PurposeThe major purpose of this paper is to answer the overarching questions of how multinational corporations (MNCs) address the multiple institutional logics of accountability and pressures of the field in which they operate and how the dominant logic changes and shifts in response to such pressures pre- and post-disaster situation.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interpretive textual analyses of multiple longitudinal data sets are conducted to study the case of the Fundão dam disaster. The data sources include historical documents, academic articles and public institutional press releases from 2000 to 2016, covering the environment leading to the case study incident and its aftermath.FindingsThe findings reveal how MNCs' plurality of and, at times, conflicting institutional logics shape the organizational behaviors, actions and nonactions of actors pre-, peri- and post-disaster. More specifically, the predominance bureaucracy embedded in the state-corporatist logic of the host country before a disaster allows the strategic subunit of an MNC to continue operating while causing various forms of environmental damage until a globally visible disaster triggers a reversal in the dominant logic toward the embrace of wider, global, emergent social and environmental accountability.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to discussions regarding the need to explore in depth of how MNCs respond to multiple institutional pressures in practice. This study extends the literature concerning disaster accountability, state-corporatism and logic-shifting by exploring how MNCs respond to the plurality of institutional logics and pressures over time and showing how, in some cases, logics not only reinforce but also contrast with each other and how a globally exposed disaster may trigger a shift in the dominant logic governing MNCs' responses.

No abstract

We examine whether the tone of corporate annual reports is associated with audit pricing decisions. A unique dataset drawn from annual reports of nonfinancial firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange for the period from 2002 to 2014 is generated using textual analysis. We find that annual reports that convey optimistic tone are associated with lower audit fees, suggesting that annual report tone reflects factors that auditors consider in assessing audit risk. Consistent with the inverse association between tone and audit fees, results of additional analysis show that annual report tone is positively associated with earnings quality. Our results hold after controlling for firm characteristics that influence audit pricing decisions and remain robust to alternative variable measurement and test of endogeneity. Overall, the findings suggest that auditors could enhance their audit risk assessment practices by systematically considering linguistic attributes of qualitative corporate disclosures.

As a response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, financial service industry regulators have commonly requested financial service industry to implement fund transfer pricing (FTP) mechanisms. Despite the importance of the topic as highlighted in the practitioners’ literature since the 2000s, the use of FTP as a performance measurement system has been understudied. To add to our understanding of such mechanisms in the financial service industry, this paper demonstrates, through an analytical model, how FTP can be used as a performance measurement system in financial institutions. More importantly, this paper illustrates how FTP can be used for overcoming the distortions caused due to the transfer of funds between the business units.

This study explores the efficacy of vodcasting, as one of the advanced means of lecture recording, and discussion forums using retrospective engagement analytics data and performance outcome data on 1,172 unique students. The results provide partial support for the research hypotheses, particularly for international students, with learner engagement as a strong predictor of enhanced performance outcomes. However, no support was found for domestic students, with no significant impact of engagement on performance outcomes. That is, learner engagement may be more beneficial for international students than for domestic students. The findings support the implementation of discussion forums for enabling meaningful conversation, knowledge acquisition and peer engagement. This could pave the way for a knowledge-sharing culture as opposed to a knowledge-hoarding culture. Overall, the findings offer insights for higher education providers who have large international student enrolments and are interested in diversity management strategies and enhanced student engagement using disruptive technology.