The Unintended Consequences of Sarbanes-Oxley on Technology Innovation and Supply Chain Integration

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicky Arnold ◽  
Tanya S. Benford ◽  
Joseph Canada ◽  
John R. Kuhn ◽  
Steve G. Sutton

This paper reports the results of a series of case studies conducted to explore the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This issue is critical as the SEC and the PCAOB continue to defend the requirement that SMEs adhere to the internal control reporting requirements of Section 404 in the Act, albeit at a revised level of expectation focusing on more of a top-down risk-based approach. Cross-sectional case study data is used to explore the impacts of SOX on SMEs adopting organizational theories as a lens for observing behavior and outcomes. The results of the study confirm that there are both benefits and costs associated with SOX compliance. All of the organizations studied experienced substantial improvements in enterprise risk management approaches. However, the level of difficulty experienced by the various organizations in implementing SOX requirements was highly variable and could be traced back to the underlying factors in structural inertia theory: size, complexity, experience with change, experience with strict controls, and adaptability. Perhaps the most important finding is that SOX does impact organizational flexibility to various degrees as predicted by theory; and this impact can in turn affect production cycle times, information technology investment, supply chain performance, and ultimately, market competitiveness.

2021 ◽  
pp. 136749352110399
Author(s):  
Stephanie Allen ◽  
Stephen K Bradley ◽  
Eileen Savage

Parent programmes are often used in the clinical management of children with ADHD. Research into parent programmes has predominantly been concerned with their effectiveness and much less attention has been paid to the impact that they may be having on the family and the inter-relationships between family members. This study explores the perspectives and experiences of parents of children with ADHD, who participated in a parent programme, including its impact on the family unit. A purposive sample of six mothers of children with ADHD who completed a 1-2-3 Magic parent programme in Ireland was invited to take part in this qualitative study. Data were collected by means of individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a narrative inquiry approach further informed analysis of the interview data. Two major narrative constructions of experience: ‘parent programme as positive’ and ‘parent programme as negative’ were identified. Outcomes from this study illustrated some unintended consequences caused by the parent programme (i.e. sibling rivalry and conflict arising between family members). Mothers believed that the parent programme was a beneficial intervention, but it was not without its flaws and they felt it was helpful for their family when used in conjunction with other supports and mediations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atif Saleem Butt

PurposeThis study explores the countermeasures taken by retailers to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on supply chain disruptions.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a multiple case study approach and undertakes 36 semi-structured interviews with senior management of the four largest retailers of the United Arab Emirates. The respondents were designated at different positions such as Vice President, Director and Project Manager.FindingsResults reveal that retailers are employing six countermeasures to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on supply chains. Particularly, retailers are securing required demand, preserving cash flows, redirecting inventory, adding capacity to their distribution centres, becoming more flexible with their direct or third-party logistics provider and finally widening delivery options for their suppliers to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has some limitations. First, the results of this study cannot be generalized to a broader population as it attempts to build an initial theory. Second, this study uses a cross-sectional approach to explore the countermeasures employed by retailing firms to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.Originality/valueA notable weakness in a supply chain disruption literature is an unfulfilled need for research examining the strategies employed by retailers to respond to/address the challenges posed by COVID-19. Our study fills this gap.


2017 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudip Bhattacharjee ◽  
J. Owen Brown

ABSTRACT Concerns over “revolving door” practices of companies hiring directly from their external auditor led to a Sarbanes-Oxley Act provision mandating a one-year cooling-off period before such hires can occur. Yet little is known as to whether these alumni affiliations, still prevalent today, actually impair audit quality. Drawing on Social Identity Theory, we conduct an experiment to examine whether auditors experience heightened identification with an alumni-affiliated client manager and, if so, how this perceived relationship affects their professional skepticism in response to a management persuasion attempt. As predicted, absent the use of a management persuasion tactic, auditors identify more with an alumni-affiliated manager than a non-alumnus with equal professional experience, and this perceived social bond enhances the manager's influence. However, the use of a common persuasion tactic, while effective at influencing auditor judgment when used by an unaffiliated manager, “backfires” when used by an alumni-affiliated manager, leading to diminished persuasion and increased professional skepticism. Evidence suggests that auditors are better able to identify the inappropriateness of the persuasion attempt when the tactic is used by an alumni-affiliated manager.


Author(s):  
Waqar Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Zaki Rashdi

Purpose Lean and agile strategies are two basic supply chain paradigms that strategist decouples based on their internal and external environment. This study aims to identify the influence of market orientation (MO) and quality management (QM) deployment on the supply chain strategies. Furthermore, this study also seeks empirical evidence of the impact of these core strategies on creating risk management capabilities. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative research technique is deployed to explain the phenomenon. The data was gathered through a structured scale questionnaire from supply chain professionals working at different manufacturing firms. Valid data of 134 respondents is then analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling for further empirical understanding. Findings The outcome of the research indicates that MO capability; as an external drive is a key to make an operational strategy. QM as an internal control is more prone to formulating a lean strategy (LS). Another important finding is that LS does not complement risk management capabilities especially in an uncertain market condition. Practical implications The study suggested concrete implications for risk management through the right mix of lean and agile supply chain strategies. There are some good insights for the supply chain policy-makers working in a developing country. Originality/value This study will provide empirical evidence for managing supply chain risk through an effective strategy making.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (04) ◽  
pp. 2050028
Author(s):  
Gregory McKee ◽  
Albert Kagan

