Objective: The paper sought to investigate the role of an effective audit committee in controlling earnings management practices.
Design / Methodology: A panel data sourced from the audited financial reports of firms listed at the Kenyan Nairobi Securities Exchange for the periods between 2004 and 2017 were analyzed using a panel regression model.
Findings: Audit committee effectiveness proved an important monitoring mechanism for earnings management. The independence, Meeting frequency, and financial expertise of the audit committee evidenced a negative and significant effect on earnings management.
Practical Implications: Firms need to ensure that their audit committees operate effectively. This is achieved through enhancing their independence, ensuring optimal meeting frequency, and a higher number of members with financial expertise for fewer earnings management.
Originality: The paper suggests the ways through which audit committee effectiveness can be enhanced to reduce earnings management amid rampant global financial scandals.
Growth among Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) is of eminence to economic progression in both developed and developing economies, credited for employment creation, driving innovation and contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in both contexts. Whereas entrepreneurial orientation has been identified to underpin MSME growth, several studies on entrepreneurial orientation -growth nexus have provided mixed results based on the aggregated one-dimensional measure of entrepreneurial orientation. While some report a significant association, some report no significance. The mixed findings imply that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and growth is not linear, pointing to other causal factors either internal or external to the enterprise. against this backdrop, this study set out to assess the mediating effect of firm strategic capabilities on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and growth of manufacturing sector MSMEs in Kenya. Anchored on the contingency fit view, the resource-based view and the life-cycle theory, the study adopted a positivist approach, employing the explanatory research design of a cross sectional nature. With a target population of 98,607, a stratified sample of 384 MSMEs from the manufacturing sector in Nairobi County was drawn. Data was collected by use of structured questionnaires and analyzed by both descriptive and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation and regression analyses. The study controlled for both age and sub-sector, as they have been previously found to affect firm growth. Results indicate that entrepreneurial orientation has a significant effect on firm strategic capabilities (β = .276, p = .000<.05). The study also found that firm strategic capabilities have a significant effect on MSME growth at 95% confidence level (β = .124, p = .026<.05). Firm strategic capabilities did not however have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and MSME Growth (β = .0617, p = 111>.05; LLCI=-.0020; ULCI=.0273). The study concludes that among MSMEs in the manufacturing sector in Kenya, innovative, risk tolerant and proactive owners/managers are likely to achieve growth, regardless of their strategic capabilities. It is recommended that MSME owners/managers innovate, take risks and stay proactive in their businesses in order to grow. It is also recommended that strategic policy decisions of MSMEs should focus on enhancing their positions in respect of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk propensity.
Article History AbstractPurpose-This paper aimed to determine the conditional effect of University reputation on the indirect process of external prestige on the relationship between social media and students' attitude towards postgraduate enrollment.
The purpose of the research is to establish the impact of ownership structure on risk management among listed non-financial firms in the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya. The panel research design was appropriate and the population comprised of all 67 listed firms. Based on the inclusionexclusion criterion, 41 non-financial firms were chosen from 2010-2017 while data was analyzed using logistic regression. The statistical values revealed that (β = 0.297, p<0.05) ownership structure significantly and positively impacts risk management. The structure of owners in relation to shareholdings is more likely to play an essential part in hedging transactions as it improves the worth of their equities which translates to enhanced efficiency and thus maximizing their wealth. The study contributes to understanding the structure of ownership and risk management via the utilization of hedging tools to alleviate exposure levels.
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