The effect of risk on supply chain cooperation: Evidence from Vietnam agriculture

The study aims to test the impact of risk on supply chain cooperation in the agriculture sector in Vietnam. The research paper used the quantitative research method through analysing structural equation modelling (SEM), with a dataset of 518 observations. The survey subject is the experienced and knowledgeable manager in supply chain management in the agricultural sector. The result found that risk has impacted not only directly and negatively on the supply chain cooperation but also indirectly through intermediary factors, namely commitment and the participant's opportunistic behaviour. In addition, the study has also proved that in some cases, the participant's dependency mentality in work and opportunistic behaviour lead to the opposite impact of commitment on trust and level of supply chain cooperation in agriculture. Based on this result, the study also makes recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the supply chain cooperation in the agricultural sector in Vietnam. The findings contributed to both theory and practice. It pointed out the impact of risk on the supply chain cooperation in the agricultural sector, as well as the mediating role of commitment and opportunistic behaviour in this relationship.

In Persona Christi Capitis: Agency Problems When God is the Principal

The in persona Christi Capitis doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church guarantees the validity of its sacraments, irrespective of the personal morality of the priest who performs them. While this protects their value as metacredence goods, it seemingly opens the door to opportunistic behaviour by the clergy. To balance out its institutional incentives, the Roman Catholic Church must rigorously screen its candidates for the priesthood. Historical evidence supports our hypothesis that the development of the in persona Christi Capitis doctrine was accompanied by marginal increases in the screening of seminarians, which may have been an optimal response to changing historical circumstances. Also consistent with our hypothesis, a cross section of contemporary Christian denominations shows a correlation between a group’s stance on sacramental theology and the strictness of its screening of candidates to religious ministry.

The effect of small business leaders' organisational mindfulness and social learning on opportunistic behaviour to survive the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThis research aims to test the relationships between organisational mindfulness, social learning and opportunistic behaviour of small business leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with six small business leaders from various sectors to explore and better grasp the unprecedented phenomenon. An online survey on small business owners and managers in Indonesia was then employed as the main study, resulting in 291 valid responses for further analysis. The data were analysed using regression on SmartPLS 3.0 software.FindingsThis research finds that organisational mindfulness and social learning have positive and significant associations with the ability of small business leaders to discover and exploit opportunities. The path analysis suggests that organisational mindfulness plays a pivotal role as it also partially mediates the relationship between social learning and opportunistic behaviour.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to test the relationships between organisational mindfulness, social learning and opportunistic behaviour, particularly in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. This work also contributes by emphasising the critical linkages between internal and external capabilities triggered by small business leaders to survive the pandemic.

Expected credit losses and managerial discretion. Current practices and future challenges

This paper examines the loan loss provisioning behaviour during the transition from IAS 39 to IFRS 9 for a sample of 403 banks in 27 countries in European Union. The objective of the study is to investigate whether during the first years of adoption of the new expected credit loss (ECL) impairment model banks are more en-couraged to smooth earnings and manage capital, compared to the previous in-curred loss (ICL) model. Results show that under ECL, banks adopt a more ag-gressive opportunistic behaviour in accordance with the income-smoothing and capital management approach. Management should be aware of this to implement monitoring and control systems, increasing trustworthiness of financial in-formation for investors' expectations.

Transparency and Accountability of a Village Fund Management During COVID-19 Crisis

In the face of the super contagious and deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the government has to accelerate planning and make quick decisions to contain the virus and provide necessary assistance to the affected people. Therefore, amid this global health crisis, public fund management procedures may undergo significant modifications. This study considers how urgency is implicated in the village fund management during COVID-19 in Indonesia. A case study of an East Javanese village was conducted between May and August 2020. In-depth interviews with four key managers and eight beneficiaries of the fund yielded interesting findings. Particularly, two key elements formerly practised by the village fund managers, namely transparency and accountability, were largely omitted. Consequently, some of the locals being interviewed claimed that a portion of the funds was misappropriated. Arguably, urgency warrants some adaptation, and hence transparency and accountability may have to be forfeited (to some extent) to expedite the fund allotment. However, our findings imply that opportunistic behaviour may occur among the fund managers. Consistent with the notion of strategic responses to institutional pressure, the urgency of dealing with the crisis fund may prompt the higher authorities to adopt an adaptive regulating style, hence relaxing their coercive pressure, and allowing fund managers to pursue their self-interest.

