What I have learned in Qualitative Research Method course?

Finally it comes to the end of semester for this course. I always think that I wouldn't learn much from this course as my research area is not related to qualitative research. But I'm wrong. Professor Kerry has provided us a rich insight to the world of research in addition to the qualitative research method. I summarize a few key learning points from this course that I find very useful to PhD students and researchers.

(1) Rules of good research. A good research is fundamentally a good argument based on evidence, and has nothing to do with "truth".  Specifically, Kerry's rules for good research highlights that a good research should explore a problem that audience has interested in.

(2) Theory and theorisation. Theory helps us to make sense on our research problems and provide a settled basis for inference and data analysis.

(3) Writing, positioning and creating a research gap. A good writing skill represents and organises one ideas and communicate with the audience clearly. It serves a negotiation agreement with readers about his interpretations, findings and claims.

(4) Who is my audience? Research problems and the unit of analysis should be compatible. Don't use "Big" theory to explain "small" things.

(5) Designing the research. Design is an issue of logic and good argument rather than reality. Choosing a proper research method is crucial to reflect your conceptual framework and enable you to answer research question.

(6)  Getting on, getting out and getting back. Techniques of interview help us to gather sufficient data from interviewees. Example: Don't say too much and present yourself as a learner.

(7) Analysing interviews. Establishing a clear statement of what you expect to find based on previous literature and theory. Analyse interviews in relation to expectations and design. Finally, try to challenge, extend, reject or develop the theory.

(8) Write-up: Write to 'make an arguments' Planning your writing is important such as give a structure in the paper when start writing. Learn writing skills through practice and experience.       

Story telling

It is not common to see narratives in accounting and management research.  The paper from "Llewellyn, S. (1998), Narratives in accounting and management research" provides us a rich understanding on this methodology.

From this paper, we can see that narrative research involves story telling. Quoted from Reissman (1993, p.1) "Story telling, to put the argument simply, is what we do with our research materials and what informants do with us. The story metaphor emphasises that we create order, construct texts in particular contexts. The mechanical metaphor adopted from the natural sciences (increasingly questioned there) implies that we provide an objective description of forces in the world and position ourselves outside to do so." A narrative research emphasises the purpose and direction in a series of events and is used to evaluate the effects that plans can have on desired outcomes. Therefore narrative findings convey a particular message about purpose - the point of the story. The rhetorical power of narratives lies in the point of the story.

Narratives have plots. They also have temporal settings. Plots may be either a retrospective view of the past (as in Relevance Lost), a trajectory of the future (as in Relevance Regained) or be contemporary. Linked to the temporality of the plot is the intention of the author. Where the researcher is seeking to describe, explain or understand events retrospective or contemporary plots are the most common. Where researchers wish to strategize or prescribe they will write prospective accounts of the future. Many narratives will combine elements of all three sequences linking progressive, regressive and stability modes.

The narrative is a metastory as it depicts the interview quotes from a certain perspective, embedding them in the theoretical stance of the paper and/or relating them to strategic intent. Narratives are constructed from a plot orientation that links the key strategies, themes, characters and events that emerge from the interview material. The researcher embeds these key elements in a context by evaluating them from a certain perspective. This perspective constitutes the soul of the narrative (or what the point of the story is).

This paper also points out that the researchers should use narrative research as explanations. Narrative research configures characters, themes and events into a sequence that leads up to the phenomenon to be explained, or understood, and aims to render this phenomenon intelligible within the context presented in the narrative. Next, narratives should be used for argumentation. Through access to research narratives, organizational participants can use research to inform their own strategizing. Indeed narrative arguments are similar to management strategizing; narratives are useful in the same way that strategies are.

Personally, I think narrative research is interesting! It links with the identity of authors and convey messages to influence readers through story.

Reference

Llewellyn, S. (1998), Narratives in accounting and management research, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 12(2), 220-236.

Learning NVivo

This exposition of NVivo and its functions addresses just its most basic features. There may be features not covered here that you would find useful in your own work, so try to explore it! Enjoy!

(1) Import the documents

You need to import the documents you want to code. NVivo 9 can accept documents in both rich text and Word formats. To import the documents, →Internals→ External Data on Ribbon→ Document button on Find bar→ Browse→ Open.

(2) Coding

For NVivo, coding is accomplished through nodes. There are several ways of going about the coding process in NVivo:

·      I read through the interviews both in printed form and in the Document viewer. The viewer is treated as having a number of different components or sections.

·      I worked out some codes that seemed relevant to the documents.

