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Local governments are a vital component in the national effort to promote sensible methods for community development, growth and social justice. The benefits and challenges of sustainable development have become apparent as more local governments initiate programs to address economic, environmental and social equity issues. This research investigates county and municipal government efforts toward sustainable development using survey information for local governments in the southern United States. Survey responses were analyzed to examine whether local governments “practice what they preach” in terms of actually implementing the sustainable policies proclaimed to be important to their operations. Overall, results suggest local governments do place these policies into action for environmental and social justice issues. In addition, the analysis explores the impact of population size, geographic area and form of government on sustainable development. Measuring the implementation of sustainable policies in terms of dollars, however, proves difficult because there is no consistency among municipalities with regard to reporting the amount of dollars (federal or local) spent in support of sustainability efforts.

Delivery of a quality introductory accounting course is essential for schools of business. The first step in revitalization and improvement of the course is to identify factors suggested to be empirically related to succeessful completion. Accounting major status is of particular interest. While it has long been anecdotally observed and logically expected that accounting majors would earn higher grades in introductory accounting, it is rarely addressed in empirical studies. To investigate the impact of accounting major status on performance in introductory accounting, a sample of 398 students exposed to the same professor, text, teaching and examination format over five-years was gathered. Results suggest accounting major status was in fact a significant positive predictor of grades earned in the class controlling for three additional variables (i.e., grade point average, mathematics background and previous experience in the course). These results could be used to support the creation of an honors section(s) of accounting which could include a more rigorous curriculum taught with real life cases. Previous research supported the concept of an honors program from students, faculty and potential employers. In addition, the results suggest requiring a minimum grade point average and the completion of mathematics requirement before taking introductory accounting.

The reporting of non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Measures (non-GAAP) by U.S. publically traded companies is not new but it has recently come under increased scrutiny by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This case presents a specific example of this scrutiny in the form of Tesla, Inc.’s quarterly earnings announcements and Tesla’s subsequent correspondence with the SEC. This case requires students to answer relevant questions about GAAP vs Non GAAP reporting, generally in the form of a research memo, with references to applicable SEC regulations and guidance on the use and reporting of non-GAAP measures.

An ongoing debate continues at universities surrounding whether or not to raise minimum grade standards. Because of an inherent risk that enrollments may decline as a result, it is important to examine whether minimum grade policies are associated with improved student performance. To address this issue, the current study examines the relationship between higher minimum grade requirements in introductory accounting and student grades. The new minimum grade requirement of “C” was established beginning with the fall 2015 semester for introductory accounting to strengthen the quality of the program for an AACSB application. The research design included modeling introductory accounting grades over a ten-year period to examine any effect of the increase in the minimum grade on students’ grades in the course. The multivariate regression equation considered variables previously found associated with introductory accounting grades (i.e., status as accounting major, grade point average, mathematics preparedness and previous experience taking the course). An additional dichotomous variable was introduced to capture the impact of students on the new program. All students were taught by the same professor, using the same textbook, teaching philosophy and examination format to enhance the comparison. Results suggest average grades in introductory accounting did not improve as expected.

Defined benefit pension plans are a bedrock of the U.S. economy providing guaranteed payment streams at pre-established amounts. Results suggest public plans, sponsored by State and Local governments, and private plans, sponsored by public corporations, are unfunded. State plans were found to have the largest pension and unfunded pension liabilities. Examination of relationships between unfunded pension liabilities and fiscal or financial stability of sponsoring organizations suggests unfunded State pension plans are more likely to be sponsored by financially struggling sponsors measured by general obligation bond ratings. Local governments and Corporations with unfunded pension plans are less likely to be struggling financially. Fiscal distress of Local governments was measured by survival analysis. Corporation financial distress was quantified by a model designed to predict bankruptcy. Financially stable organizations failing to fund pension plans, in this case local governments and corporations, suggests a lack of social responsibility.

It is likely that accountants will face pressure to act unethically during their careers. We offer 10 practical steps to help financial professionals prepare for and respond to the pressure to act unethically.

According to a 2020 survey of 600 senior executives conducted by Harvard Business Review, 55% of organizations agreed that data analytics for decision making is extremely important and 92% asserted data analytics for decision making will be even more important in two years (bit.ly/3PBRENs). Organizations that strategically deploy tools across their finance and accounting functions have an opportunity to better structure manual processes into more stable, accurate, repeatable, and readily auditable procedures (see Gregory Kogan, Nathan Myers, Daniel J. Gaydon, and Douglas M. Boyle, "Advancing Digital Transformation," Strategic Finance, December 2021, bit.ly/3V45v0h). [...]financial decision makers are increasingly expected to engage data analytics to enhance decision making and create more efficient processes. Deployment/communication It's very important to assign responsibilities to team members (e.g., business analysts establish requirements, IT specialists gather required data, and data scientists develop and test advanced modeling techniques) with the requisite skills that vary among the phases. [...]unstructured data is data that has no uniform structure and typically isn't text-based, for example, image or sound files.

