bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dot.com or Dot.bomb? The Unpleasant Tax Surprise of Stock Options in a Volatile Market
Authors: Rhoades-Catanach Shelley C.
Published: April 2008

This case explores the tax treatment of employee stock options as well as associated tax- and financial-planning issues. The number of employee stock option plans and related option grants has increased dramatically in the last decade. Today, senior management and rank-and-file workers alike often own substantial numbers of options and shares of employer stock acquired through the exercise of options. While these holdings can be valuable forms of compensation, exercising options also can be costly and risky. Early in 2000, following the stock market boom and its substantial decline later that same year, many employees who exercised options while the equity markets were at record highs were left with large tax bills. In some cases, the taxes owed exceeded the value of the optioned stock at year-end. This case details the tax and financial impact of option exercise on one employee that chose to retain optioned stock during the stock market crash of 2000. The educational objectives of the case include: (1) becoming familiar with the tax and financial aspects of compensatory stock options, (2) identifying the risks and rewards of option grant and exercise, (3) quantifying the cash inflows and outflows associated with stock options and their tax consequences, and (4) planning to maximize the after-tax value of stock option compensation. The case also discusses the tax treatment of options from the employer's perspective and the policy issues associated with tax deductions for option exercise.
A Classroom Experiment on the Benefit of Auditing in Financial Markets
Authors: Boylan Scott J.
Published: April 2008

In this paper, I discuss a classroom experiment that can be used to illustrate how auditing can impact investor behavior and financial market performance by providing assurance on the quality of financial information. In particular, the experiment demonstrates that auditing can influence security prices and investment portfolio compositions in a way that benefits investors and lowers the cost of capital for firms. The experiment complements the material in auditing texts by creating an environment where students can directly observe how auditing influences investor behavior in a set of financial markets in which students trade securities based on the contents of a financial report. The simplicity of the experiment, its relatively short duration, and the formal inclusion of financial reporting make it a particularly attractive alternative for those who wish to utilize an auditing experiment in their classes.

In the experiment, students trade securities in a sequence of markets in which financial information pertaining to security values is made public. The quality of the information depends on whether it was audited, and varies from market to market. Data on transaction prices, security holdings, and investor profits from a typical sequence of markets are presented, as are a series of discussion topics designed to illustrate how to use the experiment and related data to address a variety of auditing-related issues.
R&D Entities: Is Control Possible without Owning a Single Share of Stock?
Authors: Davis Michael L.
Published: April 2008

This case addresses the accounting for the relationship between a pharmaceutical company and a research and development entity that it created and for which it raised operating funds via a limited private offering. After the offering, the pharmaceutical company does not own any of the R&D entity's stock. However, the stock is callable for a fixed period by the pharmaceutical company and the operating agreements between the two entities leave little room for the R&D company to make any substantive decisions on its own, or to direct its current and future operations. Most of the questions in the case deal with the issue of whether control exists, the impact of that answer on the consolidated financial statements, and the details and costs of calling the stock.
A & B Companies: Impairment of Goodwill
Authors: Frucot Veronique G. , Jordan Leland G. , Lebow Marc I.
Published: April 2008

Accounting for goodwill has long been a theoretical problem for accountants. Although most businesses possess some goodwill, accountants record it only when a premium is paid in the acquisition of another company. Subsequent to acquisition, valuing goodwill becomes a problem. Statement of Financial Accounting No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (FASB 2001), is the current standard for testing goodwill for impairment. This case is designed to introduce you to the “real-world” problems that many practitioners are likely to encounter while implementing this new standard.

The case involves two antagonists: an auditor eager to record an impairment of goodwill and a client even more eager to avoid recording any impairment. You must tactfully address both individuals' arguments and determine the correct method for accounting for goodwill and the standard for testing for impairment per SFAS No. 142.
The Evolution from Taylorism to Employee Gainsharing: A Case Study Examining John Deere's Continuous Improvement Pay Plan
Authors: Sprinkle Geoffrey B. , Williamson Michael G.
Published: April 2008

With over $15 billion in annual sales, John Deere is one of the largest equipment manufacturing and distribution organizations in the world and is widely known as the world's premier producer of agricultural equipment. In the wake of significant downturns in the U.S. agriculture industry during the 1980s, John Deere believed it needed to change the manner in which employee performance was measured and rewarded. Specifically, after decades of using an individual-based, standard-hour compensation plan in its manufacturing facilities, John Deere decided to install a teambased gain-sharing plan that it believed would encourage more cooperation, innovation, and higher levels of motivation from its employees. This case provides students the opportunity to experience real-world conflicts of interest between employees and employers and the integral role that accounting-based performance measurement and reward systems play in resolving these conflicts. This case also provides students the opportunity to critically evaluate the theoretical strengths and weaknesses of two common compensation plans from the perspectives of both John Deere and its employees. Such juxtaposition allows students to see the inherent trade-offs in designing compensation systems, thereby improving students' understanding of optimal control system design.
The ALLTEL Pavilion Case: Strategy and CVP Analysis
Authors: Blocher Edward , Chen Kung H.
Published: April 2008

