclosure index of Xiao et al. Ordinary least square multiple regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of the internet reporting.

It is found that 56 per cent of Egyptian companies report a significant portion of information on their web sites. In addition, the paper finds that some financial characteristics explain the variation in the degree of internet reporting between Egyptian listed companies. In particular, profitability, foreign listing and industrial type (communications and financial services) are the determinants of the amount and presentation formatting of information disclosed on Egyptian companies' web sites. However, other firm characterises, such as firm size, leverage, liquidity and auditor size, do not explain corporate internet reporting.

The research finding is essential as it assists in informing regulators about the characteristics of Egyptian companies that are, and are not, satisfying national and international investors' demand of updated/online information. It also assists current and potential stakeholders to know the drives of corporate internet reporting in Egypt. Consequently, they may further investigate and verify such reporting practices. In practice, online reporting can be used as an effective tool for improving stakeholders' decision‐making process. Therefore, further research can be undertaken to examine the degree to which online reporting provides value‐relevant information for stakeholders.

To the best of the knowledge, there is no study examining the potential drivers of internet corporate reporting practice in Egypt. This paper is the first to examine the potential factors affecting corporate internet reporting in Egypt. The disclosure index used is designed to be suitable for companies working in the Egyptian environment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the contracting incentives (i.e. bonus plans, debt covenants, political costs hypotheses), and income smoothing can explain accounting choices in an emerging country, Egypt.

The paper uses the ordinary least square regression model to examine the relationship between earnings management and reporting objectives. A sample of 438 non-financial firms listed on the Egyptian Exchange over the period 2005-2007 is used.

The paper finds that the contracting objectives explain little of the variations in accounting choices (i.e. discretionary accruals) in the Egyptian context. However, the paper finds that mangers are likely to smooth the reported earnings by managing the accrual component in an attempt to reduce the fluctuation in reported earnings by increasing (decreasing) earnings when earnings are low (high) in attempt to reduce the variability of the reported earnings.

The empirical results rely on the ability of earnings management proxies to adequately capture earnings manipulation activities.

The findings of the study should be of substantial interest to regulators and policy makers. The results implicitly contribute to the ongoing argument in relation to the optimal flexibility permitted by standard setting and the argument that tightening the accounting standards and mandating International Financial Reporting Standards are likely to improve reporting quality and reduce opportunistic earnings management. The results reveal that many of the weaknesses related to corporate reporting in emerging countries may result from the inadequate enforcement of the law and the weak legal protection of minority shareholders. The results also highlight the crucial role of understanding the reporting incentives, which is mainly shaped by institutional and market forces and the legal environment, in explaining accounting choices.

Unlike previous studies that tested an individual objective, this study examines the trade-offs among various reporting objectives in an emerging economy.