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Although the extant literature widely recognizes the impact of corporate culture on performance, such findings are either speculative or mostly based on US companies, thus may not be generalisable to other national settings. In addition, while industry effect is considered in a few studies, its combined effect with other factors on performance has not been explored. This study modifies the existing model of corporate culture on performance by adding industry effect to the model. This is also the first study that tests such a relationship in a Middle East setting. Due to its unique culture, data collection in the Middle East region has been difficult if not impossible. More research in this region is needed since most of it is still in its infancy. This study investigates firms in Bahrain, the financial hub of the Arab World, to shed some insight onto this region. The results confirm a positive relation between Culture and performance and marginal industry effect between banks and hotels.

This study aims to further the development of an informed understanding of current Chinese accounting education and research as an aid to focusing the efforts of accounting scholars from both within China and abroad. Survey responses were obtained from 21 overseas Chinese accounting professors with recent involvement in China. These involved (and presumably interested) academics shared their assessment that the strengths of Chinese accounting education are the quality and motivation of its students, and the practical and local/domestic orientation of its curriculum. They considered the practice and local/domestic orientation of current Chinese accounting research to be its particular strength. The respondents also identified numerous areas in need of improvement. Foremost among these are the training and qualifications of the faculty, the procedural (as opposed to conceptual) nature of the curriculum and research, and the lack of infrastructure and support. These findings can be useful in prompting a re‐examination of programmes and processes by Chinese accounting educators. They also can be used by accounting academics from outside of China as a starting point for exploring how they may best contribute to the development of Chinese accounting education and research, and in the development and separation of duties in joint projects with their Chinese colleagues.

As a territory of the UK (until 1 July 1997), Hong Kong followed the UK accounting and auditing standards quite closely, in most cases mirroring the requirements. However, there was a departure regarding the elimination of the statutory audit of small private companies in the UK in 1994, but this was not followed in Hong Kong. An audit is not required for small private companies in the USA either. This study evaluates the perceived value of the small companies’ audit in the opinion of two interest groups that are most affected by this requirement: small private limited companies and small audit firms. Results indicate that both groups of respondents consider the audit to be a valuable experience. While this result is not unexpected from the partners/proprietors of small audit firms, who benefit most from the mandatory audit requirement, it is a surprise from the small companies’ perspective.