The ALLTEL Pavilion case is intended for the undergraduate management accounting or cost accounting course and the M.B.A. management accounting course. It provides an excellent context in which to examine strategic issues in using cost volume profit (CVP) in a service business. Based on an actual entertainment pavilion, the case develops many factors unique to a service business and illustrates how pavilion management can use CVP analysis to determine which artists to attract and what kinds of contracts to have with these performers. The Pavilion has two types of customers (paying ticket holders and free ticket holders) and earns profits from three types of revenues (ticket revenues, concession revenues, and parking fees). The case requires you to identify the best strategy for different types of artists, conduct cost-volume-profit analyses, consider the strategic issues related to operating leverage and how this affects the choice of performer and contract, and assess pricing strategies.
Business Ethics Education at Bay: Addressing a Crisis of Legitimacy
Authors: Swanson Diane L.
Published: April 2008

In this article I describe a crisis of legitimacy in business schools due to a longstanding habit of sidestepping ethics education. The accrediting agency helps perpetuate this dilemma by failing to require stand-alone ethics coursework, despite pressure from some constituents to do so in the wake of an earthquake of corporate scandals. This crisis could easily be resolved if business schools adopted a three-pronged approach to ethics education based on foundational coursework. Specifically, business schools should require at least one ethics course as a fulcrum for integrating ethics across the curriculum. As a third tactic, this effort should be augmented by other initiatives, such as hosting guest speakers, offering service-learning projects, and establishing endowed chairs in ethics.
Publication Records of Faculty Promoted at the Top 75 Accounting Research Programs
Authors: Glover Steven M. , Prawitt Douglas F. , Wood David A.
Published: April 2008

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the publication records of faculty promoted from 1995 to 2003 at the top 75 accounting research programs (as ranked by Trieschmann et al. 2000). The presentation and analyses of these data are designed to be useful to faculty and evaluation committees from a benchmarking and decision-making perspective. From a benchmarking perspective, the results will be useful in helping schools as they develop or refine relevant policies and research expectations. The results may be particularly useful in view of the fact that average accounting faculty publication records differ from the average publication records of faculty in other disciplines. We present results in different ways to help faculty and evaluation committees understand faculty publication records at the time accounting faculty are promoted to associate and full professor at various sets, or portfolios, of universities. Not surprisingly, the results indicate significant differences in publication records across the accounting programs included in the study. While differences are expected, given the varied missions and emphases of different schools, we believe the data will be useful to policy makers, evaluation committees, and faculty as they set standards, evaluate performance, and plan scholarship activities in conjunction with other expected activities, such as teaching and service.
Principles of Analytic Monitoring for Continuous Assurance
Authors: Vasarhelyi Miklos A. , Alles Michael G. , Kogan Alexander
Published: April 2008

The advent of new enabling technologies and the surge in corporate scandals has combined to increase the supply, the demand, and the development of enabling technologies for a new system of continuous assurance and measurement. This paper positions continuous assurance (CA) as a methodology for the analytic monitoring of corporate business processes, taking advantage of the automation and integration of business processes brought about by information technologies. Continuous analytic monitoring-based assurance will change the objectives, timing, processes, tools, and outcomes of the assurance process.

The objectives of assurance will expand to encompass a wide set of qualitative and quantitative management reports. The nature of this assurance will be closer to supervisory activities and will involve intensive interchange with more of the firm's stakeholders than just its shareholders. The timing of the audit process will be very close to the event, automated, and will conform to the natural life cycle of the underlying business processes. The processes of assurance will change dramatically to being meta-supervisory in nature, intrusive with the potential of process interruption, and focusing on very different forms of evidential matter than the traditional audit. The tools of the audit will expand considerably with the emergence of major forms of new auditing methods relying heavily on an integrated set of automated information technology (IT) and analytical tools. These will include automatic confirmations (confirmatory extranets), control tags (transparent tagging) tools, continuity equations, and time-series cross-sectional analytics. Finally, the outcomes of the continuous assurance process will entail an expanded set of assurances, evergreen opinions, some future assurances, some improvement on control processes (through incorporating CA tests), and some improved data integrity.
A Fuzzy Logic Approach to Assessing Materiality
Authors: Comunale Christie L. , Sexton Thomas R.
Published: April 2008

