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This study aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses, their operations, and the financial conditions in Sri Lanka. A sample of 19 executive-level employees from 19 companies registered at the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka was interviewed. The thematic analysis method was used to analyse the data. It demonstrates the insecurity of the current business situation, as with the pandemic, most large-scale operating companies have been permanently or temporarily closed. The financial condition was categorised into main sub-themes such as business profitability, liquidity problems, the balance of payments, working capital, and cash flows and was highly impacted during the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings of the study help to improve the favourable image of Sri Lankan companies by facilitating solutions to overcome the challenges and difficulties and are beneficial for the relevant government parties to amend policies and for investors to make prudent investment decisions. As a maiden study, this one focused on investigating the pandemic’s impact on business operations and developed a nine-step plan for organisations, employees, and the government to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses.

The rapid development of multinational companies (MNCs) has resulted in the need for accounting systems which function to report, evaluate and control international operations and their managers' effectiveness. While the problems surrounding the evaluation and control of domestic firms remain the same for MNCs' parent company managers, the question of which country's currency should be used in the evaluation process represents additional complexities for them. The choice is essentially either that of the parent company currency or the currency of the foreign subsidiary. Parent company managers may also use both of these currencies, but it is likely that this choice will result in different decisions regarding the performance of foreign operations (see Demirag, 1987,1987a, 1987b). The aim of this paper is to critically review the theoretical and empirical literature on the use of parent and/or foreign subsidiary accounting information used by multinational companies in the evaluation of their foreign subsidiary operations and managers. In doing so, the paper addresses the following two questions. First, to what extent is translated information, untranslated information or both types of information significant in the evaluation of foreign subsidiary operations and their managers' performance in MNCs? Second, what are the major contextual variables which influence MNC foreign currency accounting practices in performance evaluations?

With ageing hospital facilities spanning the USA, the healthcare construction business continues to grow. Today, questions about replacing existing facilities are becoming more common in hospital boardrooms. Given the above situation, TriBrook Healthcare Consultants were recently retained to determine the market, operational and financial impact which facility redevelopment has had on other hospitals and health systems. Out of that effort came this paper. This paper assesses: the factors which are fuelling replacement facility growth; the impact that redevelopment has on market, operational and financial performance; an integrated development process to help organisations determine the feasibility of designing a new facility; and lessons learned working with clients who have pursued a replacement facility strategy. The objective of this effort is to provide hospital executives and board leaders with information that will be useful in reaching a final decision regarding execution of a replacement strategy.

The study investigates the profitability of manufacturing firms backshoring (BS) to Europe. In particular, the article analyses the relation between BS drivers and post-relocation profitability and tests whether this relation is moderated by innovation policies that firms adopt in conjunction with BS.

The empirical model links the post-relocation profitability to BS drivers, firms’ involvement in product innovation and/or adoption of new manufacturing technologies. Data concerning BS initiatives to Europe between 2012 and 2018 extracted from secondary sources have been matched to firms’ balance sheet data.

Results show that responsiveness-driven BS is associated with higher profitability when the relocation is coupled with product innovation. A second key finding is that the adoption of new manufacturing technologies has a positive impact on post-BS profitability.

The restriction of the dataset to firms for which information on post- and pre-BS financial performance was available has led to a small sample size. Availability of longer time series of profitability data will allow estimating long-term impact, especially for innovation.

The study provides first evidence on the impact of BS on financial performance and throws light on the relevance of innovation as a lever supporting manufacturing relocation to high-cost countries.

The study advances empirical research on BS by offering evidence of its impact on profitability and by linking it to previous research on BS drivers. Further, the study throws light on the role of different drivers as “success factors” of BS and on how they interact with innovation efforts. The study also offers insights to business leaders who are evaluating the potential benefits on company profitability of a return to a high cost-environment and provides useful indications on the conditions under which BS pays off.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of web‐based electronic commerce (WEC) use on organizational benefits (OBE).

The researchers develop a research model based on a literature review. A large‐scale instrument was applied to empirically test the model. MANOVA was first used employing a general linear model. Then, univariate tests were performed to further analyze differences. The model was tested and validated using a sample of 180 firms in the USA.

The findings empirically tested that there is a significant positive impact of WEC use on OBE. Findings also demonstrated the multi‐dimensional nature of both factors.

This research develops and validates reliable measures for the WEC use and OBE. It also provides several indicators that can be used to measure the extent of usage of WEC for both transactional and strategic purposes, and OBE that span several dimensions, including information quality, business efficiency, and competitive advantage. These indicators can serve as benchmarks to evaluate the current state of a firm and help in setting future organizational goals, which can also help managers gauge the risks and benefits associated with WEC.

This paper contributes to the literature by providing evidence of the positive impact of WEC on OBE. It also develops and validates measures for all the constructs involved in the study that can be used in other empirical studies.

