Business Commons^™

Information Search In Times Of Market Uncertainty: An Examination Of Aggregate And Disaggregate Uncertainty, Marshall A. Geiger, Rajib Hasan, Abdullah Kumas, Joyce Van Der Van Der Laan Smith

Accounting Faculty Publications

Purpose – This study explores the association between individual investor information demand and two measures of market uncertainty – aggregate market uncertainty and disaggregate industry-specific market uncertainty. It extends the literature by being the first to empirically examine investor information demand and disaggregate market uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper constructs a measure of information search by using the Google Search Volume Index and computes measures of aggregate and disaggregate market uncertainty using institutional investors’ trading data from Ancerno Ltd. The relation between market uncertainty, as measured by trading disagreements among institutional investors, and information search is analyzed using an OLS …

Are Social Networks A Double-Edged Sword? A Case Study Of Defense Contractors, Xiaobing Shuai, Christine Chmura

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Utilizing a survey of defense contractors in the New England region, this study explores the effect of social networks on business performance—measured by annual employment growth and market diversification—during a time when defense spending in the United States was contracting. In contrast to prevailing literature focusing on entrepreneurial firms, this study offers insights on how social networks function in defense contractors, which tend to be mature firms. The main conclusion is that having more network connections is associated with faster short-term employment growth (from 2014 to 2015) for defense contractors, but there is a limit to that benefit. The analysis …

The Impact Of Corporate Social Disclosure On Investment Behavior: A Cross-National Study, Joyce Van Der Van Der Laan Smith, Ajay Adhikari, Rasoul H. Tondkar, Robert L. Andrews

Accounting Faculty Publications

We examine the impact of corporate social disclosure (CSD) on investment behavior in the US, Japan, France, and Sweden using stakeholder theory as the underlying framework for our analysis. We find that there is a significant difference in investors’ reactions to CSD across countries. Using a unique stakeholder scale we also find that these reactions are related to the investors’ stakeholder orientation. These findings provide insight into cross-national dif- ferences in the perceived relevance of CSD to investors.

Paul M. Klekner (B), Roger R. Schnorbus

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

This is a fictitious case study, including the name of the restaurant and the people involved.

Paul Klekner graduated first in his class from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1998; his fellow students named him the chef most likely to succeed in the future. After graduation, he and his wife, Sarah, moved back to his home in Richmond, Virginia where he was employed as a chef at several restaurants including Bottega and Old Original Bookbinders. In 2003, he decided to open his own restaurant, Rogerios, in the Tobacco Row section of Richmond. With an inheritance of $300,000 he …

Chinese Gaap And Ifrs: An Analysis Of The Convergence Process, Songlan Peng, Joyce Van Der Van Der Laan Smith

Accounting Faculty Publications

In this study, we examine the process of convergence through a longitudinal analysis (1992–2006) of the convergence of Chinese GAAP with IFRS from the perspective of process theory. We find that significant steps toward convergence occurred through the issuance of four successive Chinese GAAPs: 1992, 1998, 2001, and 2006. Convergence occurred both through the direct import of standards from IFRS and progressive changes to Chinese GAAP. Direct import was observed for items either reflective of traditional Chinese accounting practice or ones that addressed situations not considered or not relevant under the pre- vious accounting model. Progressive changes to Chinese GAAP …

Does Convergence Of Accounting Standards Lead To The Convergence Of Accounting Practices? A Study From China, Songlan Peng, Rasoul H. Tondkar, Joyce Van Der Van Der Laan Smith, David W. Harless

Accounting Faculty Publications

In this empirical study we examine whether China's efforts to converge domestic accounting standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) over the past 15 years have resulted in the successful convergence of Chinese listed firms. This study is unique in that we evaluate convergence of firms' accounting practices from three perspectives: (1) the level of compliance with Chinese GAAP and IFRS, (2) the consistency of accounting choices under Chinese GAAP and IFRS, and (3) identification of significant differences in the net incomes produced under Chinese GAAP and IFRS (earnings gap).

Using the 1999 and 2002 annual reports of 79 Chinese …

The Impact Of Group Formation In A Cooperative Learning Environment, Joyce Van Der Van Der Laan Smith, Roxanne M. Spindle

Accounting Faculty Publications

Research indicates that cooperative learning (CL) has the potential to increase accounting student satisfaction without impairing the learning of technical material (Lancaster, K., & Strand, C. (2001). Using the team-learning model in a managerial accounting class: An experiment in cooperative learning. Issues in Accounting Education, 16(4), 549–567). This study investigates whether instruc- tor-formed heterogeneous groups produce a more effective CL environment than student self- selected groups by measuring individual academic performance and perceptions. Results indicate the presence of a treatment interaction, implying that the best group composition may not be the same for all students. In some circumstances, higher ability …

Exploring Differences In Social Disclosures Internationally: A Stakeholder Perspective, Joyce Van Der Van Der Laan Smith, Ajay Adhikari, Rasoul H. Tondkar

Accounting Faculty Publications

Country of origin is considered to be an important determinant of the level and type of corporate social disclosure. In this paper, we use stakeholder theory to explain differ- ences in social disclosure among countries. We argue that the manner in which the role of a corporation and its stakeholders is defined in a society will affect the extent and quality of corporate social disclosure (CSD) in annual reports. Our findings based on a content analysis of 1998 and 1999 annual reports for 32 Norwegian/Danish companies and 26 US companies in the electric power generation industry, lend support to the …

Campbell Soup Company In 2004 (A), Roger R. Schnorbus

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

As fiscal 2004[1] began, Doug Conant, the President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company could take pride in the results of his 3-year transformation plan instituted in fiscal 2001 to revitalize the company. The key initiatives of the plan were to restore revenue and profitability growth and stimulate shareholder wealth.

Conant, who became President and CEO in January of 2001, called the plan, “the single most comprehensive commitment to revitalization ever undertaken in the 132-year history of Campbell Soup Company.”

The financial results achieved in fiscal 2002, the first year of the plan, were a mixed bag. Although net …

Resource Allocation As An Outcropping Of Strategic Consistency: Performance Implications, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Ernest H. Hall Jr., Rajendra Nargundkar

Management Faculty Publications

Similarities in financial resource allocations across the lines of business of diversified firms may indicate corporate strategic consistency, which may lead to superior corporate performance. In support of this argument, the variance in R&D intensity across the lines of business of 96 diversified firms was found to be inversely related to industry-adjusted return on assets. However, no relationship was found for capital intensity. These results provide partial support for the usefulness of a resource-based approach to the study of diversification strategy.