Auditors may encounter misstatements during the course of an audit, each of which requires a binary materiality assessment. We propose a fuzzy expert system approach that assesses materiality as a continuous characteristic by allowing a misstatement to possess a degree of materiality between 0 and 1. This potentially allows the auditor more flexibility and precision in materiality assessment, and greater insight regarding subsequent testing and investigation. We demonstrate that a fuzzy expert system can help the auditor incorporate qualitative factors into the materiality assessment of each misstatement and identify which misstatements are most worthy of further investigation. The auditor may compare the materiality assessments of all misstatements to plan an audit strategy. By providing a formal model structure, the fuzzy expert system formalizes and documents the materiality assessment process. This may facilitate better communication within the audit team and with the client, and enhances process consistency across auditors, engagements, and years.
An Investigation of Knowledge-Based Systems' Use to Promote Judgment Consistency in Multicultural Firm Environments
Authors: Arnold Vicky , Clark Nicole , Collier Philip A. , Leech Stewart A. , Sutton Steve G.
Published: April 2008

Knowledge-based systems (KBS) have long been advocated as a method for promoting consistency in judgment across professional service organizations such as accountancy firms. Recent movements toward unification of standards for accounting, auditing and insolvency have increased the pressure on these firms to further enhance judgment consistency across firm locations throughout the world. Yet, little is known about the usefulness and/or impact of KBS in promoting judgment consistency in multicultural firm environments. This paper reports the results of a study that examines the use of a KBS in a cross-cultural experimental environment. Participants included 239 insolvency professionals from Australia and Singapore representing two diverse cultures—i.e., Anglo-American and Chinese, respectively. The results of the study provide some evidence in support of both the perceived differences in focus on positive versus negative information and on the influence of a KBS in reducing these differences. However, the KBS did not significantly close the differences in judgment between the two sets of insolvency professionals.
The Effects of Investor Informativeness and Earnings Persistence on the Japanese Subsidiary Earnings Anomaly
Authors: Herrmann Don , Inoue Tatsuo , Thomas Wayne B.
Published: April 2008

Herrmann et al. (2001) provide evidence in support of a pricing anomaly whereby the Japanese market underestimates the persistence of current changes in subsidiary earnings for future changes in consolidated earnings. They find a positive relation between changes in subsidiary earnings and year-ahead stock returns (i.e., the Japanese subsidiary earnings anomaly) and are able to use this information to form zero-investment hedge portfolios producing positive abnormal returns for 12 out of 13 years and an average annual abnormal return over 7 percent. The purpose of this study is to investigate further whether this relation between subsidiary earnings and year-ahead returns is attributable to the market behaving naively or failure of the research design to control adequately for cross-sectional differences in risk. If the anomaly is attributable to naive behavior, then the anomaly should be more pronounced for firms with less informed investors and for firms with higher persistence in subsidiary earnings. If the anomaly occurs due to failure to control adequately for cross-sectional differences in risk, then the anomaly should exist independent of investor informativeness or subsidiary earnings persistence. Our evidence is consistent with investors behaving naively in further support of the Japanese subsidiary earnings anomaly, although as in all earnings anomaly studies, it is impossible to ever completely rule out risk as an alternative explanation.
Accuracy of Analysts' Earnings Forecasts: A Comparison of Non-U.S. Cross-Listed Firms and U.S. Multinationals
Authors: Das Somnath , Saudagaran Shahrokh M.
Published: April 2008

Among other properties of earnings forecasts, Das and Saudagaran (1998) document a difference in analyst forecast accuracy between non-U.S. incorporated firms listed in U.S. capital markets and U.S. incorporated domestic firms. In this paper we replicate their analysis using an extended sample period (1984–1993) and a control sample of U.S. incorporated multinational firms and conclude that the results reported in Das and Saudagaran (1998) are not driven by their use of a control sample comprised of domestic firms nor are their results specific to the sample period used. We also extend their analysis to demonstrate that the differences in forecast accuracy documented in Das and Saudagaran (1998) do not extend to firms listed on the NYSE. This result that differences in analyst forecast accuracy between non-U.S. firms listed in the U.S. and U.S. firms vary by U.S. exchange has not been examined in prior research. More importantly, we extend Das and Saudagaran (1998) by documenting the existence of cross-country differences in analyst forecast accuracy among our sample of non-U.S. incorporated firms listed in U.S. markets. This difference extends to firms listed on all three U.S. stock exchanges represented in our sample (the NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX).
A Comparison of Event Study Methods for Foreign Firms Listed on the U.S. Stock Exchanges
Authors: Chan Kam C. , Cheung Joseph K. , Wong Hannah C.
Published: April 2008