·      I went back to into documents and coded them using NVivo.

An alternative strategy is to code while browsing the documents. Notice that there are 3 groups of hierarchically organized nodes and two non-hierarchically organized nodes.

(3) Applying nodes in the coding process

Coding is carried out by applying nodes to segments of text. Once you have set up some nodes, assuming that you are looking at  a document in the viewer, you can highlight the area of the document that you want to code and then right-click on the mouse while holding the cursor over the highlighted text, and then → Code Selection → Code Selection at New node... This opens the New Node dialog box.   

(4) Coding Stripes

It is very helpful to be able to see the areas of text that have been coded and the nodes applied to them. Selecting this facility allows you to see multi-coloured stripes that representing portions of coded text and the nodes that have been used. To activate this facility, → View in the Ribbon and then→ Coding stripes in the Find bar→ Show Nodes Recently Coding.

(5) Searching Text

Once you have coded your data, however, preliminary that may be, you will want to conduct searches of your data at some points. NVivo allows you to trawl through all your documents so that you will end up with text that was coded at a particular node in all your documents. Document Viewer → Nodes in the Navigation View. This will bring up your list of nodes in the List view.

(6) Memos

One feature of the grounded theory approach to qualitative data analysis is the use of memos in which ideas and illustrations might be stored. In the Navigation View → Sources→ Memos→ Create tab on the Find bar and then → Memo.

(7) Saving on NVivo project

When you have finished working on your data, you will need to save it for future use. To do this, on the menu bar at the top, → File → Save.

Conducting Interviews

Recently, I have conducted several interviews with finance managers for my qualitative assignment and also ANU students for their learning experience. From my experience, I would like to share the following useful points to conduct semi-structured interviews:

(1) Know the schedule

Before interviewing anybody, an interviewer should be aware of their schedule. Even if you are the only person conducting interviews, make sure you know it inside out. Interviewing can be stressful and it is possible that under duress standard interview procedures like filter questions can cause interviewer to get flustered and miss questions out or ask wrong questions.

(2) Introducing the research

Prospective respondents have to be provided with a credible rationale for the research in which they are being asked to participate and for giving up their valuable time.

(3) Rapport

This means that very quickly the relationship must be established that encourages the respondents to want to participate in and persists with the interview. Unless an element of rapport can be established, some respondents may initially agree to be interview but then decide to terminate their participation because of the length of time the interview is taking or perhaps because of the nature of questions asked.

(4) Asking questions

Few tips are particular useful to engage with interviewees. First, Don't say too much. It is important to become listeners and treat interviewee as an expert in the field. Second, become reflective listening by spotting the grey areas and clarifying the answers provided by interviewee.

(5) Recording answers

Always ask permission to record the interview and explain the reasons of recording. Not to so can result in interviewers distorting respondents' answers and hence introducing errors.

(6) Questions order

Early questions should be directly related to the topic of the research. As far as questions that are more likely to be salient to respondents should be asked early in the interview schedule, so that their interest and attention are more likely to be secured. With a long schedule or questionnaire, questions should be grouped in sections, since this allows a better flow than skipping from one topic to another. A further aspect of the rule is general questions should precede specific questions to avoid interviewees provide brief answers on general questions after they provide details respond to specific questions.

(7) Probing

It frequently happens when respondents need help with their answer. One obvious case is where it is evident that interviewees do not understand the questions. The second kind of situation is respondents do not provide a sufficiently complete answers and has to be probed for more information. Some probing questions can be used. "Are there any other reasons why you think that" or "Could you say a little more about that?"

(8) Prompting

This occurs when the interviewer suggests a possible answer to a question to the respondent. There may be a very long list of possible answers. To read out a list of questions, it is probably to hand  a list of questions to the interviewee.

(9) Leaving the interview

Do not forget common courtesies like thanking the person for giving up their times. Ask "advice to a friend" to get recommendation to new interviewees.

Research Method and Unit Analysis

In-depth interviews are deemed to be the most appropriate qualitative technique to explore the factors and internal barriers that influence the preparedness of companies for IFRS convergence, in particular to understand the 'hows' and 'whys' of the institutional isomorphism influence the IFRS adoption. Prior studies have studied the IFRS adoption by using survey and archival research which have relatively restriction in understanding the IFRS adoption process in the organisation level (see Jones & Higgins, 2006; Jermakowicz &Gornick-Tomaszewski, 2006; Guerreiro et al., 2012).

