A significant portion of responsibility for the global socio-economic crisis referred by the authors as the "sustainability challenge" lies within the private sector. Hence to initiate a global transformation towards sustainability the participation of companies is essential. One way to engage the private sector to do that is through public policy. The European Union takes this approach with the European Green Deal and more specifically - the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) - which is the main focus of this research. The directive aims to enhance transparency, raise awareness and increase responsibility of the corporate societal and environmental impact. This thesis investigates the potency of CSRD to drive transformation. For this purpose this research employs a Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) lens to evaluate the CSRD, identifying its strengths and weaknesses. The research is divided into two parts: the first assesses the frameworks' design using the SSD lens, while the second involves interviews to gain deeper insights and pinpoint design and implementation gaps. The study also presents an overview of the challenges encountered during the implementation of the CSRD and proposes potential solutions. The thesis concludes with recommendations and suggests directions for future research.

Frankfurt (Main), Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Bayreuth, 2007.

Financial reporting fraud is a concern for investors, regulators, external auditors, and the public. Although the responsibility for fraud detection lies upon management and those charged with governance, external auditors are likely to come under scrutiny if fraud scandals come to light. Despite the audit regulators efforts in fighting fraud, evidence from prior literature revealed that external auditors still need guidance in assessing and responding to fraud risks. Hence the current study aims at helping external auditors properly assess and respond to the risk of financial reporting fraud in an effort to increase the likelihood of detecting it. In order to achieve this, the current study sought to explore the significance of various fraud factors in assessing the risks of financial reporting fraud and examined how external auditors could assess these fraud factors. The current study also explored the likely motivations behind management fraud, the impact of management motivations on the financial statements, and how external auditors could assess the impact of management motivations. The data for the current study was collected from external auditors working at various audit firms in Egypt via the use of mixed research methods, namely through an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the current study revealed that management motives are the most significant factor in assessing the risk of financial reporting fraud. Hence the current study suggests that external audit should be viewed in terms of management motivations rather than just the audit of financial statements figures and disclosures. The current study offers detailed guidance to external auditors in this area. The findings of the current study also revealed that management integrity is a significant factor in assessing the risk of financial reporting fraud and that rationalisation of fraud should be assessed as part of management integrity rather than a separate fraud risk factor. The current study found that fraud perpetrators capabilities are equally significant to the opportunity to commit fraud factor yet it is currently ignored by the audit standards and thus should be assessed as part of opportunity to commit fraud. The current study was the first to explore financial reporting fraud and the extent by which external auditors comply with ISA 240 in the Egyptian context. The current study offered recommendations to external auditors, audit firms, audit regulators, and the Egyptian government on how to combat financial reporting fraud. Potential areas for future research were also identified by the current study.

For many years, international financial reporting – and in particular the notes reporting – has been criticized in practice and academia for failing to provide information that is appropriate for its intended users. This criticism points to deficits with regard to the content and presentation and, thus, to the overall quality of the notes reporting. However, this criticism is predominantly anecdotal in nature as there is, as yet, scarcely any valid scientific evidence that supports these claims. This work addresses this research gap by elaborating what (notes) reporting quality is, what dimensions it consists of (conceptualization), how these dimensions can be measured (operationalization) and how they are empirically manifested (empirical evidence). For the latent construct of (notes) reporting quality, a formative measuring instrument to be used in an integrative content analysis is developed with which both dimensions of (notes) reporting quality – a content dimension (e.g., relevance) and a formal dimension (e.g., diction/readability) – can be measured and analyzed. This measuring instrument is validated both theoretically (argumentative reflection) and empirically (testing of hypotheses derivable from the underlying theories). The subsequent analysis of the notes reporting quality of a representative sample of German firms reveals that the above-mentioned criticism is well founded. Furthermore, the results point out both what specific deficits exist and where. The results of this work – the conceptualization, the operationalization and the empirical evidence – together form a starting point for developing, in the context of the (notes) reporting and its quality, valid insights/knowledge in research, ‘best practice’ solutions in practice and conceptually sound and target-oriented solutions in regulation.