The rapid integration of international capital markets is apparent from the increasing number of foreign firms listed on the U.S. stock exchanges. A number of event studies have used stock returns of foreign firms listed on U.S. exchanges to examine the stock price reactions to various announcements. However, some researchers have raised concerns over the choice of event study models in the study of foreign firms. By employing actual stock return data in various simulation scenarios, this study compares the powers of alternative event study methods for foreign firms. The results show that all models and equity indexes perform equally well when there is no clustering of event dates, though there are high Type I and Type II errors when event dates cluster together.
Do Investors Reward Bank Disclosure Transparency? Evidence from India
Authors: Chipalkatti Niranjan
Published: April 2008

As part of the financial sector deregulation, India's central bank mandated specific annual report disclosures effective March 31, 2000, that primarily related to a bank's loan assets. This study attempts to verify whether these mandated disclosures were transparent to investors and whether they had any impact on the level of information asymmetry surrounding bank stocks as measured by their bid-ask spreads. The results indicate that the mandatory disclosures were indeed transparent to investors and that bid-ask spreads and asymmetric information costs reduced in the postdisclosure period. Overall, the results suggest that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) efforts to reinforce the market's disciplining mechanism by mandating better quality disclosures has been positively received by investors.
The Value-Relevance of Voluntarily Disclosed Quarterly Foreign Sales Data of U.S. Multinational Corporations
Authors: Hossain Mahmud , Marks Barry R.
Published: April 2008

This paper examines the value-relevance of voluntarily disclosed quarterly sales data on the foreign operations of U.S. multinational corporations included in quarterly earnings announcements. Using a short-window event-study methodology with risk-adjusted returns, we find that voluntarily disclosed quarterly foreign sales of U.S. multinational corporations is value-relevant to equity investors. The empirical results also show that in most instances, quarterly foreign sales data are valued at a substantially higher rate than quarterly domestic sales data.
Toward Understanding Chinese Auditors' Structuring of Audit Approaches, Client Acceptance Decisions, Risk Assessment, and Stringency of Imposed Reporting Standards
Authors: Chow Chee W. , Ho Joanna L. , Mo Phyllis Lai Lan
Published: April 2008

This study seeks insights into determinants of Chinese audit firms' ability to ensure high quality financial reporting. Its scope of investigation encompasses the extent to which Chinese audit firms employ structured audit processes, their evaluation of potential clients, factors that impact their risk assessment, and the stringency of the reporting standards that they seek to impose on clients. The factors investigated include ones suggested as being important by extant research, as well as unique characteristics of the Chinese setting (e.g., the importance of interpersonal relationships [“guanxi”] and most listed companies' origins as state-owned enterprises). Structured interviews and questionnaire surveys are used to solicit quantitative and open-ended responses from 102 Chinese auditors at the partner, manager, and senior levels of Big 4 affiliates and local public accounting firms.
Earnings Management when Incentives Compete: The Role of Tax Accounting in Russia
Authors: Goncharov Igor , Zimmermann Jochen
Published: April 2008

We test the earnings management behavior of Russian companies in the years 2001 and 2002. We analyze the effects of ownership structure on the extent of tax management. We first hypothesize that Russian firms manage earnings downward to reduce income taxes. We test for irregularities in the distribution of earnings in the subsamples of the companies with relatively high and low marginal tax rates in 2001 and 2002, distinguishing between low incentives versus high incentives for tax management. Conducting univariate and multivariate tests, we find evidence consistent with our hypothesis. We secondly hypothesize that incentives to provide high quality financial information constrain tax management. Consistently we find that public companies manage taxes to a lesser extent than private companies. We thirdly test whether the interaction among market forces, political forces, and the changing tax law from 2001 to 2002 caused a change in the reporting practices. We find evidence consistent with public firms reporting earnings of a higher quality in 2002.
Does the Threat of Private Litigation Increase the Usefulness of Reported Earnings? International Evidence
Authors: Khurana Inder K. , Raman K. K. , Wang Dechun
Published: April 2008

In this cross-border study, we document the usefulness of reported earnings as conditioned by varying levels of litigation risk. We focus on litigation risk, since Ball (2001) suggests that although litigation rights are seldom discussed in the context of international accounting, the threat of private litigation can motivate corporate insiders to increase transparency in financial reporting. We operationalize the quality of reported earnings based on their ability to predict the firm's future cash flows. The focus on future cash flows enables us to examine the usefulness of reported earnings without having to assume pricing similarities across stock markets. We examine the relation between litigation risk and earnings quality for firms in a sample of 34 countries. We find that the higher the litigation threat, the greater the predictive ability of reported earnings for future cash flows.
Evaluation of Internal Control from a Control Objective Narrative
Authors: Curtis Mary B. , Borthick A. Faye
Published: April 2008

