Dr MD Moazzem Hossain, CA, CPA, CMA, MIPA, AFA, FHEA

This study explores how strategic approaches to sustainability issues would determine the integration between Management Controls Systems (MCS) and Sustainability Control Systems (SCS). Although existing literature has focused on developing SCSs, these systems remain decoupled from MCSs used for strategic management purposes. More specifically, this study seeks to respond to the call by Gond (Management Accounting Research 23(3):205–223, 2012) by exploring the missing link to integrating regular MCS with SCS. This engagement-based study has used multiple case analyses of manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the senior managers and a document analysis of publicly available information. The study identifies four types of control configurations: (i) Symbolic Compliance, (ii) Lean Accommodative, (iii) Dynamic Adaptive, and (iv) Sustainability-driven Comprehensive, depending upon the company’s strategic approach to sustainability in the spectrum of proactive and reactive. A company characterised by a proactive strategic approach has strongly integrated control systems while having complex attributes. In contrast, reactive companies’ SCSs remain decoupled from MCSs with simple control attributes. When companies fall in the middle (accommodative), they may either have a combination of strong integration with simple attributes or weak integration with complex attributes. This paper provides new scientific insights based on empirical evidence from a developing country on how the strategic approach of the organisation is associated with the extent of sustainability integration. The typologies suggested in the paper would allow managers and practitioners to identify boundary conditions for integrating sustainability into the strategy. This paper contributes to the growing literature on the complexity of control systems and their association with strategic sustainability approaches and control integration under a single framework. The originality of this study also lies in its attempt to examine the sustainability integration of control systems in a developing country context.

This study examines the moderating role of female directorship in the corporate boardroom in the relationship between firm performance and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) compensation for Bangladeshi financial institutions from 2016-2022. Ordinary least squares regression models were employed to evaluate the relationship. We find a significant positive correlation between firm performance and CEO compensation, specifically in relation to accounting performance. Female directorship strengthens the CEO pay-performance link in both accounting and market-based measures of performance. These results are robust to a battery of tests, including alternative measures of female board presence and firm performance, and address endogeneity issues using a lagged model and entropy balancing technique. We also find that women are more effective in setting CEO pay-performance linkage in cases of concentrated ownership, and when their presence goes beyond tokenism. Investors and policymaker should prioritize the inclusion of women on corporate boards to improve the firm's financial performance. This study contributes to the expanding body of research on board gender diversity in developing economies by examining the impact of women directors on firm performance and CEO pay, and their influence on the effectiveness of board oversight.

Purpose
This study aims to investigate how corporate governance (CG) attributes and the the chief executive officer’s (CEO’s) political connections impacts on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the Chinese power and chemical industry.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from 265 Chinese power and chemical companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges between 2013 and 2016 (for a total of 892 firm-year observations). The data were analysed using multiple regression techniques. The authors addressed the endogeneity issues between CG attributes and CSR disclosures and checked the robustness of our results in several ways, such as a fixed effect regression.

Findings
This study finds a significant positive relationship between internal control and CSR disclosures. In addition, the results indicate that CG attributes such as ownership, board independence and Audit committee have a significant positive impact on CSR disclosures. However, contradicting the literature, no significant relationship was found between the CEO’s political connections and CSR disclosures in the Chinese power and chemical industry context.

Research limitations/implications
The findings of the study provide valuable insights for practitioners, regulators and policymakers on encouraging companies to enhance CSR disclosure by improving the quality of internal control and CG attributes in China’s heavily polluting industries. The findings may be useful for the users, regulators from the countries that share similar contextual and cultural values.

Originality/value
This study is among the few that examine CSR disclosure using a large sample within China’s power and chemical industries–sectors widely recognised as major environmental polluters and of growing concern to both the Chinese government and the international community.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the COVID-19 responses of Australian public universities, specifically the actions and measures taken to assist staff, students and the wider community.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses widely used content analysis to investigate the measures taken by these universities to support staff, students and the broader community, based on data from 37 Australian public universities’ published websites.