In this thesis I investigate the economic determinants and consequences of corporate governance (broadly defined) in Canadian “comply or explain” governance disclosure regime. I find that the quality of governance in firms varies in the cross-section and is associated with firm value as economic theory suggests. Furthermore, I find the effectiveness of board and audit committee has a strong impact on the auditor-client management relationship in their negotiation over financial reporting. Such relationships then influence financial reporting quality and audit fees. Overall, my results support that the theorized advantages of “comply or explain” allow firms greater flexibility in tailoring their governance practice to their specific circumstances. Such tailored governance practice is more efficient and cost-effective and serves the interests of shareholders by 1) improving firm value; 2) constraining managerial opportunism; and 3) improving audit quality without incurring higher audit fees. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2013-07-26 11:29:18.86

The survival of organizations is dependent upon their legitimacy since legitimacy provides them with access to valuable resources. Organizations do not possess legitimacy, but rather it is ascribed to them by the society they are in when their actions meet societal expectations. Fulfillment of these societal expectations requires the moral and practical obligations of organizations which we call Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). To show their CSR performance, organizations have increasingly adopted the practice of CSR reporting. In CSR reporting, organizations are expected by their stakeholders to disclose both positive and negative aspects. Although disclosing negative aspects can pose a threat to organization’s legitimacy, a third party reporting them may cause more severe damages to the legitimacy of the organization. Therefore, organizations are motivated to legitimize their negative aspects by using legitimation strategies. Using the typology of Coombs and Holladay (1996), in combination with the legitimation strategies by Hahn and Lülfs (2014) as our frameworks, and the non-financial reports of the top ten German chemical companies as our illustrative cases, we investigate and interpret the choice of legitimation strategies used by organizations to report different types of negative aspects in CSR reports. Our findings show that there is a clear pattern in the use of corrective action as a legitimation strategy for all types of negative aspects. Furthermore, we identified instances, where a new type of legitimation strategy, which we called shifting blame legitimation strategy was used. We interpreted our findings using analytical reasoning and theoretical framework such as the concept of symbolic and substantive approach to interpret our findings. Based on the findings, we concluded that the dominant pattern identified falls under the substantive approach, theoretically known for helping companies retain their legitimacy.

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como finalidad evaluar el impacto financiero en las perdidas crediticias esperadas de las cuentas por cobrar comerciales a partir de la aplicación de la NIIF 9 en el sector de Telecomunicaciones. Esta nueva norma entrará en vigencia a partir del año 2018, y proporciona lineamientos específicos para el registro de la provisión por incobrables. Es por ello que las empresas deben considerar los cambios que surgirán en el registro de la provisión, así como el modelo a seleccionar, y esto se desarrollará a partir de nuestra investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa. Como parte de la metodología de investigación, se obtuvo las opiniones de expertos y colaboradores de las mismas empresas del sector, a través de entrevistas a profundidad y encuestas. Del mismo modo, se desarrolló un caso práctico con el fin de dar mayor énfasis en el efecto de la aplicación de la NIIF 9 en el ámbito contable. Después de analizar los datos recolectados y haber identificado las diferencias entre la NIC 39 y la NIIF 9, se exponen las conclusiones y recomendaciones a las empresas de Telecomunicaciones. / The purpose of this research work is to evaluate the financial impact on the expected credit losses of trade accounts receivable from the application of IFRS 9 in the Telecommunications sector. This new standard will become effective from the year 2018, and provides specific guidelines for the registration of bad debt provision. That is why companies must consider the changes that will arise in the record of the provision as well as the model to be selected, and this will be developed from our qualitative and quantitative research. As part of the research methodology, expert opinions were obtained and collaborators of the same companies in the sector, through in-depth interviews and surveys in the same way, a case study was developed in order to give more emphasis in the effect of the application of IFRS 9 in the accounting field. After analyzing the data collected and having identified the differences between the NIC 39 and IFRS 9, the conclusions and recommendations are presented to the Telecommunications companies. / Tesis