Many accounting firms have changed the way their auditors evaluate internal control. Instead of preparing flowcharts documenting transaction flows, they only document the controls that have a bearing on specific financial statement assertions. This shift in documentation marks a change in the structure of the internal control evaluation task from transaction flow to control objective. This case presents documentation organized by control objective for internal control of a company's purchasing cycle. The case includes discussion and objective format questions and is relatively short, which means it can be used as an in-class or out-of-class exercise or an in-class testing or assessment device on internal control evaluation.
Problem-Solving Style and Fit in Consulting and Auditing
Authors: Summers Scott L. , Sweeney John T. , Wolk Carel M.
Published: April 2008

This research examined the problem-solving styles of public accountants in consulting and audit functions. Consultants were, on average, significantly more innovative in their problem-solving style than auditors. A path analysis indicated that accounting professionals whose preferred problem-solving style did not fit the demands of the job experienced greater role stress. The additional stress negatively affected job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to stay with the firm. The results imply that matching an individual's problem-solving style to his or her functional role may help to minimize role stress and its attendant dysfunctional effects in public accounting.
A Blueprint for an AIS Consulting Course
Authors: Bryant Stephanie M.
Published: April 2008

Although a myriad of commissions, committees, and reports has called for a change in accounting education, accounting educators have been relatively slow to respond. The recent monograph, Accounting Education: Charting the Course through a Perilous Future (Albrecht and Sack 2000), submits that while some positive changes have been made, far more dramatic changes are needed in accounting education. Skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, team building, and communication—while highly valued by the accounting profession—are not emphasized in most accounting curricula. One way to help bridge this gap is to include a course in consulting that provides an opportunity for students to develop many of these essential skills.

This article provides practical guidance to educators on how to design and administer a consulting course in the accounting information systems (AIS) program. This blueprint is based on actual experiences with an AIS consulting course taught at James Madison University. The consulting project component of the course requires the synthesis of general accounting knowledge and information technology skills to solve a real-world client problem. It is hoped that the blueprint for a consulting course outlined in this article encourages AIS educators to develop similar courses in their own curricula.
Determinants of Consulting Service Quality for Accounting and Nonaccounting Service Providers
Authors: Aldhizer George R. , Turner Leslie D. , Shank Matthew D.
Published: April 2008

Consulting services have been the fastest growing segment of public accounting over the past decade. However, very few empirical studies have addressed determinants of consulting service quality from the client's perspective. The objectives of this study are to: (1) determine the reliability, validity, and explanatory power of a service quality model in an accounting and nonaccounting provider environment, and (2) explore the association between the type of provider, the type of service provided, and the interaction between provider type and service type and perceived service quality. A survey of 272 controllers of U.S. middle-market corporations provides the data for this study. Descriptive and statistical results indicate that a 13-item scale appears to be a viable instrument for differentiating client perceptions of service quality. In addition, client perceptions of service quality appear to be affected by the type of service provided, but not by the type of provider or by the interaction of provider type and service type.
International Lumberyards, Inc.: An Information System Consulting Case
Authors: Gerard Gregory J. , Grabski Severin V.
Published: April 2008

Based on issues faced by an actual company, this case focuses on the design of an appropriate information systems architecture for International Lumberyards, Inc. (ILI). The design necessitates consideration of both the business strategy and the information technology that can support that strategy, since the business strategy needs to be both informed and supported by the information system. A strategy that is not supported by the requisite infrastructure will fail. Likewise, implementing technology that is not aligned with the business strategy will result, at a minimum, in a waste of resources. In the setting described in the case, the technology (or lack thereof) resulted in very constrained processes. A new technology infrastructure, aligned with the business strategy, will allow for future growth as well as addressing the limitations of the current environment. The case description forces consideration of how the organization's multiple locations will communicate with each other, and also what type of information systems software solution should be recommended. However, prior to the long-run goal of a new infrastructure, certain short-term solutions are needed to help the organization survive. The case includes teaching notes and has been designed for flexible classroom use. Due to the complexity of the case, it is recommended as an out-of-class project for use in graduate information systems classes. However, it could be used in undergraduate classes if the instructor provides additional guidance.
The Journal of Information Systems: A Review of the First 15 Years
Authors: Samuels Janet A. , Steinbart Paul John
Published: April 2008

The publication of the Spring 2001 issue marks the completion of the first 15 years of the Journal of Information Systems (JIS). This paper analyzes the content of articles published, the research methods used, the sources referenced, and impact of articles published in JIS. The analyses provide insights concerning the development of accounting information systems research that should be of interest not only to readers of and contributors to JIS, but also to current and prospective doctoral students who are interested in the field of accounting information systems. Accounting researchers specializing in other disciplines may also find this paper beneficial in understanding the research interests of their accounting information systems colleagues.
An Experimental Examination of Alternative Forms of Web Assurance for Business-to-Consumer e-Commerce
Authors: Mauldin Elaine , Arunachalam Vairam
Published: April 2008

