The objectives of this research are, first to develop a greater understanding of open book management, secondly to survey the current national status of open book management, and thirdly to conduct a preliminary examination on how employee attitudes are directly influenced by the open book management intervention. In this study, a questionnaire survey is conducted on 307 middle-level managers. The data is used to analyze the influence of the open book management over organization commitment and job satisfaction; then individual control variables, as well as business literacy training and pay-for-performance of the open book management are included as intervening variables to examine the effect. The study findings include the following five aspects. First, the domestic companies are more conservative in the financial disclosure. Second, the financial disclosure has positive effect on intrinsic job satisfaction and this effect is reinforced if companies implement pay-for-performance programs. Third, unless companies implement pay-for-performance programs, the financial disclosure would have no effect on recognition to the organization and extrinsic job satisfaction. Fourth, financial disclosure has positive effect on centripetal force to the organization but no significant effect after taking the intervening variables into account. It means that the centripetal force to the organization is not influenced regardless of the increased level of financial disclosure or implementation of pay-for-performance programs. Fifth, the hypothesis that the effect of business literacy training will influence the relationship between financial disclosure and employee attitude is not confirmed

Bakgrund och problem: Goodwill är ett komplext begrepp. Problematiken med goodwill kan förklaras genom fyra problemområden: erkännande, mätning och värdering, klassifikation samt presentation och disclusoure. IFRS 3 uppkom 2005 i syfte att minska beloppet för goodwill på företagens balansräkningar, ändå fortsätter goodwill att växa.Syfte: Syftet med studien är att erhålla en ökad förståelse för redovisningen av goodwill genom att analysera förhållandet mellan hur företagen redovisar och hur de borde redovisa goodwill. Genom att upptäcka bristerna som finns och diskutera hur redovisningen av goodwill kan förbättras erhålls en ökad förståelse för ämnet.Avgränsningar: Studien granskar goodwill som uppstår vid företagsförvärv i förhållande till disclosure. Internt upparbetad goodwill och negativ goodwill ingår inte i studien.Metod: Studien baseras på en innehållsanalys av årsredovisningar från börsnoterade företag. Metoden baseras på etisk tolkning utifrån två tillämpningsmetoder, observation av begrepp inom text samt relation mellan text, principer och individer som tillverkar texten. Genom att använda två tillämpningsmetoder fångar studien in variation och förändring. Begreppen observeras utifrån en datainsamlingsreferensram, vilken är baserad på principer, tolkning och redovisningsteknik.Resultat och slutsatser: Studien upptäcker skillnader mellan teori och standard. Studien fann att redovisningen av goodwill är förvirrande på grund av att en särskild standard för goodwill saknas. Dagens standarder godkänner subjektiva värderingar i redovisningen, tillskillnad från teorin som anser att värderingen ska vara objektiv. / Background and problem: Goodwill is a complex concept. The problem with this subject can be explained by four different areas: the recognition, measurement and valuation, classification, presentation and disclusoure. IFRS 3 occurred in 2005 in order to reduce the amount of goodwill on corporate balance sheets, still continues goodwill to grow.Purpose: The purpose of the study is to obtain a better understanding of the accounting of goodwill by analyzing the relationship between how companies account and how they should account goodwill. By discovering the deficiencies that exist and discuss how the accounting of goodwill can be improved a better understanding is obtained.Limitations: The study examines goodwill arising on acquisitions in relation to disclosure. Internally generated goodwill and negative goodwill are excluded.Method: The study is a content analysis of annual reports of listed companies. The method is based on the ethical interpretation based on two application methods, observation of the concepts in the text and the relationship between text and principles, and individuals that produce text. By applying two application methods the study captures variation and change. The concepts were observed based on a framework of data collection, which is based on the principle, interpretation and technique.Results and conclusions: The study discovered that differences existed between theory and standard. It discovered that the recognition of goodwill is confusing because a special standard for goodwill is lacking. Today's standards approves subjective valuations in the accounts, while the theory considers that the valuation should be objective.This essay is written in Swedish.