   Generally, full convergence with IFRS will have considerable impact on the publicly accountable entity in Malaysia.  Hence, companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia that meet the definition of ‘publicly accountable entity’ are selected as the unit of analysis in this study. To address the research context, personal interviews were conducted with Financial Controllers, Chief Accountants or Head of Finance/Accounts Department as they are presumed to be directly involved with the adoption process of IFRS in their respective companies and have better understanding and wide knowledge on IFRS. The length of the interviews ranged from 30 to 90 minutes. Interviews were semi-structured, which allowed greater adaptability and flexibility of the discussion. The general structure of the interview was controlled by the question guidelines.

   In total, seven public listed companies from a broad range of industries participated in this study. Five out of seven companies in the sample were conducted by face-to-face interview in Malaysia for one week period in April 2013 and another two interview were conducted via Skype due to location distance between interviewee and interviewer. The use of Skype in qualitative research is supported by academic researchers. In the past, telephone interview has been widely adopted in research. Holt (2010) argues that use of telephone interview is a new research medium with the additional benefit of enabling the ‘visual’ in the interview setting. Hanna (2012) extends the Holt's (2010) suggestion on telephone interview to Skype interview and states that "additional visual element offered by Skype that the interview can remain, to a certain extent at least, a ‘face-to-face’ experience while preserving the flexibility and ‘private space’ elements offered via telephone interviews".  Thus, Skype interview is deemed to be suitable medium apart from face-to-face personal interview to address this research context. 

References

Guerreiro, M. S., Rodrigues, L. L. and Craig, R. (2012), "Voluntary adoption of international reporting standards by large unlisted companies in Portugal - Institutional logics and strategic responses", Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 37, pp. 481-499.

Hanna, P. (2012), " Using internet technologies (such as Skype) as a research medium: a research note", Qualitative Research, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 239-242.

Holt, A. (2010), "Using telephones for narrative interviewing: a research note", Qualitative Research, Vol. 10, pp. 113–121.

Jermakowicz, E.K. and Gornick-Tomaszewski, S. (2006), "Implementing IFRS from the perspective of EU publicly traded companies", Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Vol. 15, pp. 170-196.

Jones, S. and Higgins, A. D. (2006), "Australia's switch to international financial reporting standards: A Perspective from Account Preparers", Accounting and Finance, Vol. 46, pp. 629-652.

Time and Project Management Course

I attended this course conducted by Dr Sage Leslie from Academic Skills and Learning Centre. I find this course is particular useful to those PhD students who always complain that they don't have enough time to handle their thesis and course works. Many valuable tips and advice were given by Dr Sage.

First, we should have daily "To do list" and themed checklist. You should know what do you need to fit in the checklist. The checklist should include your daily life and not just your PhD thesis. It is also important to set aside dedicated thesis time each week and set specific goals for this time.  You should know when are you at your best for reading? For writing? Be realistic! The checklist must be a 'whole of life' plan.   PhD is life long journey. You must manage your life well in order to proceed this long journey.

Second, project management is also important for PhD study. To manage the study effectively, try to define the project parameters in terms of time, length and criteria for completion. Break the project into small milestones to make yourself more focus. If can, one should always revise the project plan frequently and sometime may need to work backwards from due date to monitor the progress of plan.

Third, this course introduces some reading techniques and managing the reading effectively. You must have a clear purpose for reading. Try don't read every word of everything. I should try to learn this technique as I always like to read everything and read for pleasure sometime without any purposes. In addition, try to file documents by theme so you can return to them easily. I realise filing is important for time management especially if you have more and more reading materials. I used to save my journal articles in authors name, years of publication, journal name and title of journal. Basically try to rename the files as details as possible and store it in specific themed files. It enables me to extract the file easily from my hard disk in future. We may need to return and read these documents periodically. Even the hardcopy of the documents, I will file them in the proper folders and label the folders clearly. Filing and retrieval save your times!

Fourth, managing your notes. Keep the 'use' for the information in mind. Some information or draft may look irrelevant to you at the moment but try to keep it for the future use. Again, try to write sections as you go. Try to write down anything relevant to your research project. Writing helps you organise your mind and 'force' you focus sometime!

Lastly, look after yourself! Healthy is vital for this study marathon. Only healthy person can smile at the end of marathon! It is not something wrong if you feel you need to rest for a while or even STOP your study for a certain period. Managing life should be in your PhD study plan. All the best!     

Planning a Research Project - Checklist

I have listed the checklist for my research project. Hope you find the checklist is useful for your study as well.

· Do you know what the requirements for your dissertation are, as set out by university or department?

