scholarly journals A Financial Analysis Case Of Amazon.Com And Barnes & Noble With Emphasis On The Impact Of ROE Versus EPS: Accounting Case And Instructor Notes

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Kelley ◽  
Judith A. Hora ◽  
Loren Margheim

This case follows two accounting interns working for a not-for-profit organization who have been asked to perform a financial analysis of two real life companies (Amazon.com and Barnes &Noble). The interns have been asked to assist the organization with a financial statement analysis of the companies in order to help the not-for-profit make an important investment decision.  The case requires the students to perform some simple ratio analyses, with a particular emphasis on how to utilize Return on Equity (ROE) and Earnings per Share (EPS) information when those values appear to provide contradictory information.  In particular, one of the primary goals of this case study is to have students discover how one company (Amazon.com) can have a greater ROE, even though the competitor (Barnes & Noble) has a larger EPS and how this seemingly contradictory information should be used in financial analysis.  Students will have the opportunity to consider which metric (ROE or EPS) is safe to use in cross-company comparisons and will use that analysis, in conjunction with other basic ratios, to provide a financial analysis report comparing the two companies. The case is appropriate for beginning financial accounting classes and intermediate accounting.

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda M. Parsons

This study uses a field-based experiment combined with a follow-up laboratory experiment to investigate whether accounting information reduces perceived uncertainty about nonprofit operations. Potential donors were sent, via a direct mail campaign, fundraising appeals containing varying amounts of financial and nonfinancial information in order to determine whether individual donors are more likely to contribute when accounting information or voluntary disclosures are provided. Participants in a lab experiment were asked to assess the usefulness of the different versions of the fundraising appeals. A logistic regression provides evidence that some donors who have previously donated use financial accounting information when making a donation decision. The results are inconclusive regarding whether donors use nonfinancial service efforts and accomplishments disclosures to determine whether and how much to give, but participants in the lab experiment judged the nonfinancial disclosures to be useful for making a giving decision.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Trimmer ◽  
Roselyn Dixon

In Australia and Europe, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations (NFPOs) have had long involvement in the funding and provision of community disability services. Significant change has occurred in Australia over the past two decades in the way government funds are expended, with marketplace mechanisms increasingly being used. As a consequence of economic and governance imperatives, funding of services via NFPOs has changed significantly with a move away from the provision of grants to the contracting of these organisations for the provision of services. In 2013, a new national policy, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), was introduced that has impacts for the provision of disability services for children and their families. In particular, Indigenous families are likely to experience barriers in accessing services. This paper reviews the impact of international changes in policy and associated funding models and considers the impacts and research implications of Australia's initial experience of implementation of the NDIS.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Kaden ◽  
Gary Peters ◽  
Juan Manuel Sanchez ◽  
Gary M. Fleischman

PurposeThe authors extend research suggesting that external funders reduce their contributions to not-for-profit (NFP) organizations in response to media-reported CEO compensation levels.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a maximum archival sample of 44,807 observations from US Form 990s, the authors comprehensively assess the extent that high relative NFP CEO compensation is associated with decreases in future contributions.FindingsThe authors find that donors and grantors react negatively to high relative CEO compensation but do not react adversely to high absolute executive compensation. Contributors seem to take issue with CEO compensation when they perceive it absorbs a relatively large portion of the organizations’ total expenses, which may hinder the NFP’s mission. Additional findings suggest that excess cash held by the NFP significantly exacerbates the negative baseline relationship between future contributions and high relative CEO compensation. Finally, both individual donors and professional grantors are sensitive to cash NFP CEO compensation levels, but grantors are more sensitive to CEO noncash compensation.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ data are focused on larger NFP organizations, so this limits the generalizability of the study. Furthermore, survivorship bias potentially influences their time-series investigations because a current year large-scale decrease in funding due to high relative CEO compensation may cause some NFP firms to drop out of the sample the following year due to significant funding reductions.Originality/valueThe study makes three noteworthy contributions to the literature. First, the study documents that the negative association between high relative CEO compensation levels and future donor and grantor contributions is much more widespread than previous literature suggested. Second, the authors document that high relative CEO compensation levels that trigger reductions in future contributions are significantly exacerbated by excess cash held by the NFP. Finally, the authors find that more sophisticated grantors are more sensitive to noncash CEO compensation levels as compared with donors.