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This dissertation describes the findings from a qualitative research study aimed at increasing our understanding of the psychology of privacy management. Specifically, I sought to explore people’s beliefs, perceptions, and process for managing privacy in the contexts that they inhabit. I conducted 32 one-on-one interviews with participants ranging in age from 18 to 85 years old. Using grounded theory methodology, I developed a substantive theory of privacy that outlines the way people manage their privacy in our current environment. This grounded theory takes into account people’s individual approach to privacy, the elements they consider when deciding whether or not to reveal aspects of themselves, and the behaviors they engage in to maintain their privacy or protect the privacy of others. Approach to privacy consists of beliefs about privacy, personality characteristics such as openness and self-confidence, and values, which include doing unto others, honesty, and choice (or control). In many cases this approach has never been explicitly considered, but it interacts with who one is speaking with, the topic of discussion, the context, and the perceived risks and benefits, in affecting the privacy decision. Trust is a key factor in deciding whether or not to reveal part of oneself to someone, but certain roles and relationships seem to bypass the privacy decision-making process. A risk-benefit analysis does occur, but it is one of several components that impact privacy decisions and is hampered by the emotional nature of the information that is considered. Some contexts, such as technologically mediated situations, heighten awareness of privacy issues, while others involve information or situations that are seen to override privacy rights. Ultimately, these considerations interact and lead to particular behaviors for maintaining or regaining a desired level of privacy.

This study explored the content of courtroom conversations about children's prior discussions regarding sexual abuse. Sixty felony child abuse trial transcripts including child testimony and reviewing court opinions were collected from the Court of Appeal and from court reporters. Information was obtained from under Section 288 of the California Penal code (sexual abuse of a child under 14 years of age) filed in Los Angeles County from 1997 to 2001. For this study, transcript testimony was transcribed, extracted for the necessary information, coded, assessed for reliability, and analyzed. The findings indicate that conversations about children's prior disclosure conversations, non-disclosure conversations, and conversations with perpetrators are present in nearly all cases of alleged child sexual abuse, although they only represent about 8% of questions asked of children. These courtroom conversations appear to mimic effects found throughout other child testimony research: children are often limited in their responsiveness unless open ended questions are asked and they rarely provide detailed content unless prompted to do so. The findings revealed that overt accusations, references to children's motives for telling or not telling, and conversations with the perpetrator about abuse were infrequently discussed by attorneys when interviewing child witnesses about their alleged sexual abuse during trial testimony. This was surprising as these topics are often discussed in the empirical literature as important factors to consider when assessing children's credibility. In the present study, children were often asked about what they disclosed generally, what was said during abusive acts, and what was (or was not) disclosed during specific prior conversations. Further, our results reflect that children's ultimate credibility assessment, as assessed by the outcome of the trial, related to the presence of non-disclosure questions and not the presence of disclosure questions or conversations between the perpetrator and child; cases without non-disclosure questions consistently resulted in a conviction. This study provided a first step in assessing the content of courtroom conversations about children's prior discussions about sexual abuse. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Recent events in the business world have focused attention on the importance of high quality financial reporting. Of particular interest is where the collapse of prominent companies such as Baring Plc. was due to the company's involvement with derivative instruments. In Australia, some derivative instruments are not recognised in the balance sheet. However, the Australian accounting standard AASB 1033 Presentation and Disclosure of Financial Instruments requires extensive disclosures to overcome the lack of guidance with regard to the recognition and measurement. Therefore, AASB 1033 may be regarded as a high quality disclosure standard. This thesis investigates the transparency or information quality of derivative disclosures of Australian firms in the extractive industries using 1998 to 2001 financial reports. The extractive industries play a major role in the Australian economy, where they generated exports worth more than A$30billion in 2000 to 2002 (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2003a and 2003b). Further, firms in the extractive industries extensively use derivative instruments for hedging purposes (Berkman, Bradbury, Hancock and Innes, 1997). The