·   Have you made contact with your supervisor?

·   Have you allowed enough time for planning, doing, and writing up your research project?

· Do you have clear timetable for your research project with clearly identifiable milestones for the achievement of specific tasks?

·   Have you got sufficient financial and practical resources (for example, money to enable travel to research site, recording device) to enable you to carry out your research project?

·   Have you formulated some research questions and discussed these with your supervisor?

·   Are the research questions you have identified capable of being answered through your research project?

·   Do you have the access that you require in order to carry out your research?

·   Are you familiar with the data analysis software that you will be using to analyse your data?

·   Have you allowed others to comment on your work so far and responded to their feedback?

·   Have you checked out whether they are likely to be any ethical issues that might be raised in connection with your research?

·   Have you allowed enough time for getting clearance through ethics committee, if that is required for your research? 

Does abusive spouse is a good participant for IFRS compliance study?

Much has been heard about husbands abusing their wives. In more cases than we care to admit, husbands from a variety of backgrounds are physically and emotionally battering their wives with their fists and their words. Abuse in marriage, whatever form it takes, is ultimately about a pattern of exerting power and control over one one’s own way. Men with strong power and control will normally ignore the existing laws that govern the family violence. Hence, the roles of regulator are questionable in enforcing the laws and protecting the abusive victim. 

Similarly, in the context of IFRS compliance, research studies show that most of the established companies have propensity to manipulate the financial statements or engage in earning managements. These established companies tends to ignore the accounting rules. This shows that the accounting regulators may fail to perform its roles to regulate the compliance of IFRS. 

Hence, it would be interested to study the perception of men with abusive characters on the effectiveness roles of regulators in enforcing the laws. In particular, study should focus on the other factors that can cause the non-compliance of law on family violence. Moreover, study should investigate the perception of abusive victims on the effectiveness of law in protecting them. Their views and opinions should be proved more useful than the abusive spouse. This result can be applied into IFRS compliance context to examine whether these factors also can cause non-compliance of IFRS.

Formulation of An Argument

One of the difficulties in writing up research is the formulation of an argument. The writing-up of research should be organized around an argument that links all aspects of the research process from problem formulation, through literature review and the presentation of research methods, to the discussion and conclusion. Too often, we tend to make a series of points without asking what the contribution of those points to the overall arguments that we are trying to present. Try to avoid tangents and irrelevant material that may mean that your readers will lose the thread of your arguments. If you are not able to supply a clear argument, you are very vulnerable to the 'so what?' question. 

The argument is a thread that runs through your dissertation. These are commonly used phrases in formulating an argument in dissertation chapters.

Dissertation Chapters	Commonly used phrases for argument
Introduction	This thesis is concerned with... This thesis will explore/ examine... The growing adoption of... has attracted a lot of interest in the mass media but there is a dearth of research into its actual use.
Literature review	Recent research on X has shown that... Therefore, much of the existing research suggests... By contrast,... found/argued/suggested... In this thesis, I will build on (name3)'s suggestion that... In exploring this issue, the following research questions are proposed... ... although the findings are somewhat inconsistent...
Research methods	Research method 1 was employed to answer the research questions because... The research followed (name3)'s approach to studying X by... A mixed methods approach was adopted so that it would be possible to...
Results / findings	In exploring the research questions, three main themes were identified... The findings suggest that... This theme is exemplified by interviewee's comment that... By contrast, interviewee X pointed out that...
Discussion	The aim of this study was to... Overall, these findings confirm/fail to provide support for the suggestion that... Four main themes relating to the research questions emerged. These themes have implications for the investigation of X...
Conclusion	A key findings of this research for Z theory is that... The concepts that have been used to research X have been shown to be of some utility but the results are somewhat mixed in that... The main contribution(s) of this research is(are)... Through this research it has been demonstrated that... The implications of these findings for the study of X are that...

References

Bryman, A. (2012). Social Research Methods (4th ed.), New York: Oxford University Press.

Research Proposal - The Influence of Accounting Standard Setters and Auditors on the Preparedness of Companies for the IFRS Convergence

Research Gap

Past studies explore the perceptions of stakeholders that include account preparers, auditors and academics on the impacts of IFRS adoption (Jones & Higgins, 2006; Kraal et al., 2012; Fox et al., 2013). However, the roles of accounting standards setter and regulators have been overlooked in the past research. Some academics question the effectiveness of the roles of accounting standard setters in the IFRS convergence process. Whilst another stream of research argues that the government or regulator actions encourage widespread diffusion of IFRS (Chua & Taylor, 2008; Jermakowicz and Gornick-Tomaszewski, 2006). Hence, there is questionable about the roles of accounting regulators in promoting the IFRS convergence.