Findings
The findings show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian public universities provided immediate assistance to students, faculty and the community. As part of their unanticipated COVID pandemic, they implemented online teaching, financial assistance, mental health support and COVID-19-related initiatives. In comparison to non-Go8 universities, the Group of Eight (Go8) universities demonstrated greater resources in delivering these initiatives.

Practical implications
Given the integral role of universities in the Australian economy and society, this research contributes to our understanding of how these institutions navigate unprecedented COVID-19 situations while considering the needs of staff, students and the broader community.

Originality/value
Universities in Australia have played an important role in the economy and society of the country. This paper is one of the first to look at how Australian universities were dealing with the unprecedented COVID-19 situation while taking into account all stakeholders, including staff, students and society.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether gender diversity in audit committees affects the purchase of nonaudit services in China.

Results: from family and nonfamily firms are compared and the critical mass participation of females are further examined.

Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprises 1,834 Chinese listed companies from 2012 to 2021, among which 910 are family firms. The Heckman (1979) two-stage model is used to mitigate the potential endogeneity issue in the selection of gender diversity. Propensity score matching is also used to further alleviate the endogeneity problem in relation to family firms.

Findings: Results show a significant and negative correlation between the gender diversity in audit committees and nonaudit service fees. This association is more apparent in nonfamily than in family firms. Findings are consistent and robust to endogeneity tests and sensitivity analyses. The analysis of critical mass and symbolic participation shows that three female directors can more significantly restrain nonaudit fees than one to two females on the board.

Practical implications: This study contributes to literature on resource dependence theory, which posits that audit committees help enterprises establish contact with auditors, improve the company legitimacy, assist in communication and provide relevant expertise. This study also relates to agency theory, which holds that differences in the severity of types I and II agency problems between family and nonfamily firms lead to differences in auditor selection and related costs.

Originality/value: Extending from previous research on the relation between the gender diversity in audit committees and nonaudit fees, the present study delves into this connection within the context of China, an emerging economy. As a result, this investigation offers novel insights and expands upon current knowledge. In addition, the correlation between the gender diversity of audit committees and nonaudit fees is explored for family and nonfamily firms.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between accounting fraud and corporate sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach
Companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2019 are used to estimate a pooled ordinary least square regression model using panel data. Accounting fraud is represented by accounting disclosure, which is measured by its quality and timeliness, while corporate sustainability is measured by earnings management and corporate social responsibility.

Findings
Empirical findings support the hypothesis that the quality and timeliness of accounting disclosure have a statistically favorable impact on the management of company earnings and corporate social responsibility, respectively. Accounting fraud also has an impact on the sustainable development of the company.

Originality/value
Although the inferences of this study are limited to Chinese listed companies, this study may interest other scholars to explore similar topics.

Purpose
From an agency perspective, the authors investigate whether family ownership and control configurations are systematically associated with a firm's choice of auditor and audit fees. Agency theory is an economic theory that purposes the existence of a contract between two parties, principals and agents. Auditor choice and audit fees by family firms provide interesting insights given the unique nature of the agency problems faced by such firms.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors employ Big-4 auditors (PWC, KPMG, E&Y and Deloitte) as a proxy for high quality auditor (Big N) for the auditor choice model. For the audit fee model, the dependent variable is the natural logarithm of audit fees (LnAF). The authors use two measures for family firm as explanatory variables: (1) a dummy variable (FAM_Control), which equals one if the firm is classified as a family firm and (2) FAM_Ownership, which is an indicator variable with a value of one if a firm has family members who hold CEO position, occupy board seats, or hold at least 10% of the firm's equity. Data of Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2021 are used. The authors adopt the Heckman (1979) two-stage model to mitigate the potential endogeneity issue involved in the selection of Big-N auditors.