objective of this study is, first, to examine the relationship between the transparency or disclosure quality of derivative information and firm characteristics. Second, this study investigates the value relevance of derivative disclosures in particularly hedge information, net fair value information and risk information. Quality is measured based on a disclosure index developed from AASB 1033 Presentation and Disclosure of Financial Instruments. A finding of concern is that the majority of firms in this study provide less than complete information and therefore enforcement power is required to ensure compliance (Kothari, 2000) Prior studies have related disclosure quality of accounting information with firm characteristics but no attempt has been made to relate those characteristics with the disclosure quality of derivative instruments. The current study contributes to the literature by examining the relationship between firm characteristics and the quality of derivative disclosures. Firm characteristics investigated are size, profitability, price-earnings ratio, market-to-book ratio, research and development activity, auditor, debt-to-equity ratio and type of extractive firm. This study finds that the variables, firm size, price-earnings and debt-to-equity ratios are associated with the disclosure quality of derivative information. To a lesser extent, the variables, market-to-book ratio and profitability, are also associated with disclosure quality. High disclosure quality has been argued to lead to a reduction in the cost of debt (Sengupta, 1998) and equity (Botosan, 1997), resulting in higher security prices (Miller and Bahnson, 2002). The results of this study indicate that high quality derivative information, as represented by the disclosure index, is value relevant. Market participants do consider hedge information and risk information components as important for decision-making. However, examining the specific information disclosed in the financial statements indicate that some of the disclosed information such as the unrealised gain or loss on financial assets and liabilities and off-balance sheet derivative financial instruments are not significant. These results contribute to the value relevance literature as this study focuses on the extractive industries which have been neglected in the literature. This study provides important information for standard setters and regulators for future directions in developing accounting standards and is particularly relevant for the impending adoption of International Accounting Standards.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-51).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

xvi, 159 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation involves two studies investigating the disclosure of life experiences in the context of real relationships in real time. Study 1 included 126 university students and community members. Pairs of participants who had known each other for at least three months were eligible. After participants completed a set of self- report measures, one member of the pair was randomly selected to disclose an experience he/she had not previously disclosed to the other member of the pair. A final set of self- report measures was then completed by each participant. The interaction was videotaped for coding and analyses. Using the coders' and disclosers' ratings of listeners' behaviors, we examined the impact of both verbal and nonverbal responses to disclosure and identified two modifiable behaviors (interruptions and posture) that contributed to conveying support. Results indicated that leaning backward was associated with more negative responses to disclosure and moderate levels of interruption were associated with more supportive responses to disclosure. Study 2 involved similar recruitment procedures to Study 1 and included 220 university students and community members. Pairs of participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition and researchers were blind to condition. After completing a series of self-report questionnaires, the person randomly assigned to the discloser role was asked to describe an experience of mistreatment not previously disclosed to the other participant. This interaction was videotaped. Following this, participants completed post-disclosure questionnaires Then, psychoeducational materials regarding either healthy lifestyle improvements (control condition) or supportive listening techniques (experimental condition) were distributed, followed by a quiz on these materials. A second experience of mistreatment was disclosed and a final set of post-disclosure questionnaires was completed. Results indicated that the psychoeducational materials were effective in enhancing supportive responses to disclosure such that listeners in the experimental condition demonstrated significantly fewer unsupportive behaviors than listeners in the control condition. Listeners who started with high levels of unsupportive behaviors benefitted the most from the psychoeducational materials. Although there are several limitations of these studies and additional research with more diverse samples is needed, the findings represent an important preliminary step in research. / Committee in charge: Jennifer Freyd, Chairperson, Psychology; Gordon Hall, Member, Psychology; Sara Hodges, Member, Psychology; Jeff Todahl, Outside Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services