Abstract. ERP system adoption has largely marked the evolution of accounting information systems (AISs). Modern AISs have great potential to influence business performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the accounting information system in an ERP environment on firm performance. We investigate the direct effects of top management involvement and external expertise on the AIS. We also examine the interaction effect of accounting staff competency with the AIS and test its impact on firm performance improvement. We conduct an empirical study of 102 Tunisian firms adopting ERP systems. We use the partial least square (PLS) approach for hypothesis testing. The results indicate that top management involvement and external expertise have an impact on the AIS. Furthermore, they show that the accounting techniques used after ERP system adoption influence firm performance. The interaction effect of accounting staff competency with the AIS has a positive impact on firm performance improvement.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of commitment in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in its various forms (CSR philanthropy/ altruism, CSR integration and CSR innovation) on the financial performance as measured by certain ratios. Design/methodology/approach Thus, on the basis of a theoretically constructed questionnaire administered to 82 responsibles (general managers, human resources managers and CSR responsibles) operating in four business areas, the authors have developed the extent of the overall CSR commitment and the extent of commitment by CSR action type. Findings The examination of the impact of the CSR commitment on the financial performance has partially approved the social impact assumption. Indeed, only the positive effect of CSR philanthropy is demonstrated. Otherwise, for integrated and innovative actions, the low involvement in these actions in relation to philanthropic ones could explain the lack of significant association. But this result is also important, as it marks the lack of any negative effects. Even if they do not result in a better financial performance, these commitments do not bring harm to the firm. As for the strategic approach predominance on the altruistic approach, this hypothesis is checked only in the case of firms operating in the chemical sector. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of the study is the limited size of the total sample and the sample by industry, so the authors expect a larger sample might be able to provide more meaningful results. Practical implications Then, the study suggests the importance of implementing real CSR strategies for firms that often find doubt and ambiguity when they decide to undertake social actions. However, these results do not mean that companies must refrain from driving altruistic or philanthropic activities but are encouraged to seek a social performance that suits a certain level of integration and innovation. Social implications The most important of all the above is that the negative impact of social actions is not verified in any way, allowing to state that the social actions do not exert a negative effect on the financial performance. So, participation in social problems do not bring harm to the firm. Originality/value The originality of this work comes from: the measure of CSR commitment, and the use of a classification typology of CSR actions in terms of their interaction with the core of the firm’s business as developed by Halme (2009). In fact, based on a theoretically constructed questionnaire, the authors have developed two measures of responsible commitment (level of commitment and intensity of commitment) of some industrial Tunisian firms.

The Board of Directors plays a key role as a internal mechanism of corporate governance. Indeed, its effectiveness is dependent on the presence of several factors, the most important are related to characteristics that relate primarily to the independence of its members, board size, the cumulative functions of decision and control, the degree of independence of the audit committee and the gender diversity of the board. To test the validity of our hypothesis, which states the existence of a certain deterministic between the board’s characteristics and financial performance measured by three different ratios, namely ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q, we have developed three linear regression models. Our empirical validation was conducted on a sample of 26 companies listed on the Tunisian stock exchange Tunis (Tunis Stock Exchange) over a period that spans four years (2007-2010). The estimated models show satisfactory results showing the importance of the impact of board characteristics on financial performance of Tunisian companies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore preparers’ and users’ perception of intellectual capital (IC) usefulness and to examine the significant differences in the usefulness perceptions of IC information and its categories according to sex, age, function, educational level, specialty and professional experience of respondents. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study drew on a questionnaire survey sent to five groups of preparers and users who were asked to provide their usefulness perception about information on IC and its categories. Findings This paper found that the five preparers and users groups perceive information on IC as well as its three categories as useful for their decision-making purposes. In addition, it concluded that the usefulness perception of IC information does not differ by sex, age, function, educational level and specialty of the respondents, but it differs according to the professional experience. Practical implications To the extent that users perceive IC information as useful, managers are encouraged to disclose more information about this hidden capital in order to improve their transparency. As there are no generally accepted IC reporting guidelines and in order to fill informational gaps between companies and their stakeholders, accounting standards bodies could regulate the IC information disclosure by developing relevant communication standards in accordance with stakeholders’ expectations. They may identify information items that should be considered as a priority by making them mandatory for disclosure purposes, and other items voluntary. Originality/value The paper can be regarded as the first exploratory study to investigate the IC information usefulness from the perspectives of five preparers and users groups in Tunisia, as an example of a developing economy in Africa.

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The corporate governance problem is likely to be worse in banks due to their attributes (greater opaqueness than other industries, greater government regulation...) that weaken many traditional governance mechanisms. The purpose of this research is to explore the governance characteristics of the Tunisian listed banks and to detect the impact of the internal governance mechanisms on their efficiency during the period 2002-2009.Our findings indicate that the structure and the size of the board of directors and the ownership structures present divergent effects on the banks efficiency. Then, empirical results show that Tunisian listed banks display a middle efficiency level of 81.60% during the period [2002][2003][2004][2005][2006]. The deterioration of the efficiency level is owed to big public bank; in fact, private banks are more efficient than the public ones.

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