Additionally, paucity of research studies the roles of auditors in the IFRS implementation process. Although external auditors do not impose preferred practices on clients, they may provide their opinions or suggestions on financial reporting practices. For example, auditors can facilitate the sharing of common technical and operating standards, methodologies, training and technology that are related to IFRS adoption. Lastly, most research papers focus on the cost and benefits of IFRS adoption, there is lack of research investigates the main driving forces that influence the preparedness of companies to IFRS convergence.

Theoretical background

Considering the impacts of IFRS on stakeholders’ interests, institutional theory can be utilised to examine the roles of regulators and auditors as well as other drivers that can influence the preparedness of companies for IFRS convergence. In the move towards IFRS convergence, the legitimacy of IFRS is crucial because legitimacy justifies and explains an institution’s structure and existence in the process of implementing IFRS. Furthermore, legitimacy of IFRS convergence requires the fit between an institution and its environment. From a sociological perspective, the concept of legitimacy has been defined by Suchman (1995, p.574) as “Legitimacy is a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs and definitions.” Added to this, Scott (2008, p.59) also explains the concept of legitimacy as “Legitimacy is not a commodity to be possessed or exchanged, but rather a condition reflecting perceived consonance with relevant rules and laws, normative support, or alignment with cultural-cognitive frameworks.” These views imply that convergence with IFRS may require the fit between institutions and the environment conditions in order to achieve legitimacy and comply with the society’s values and norms.

According to DiMaggio and Powell (1983) and Scott (1987), organizations must conform to institutional isomorphism if they intend to gain legitimacy within an organizational field. The term institutional isomorphism refers to the situation where organizations within an environment becoming more homogeneous due to political, legitimacy or social purposes. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) identified three types of institutional isomorphism namely coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism. These three sources of isomorphism form a powerful social framework. Thus, it can be argue that these key forms of institutional isomorphism may drive companies to implement action plans for the IFRS convergence due to legitimacy of IFRS adoption.

Research Questions

Three research questions are proposed as follows:

1.        Does institutional isomorphism influence the preparedness of companies for the IFRS convergence?

2.       Does accounting standard setter play an effective role to influence the preparedness of companies for the FRS convergence?

3.        Do auditors influence the preparedness of companies for the IFRS convergence process?

Research Methods

Past studies use archival and analytical method to examine the influence of IFRS on nation capital market and firms’ performance. This study uses semi-structure interviews to investigate the responses of stakeholders to the IFRS convergence. Interviews are conducted with account preparers and auditors to evaluate the IFRS convergence plan introduced by the local accounting standard setters and the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB). Specifically, study can consider Malaysia context as Malaysia has recently adopted IFRS in 2012 and the IFRS implementation contexts are much different from other countries.

References

Brown, P. & Tarca, A. (2012), "Ten Years of IFRS: Practitioners' Comments and Suggestions for Research", Australian Accounting Review, Vol. 22, No. 63, pp. 319-330.  

Chua, W.F. & Taylor, S.L. (2008), "The rise and rise of IFRS: An examination of IFRS diffusion", Journal of Account Public Policy, Vol. 27, pp. 462-473.

DiMaggio, P.J. & Powell, W.W. (1983), "The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organization fields", American Sociology Review, Vol. 48, pp. 147-160.

Fox, A., Helliar, C., Venezian, M. & Hannah, G. (2013), "The Costs and Benefits of IFRS Implementation in the UK and Italy", Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 1-30.

Jermakowicz, E.K. & Gornick-Tomaszewski, S. (2006), "Implementing IFRS from the perspective of EU publicly traded companies", Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Vol. 15, pp. 170-196.

Jones, S. & Higgins, A. D. (2006), "Australia's Switch to International Financial Reporting Standards: A Perspective from Account Preparers", Accounting and Finance, Vol. 46, pp. 629-652.

Kraal, D., Yapa, P.W. & Joshi, M. (2012). "The Socio-Economic Impacts of the Adoption of IFRS: A Comparative Study between the ASEAN Countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia", American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 4-8 August.

Scott, W.R. (2008), Institutions and Organizations: Ideas and interests, California: Sage Publications.

Three Papers Literature Review on IFRS Convergence

Article 1:

Jones, S. & Higgins, A. D., "Australia's Switch to International Financial Reporting Standards: A Perspective from Account Preparers", Accounting and Finance, Vol. 46, 2006, pp. 629-652.

