Papers by Zubaidah Ismail
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ability of the board of directors in mitigating the i... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the ability of the board of directors in mitigating the influence of controlling shareholders on accounting conservatism. A panel data analysis of financial statements is conducted for 300 Malaysian listed firms between 2001 and 2007. The results show that substantial shareholders are associated with low conservatism and board of director’s inability to mitigate the adverse association. The results provide a useful input to the Malaysian policy setter that emphasizing on the structure of the board of directors in Malaysian firms may not be a solution to better governance, with the presence of substantial shareholders. This paper measures empirically the effectiveness of the Malaysian board of directors in moderating the effect of substantial shareholders on accounting conservatism. Keywords : Malaysia, Financial reporting, Boards of directors, Conservatism
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
In this study, the organisational behaviour comprises of individual factors and industrial psycho... more In this study, the organisational behaviour comprises of individual factors and industrial psychology literatures provide the basis for the developing and testing an individual factors' model over dysfunctional audit behaviour. Using a path analysis for direct and indirect effects, survey results from the registered Audit Managers generally support the explanatory model. Overall, the results indicate that auditors who are more accepting dysfunctional behaviour tend to possess an external locus of control and exhibit higher turnover intentions. The results can be useful in the operational and management control mechanism of human and social developments relating to dysfunctional behaviour issues.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
Forgery is a mechanism to commit fraud and involves the modification of original documents withou... more Forgery is a mechanism to commit fraud and involves the modification of original documents without valid authorization. This includes the process of making an audit report by the auditors. This paper will examine the liability of the auditor if he/she fails to identify the existence of forgery and fails to exercise due diligence in the making of audit report.
Pertanika journal of social science and humanities, 2015
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the occurrence of unethical behaviours commonly known... more The purpose of this paper is to investigate the occurrence of unethical behaviours commonly known as Reduced Audit Quality Practices (RAQP) among auditors. The study employed a mail survey to collect data from auditors registered with the Malaysia Institute of Accountants. The results of this study indicated that RAQP did occur in the Malaysian auditing profession, especially among auditors with less auditing experience and practicing in non-big four audit firms.
Evidence showed that conservative accounting acts as a governance mechanism to reduce agency conf... more Evidence showed that conservative accounting acts as a governance mechanism to reduce agency conflict. Also, evidence documented the adverse effect of concentrated ownership on financial reporting and firm performance. This study finds that both inside and outside substantial shareholders encourage lower degrees of conservatism. Control variables that significantly influenced asymmetric timeliness measure of conservatism are board independence, board tenure, board size, auditor and market to book ratio. As for accrual-based measure of conservatism, only profitability is found significant. The findings imply that accounting conservatism is not an effective governance tool if it is under the control of the substantial shareholders.
Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2014), 2016
Dysfunctional audit behavior (DAB) and staff turnover are associated with decreased audit quality... more Dysfunctional audit behavior (DAB) and staff turnover are associated with decreased audit quality (Public Oversight Board, 2000). This study develops and tests a theoretical model that identifies employee performance, turnover intentions and locus of control as antecedents of attitudes toward DAB. Using a path analysis technique, survey results from 225 auditors support the theoretical model.
Research on Reduced Audit Quality Practices (RAQP) has consistently shown the serious negative co... more Research on Reduced Audit Quality Practices (RAQP) has consistently shown the serious negative consequences of this practice in the auditing profession. However, research in RAQP is relatively few in emerging or newly industrialised countries and much of the relevant literature is derived from developed countries. Therefore, this study examines the effect of time budget pressure on RAQP in the context of a developing country, Malaysia. Based on a mailed questionnaire survey to the auditors, the results suggest that RAQP does occur in Malaysia audit firms, particularly in non-big four firms.
ABSTRACT Dysfunctional behaviour refers to the violation of control system rules and procedures (... more ABSTRACT Dysfunctional behaviour refers to the violation of control system rules and procedures (Jaworski and Young, 1992). Hartmann (2000) contends that dysfunctional behaviour is not just an ?irrational' human tendency, but rather reactions that can be ?rationally' expected in response to controls and processes. The extent to which such controls are perceived to impact on performance, evaluation and rewards, is also viewed as having an impact on managerial stress and tension, thus leading to potential dysfunctional behaviour.The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This book seeks to identify the incidence of Dysfunctional Audit Behaviours and Audit Quality Reduction Behaviours, actions taken by an auditor during engagement that reduce evidence-gathering effectiveness.The study provides basic empirical evidence of a potentially serious risk of dysfunctional behaviours that may impair audit quality.