2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlys Gascho Lipe

To increase accessibility, cases published in Issues in Accounting Education from its inception through November 2006 are categorized by course area. Course categories include accounting information systems, auditing, financial accounting, managerial/cost accounting, and taxation. Specific course topics addressed in each case are identified. Additional tables list cases addressing ethical issues and cases using governmental or not-for-profit entities and firms in the service sector.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishnamurthy Surysekar ◽  
Elizabeth H. Turner ◽  
Clark M. Wheatley

ABSTRACT We address the impact of financial flexibility on organizational performance in a not-for-profit (NFP) setting. Specifically, we examine the link between donor-imposed financial inflexibility and subsequent donations. Donors sometimes impose restrictions on NFP use of the donated resources. These restrictions arise because of donors' preferences regarding how the assets are used, or as a mechanism for donors to monitor the actions of NFP management. Restricted donations cause financial inflexibility and limit managerial discretion. We examine the costs and benefits of restricting managerial discretion and find a negative relation between future donations and high levels of donor restriction. Specifically, we empirically demonstrate that when restricted assets comprise a high percentage of total assets, additional increases in restricted assets are associated with an overall reduction in future donations.


Author(s):  
Anurag Komanduri ◽  
Zeina Wafa ◽  
Kimon Proussaloglou ◽  
Simon Jacobs

App-driven ridesharing platforms are gaining popularity and are transforming urban movement patterns in cities throughout the world. Because of privacy and business considerations, their owners have released little information about riders’ trip-making characteristics. This lack of data prevents planners and modelers from understanding and quantifying the impact of these new modes on regional travel patterns. In 2016, RideAustin, a not-for-profit company, was established to provide mobility-on-demand services in the Austin region. RideAustin released its dataset of over one million trips to researchers to support transportation planning through a better understanding of urban travel flows. This paper presents findings from an in-depth analysis of this dataset and summarizes key aspects of interest to the transportation research community such as the number of riders, drivers, and trips; total vehicle miles including deadhead miles; and terminal times. The paper also presents findings from two case studies that show the competitiveness of RideAustin versus transit and the utilization of the RideAustin system during the South by Southwest festival. While some of the metrics cannot be readily transferred to other regions, several findings can be used by planners and modelers as they integrate rideshare systems within their planning and modeling frameworks. We also believe that some of the research findings may provide insights into a future system of autonomous and shared vehicles.


Author(s):  
Jenine Paul ◽  
Randy Davidson ◽  
Cheryl Johnstone ◽  
Margaret Loong ◽  
John Matecsa ◽  
...  

This article explores the approach that ICES (formerly the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences)uses to encourage public engagement at both the research study and corporate level. ICES is anindependent not-for-profit research institute in the province of Ontario, Canada. This article wasco-written by ICES’ public engagement team and four members of the ICES Public AdvisoryCouncil (PAC). As part of the process of writing this article PAC members provided theirreflections on why they got involved, what worked well and the limitations and challenges of ICES’approach. ICES described the development of its public engagement strategy to inform how the institutionwould capture and incorporate the values of Ontarians in ICES activities and research. ICES provideddetails on two key elements of its strategy: the formation of a PAC to advise its leadership, andthe creation of resources and supports to encourage researchers to incorporate public engagementin their projects. PAC members and ICES provided perspectives on what impact they perceive as a result ofthe public engagement strategy. PAC members expressed that ICES has demonstrated listening toand using their input, but it is too early to evaluate if their feedback has changed the way ICESconducts its work. ICES discussed the challenges and successes in building and implementing thepublic engagement strategy, including recruiting a diverse council, aligning with public prioritiesand creating a culture of engagement. As a result of public input, ICES has restructured theway the institution explains its privacy and cybersecurity approach to build trust and confidence.ICES has also seen an increase in researchers using public engagement resources, and early datasuggests that in 2019 about 20% of scientists included some form of public engagement in theirprojects. ICES’ journey to public engagement resulted in important changes to processes and activitiesat the institution, but there is much more that needs to be done. PAC members advocate thatpublic members should be engaged in health data research and hope that public input will bea core element in health data research in the future. ICES will continue its efforts to addresspublic priorities and will seek to further evaluate the impact of public engagement across theorganisation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Geoffrey J. Warren

Australia’s MySuper default superannuation funds are compared against New Zealand’s range of KiwiSaver funds. Some key points of contrast include: the relative maturity and larger balances of the Australian system; the majority of MySuper providers are not-for-profit, whereas KiwiSaver is dominated by for-profit providers; MySuper funds use a much broader range of assets, while KiwiSaver funds invest largely in listed assets; greater use of lifecycle strategies in Australia; the skew to conservative funds under KiwiSaver; and differing fee structures, the impact of which depends on account balance. It is argued that New Zealand could do more to enhance the probability of achieving adequate incomes in retirement.


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