Objectif: Le capital intellectuel est une ressource stratégique qui joue un rôle important dans le processus de création de valeur. Le sujet du capital intellectuel a été intéressant au cours des dernières décennies en tenant compte du fait que le vingtième siècle est un siècle d’idées, de connaissances, d’innovations, d’informations et de changements. Parallèlement, le marché financier est devenu influent sur le marché mondial, le capital intellectuel a donc joué un rôle très important. La plupart des recherches ont pour but d'identifier le lien entre le capital intellectuel et les performances financières à court terme, telles que les bénéfices, les parts de marché, les chiffres d'affaires ou la valeur marchande. Cette recherche vise à combler les lacunes de la littérature lorsqu'il s'agit de la valeur comptable totale en tant que performance finale. En améliorant la valeur comptable totale de la société et en créant de nouveaux actifs grâce à la capitalisation des investissements en composants de capital intellectuel, la société génère des avantages à long terme.Méthodologie: Nous avons inclus 498 entreprises françaises et 475 dans une analyse statistique de corrélation complexe respectivement dans deux modèles de recherche principaux. Les informations financières sont extraites de la base de données financières «Point Risk» pour répondre à la question de recherche principale. Le modèle utilisé dans cette étude est le modèle d'évaluation de la transformation du capital intellectuel (ICTEM) développé par Molodchik et al. (2012). Ce modèle étudie le processus de transformation du capital intellectuel dans la performance d’une entreprise.Constatations: Les entreprises transforment et capitalisent leurs investissements dans les composantes du capital intellectuel en actifs concrets de la valeur comptable totale. Les trois principales composantes du capital intellectuel dans lesquelles les entreprises investissent sont: le capital humain, le capital organisationnel et le capital relationnel.Conséquences et limites: La principale contribution de notre recherche est l’identification du lien entre les investissements dans les composantes du capital intellectuel et la valeur comptable totale de la société en tant que performance finale. Jusqu’à présent, la valeur comptable totale de la performance finale d’une entreprise n’était pas utilisée en corrélation avec le capital intellectuel et ses investissements.Les limites de l’étude sont la recherche d’informations financières adéquates sur les entreprises qui seront utilisées dans une analyse. Les informations financières, telles que les dépenses de marketing et les dépenses de R & D, ne sont pas toujours disponibles dans les comptes des entreprises.Caractéristique originale: cette étude présente la première vérification de la relation positive entre les investissements dans les composantes du capital intellectuel et la valeur comptable totale de la société. / Objective: Intellectual capital is a strategic resource that plays an important role in the value creation process. Taking into account that the twentieth century is a century of ideas, knowledge, innovations, information and changes, intellectual capital has been an interesting topic over the past few decades. At the same time, the financial market has become influential in the global market, so intellectual capital found a very important role for itself. Most of the research is aimed at identifying the relation between intellectual capital and short-term financial performance, such as profits, market shares, turnovers, or market value. This research aims to fill the gap in the literature that relates to the total book value as a final performance. By improving the total book value of a company and creating new assets through the capitalization of investments in intellectual capital components, a company generates benefits on a long-term basis. Methodology: We included 498 and 475 French companies in a complex correlation statistical analysis in two main research models respectively. The financial information was obtained from the financial database “Point Risk” for the purpose of addressing the main research question. The model used in the study is the Intellectual Capital Transformation Evaluating Model (ICTEM) developed by Molodchik et al. (2012). This model investigates the process of intellectual capital transformation in the performance of a company.Findings: Companies transform and capitalize their investments in intellectual capital components into concrete assets in the total book value. The three main intellectual capital components that companies invest in are: human capital, organizational capital and relational capital. Implications and limitations: The main contribution of our research is the identification of the link between investments in intellectual capital components and a company’s total book value as final performance. Until now, the total book value as company final performance has not been used in correlation with intellectual capital and its investments. There are limitations of the study. One of them is to find adequate financial information about companies that will be used in an analysis and another one is financial information, such as marketing expenses and R&D expenses, which is not always available in the accounts of a company. Original feature: This study presents the first verification of a positive relationship between investments in intellectual capital components and a company’s total book value.

Den svenska idrottsrörelsen har gått över från att vara en amatör- och folkrörelsebaserad verksamhet till en mer kommersiell och professionell verksamhet. Det finns ett ökat fokus på arbetet med att förbättra redovisningen hos ideella föreningar, därför att det finns en ökad oro kring kvalitén. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur de ekonomiansvariga i de ideella idrottsföreningarna upplever arbetet med den ekonomiska redovisningen och utifrån detta diskutera möjliga orsaker till varför ideella idrottsföreningars redovisning varierar i kvalité. För att uppfylla syftet genomfördes åtta kvalitativa intervjuer. Representanter från sex idrottsföreningar som är anslutna till Riksidrottsförbundet deltog i studien. Dessutom intervjuades två anställda på ett distriktsidrottsförbund. Våra resultat tyder på att de ekonomiansvariga upplever att arbetet med att upprätta den ideella idrottsföreningens redovisning tar mycket tid. Detta kan vara ett tecken på att redovisningen har vuxit i omfattning. Vidare kan denna ökade omfattning leda till tidsbrist som möjligen kan påverka redovisningens kvalité. Tidsbristen kan möjligen göra att redovisningen som en ideell idrottsförening producerar inte kan uppfylla de kvalitetsförbättrande kriterierna som finns gällande redovisning. / The Swedish sports movement has developed from sporting among common folks and amateurs to a more commercial and professional movement. The work of improving nonprofit accounting has been focused on since there are rising concerns about the quality of the accounting. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the bookkeepers experience working with the accounting, and on this basis, discuss possible causes as to why non-profit sports organizations’ accounting varies in quality. The study has been conducted through eight qualitative interviews. The participants were six representatives from non-profit sports organizations and two representatives of a District Federation from the Swedish Sport Confederation. Our study indicates that the bookkeepers find the accounting time consuming. This could be a sign that the scope of this kind of accounting has grown. This growth might further affect the quality of the accounting due to an increasing lack of time, which in turn could possibly lead to the accounting produced by a non-profit sports association not fulfilling the qualitative characteristics.