An understanding of the “AS-IS” stage of a relief operation is the basis for further action in humanitarian supply chain management. The purpose of this paper is to develop a toolbox called the Humanitarian Supply Chain Assessment Tool (HumSCAT). This toolbox is comprised of a set of basic tools which can be classified into each phase of disaster relief.

The HumSCAT is proposed by paralleling frequently used tools in commercial supply chains with the objectives and characteristics of relief phases. A case study was used to validate the HumSCAT along with six tools provided in the preparation phase.

The HumSCAT consists of seven tools in the preparation phase, nine tools in the response phase and ten tools in the recovery phase. The case study illustrates how to use the HumSCAT and the six tools. The latter were found to be useful for improving the relief chain.

The list of tools is not exclusive. Other tools might be applicable as long as they meet the objectives and characteristics of the phase. A tool should be adjusted accordingly to the contexts. Tools in other phases should be validated in future research.

The HumSCAT may serve as a reference toolbox for practitioners. Its output can be used for further designing of the “TO-BE” status of humanitarian relief chains.

The HumSCAT is proposed as a toolbox for academics and practitioners involved in humanitarian supply chains.

This paper provides, first, a historical perspective of accounting research relating to Asian/Pacific countries as seen from the vantage of the leading international journal in the United States and, second, a bibliographical data base and index of twenty‐six years of articles on this region of the world. It accomplishes the first objective by presenting a tabular profile of research in international accounting as it pertains to countries in the Asian/Pacific Rim region as shown in articles published in the International Journal of Accounting (formerly, the International Journal of Accounting, Education and Research) and related publications which appeared from 1965 to 1990. The articles are classified according to country, research methodology, subject, and five‐year time periods. The paper accomplishes the second objective by providing an annotated bibliography of 125 articles on Asian/Pacific Rim countries and indices by country and methodology, and subject.

The paper investigates the information sought by UK investors about Japanese companies, and the extent to which this involves the use of company financial statements. Such a study is important because it is only recently that Japanese financial markets have been relatively accessible to foreign investors, and that the volume of investment trade has grown rapidly. This paper describes the principal features of the accounting and capital market situation in Japan and reports the results of a series of interviews on these features. Participants interviewed had contradictory views on the application of CAPM to the Japanese market. If the market model is not appropriate for the Japanese market, this will have implications for future research in that market.

This research investigated Australian property valuers' identification and consideration of physical climate change risks in valuation practice.

Thirty Australian valuer members of the Australian Property Institute from a variety of specialisations were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews explored climate change risks and the extent of risk investigation and consideration in valuation practice. The analysis utilised the Moser and Luers (2008) climate risk preparedness framework as a lens to evaluate current valuation practice in Australia.

The analysis reflects that while physical risks are easily identified and engaged with by valuers, correspondingly, there is a lack of understanding of and engagement with, climate change risks. This supports the need for better information sources and guidance to inform valuers of climate change risks and the development of specific mechanisms for the consideration of such risks to be included in valuation processes, practices and reports.

The research was limited by its sample size and qualitative approach. Therefore, the research is not a representative opinion of the Australian profession; however, the analysis provides the perspective of a range of valuers from across Australia with different valuation specialisations.

This research has established that valuers have the potential to be prepared to address climate change in their professional capacity, as described by Moser and Luers (2008). However, they are constrained by information communication, access and detail and subsequent market awareness of information on climate change risk exposure on properties. There is a need for further support, guidance, information and tools, as well as awareness-raising, to enable valuers to accurately identify and reflect all risks affecting a property in the process of valuation.

This research provides the first investigation into the consideration of climate change in valuation practice. Property stakeholders—owners, investors, financiers and occupiers—are escalating their climate change risk analysis and reporting for property portfolios and organisations. This research suggests that valuers also need to be aware of the changing dynamics of market reporting and decision-making related to climate change risks to ensure appropriate reflection in valuation practice.

Research on how performance measurement systems affect employees’ perceptions of workplace fairness is important. As organizations often rely on their performance measurement systems to communicate information to their employees, it is useful to ascertain if and how the developments of performance measurement systems that are far more comprehensive than traditional financial systems affect employees’ perceptions of informational fairness through the information communicated to employees. Informational fairness refers to employees’ perceptions of workplace fairness that is based on the amount and the truthfulness of information that organizations provide to their employees. Based on a sample of managers from manufacturing organizations, the Partial Least Square results indicate that comprehensive performance measurement systems (comprehensive PMS) have a significant direct effect on job-relevant information. They also indicate that comprehensive PMS have an indirect effect on informational fairness via job-relevant information. In contrast, systems that are based on financial measures have no significant effects on job-relevant information and informational fairness. These results demonstrate how comprehensive PMS (through the communication of a greater amount of job-relevant information) can be used to engender employees’ perceptions of high workplace fairness.