This study uses a resource-based view (RBV) to explain firm performance of 192 small and medium e... more This study uses a resource-based view (RBV) to explain firm performance of 192 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Three explanatory variables are examined: Executive vision (EV) at the business and strategic level, computerised accounting information systems (CAIS) capability at the organizational level and employee IT skills (EITS) at the individual level. The study tests for the direct relationships of each of these variables to firm performance. Three aspects of firm performance measures firm efficiency and effectiveness, acceptance by customers and quality of decision made. A survey method was used to collect data and hierarchical regression analysis is used to test this relationship. Results show positive impacts of EV and CAIS, respectively on firm performance while EITS appear to have no effect in firm performance for the firms sampled.
Asian Review of Accounting
Asian Review of Accounting
Internal auditors hold a unique position in their organizations to prevent, deter, and detect cor... more Internal auditors hold a unique position in their organizations to prevent, deter, and detect corporate wrongdoings. However, the role of this profession in investigating their ethical decision-making behaviors towards internal whistle-blowing intentions has been very often neglected. Furthermore, although extensive researches have been undertaken on the issue of whistle blowing globally, empirical studies on this area are still scarce in Malaysia. This paper examines internal whistle-blowing intentions among internal auditors in Malaysia by utilizing three independent vignettes. A mail survey was conducted to investigate demographic and individual factors that could influence internal auditors’ ethical decision-making processes. The likelihood for internal whistle-blowing intentions was significant among internal auditors’ ethical judgments for all the three vignettes. Demographic factors (gender, age, and tenure) and other individual factors (locus of control and organizational co...
This study seeks to examine the influence of board skill, multiple directorships (BSHIP), and ten... more This study seeks to examine the influence of board skill, multiple directorships (BSHIP), and tenure of independent directors on accounting conservatism, as measured by asymmetric timeliness and accrual-based conservatism (CONACCR). Fixed-effect regression models were constructed on a sample of 2016 firm-year observations for asymmetric timeliness model and 2033 firm-year observations for CONACCR model, which covered from 2001 to 2007. The findings show that the degree of financial expertise on the board is positively associated with the recognition of bad news which is relative to good news into earnings. BSHIP appears to have no effect on conservatism. Independent directors who have longer tenure in the board of the firms are slower in recognizing bad news which is relative to good news into earnings. The study provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of the board of directors, which will be an interest to the practitioner or regulators in reviewing the corporate governance regulations.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dysfunctional audit behavior such as premature sign-off, gathering of insufficient evidence, acce... more Dysfunctional audit behavior such as premature sign-off, gathering of insufficient evidence, accepting of weak client explanation, altering or replacing the audit procedures, and under-reporting of time have negative effects specifically on the auditing profession and the development of human capital as a whole. In this study, the organizational behavior comprises of individual factors and industrial psychology literatures provide the basis for the developing and testing an individual factors’ model over dysfunctional audit behavior. Using a path analysis for direct and indirect effects, survey results from the registered Audit Managers generally support the explanatory model. Overall, results indicate that auditors who are more accepting dysfunctional behavior tend to possess an external locus of control and exhibit higher turnover intentions. These results suggest that individual factors play a role in identifying those who are more accepting dysfunctional behavior. The results ca...
Despite extensive research having been undertaken on the issue of whistleblowing globally, empiri... more Despite extensive research having been undertaken on the issue of whistleblowing globally, empirical study in this area is still scarce in Malaysia. This paper examines internal whistleblowing intentions among internal auditors in Malaysian organisational settings. Although, internal auditors hold a unique position in their organisations to prevent, deter and detect corporate wrongdoings, the role of this profession in investigating their ethical decision-making behaviour towards internal whistleblowing has been much neglected. A mail survey was conducted to investigate a variety of demographic, organisational and situational factors that could influence the internal auditors’ ethical decision-making process. Results are generally consistent with predictions based on a model of whistleblowing as a type of prosocial behaviour. The findings confirm those from previous studies, suggesting that organisational members have different reactions to different types of wrongdoings. Implicatio...
Asian Review of Accounting, 2010
The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term... more The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This study seeks to identify the incidence of Dysfunctional Audit Behaviours and Audit Quality Reduction Behaviours, actions taken by an auditor during engagement that reduce evidence-gathering effectiveness. Design/methodology /approach The study is based on a survey of 244 auditors working in small/medium and big audit firms in Malaysia. Findings The study identified key variables leading to dysfunctional audit behaviour. Research limitations/implications The study is subject to the normal limitations associated with survey research. Practical implications The study provides basic empirical evidence of a potentially serious risk of dysfunctional behaviours that may impair audit quality. Originality/value The study provides empirical evidence to address the concerns of the Malaysian regulatory authorities regarding audit quality.
Uploads
Papers by Zubaidah Ismail