This study reports the results of an experiment that examined alternative forms of web assurance for “B2C” e-commerce. Specifically, using a repeated measures design, variations in purchase intent were examined across four within-subjects web site conditions (two MP3 players and two digital cameras from different web sites) and five between-subjects assurance conditions (undirected or directed retailer disclosures, VISA, TRUSTe, and WebTrust™). The effects of assurance (present vs. absent) on purchase intent were studied relative to the roles of retailer disclosures, information risk (security, disclosure, and product risk), and familiarity (with the retailer and product). Control variables encompassing previous Internet and online purchase experiences, general intent to buy online, and web site design were also incorporated in the study. No differences in intent to purchase were found for the three assurance conditions and they were combined for further data analysis. Results indicate that higher intent to purchase is associated only with web assurance when consumers did not observe retailer disclosures and product familiarity was lower. When consumers did observe retailer disclosures, intent to purchase was not significantly associated with web assurance. Results also indicate that familiarity with vendor and information risk were not associated with intent to purchase. However, several of the control variables, including comfort with the Internet, general intent to buy online, and web site design, were significantly associated with higher intent to purchase.
An Object-Oriented Model for Ex Ante Accounting Information
Authors: Verdaasdonk Peter
Published: April 2008

Present accounting data models such as the Resource-Event-Agent (REA) model merely focus on the modeling of static accounting phenomena. In this paper, it is argued that these models are not able to provide relevant ex ante accounting data for operations management decisions. These decisions require dynamic descriptions of the consequences of alternative future courses of actions and the resulting events. Therefore, a new object-oriented model is presented that enables the use of ex ante accounting data for this purpose. In comparison to the REA model, the object-oriented model presented in this paper includes new static aspects as “recipes,” “potential contracts,” and “reservations,” together with behavioral aspects expressed as theoretical scripts for the retrieval of relevant accounting data.
Information Transfer among Internet Firms: The Case of Hacker Attacks
Authors: Ettredge Michael L. , Richardson Vernon J.
Published: April 2008

This study focuses on the stock market reaction to denial of service attacks against certain well-known Internet firms in February 2000. Investors appear to have used several heuristics in deciding which firms were “similar” to those attacked, and thus predicted that they were also likely to be attacked. The primary heuristic employed appears to have been similarity in reliance on the Internet to conduct operating activities (i.e., the set of Internet firms). We find negative mean abnormal returns among Internet firms not actually attacked (i.e., information transfer). This occurred both within Internet industries in which some firms were attacked, and within Internet industries with no attacks. A secondary heuristic appears to have been that Internet firms similar in size to those attacked (i.e., relatively large) were more likely to be attacked. In contrast to all other Internet industries, providers of Internet security products and services experienced positive mean abnormal returns.
Accounting Information Systems Research Opportunities Using Personality Type Theory and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Authors: Wheeler Patrick R. , Hunton James E. , Bryant Stephanie M.
Published: April 2008

The cognitive science paradigm, with its computational and information processing models of the human mind, dominates much of current accounting information systems (AIS) research. While these models aid our understanding of cognition, it is unclear how much of the mind they explain. Personality type theory (PTT) is one supplement to cognitive science. PTT is especially useful for AIS researchers because an extensively tested and validated psychometric instrument based on PTT, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), is available for use in practice and research. We provide an overview of PTT and the MBTI and discuss how AIS researchers can use PTT to complement and extend current research initiatives. We highlight opportunities for PTT-based AIS research by posing research questions, the investigation of which contributes to the AIS literature.
SportsStuff.com: A Case Study on XML Technologies, e-Business Processes, and Accounting Information Systems
Authors: Geerts Guido L. , White Clinton E.
Published: April 2008

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is an emerging technology that is extensively used in enterprise application integration and e-business collaborations. This paper presents an integrated case, SportsStuff.com (SSC), that exposes students to “native” XML technologies (those technologies that are based on the XML specification) and illustrates how they can support innovative e-business applications. First, the case introduces three native XML technologies that facilitate data exchange between networked applications: XML documents, XML Schema, and XSLT. Second, the case explores the uses of these technologies in an e-business collaboration scenario.
Caroline's Candy Shop: An In-Class Role-Play of the Revenue Cycle
Authors: Hayes David C. , Reynolds J. Kenneth
Published: April 2008