This case describes the difficult financial situation of Danbury Fair Mall, which is the second biggest shopping mall in Connecticut. After World War II, the shopping mall business had grown fast especially in suburban areas of the U.S. However, the increasing popularity of online shopping caused extensive damage to shopping malls. This case will provide students the chance to think about the past, the present, and the future of the shopping mall industry in the U.S

To describe concurrent engineering, one must remember the old story of blind individuals attempting to characterize an elephant by feeling different body parts. The issue seems not to be just R&D cycle times, but the entire innovation cycle time process from conception of an idea ~ often in marketing not R&D -, to its final delivery to a customer - often through down-stream firms not under the R&D company's control. From the recency of many sources in the literature, this shift to a time orientation is itself rather recent. Two threads seem to have emerged: First, there is a need to address cycle-time reduction on existing products and services, both in manufacturing and administration, as an implementation management issue relating to the order-to-delivery cycle, in which engineering may be a limited associate. Also, necessary is the innovation management issue of reducing the cycle time from marketing concept to proquct introduction into the implementation process, which is the main thrust of concurrent engineering. In late 1991, a survey was conducted, first, to seek to establish a better working definition of cycle time within the two overall areas of current operations and new product development, and second, to determine the relationships between cycle time so defined and company size or profitability. The survey questionnaire was mailed to 99 medium-to-large high technology manufacturing companies in Connecticut, and yielded 48 responses, with 35 of them usable. The results confirmed the impression given by the literature that the concept was better established in current operations than in innovation management. While some do use the concept of cycle time in their new product development sub-cycles, most do not track time spent on either end of the cycle, from idea to design on the near end, or at the far end through shipment and subsequent service to the customer. Measures of size did not correlate with any of the development measures, while they did with some of the operations measures. Thus, while in concept, concurrent engineering appears to be a goal of multi-functional co-operation, a survey of the manner in which a limited number of firms actually operate seems still focused on functional specializations. © 1992 IEEE.

This study investigates audit effectiveness (or the lack thereof) of audit opinions issued by auditors preceding company bankruptcies. Data from all 26 bankrupt UK financial institutions were used to determine if auditor appropriately issued opinions other than unqualified, as signs of non-going concern determine any differences in audit-opinion effectiveness between international and domestic audit firms. Results show that unqualified opinions issued was significantly higher than other opinions prior to bankruptcy. While international audit firms were less likely to issue unqualified opinions than their domestic counterparts no firm issued adverse or disclaimer of opinions in any given year, despite serious warning signals from return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and current ratios. © 2004 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Utilizing archival materials as well as personal interviews and correspondence with personnel of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Committee /Board (IASC/B), including former Board chairmen and staff members, this paper examines the development of the working relationships between the FASB and the IASC/B from their earliest interactions in 1973 through the transformation of the IASC into the IASB and the Convergence Program rooted in the 2002 Norwalk Agreement up to 2008. © 2012, Academy of Accounting Historians. All rights reserved.

Through 1975, the shareholder annual reports of publicly-owned U.S. railroads were exempt from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s accounting regulations, audit and disclosure rules because railroads were common carriers subject to the rules and regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Pub-liclyowned Class railroads voluntary began to away from ICC-type towards GAAP-type accounting and disclosures in their shareholder reports just after World War II.1 This paper reviews early industry practices with respect to internal and external audits. Using a sample of major Class I railroads from 1946 to 1975, the paper shows: the extent to which certain railroads voluntarily presented audited finan-cial statements before being required, the extent to which particular CPA firms were involved with the railroad industry, and the types of audit reports that issued to these railroads during this period. © 2016, Academy of Accounting Historians. All rights reserved.

This paper analyzes the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as intermediaries in encouraging the European Union (EU) to adopt International Accounting Standards (IAS). Our analysis begins with the 1973 founding of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), and ends with 2002 when the binding EU regulation was approved. We document the many pathways of interaction between European supranational, governmental bodies and the IASC/IASB, as well as important regional NGOs, such as the Union Européenne des Experts Comptables, Économiques et Financiers (UEC), the Groupe d’Etudes des Experts Comptables de la Communauté Économique Européenne (Groupe d’Etudes), and their successor, the Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens (FEE). This study investigates, through personal interviews of key individuals involved in making the history of the organizations studied, and an extensive set of primary sources, how NGOs filled key roles in the process of harmonization of international accounting standards. © 2016, American Accounting Association. All rights reserved.

As we are all well aware, health care expenditures in the United States are out of control and growing at epic proportions. Since private industry shoulders a significant burden of paying these rising health care costs, the huge and ever increasing sum paid by these corporations continues to impact the US economy translating into higher prices of services and manufactured goods and reduced job opportunities when companies outsource jobs or locate manufacturing facilities to avoid paying health care benefits for workers. As a result, health care expenditures have become a centerpiece of an enormous public policy debate as Congress is currently working on several versions of a bill to completely revise health care from the ground up. This research project was accomplished to examine the effectiveness of one approach to control rising health care costs and contain corporate financial responsibility--the establishment of wellness and health risk screening programs to improve the health of employees. Total health care cost per insured individual was gathered through an online survey directly from health care benefit administrators. The survey also asked information about wellness and health risk screening programs and the related responses were used to determine if there were a relationship between health care costs and health prevention programs. While statistical analysis was hampered in the current study because of the small sample size, some valid conclusions were reached. The study was successful in identifying a benchmark of Average Total Health Care Cost per Individual from $5,100 to $5,800 for 2005 through 2007. This is especially interesting in light of the fact that an average of $7,026 was spent on health care per person in 2006 in the United States. The study was also able to contribute an estimate of the increase realized in these expenditures of 6 percent in 2007 over 2006, and 4 percent in 2006 over 2005, which were in fact similar to the national average. The final contribution of the study is to suggest an explanation for the costs which appear to be holding their own in terms of the national average. While this cannot be statistically verified, it does seem that the active participation of these companies in wellness programs could be a factor. Wellness programs were very popular in this sample of companies as 82 percent of the respondents answered "YES" when asked if the company funds their own employee wellness program. This is an impressive number of companies that have recognized wellness programs as a potential means to reduce employee health care costs. In regards to specific programs, at least 50 percent of respondents answered that they have smoking cessation, employee fitness, counseling, health risk screening, and bio-metric screening programs. The existence of health screening variables show an impressive 73 percent of respondents do practice some sort of health care screening, 50 percent offer biometric screening while 18 percent have onsite clinics and 23 percent run annual employee fairs.