Findings
The findings suggest that compared with non-family firms, Chinese family firms have a less tendency to employ Big-4 auditors due to less severe agency problems between owners and managers. Additionally, Chinese family firms sustain higher audit fees than non-family firms. Similar to the prior literature, however, Chinese family firms audited by Big-4 auditors incur lower audit fees than family firms audited by non-Big-4 auditors in this study. In contrast to young-family firms, old-family firms are less likely to pick top-tier auditors and sustain lower audit fees. Consistent and robust results are found from endogeneity tests and sensitivity analyses.

Originality/value
The empirical evidence provides a unique insight, for accounting practitioners, policymakers, family owners and other capital market participants concerning the diverse effects of various family ownership and control features on selecting high-quality auditors and audit fees. This study advances the understanding, showing that a lower demand for audit quality occurs in Chinese family firms as they encounter less severe Type I agency problems. However, the more severe Type II agency problems in Chinese family firms sustain higher audit fees due to higher audit risk and greater audit effort.

Purpose

The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings management practices in China using a sample of family and non-family enterprises. More specifically, this study aims to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic causes variation in Chinese listed family and non-family enterprises' operations, as reflected in the level of real earnings management (REM).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses three standardised REM indicators, namely, the abnormal level of cash flows from operations, the abnormal level of production costs and the abnormal level of discretionary expenses. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions are applied to compare the earnings management of Chinese family and non-family enterprises during the pre-pandemic period (2017–2019) and the pandemic period (2020).

Findings

The authors find that Chinese listed non-family enterprises tend to participate in more REM activities than family enterprises before the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the opposite is true during the pandemic. The authors also find that COVID-19 has increased the involvement of family and non-family enterprises in REM activities.

Originality/value

The results of previous studies based on REM using Chinese listed firms may not be applicable under the new social background of COVID-19. As the period after the COVID-19 outbreak is relatively recent, Chinese researchers have yet to study it comprehensively. The present study is amongst the first empirical attempts investigating the effect of a pandemic financial reporting by investigating whether and how the burst of the COVID-19 crisis affected financial reporting through the earnings management practices of listed Chinese family and non-family enterprises. Such information is crucial because it can provide analysis for all stakeholders to make better decisions.

This research aims to compare financial statement fraud in China and the USA. This research conducted data analyses from 20 companies between 2016 and 2020, specifically, ten US companies and ten Chinese companies. The ten companies have financial disclosure problems and are limited liability companies. The findings of the study show that senior management, CPAs, and auditors are mainly responsible for the financial statement fraud in both countries. In addition, weak internal controls and irresponsibility are the motivations or factors that facilitate financial statement fraud. Consistent with prior literature, the senior management and other individuals are more responsible for the financial statement fraud in the US companies compared with in the Chinese companies. Moreover, the hiring of independent directors with local political connections to prevent financial statement fraud may not be applicable to US companies. Findings provide a better understanding between the financial statement fraud and the various factors connected to the financial statement fraud in China and the USA. The results have theoretical, managerial, and practical implications to the regulators and policymakers.

Purpose
Educational technologies such as Padlet have begun to transform the way teachers teach, students learn, and teachers and students interact. However, relatively little emphasis has been given to explore collaborative learning (CL) using educational technologies such as Padlet as a means of student engagement. Thus, the purpose of this reflective article is to gain insight into the use of educational technologies Padlet in the tutorial workshop in accounting program at an Australian university.

Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a qualitative podcast research approach with a specific focus on the author's personal reflection over the course of a semester in an Australian university classroom.

Findings
The findings of this article (based on the author's own reflection from the classroom) show that a digitally innovative useful tool Padlet works on a variety of different devices and does not require student's technical know-how to use it. The findings further suggest that Padlet technology as a great equaliser has helped students' engagement in classroom activities.

Research limitations/implications
Despite some noticeable limitations, this paper suggests that using Padlet in classroom engagement activities has provided a smoothing space for CL. The findings of this reflective article would be an interest to students, academics, curriculum designers and educational technology experts.

Originality/value
This study provides interesting insights into how Padlet contributes to the student's engagement.