Recently, Bain et al. (2002) emphasized the critical importance of the transaction-processing cycles and internal control topics to undergraduates in an Accounting Information Systems (AIS) course. The current article outlines an in-class, roleplay exercise designed to provide students with a working understanding of the revenue cycle and its related key documents. Additionally, the exercise encourages students to consider risk exposures, internal controls, and technological opportunities to improve business processes. A pre-/post-test reveals that the in-class role-play is a successful learning exercise that significantly increases students' understanding of the revenue cycle. The test also indicates that students enjoy the experience.
Financial Reporting and Auditing Agent with Net Knowledge (FRAANK) and eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)
Authors: Bovee Matthew , Kogan Alexander , Nelson Kay , Srivastava Rajendra P. , Vasarhelyi Miklos A.
Published: April 2008

This paper describes the development and applications of FRAANK—Financial Reporting and Auditing Agent with Net Knowledge. The prototype of FRAANK presented here provides automated access to, and understanding and integration of, rapidly changing financial information available from various sources on the Internet. In particular, FRAANK implements intelligent parsing to extract accounting numbers from natural-text financial statements available from the SEC EDGAR repository. FRAANK develops an “understanding” of the accounting numbers by means of matching the line-item labels to synonyms of tags in an XBRL taxonomy. As a result, FRAANK converts the consolidated balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows into XBRL-tagged format. Based on FRAANK, we propose an empirical approach toward the evaluation and improvement of XBRL taxonomies and for identifying and justifying needs for specialized taxonomies by assessing a taxonomy fit to the historical data, i.e., the quarterly and annual EDGAR filings. Using a test set of 10-K SEC filings, we evaluate FRAANK's performance by estimating its success rate in extracting and tagging the line items using the year 2000 C&I XBRL Taxonomy, Version 1. The evaluation results show that FRAANK is an advanced research prototype that can be useful in various practical applications. FRAANK also integrates the accounting numbers with other financial information publicly available on the Internet, such as timely stock quotes and analysts' forecasts of earnings, and calculates important financial ratios and other financial-analysis indicators.
New York State Agencies: A Case Study for Analyzing the Process of Legacy System Migration: Part II
Authors: Fisher Ingrid E. , Bradford Marianne
Published: April 2008

Part II of this case chronicles the actions and outcomes of the legacy system migrations of five New York State agencies. The case highlights the problems these agencies encountered in migrating from legacy systems to enterprise-wide systems built upon relational databases. The case also explores the additional complexities of legacy system migration under the unique legal and operational constraints of governmental entities. Investigated issues include business process management, technical and financial project feasibility, cost-benefit analyses, consultant management, and ERP implementations.
Omni Furniture Company: A Systems Development Life Cycle Case
Authors: Sinason David H. , Normand Carol J.
Published: April 2008

The Omni Furniture Company Case was created to help students enrolled in an accounting information systems (AIS) course further their understanding of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) by thinking through all stages of the development process. Omni is a privately held company that has found a market niche by assembling several models of simple yet durable desks, tables, and chairs for use in offices. After several years in business, Omni has recently experienced tremendous growth that has resulted in cash flow and production scheduling problems. Susan and Barry Omni, the owners of the company, realize that the information system they have been using is outdated and needs to be improved. No one in the company has the time or ability to develop such a system and so a business consulting firm has been hired to develop the new system. Each business consulting team is required to (1) design a system that will solve Omni's cash flow and production scheduling information needs and (2) use an appropriate software package to actually implement the system. Teams do not design a system that processes transactions; data should be manually entered into an appropriate software package such as Access or Excel. All tables must be linked so that one change in the data affects all of the information presented in all of the reports.
Langfristige Entwicklung von zwei Waldgesellschaften im Białowieża-Urwald
Authors: Brzeziecki Bogdan , Bernadzki Feliks Eugeniusz
Published: April 2008

The results of a long-term study on the natural forest dynamics of two forest communities on one sample plot within the Białowieża National Park in Poland are presented. The two investigated forest communities consist of the Pino-Quercetum and the Tilio-Carpinetum type with the major tree species Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Betula sp., Quercus robur, Tilia cordata and Carpinus betulus. The results reveal strong temporal dynamics of both forest communities since 1936 in terms of tree species composition and of general stand structure. The four major tree species Scots pine, birch, English oak and Norway spruce, which were dominant until 1936, have gradually been replaced by lime and hornbeam. At the same time, the analysis of structural parameters indicates a strong trend towards a homogenization of the vertical stand structure. Possible causes for these dynamics may be changes in sylviculture, climate change and atmospheric deposition. Based on the altered tree species composition it can be concluded that a simple ≪copying≫ (mimicking) of the processes taking place in natural forests may not guarantee the conservation of the multifunctional character of the respective forests.
Logic Design
Authors: Damaj Issam W.
Published: April 2008