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 and the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (DFA) were passed to address weaknesses in the internal control environment of the firm. Elements of these Acts reduce risky behavior of financial institutions by reducing informational asymmetry with borrowers. An important element of managing earnings quality in financial institutions is the loss provision, an annual expense set aside for uncollected loan and lease payments. These Acts affect the selection of loss provision expense levels in distinct ways. Using a dataset of community bank financial information observed between 1998 and 2017, it is shown that banks experience a complementary effect between SOX and DFA on loss provision expenses. Improved governance procedures to establish policy responses to nonperforming loans result in reduced expenses, whereas reduced information asymmetry tends to enhance a moral hazard effect. These results show that incentives for firm growth, income, capital, and loan specialization under the SOX and DFA regulatory environments complicate the loan risk management process.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh Kumar ◽  
Omkarprasad S Vaidya ◽  
Rajiv Kumar Srivastava

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the role of the bottlenecks in the dynamic software development supply chains. The paper examines the effects of the task priorities in the software development and investigates the possible strategies to manage them effectively.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a software development supply chain has been simulated. This includes modeling of the various sizes of software requirement, different priorities, variations in development times, quality defects, etc. The model assumes a fixed set of resources of various skills. The model is studied for the bottlenecks, throughput, work in progress (WIP), etc. under various work preemption scenarios.FindingsThe results indicate that job priorities impact the bottleneck formulation, throughput and WIP of the software development. The work interruption policies to accommodate priority jobs adversely impact the throughput. Selective introduction of interruptions by leaving the bottlenecks from interruptions helps balancing the throughput and priorities.Research limitations/implicationsThe impact of the learning curve and knowledge acquisition time needed by the resources to restart the interrupted work has not been considered in this paper, which can be a future area of research.Practical implicationsThe paper helps the practicing managers evaluate the dynamics of the bottlenecks with various task management approaches and comprehend the possible tradeoffs between priority and throughout.Originality/valueThe paper looks at software development from a perspective of workflow dynamics. This is a pioneer effort, as it utilizes simulation and modeling approach in understanding the software supply chains better.


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark L. DeFond ◽  
Mingyi Hung ◽  
Emre Carr ◽  
Jieying Zhang

SYNOPSIS We investigate the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on corporate bondholder value by examining the bond market reaction to news events leading up to the passage of SOX. The net impact of SOX on bondholder value is difficult to predict, and there are many reasons why it may be viewed as either good or bad news. Our primary analysis reveals a significant decline in average bondholder value around these events. In addition, cross-sectional tests find that the decline is significantly larger among riskier bonds and among bonds held by firms that are expected to experience the greatest changes under SOX. Thus, our findings are consistent with the bond market expecting the exogenously imposed changes under SOX to make bondholders worse off.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Ann Barra

ABSTRACT: Little prior research exists on the parameters of internal control activities. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX 2002) makes identifying the properties of these parameters under various conditions important. In this paper, an analytical/reliability engineering methodology is used to investigate the relative impact of penalties versus other types of internal controls on managerial and non-managerial employees’ propensity to commit fraud. Ceteris paribus, increasing required effort with internal controls and/or increasing employee penalties, increases the minimum amount stolen when a fraud incident occurs; that is, more net assets will be taken per fraud incident with controls than without controls. The findings show that the firm’s least-cost scenario with managerial employees is to enforce maximum penalties. The firm’s least-cost scenario with non-managerial employees is to utilize alternative internal controls while imposing minimum penalties. Further, the effectiveness of separation of duties is dependent on the detective controls in the internal control system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 184-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun (Michelle) Yang ◽  
Michael J. Pisani

Purpose This study aims to explore “what impact does competition from informal enterprises have on formal firms” within the Chinese economic and business environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for an exploratory study utilizing the cross-sectional survey data “2012 China Enterprise Survey” conducted by the World Bank. The survey is composed of approximately 200 business-related questions across the spectrum of business operations. In all, 2,700 privately owned Chinese firms are included in the logistic regression analysis. Findings Results show the impact of informal firm competition upon formal firms in China are influenced by geographical location, industry sector, ownership profile, governmental ownership, online presence and the extent of obeying labor regulations or the time spent in handling the governmental regulatory environment. There is a competitive and complementary simultaneous intertwined relationship between formal and informal economy. It occurs in a formal economy not fully divorced from the structural inertia of the planned economy as it transitions to a market-based economy. Practical implications This paper extended the assumption of institutional theory and presented it as a dynamic view of the evolution of organizations. It contributes by offering a simultaneous dual relationship between the formal and informal economy. It also adds one more potential feature of populations in the population ecology theory. Originality/value This exploratory paper empirically examines the impacts of informal sector enterprises on formal sectors firms in China and proposes a dual force effect of the informal economy to the formal economy given the current Chinese institutional environment. The study also provides a platform for further research on the interactions between the formal and informal sectors in emerging markets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 129-138
Author(s):  
Amgad S.D. Khaled ◽  
Nabil Mohamed Alabsy ◽  
Eissa A. Al-Homaidi ◽  
Abdulmalek M.M. Saeed

The study aims to synthesize the challenges that retailers are facing during the COVID-19 emergency. The research is definitive, informative, and based on a single design of cross-sectional research. Quantitative data based on the research instrument were produced (a questionnaire). Five hundred responses were collected from employees of major retail stores in India. Retailer performance is considered a dependent variable, whereas employee well-being, customer and brand protection, use of technology, government policies, and supply chain are used as independent variables. The current study results indicated that employee well-being and government policies have a significant positive impact on retailer performance, while customer and brand protection, use of technology, and supply chain have a significant positive impact on retailers’ performance. This study will help retailers develop strategies for their employees to protect them and understand that technology is needed in the new normal times. This study highlights the need to be flexible in executing strategic strategies, but retailers need to develop comprehensive action plans, including selecting managers of initiative and defining goals and deadlines. Provided that retailers’ current reality is different from the old normal, no time is lost in taking audacious action.


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