For some years there has been much debate between various stakeholders about the need for accounting graduates to develop a broader set of skills to be able to pursue a career in the accounting profession. This study uses mixed methods to examine perceptions and expectations of two major stakeholders: students and employers. Findings indicate that students are becoming aware of employers' expectations in terms of communication, analytical, professional and teamwork skills. Although employers are still expecting a good understanding of basic accounting skills and strong analytical skills, they are also requiring 'business awareness' and knowledge in terms of the 'real world'. Both students and employers report that many of the 'essential' non-technical and professional skills and attributes are not being developed sufficiently in university accounting programmes. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2007 AFAANZ.

This article reports a longitudinal study that examined mergers between three large multi-site public-sector organizations. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis are used to examine the effect of leadership and change management strategies on acceptance of cultural change by individuals. Findings indicate that in many cases the change that occurs as a result of a merger is imposed on the leaders themselves, and it is often the pace of change that inhibits the successful re-engineering of the culture. In this respect, the success or otherwise of any merger hinges on individual perceptions about the manner in which the process is handled and the direction in which the culture is moved. Communication and a transparent change process are important, as this will often determine not only how a leader will be regarded, but who will be regarded as a leader. Leaders need to be competent and trained in the process of transforming organizations to ensure that individuals within the organization accept the changes prompted by a merger.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to determine the requirements of accounting graduates in relation to generic attributes. Employers have consistently maintained that graduates are deficient in this area. This Australia-wide, all-sector study addresses the issue by examining what employers mean when they make demands for universities and academics to deliver work-ready graduates. Design/methodology/approach -Interviews (recorded, transcribed and analysed with NVivo) with employers, and accounting professional bodies were conducted to ascertain their views of their needs of accounting graduates into the future. Findings -Employers held the generic attributes of communication, team work and self-management to be the most critical for graduates in the three areas of recruitment, training and ongoing employment. Demands on universities to deliver work-ready graduates are not homogeneous. Employers in different sectors construe the meaning of generic attributes in line with their specific needs. Originality/value -The study was an original piece of work that gauged the opinions of professional accounting bodies and employers of accounting graduates across Australia and in all sectors of the accounting profession. The value of the study is to inform academics as to the ranked importance of generic attributes but also alert them to the different meanings that are assigned to these skills by employers in different sectors.

This paper explores whether company age, industry type and company size have a potential influence on levels of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSRD) in the annual reports of Libyan companies. In this study quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect data to determine the level CSRD in Libyan firms. Hypotheses are tested using regression analysis on a sample of 40 annual reports from Libyan companies' from 2007 to 2009. In addition, thirty one of the financial managers and information managers express their perceptions about the determinants of CSRD in Libya. The quantitative findings reveal that there is a positive relationship between company age and industry type and the level of CSRD. The qualitative findings show a positive relationship between all factors influencing levels of CSRD used in this study and level of CSRD in Libyan companies.

No abstract

Considerable research has been conducted into the relation between students' level of previous accounting knowledge and their subsequent performance in first year university‐level accounting. This study considers variables for academic performance and previous accounting knowledge in an attempt to quantify the advantage that high school accounting gives students entering tertiary business courses. The results indicate that for students entering tertiary courses with similar academic ability, i.e., obtained the same entrance score, the first year tertiary accounting result obtained by a student who studied accounting previously is between one and two grades higher than that of a student who did not study accounting at high school.

This paper explores the role of institutional and systemic leadership in changing higher education in accounting in Australia. In particular, it discusses the roles of the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching, the Australian Business Deans" Council Teaching and Learning Network (ABDC T&L) and the professional accounting bodies in meeting the challenges confronting accounting education in the tertiary sector today and in the coming years. Details are provided of a Carrick funded accounting discipline research project arising out of a recent ABDC T&L Network Business Scoping Study. The critical non-technical skills required by stakeholders are explored with their role and responsibility in their development discussed.

Most research on corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) describes its relationships with external factors such as financial performance and corporate reputation. There are relatively few studies that have focused employee's behaviours towards CSRD. This paper examines the relationship between CSRD on employee commitment. An exploratory approach is used in this paper by this study. This study utilizes interview method to collect data from 31 financial managers and information managers of 22 organisations; Miles and Huberman (1994) approach is used to analyse the qualitative data. The researchers have chosen the Libyan context as one of the world's developing countries that has undergone many changes over a short period of time in terms of economic, environmental and social changes. The majority view of managers interviewed is that as CSRD related to employee activities and consumer activities increases employee commitment towards its company increase. However, there is no relationship between CSRD related to environmental and employee disclosures and employee commitment in Libyan companies. The study discusses and explains important implications regarding uses of CSRD for enhancing employee's commitment.