Electronic circuits can be separated into two groups, digital and analog circuits. Analog circuits operate on analog quantities that are continuous in value, whereas digital circuits operate on digital quantities that are discrete in value and limited in precision. In practice, most digital systems contain combinational circuits along with memory; these systems are known as sequential circuits. Sequential circuits are of two types: synchronous and asynchronous. In a synchronous sequential circuit, a clock signal is used at discrete instants of time to synchronize desired operations. Asynchronous sequential circuits do not require synchronizing clock pulses; however, the completion of an operation signals the start of the next operation in sequence. The basic logic design steps are generally identical for sequential and combinational circuits; these are specification, formulation, optimization, and the implementation of the optimized equations using a suitable hardware technology. The differences between sequential and combinational design steps appear in the details of each step. The minimization (optimization) techniques used in logic design range from simple (manual) to complex (automated). An example of manual optimization methods is theKarnoughmap (K‐map). Indeed, hardware implementation technology has been growing faster than the ability of designers to produce hardware designs. Hence, there has been a growing interest in developing techniques and tools that facilitate the process of logic design.
Fuzzy Modeling Fundamentals
Authors: Melin Patricia , Castillo Oscar
Published: April 2008

This article introduces the basic concepts, notation, and basic operations for fuzzy sets that are needed in fuzzy modeling. Because research on fuzzy set theory has been underway for over 30 years now, it is practically impossible to cover all aspects of current developments in this area. Therefore, the main goal of this article is to provide an introduction to and a summary of the basic concepts and operations that are relevant to the study of fuzzy sets. We introduce in this article the definition of linguistic variables and linguistic values and explain how to use them in fuzzy rules, which are an efficient tool for quantitative modeling of words or sentences in a natural or artificial language. By interpreting fuzzy rules as fuzzy relations, we describe different schemes of fuzzy reasoning, in which inference procedures based on the concept of the compositional rule of inference are used to derive conclusions from a set of fuzzy rules and known facts. Fuzzy rules and fuzzy reasoning are the basic components of fuzzy inference systems, which are the most important modeling tool, based on fuzzy set theory.
Computer Animation
Authors: Komura Taku
Published: April 2008

Computer animation is widely used in games, movies, and TV programs. Topics such as human animation, fluid dynamics, rigid bodies, cloth simulation, flocking, and deformable models are covered in this field. In this article, we introduce the key techniques used for such kind of animations by observing the life of a virtual character “Joe,” who is living in cyberspace.
This is Not Entertainment: Experiencing the Dream House
Authors: Krueger Ted
Published: April 2008

Testing the spatiotemporal limits of experience and art installation, Dream House dwells upon a physical interaction between bodily movement and synthesised frequencies to prompt a variable sound spectrum and a specific interior atmosphere. Ted Krueger highlights the primacy of first‐person experience within a spatial continuum, and in particular an experience of a nonvisual and interactive nature. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Making Sense: The MIX House
Authors: Sanders Joel , Van Lengen Karen
Published: April 2008

In an effort to challenge the dominance of vision over the other senses in architectural experience, Joel Sanders and Karen Van Lengen infuse a speculative domestic environment with digital audio technology. Their design capitalises on the augmentation of aural–visual boundaries via technological interventions, ultimately recasting the house from a private and insulated environment to that of a hybridised interactive site. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Aesthetics of Air: Experiments in Visualising the Invisible
Authors: Wagenfeld Malte
Published: April 2008

Malte Wagenfeld tackles the difficult problem of visualising air, and in his physical experiments reveals a world of eddies, swirls and wafting particles circulating around moving bodies. Here he offers a literal and conceptual glimpse at the invisible nature of atmosphere. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Olafur Eliasson and the Circulation of Affects and Percepts: In Conversation
Authors: Frichot Hélène
Published: April 2008

Hélène Frichot's conversation with Olafur Eliasson reveals the depths to which his work mobilises atmosphere as an agent of human experience and social action, prompting a subjective transformation. Light and colour play significant parts in culling affective atmospheres open to multiple perceptions focused on the ephemeral. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Artists of the Floating World: SANNA, Niedermayr and the Construction of Atmosphere
Authors: Campbell Hugh
Published: April 2008

Hugh Campbell expands upon the mutually collaborative spatial qualities evoked in the photographic works of Walter Niedermayr and the architecture of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Tokyo‐based practice SANAA. Describing their relation as forming a ‘thickened presence’, he alludes to a particular atmosphere reliant on an ambiguity of scale, detail and discernible proximity that serves to liberate the architecture and the photographs from mere documentation whereby instead they figure as transparent recordings of spatial intentions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.