http://hdl.handle.net/10398/68 2013-06-20T11:05:29Z 2013-06-20T11:05:29Z Kaspersen, Mia http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8667 2013-04-05T06:31:20Z 2013-03-13T00:00:00Z

The construction of social and environmental reporting Kaspersen, Mia The overall purpose of this thesis is to examine how and why internal processes, systems, and structures influence the construction of social and environmental reports. The three papers that are included in this thesis approach this research objective from three different but interrelated perspectives. Each of these perspectives is an essential aspect of reporting practices. By conducting case studies and including organisational members who participate in social and environmental reporting (SER) processes (Adams and Whelan, 2009; Farneti and Guthrie, 2009), this thesis strives to contribute to increased knowledge regarding organisational reporting behaviours and the construction of SER (Laine, 2009; Parker, 2007; Thomson and Bebbington, 2005; Adams, 2004; Gray, 2005; Adams and Larrinaga-González, 2007; Tilt, 2006; O'Dwyer, 2005b; Spence and Rinaldi, 2012; O'Dwyer et al., 2011; Tregidga et al., 2012b). Thus, by attempting to ‘look inside organisations’ and by emphasising the role of the organisational context, the three articles of this thesis provide insights into details regarding 1) the reporting environment and audit trail; 2) the role of stakeholder engagement in SER; and 3) why certain impacts of organisational activities are included (or excluded) in social and environmental reports. The three papers addressing these topics have been motivated by an aspiration to establish a more nuanced understanding of the current state of SER.

2013-03-13T00:00:00Z Sormunen, Nina http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8490 2012-08-16T11:43:37Z 2012-08-16T00:00:00Z

Auditor’s going-concern reporting Sormunen, Nina The going-concern context has been the subject of much research and discussion for many years at both academic and professional levels. The International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 570 stipulates that the auditor should consider the appropriateness of managements’ use of the goingconcern assumption and to evaluate whether there are material uncertainties with respect to entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. Regardless of what is stated in the financial statement, the auditor should comment on going-concern uncertainty in the audit report if there is a doubt about firm’s ability to continue as a going concern. There is strong evidence that the auditor’s going-concern decision is a complex task with extensive consequences. The primary purpose of this thesis is to empirically provide significant basis to get better understanding of the challenging nature of the auditor’s going-concern reporting. This thesis deals with different aspects of auditor’s going-concern reporting and contributes mainly to the line of auditing research.

2012-08-16T00:00:00Z Holm, Morten http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8437 2012-04-10T12:12:26Z 2012-04-10T00:00:00Z

Customer Profitability Measurement Models Holm, Morten The purpose of this dissertation is to expand our understanding of the applicability and performance effects of different Customer Profitability Measurement (CPM) models across contexts. Customer profitability measurement has attracted increasing interest recently – mainly in the marketing literature. The vast majority of this research has been case-based. Consequently, the evidence in this field consists of a number of case demonstrations indicating that using CPM models can be beneficial in specific industries but only very limited cross-sectional research investigating the general relationships between the CPM model use, context and firm financial performance. Researching these relationships is expected to contribute to marketing as well as management accounting literatures but also to managers working with or planning to start working with CPM models in practice for two reasons: First, marketing managers are increasingly required to be accountable for the marketing investments they expect to make. A better understanding of which CPM models that are applicable in different contexts will contribute to more efficient resource utilization in firms. Second, the management accounting literature on CPM models is very scarce despite the fact that this area is a key priority in practice. Knowledge on how CPM models are adapted to fit the environment in which the firm operates will contribute to our understanding of how CPM models should be designed but also to the general school of contingency-based management accounting research.

2012-04-10T00:00:00Z Stenheim, Tonny http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8398 2012-03-09T13:07:55Z 2012-01-24T00:00:00Z

Decision usefulness of goodwill reported under IFRS Stenheim, Tonny The dissertation investigates the decision usefulness of goodwill-accounting numbers. Theory and methodology from value relevance, earnings-management and corporate-governance literature are employed in order to investigate the decision usefulness. The dissertation compares the value relevance of goodwill reported under the impairment-only method (current IFRS) with the value relevance of goodwill reported under alternative accounting methods. It also investigates the extent to which goodwill-impairment losses under IFRS are associated with variables for economic impairment and/or earnings-management incentives. And finally, it investigates whether an estimate of misrepresentation of economic impairment in goodwill is associated with earnings-management incentives and/or corporate-governance mechanisms. The results suggest that the impairment-only method provides accounting numbers that more faithfully depict economic fundamentals as reflected in stock prices. The results also suggest that reported goodwill-impairment losses are not strongly affected by earnings-management incentives. Still, misrepresentation of economic impairment in goodwill does not seem to be constrained by corporate-governance mechanisms. In overall, these findings support the recently implemented impairment-only method under current IFRS

2012-01-24T00:00:00Z