(i) Target Academic Community

The target academic community is account preparers and accounting standard setter.

(ii) Research problems

Although accounting regulators and professional bodies have supported the implementation of IFRS in Australia, there has been much debate on the merits of IFRS adoption. Therefore, this paper examines whether the perceptions of account preparers consistent with the views of accounting regulators in the implementation of IFRS in Australia context as account preparers are the primary affected party responsible to implement IFRS.

(iii) Theoretical models 

This paper does not use any specific theory to support the motives of the study. Drawing from the IFRS implementation background in the European Union (EU) and implementation action plans introduced by the Australian accounting regulators, this study examines a number of explanatory variables that have impacts on account preparers.

(iv) Data gathering

This study use a structured telephone survey to investigate the impact of certain variables such as firm size, firm performance, types of industry, level of knowledge and expected financial implications of IFRS. This study presents the descriptive analysis on the background of the companies and tests the hypothesis by using multiple regressive and ANOVA analysis.

(v) Contributions

This paper is the first study provides empirical evidence to the Australian accounting regulators as the past published studies were anecdotal and/or analytical types. This study provides timely feedback to regulator on particular issues faced by ASX top 200. In particular, this study concludes that the government's rapid timetable for IFRS adoption is unlikely to bring significant benefits to Australian reporting entities.

(vi) Advancement of knowledge     

This paper examines the response and feedback from account preparers who are mainly responsible to implement IFRS. The findings can add to a growing body of published research on IFRS convergence which normally depends on archival research that examines very limited variables from financial statements, market-related data and metrics.

(vii) 'Rules of the game' for good academic paper

This paper intends to survey the perceptions of account preparers on the benefits of IFRS adoption. However, survey measures beliefs, which may not always coincide with actions and can only include limited categories of survey questions. Thus, qualitative research method such as interview and case study method can be used to obtain more in-depth feedback and responses from account preparers.

Moreover, this paper does not use a suitable theory to explain the research questions and findings. The research question is posed to examine the justifications of regulators to move to IFRS convergence with perceptions of reality about IFRS adoption from account preparers. However, this paper does not examine the perceptions of users on the roles of regulators to implement IFRS convergence plans and actions. Hence, the results do not really address the research question proposed in this study.   

Article 2:

Kraal, D., Yapa, P.W., & Joshi, M., "The Socio-Economic Impacts of the Adoption of IFRS: A Comparative Study between the ASEAN Countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia", American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 4-8 August 2012.

(i) Target Academic Community

The target academic community is accounting practitioners, accounting standard setters, accounting professional bodies and academics.

(ii) Research problems

This paper examines socio-economic impacts of the IFRS adoption in ASEAN countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Specific research questions are raised to study the impacts of IFRS on wider stakeholders, perceived tensions between companies in the adoption of IFRS and ongoing IFRS training issues.  

(iii) Theoretical models 

This paper uses institutional theory to examine the influence of environment and social expectations on organisations internal practices and characteristics in the IFRS adoption (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). From the institutional theory perspective, this paper investigates the development, influences and relevance of IFRS in the ASEAN countries.

(iv) Data gathering

This study uses one-to-one interviews with academics, accounting professionals and practicing firms in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.  Interview questions related to the benefits of IFRS adoption, issues in the implementation of IFRS and roles of accounting professions in conducting training program. 

(v) Contributions

This paper contributes to the IFRS research about the socio-economic impacts of IFRS on stakeholders in the ASEAN countries. Specifically, this study provides in-depth analysis on IFRS implementation process in each country based on their specific socio-economic environment. This paper provides insight to accounting regulators to assess the impacts of IFRS and issues faced by organisations in the process of IFRS implementation.

(vi) Advancement of knowledge

This paper attempts to study the impacts of IFRS in the ASEAN countries from the socio-economic perspective. Past research focuses on the impacts of IFRS on the capital market performance by using various economic modeling methods. This paper contributes to scant literature on IFRS adoption from the socio-economic perspective.     

(vii) 'Rules of the game' for good academic paper

This paper examines the socio-economic impacts of IFRS adoption in the ASEAN countries by conducting interview with wider stakeholders that include academics, accounting professionals and practicing firms. However, interview can be extended to account preparers and accounting standard setters since they are the main group of stakeholders affected by the IFRS convergence.

