Purpose -In spite of facilitating and motivating factors in the external environment, the implementation of new management-accounting techniques as activity-based costing (ABC) in companies is disappointing. The aim of the study is to determine factors that catalyse, facilitate and motivate the decision to implement ABC in Jordanian industrial companies. Additional objectives include determining the problems associated with ABC implementation and assessing the degree of success of ABC implementation in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach -A sample of the Jordanian industrial companies was selected and a questionnaire survey was employed using a five-point Likert scale to collect data from the financial managers, descriptive and analytical statistics were used to analyze the collected data. Findings -The findings indicate that the most important factor that facilitates the decision to implement ABC was the provision of adequate training and the most influential factors which motivate the process of ABC implementation include an increasing proportion of overhead costs, and an increasing number of product variants. Consequently, this study found that the interaction of three types of factors (catalysts, facilitators and motivators) create the potential for change in these companies. Barriers to change could make the change process slower, hindering, and even preventing change; and barriers to change were identified that may explain the differing implementation rates of ABC in the Jordanian industrial sector. The greatest barrier to implementing ABC was found to be its high cost of implementation, followed by the high cost of ABC consultancy and computer staff time.Originality/value -The study adds new elements to the institutional approach, and integrates it with concepts from psychology and organizational culture, to create a better understanding of management accounting. The results of study contribute to existing knowledge in the area of understanding the factors which act as catalysts, facilitate, and motivate ABC innovation and of those factors that create barriers to ABC implementation in Jordan.

This research provides a better understanding of the way for financing and management of higher education in Jordan. The study aims at describing the finance and management methods in Jordanian HE. The private universities in the world were also described in terms of their financing and management method. The Research uses archival documents, observations, and reports in order to accomplish the study objective. The findings emphasize that Jordanian HE is one of the most developed higher educational systems in the Middle East countries. There is much competition in the private HE, this motivates to research the best ways of management and financing for this sector. Worldwide, there is a trend towards private HE. While, world wide private universities depend on tution fees, they receive government subsidiaries. In Jordan, private universities are mainly financed by student tuition fees, and they do not receive any subsidies from the government. Therefore a proper budgetary system might facilitate the need for effective management of university resources and decision-making.

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Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the suitability of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in emerging markets such as Qatar. The current research attempts to obtain insights into the advantages and disadvantages of IFRS implementation in Qatar based on the perceptions of top management, academics in accounting and external auditors. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was the main tool used in this research. A total of 120 questionnaires were distributed to financial managers, academics and external auditors. Of the 97 replies (80 per cent), 91 completed questionnaires were analysed. Findings The results suggest that IFRS implementation is suitable for the business environment of Qatar because the adoption of IFRS provides many advantages to the Qatari business environment, regulations and stock market without incurring additional major costs. Moreover, IFRS imposes no major constraints on the business environment or Islamic social responsibility and education in Qatar. Practical implications The results of this research paper will help regulators in Qatar and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries develop accounting regulations. Originality/value This paper provides empirical evidence of the suitability of IFRS in emerging markets in general and the GCC region in particular and enhances the level of understanding of IFRS worldwide.

PurposeEducational institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are striving for better resource management and finance. The bottom-up budgeting approach plays an important role in motivating executives' performance. The main aim of this paper is to discover whether there is a significant difference between bottom-up and a top-down approaches to budgeting in terms of managers' performance.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were distributed to 453 university executives in 21 MENA educational institutions. The Kruskal–Wallis test was utilized to test the difference between the three groups (bottom-up, top-down and consultative approaches). Further analysis was conducted to test the difference between the two groups using the Mann–Whitney test.FindingsThe results show that there is a significant difference between a bottom-up and top-down approach in terms of managerial performance. The study's findings indicate that the bottom-up approach to budgeting leads to higher performance indicators than a top-down approach to budgeting.Originality/valueThe current study contributes to the research as it increases awareness of budgeting approaches that are used in higher education institutions, specifically in terms of the effect of these differences on executives' performance.

Purpose – The aim of this research is to shed light on the role the Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MoHE) plays in private Jordanian universities (PJUs). Private universities in developing countries struggle with their financial resources. There is an argument that a decision to adopt a new approach for the financing and management of Jordanian higher education (HE) has been taken because both funding and ownership belong to private sources. However, the MoHE plays a role in the Jordanian context. Design/methodology/approach – This study explains the relations between the MoHE and PJUs and describes the PJUs’ managerial context. It is based on the prior research related to HE and budgeting. A total of 16 budget preparers at 11 universities and a further three in the MoHE were interviewed. The research also uses observation to obtain direct knowledge of the research phenomena. It uses archival documents, guidelines and reports to accomplish the study’s objective. Findings – This research presents an overview for private HE across the world with particular concentration being paid to the role of the MoHE in PJUs by presenting the regulations and laws related to HE in Jordan. It proves that the MoHE uses a budgeting formula to significantly increase its control over the private HE sector. Simultaneously, no government subsidies or tax exemptions (such as those given to public universities) have been made available to private universities. The results indicate that the MoHE controls the private universities by using accreditation tools, such as their budgets. Originality/value – Jordan has a unique situation in terms of the relationship between its MoHE and Jordanian universities.