Features of the Opportunistic Behaviour of the Marine Bacterium Marinobacter algicola in the Microalga Ostreococcus tauri Phycosphere

Although interactions between microalgae and bacteria are observed in both natural environment and the laboratory, the modalities of coexistence of bacteria inside microalgae phycospheres in laboratory cultures are mostly unknown. Here, we focused on well-controlled cultures of the model green picoalga Ostreococcus tauri and the most abundant member of its phycosphere, Marinobacter algicola. The prevalence of M. algicola in O. tauri cultures raises questions about how this bacterium maintains itself under laboratory conditions in the microalga culture. The results showed that M. algicola did not promote O. tauri growth in the absence of vitamin B12 while M. algicola depended on O. tauri to grow in synthetic medium, most likely to obtain organic carbon sources provided by the microalgae. M. algicola grew on a range of lipids, including triacylglycerols that are known to be produced by O. tauri in culture during abiotic stress. Genomic screening revealed the absence of genes of two particular modes of quorum-sensing in Marinobacter genomes which refutes the idea that these bacterial communication systems operate in this genus. To date, the ‘opportunistic’ behaviour of M. algicola in the laboratory is limited to several phytoplanktonic species including Chlorophyta such as O. tauri. This would indicate a preferential occurrence of M. algicola in association with these specific microalgae under optimum laboratory conditions.

THE CHOICE OF PROJECT GOVERNANCE MODES TO MINIMISE CONTRACTORS’ OPPORTUNISTIC BEHAVIOUR

In this era of globalisation and fierce competition among businesses, contractors in the construction industry often tend to engage in opportunistic behaviour to gain more benefits at the expense of owners. The past researchers have defined contractors’ opportunistic behaviour (COB) as the behaviour of the contractor that is motivated to pursue self-interests at the expense of the client. The researchers in this field have identified project governance (PG), which considered as management of project management can be used to minimise the COB. Trust and formal control are the major PG modes that are used in the global construction industry. However, there is a dearth of research that identified the suitable PG modes to minimise the effects of COB in the Sri Lankan construction industry. Hence, this study aims to investigate the PG modes that can be used to minimise the effects of COB. Accordingly, qualitative research approach was adopted to achieve the research aim. A comprehensive literature review followed by case studies was conducted to investigate the synergy between the concepts. Information gathered were subjected to content analysis. This study revealed that formal control and combination of trust and formal control as the most suitable PG modes for Sri Lankan construction industry. The research further identified the factors that affect the COB namely, contractors focus on revenue maximisation, external uncertainties, contractual complexity, and dynamic complexity. The study further highlighted the importance of minimising COB to help minimise conflicts and reduce the financial losses incur for project stakeholders.

PENGARUH OPPORTUNISTIC BEHAVIOUR, LEVERAGE, FINANCIAL DISTRESS TERHADAP EARNINGS MANAGEMENT

Abstract— The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of opportunistic behavior, leverage, financial distress on earnings management. Samples were obtained from non-financial companies that reported financial reports in a row from 2010-2019 with a purposive sampling method, so as to obtain data as much as 232 observations. Earnings management is measured using the Kothari (2005) model, opportunistic behavior consisting of free cash flow (FCF) as measured by the Lehn & Poulsen method (1989) and profitability as measured by Return on Assets (ROA), leverage is measured by Debt Ratio and financial distress. measured by Zmijewski's (1984) model during the study period. Data were tested using multiple linear regression through the STATA program. The results showed that opportunistic behavior as proxied by profitability can increase managers' motivation towards earnings management, as well as leverage. However, opportunistic behavior as proxied by free cash flow is not in accordance with predictions, while financial distress has no significant effect on earnings management. Keywords: Earnings Management; Opportunistic Behaviour; Leverage; Financial Distress; Zmijewski Model

AUDIT COMMITTEE ATTRIBUTES AND REAL EARNINGS MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA

This study extends existing research on the real earnings management by examining the impacts of audit committee attributes on real earnings management in Nigeria. The analyses involve a sample of 72 non-financial firms with 360 firm-year observations for a five-year period (2014-2018). Data was obtained from the annual reports of these companies as well as from Thompson Reuters and Bloomberg databases. The Panel Corrected Standard Error was used to test the model studied. The finding shows that audit committee size prevent managers’ activities in earnings manipulations. Also, the result establish that the audit committee independence presence on the audit committee control managers’ opportunistic behaviour while audit committee financial expertise were monitors in curtailing earnings manipulation practice. The findings shall give insight to financial analysts, investors, and regulators on the importance of AC in enhancing the quality of the financial report, also show the role of the audit committee characteristics to deter real earnings manipulations. Keywords: audit committee, size, independence, expertise, earnings management