In addition, this paper utilises institutional theory to examine the socio-economic impacts of IFRS adoption in the ASEAN countries. However, institutional theory is more suitable applied in the organization context as institutional theory provides explanations about organizational legitimacy with the institutional isomorphism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). Thus, future research can use institutional theory to examine the influences of coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism on organisations in the process of IFRS implementation.         

Article 3:

Fox, A., Helliar, C., Venezian, M., & Hannah, G., "The Costs and Benefits of IFRS Implementation in the UK and Italy", Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2013, pp. 1-30.

(i) Target Academic Community

The target academic community is accounts preparers, auditor and accounting regulators especially in EU countries.

(ii) Research problems

This paper examines whether stakeholders from the UK and Italy, which have different legal structures and socio-economics, have different perceptions on the IFRS adoption. This study focuses on different stakeholders' perception on the costs and benefits of IFRS adoption.

(iii) Theoretical models 

This paper uses stakeholder theory to explain that a country to be a national stakeholder in the IFRS implementation process and focuses on the views of different stakeholders interviewees on IFRS implementation in their respective country.

 (iv) Data gathering

This study conducts 32 series semi-structured interviews with account preparers, auditors and regulators from the UK, Ireland and Italy. The interview focuses on the stakeholders' perceptions of the IFRS implementation process, the costs of IFRS implementation and any associated benefits.

(v) Contributions

This paper indicates that the experience of UK and Italian national stakeholders is different on the IFRS implementation process. The findings imply that the IASB has to understand that each country has a different stakeholder perspective which may make IFRS more difficult to implement or to adjust to than in other countries. 

(vi) Advancement of knowledge

This paper attempts to compare different stakeholders perception from different nation based the stakeholder theory perspective. The interview results show variety of stakeholders’ views on the costs and benefits of IFRS implementation from the Anglo-Saxon and EU continental perspective.

(vii) 'Rules of the game' for good academic paper

This study uses stakeholder theory to explain different views of stakeholders in the process of IFRS implementation. However the study focuses more on costs and benefits of IFRS adoption. Alternatively, this study can use resource-based view to examine internal barriers that may impede the IFRS adoption. From the resourced-based view, lack of resources and capability can be barriers for companies to implement IFRS.

Additionally, this study conducts interviews with preparers, auditors, users and accounting regulators. However, this paper only shows the findings from the preparers and auditors perspective. Hence, more thorough analysis should be provided from the users of financial statements and accounting regulators perspective. 

Research Gap

There has been convergence towards IFRS in the world. The accounting standard setters in the world have raised concern about the necessary to move into IFRS convergence and the issues faced by each country in the IFRS adoption. These three papers explore the perceptions of wider stakeholders on IFRS convergence instead of using common archival method to examine the average effects of IFRS adoption. A few research gaps have been identified from these three papers.

First, Jones & Higgins (2006) examine whether the perceptions of account preparers consistent with the views of accounting regulators in the implementation of IFRS in Australia context. However, the research question on the roles of accounting standards setter and regulators in the IFRS convergence process has not been addressed clearly in this paper. Godfrey et al. (2010) point out that there are two contrasting theories, i.e. public interest and private interest theory on the roles of regulators in the accounting standard setting. Private interest theory states that government should not intervene in the process of regulating accounting practices as role of accounting is provide information about firms' performance. On the other hand, the public interest theory argues that government elected by different interest groups plays important role in redistribution of wealth within society and should involve in accounting regulations. Some academics question the effectiveness of the roles of accounting standard setters in the IFRS convergence process. Whilst another stream of research argues that the government or regulator actions encourage widespread diffusion of IFRS (Chua & Taylor, 2008; Jermakowicz and Gornick-Tomaszewski, 2006). Hence, there is questionable about the roles of accounting regulators in promoting the IFRS convergence. Future study can examine the roles of accounting regulators in the IFRS adoption process and the effectiveness of the IFRS action plans introduced. Thus, interview can be conducted with accounting standard setters to obtain a better understanding on the IFRS actions plans and regulations set forth. Alternatively, interviews can be conducted with account preparers and auditors to evaluate the IFRS convergence plan introduced by the local accounting standard setters and the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB).

Second, these three papers do not study the roles of auditors in the IFRS implementation process. Although external auditors do not impose preferred practices on clients, they may provide their opinions or suggestions on financial reporting practices. For example, auditors can facilitate the sharing of common technical and operating standards, methodologies, training and technology that are related to IFRS adoption. Thus, interview can be conducted with account preparers to examine the roles of auditors in the IFRS adoption process. Alternatively, interview can be conducted with auditors to examine the audit firms' preparedness for IFRS convergence. For example, audit firms may conduct training courses on new standard for their staffs and clients. Additionally, IFRS adoption may influence auditors’ judgment decision making in evaluating the client's accounting treatments. This finding is useful to audit firms to evaluate their roles in assisting clients in the IFRS transitional period and the impacts on audit practices.

Lastly, Fox et al. (2013) focus on the cost and benefits of IFRS adoption. Future study can use institutional theory to examine the main driving forces that influence the preparedness of companies to IFRS convergence. For example, coercive isomorphism can be used to explain the influences of regulatory enforcement, mimetic isomorphism explains the influences of industry practices and normative isomorphism indicates the influences of professional accounting bodies. The findings may be relevant to accounting regulators in assessing the likelihood that companies will comply with principles underpinning the IFRS once it is adopted.

In summary, future research can examine the roles of accounting standard setters and the effectiveness of IFRS action plans in view that stakeholders are affected significantly by regulations introduced by accounting standard setters. Specifically, study can consider Malaysia context as Malaysia has recently adopted IFRS in 2012 and the IFRS implementation contexts are much different from other countries. The Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (MASB) in Malaysia has introduced two different framework (Malaysian Financial Reporting Framework (MFRS) and Financial Reporting Standard (FRS)) as well as exemption for transitioning entity in November 2011. As defined by MASB, the companies that are required to apply MFRS framework are "Entities Other Than Private Entities shall apply the MFRS framework for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2012, with the exception of entities (known as transitioning entities) which are given options to continue with the old FRS framework that has not adopted IAS 41 Agriculture and/or IC Interpretation 15 Agreements for the Construction of Real Estate." Subsequently, MASB plans that the full adoption of the MFRS Framework will be mandatory to all companies for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013. These implementation plans especially the rules on transitioning entities may create various issues and confusion to stakeholders. Additionally, the Malaysian accounting professional bodies and Big Four audit firms that mainly occupy the accounting standard setting board have exerted strong influences on the IFRS implementation process in Malaysia. Hence, the Malaysian accounting environment provides a rich context for us to examine the stakeholders’ interest and the issues encountered in the IFRS convergence.

Generally, country-based national governance structures are seen to differ on many aspects, in both legal requirements and best practice recommendations. In order to make optical global public policy decisions, there is much we need to know about what makes governance mechanism effective and the extent to which such mechanism can be transferred between countries (Brown & Tarca, 2012). Considering the impacts of IFRS on stakeholders’ interests, institutional theory can be utilised to examine the roles of regulators and auditors as well as other drivers that can influence the preparedness of companies for IFRS convergence. According to DiMaggio and Powell (1983), organizations must conform to institutional isomorphism if they intend to gain legitimacy within an organizational field. The legitimacy of IFRS is crucial because legitimacy justifies and explains an institution’s structure and existence in the process of implementing IFRS. Furthermore, legitimacy of IFRS convergence requires the fit between an institution and its environment. The results of this study may prove useful to accounting standard setters in other countries that consider implementing IFRS.

References

Brown, P. & Tarca, A., "Ten Years of IFRS: Practitioners' Comments and Suggestions for Research", Australian Accounting Review, Vol. 22, No. 63, 2012, pp. 319-330.  

Chua, W.F. & Taylor, S.L., "The rise and rise of IFRS: An examination of IFRS diffusion", Journal of Account Public Policy, Vol. 27, 2008, pp. 462-473.

DiMaggio, P.J. & Powell, W.W., "The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organization fields", American Sociology Review, Vol. 48, 1983, pp.  147-160.

Fox, A., Helliar, C., Venezian, M. & Hannah, G., "The Costs and Benefits of IFRS Implementation in the UK and Italy", Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2013, pp. 1-30.

Godfrey, J., Hodgson, A., Tarca, A., Hamilton, J. & Holmes, S., Accounting Theory (Brisbane: John Wiley, 2010).

Jermakowicz, E.K. & Gornick-Tomaszewski, S., "Implementing IFRS from the perspective of EU publicly traded companies", Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Vol. 15, 2006, pp. 170-196.

Jones, S. & Higgins, A. D., "Australia's Switch to International Financial Reporting Standards: A Perspective from Account Preparers", Accounting and Finance, Vol. 46, 2006, pp. 629-652.

Kraal, D., Yapa, P.W. & Joshi, M., "The Socio-Economic Impacts of the Adoption of IFRS: A Comparative Study between the ASEAN Countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia", American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 4-8 August 2012.