The Role of Controlling in the Business Environment

Environmental changes and especially the development of the digital economy have posed real existential questions to businesses, provoked strategic reflection, and made the emergence of controlling efficient. The objective of this chapter was to explore the role of controlling in the business environment and generalize a reflection on strategy and controlling in the life of companies. The results show that controlling has a significant role in enhancing the corporate governance pillars in companies, and the successes of corporate governance requires compliance with all elements of internal control.

Convergence and Divergence Regarding Business Combinations

The presence of several legal entities within the same group entails the existence of as many independent accountants as there are companies. In accordance with IFRS 3 “business combinations,” the result is goodwill that will be recognized as a non-current intangible asset in the consolidated balance sheet, being subjected annually to the impairment test; insofar as the investment cost is lower than the acquisition cost of the net assets, the negative goodwill will be obtained which will be recognized in the form a profit in the consolidated profit and loss account. In addition, national differences in accounting, taxation, and auditing are the sources of the various problems that arise in the process of controlling subsidiaries and consolidating accounts. This chapter aims to study the convergence and divergence regarding business combinations in the joint business as well as to analyze the managerial controversies that are presented in the conversion of the financial statements.

Unseen Link Between Sustainability Reporting and Financial Reporting

The accounting profession has intensely witnessed compelling challenges in the 21st century. Due to increased number in stakeholders and huge informational need, the traditional model has become unsatisfactory in meeting this need and evaluating company's future performance. Apparently, companies trying to survive in globally competitive markets couldn't attain this goal by focusing merely on financial outcomes. Thus, sustainability reporting has emerged as a vital non-financial information demanded by stakeholders. However, ethical insights on credibility and accountability of this information have been documented and discussed in the literature. Tapping into behavioral finance paradigm and upper echelon approach, this chapter exerts an effort to link financial reporting/audit quality to sustainability reporting and discusses those ethical issues on these processes. Further, while drawing attention to overconfidence bias in individuals involved in reporting and assurance stages, it suggests influential role of decision-makers' personal traits on these mechanisms in a misleading way.

Importance of Value of the Company for Development Business

The value of the company is necessary to become the key element in any entity development strategy. In this context, the action of the market contemporary forces determines certain behavior of the companies, which become more and more engaged in the resources, quality, customers, and suppliers, in which the top role is played by the top quality management. At the same time, the value of an enterprise or rather of its shares is no longer calculated as the sum of the values of its assets but determined by its ability to generate economic benefits, and the balance sheet loses interest in the income statement. This chapter analyses the new research directions regarding the value of the company in managing business risks.

The Role of CSR Reporting Instruments in Increasing the Organization's Management Performance

This integrated approach implies a broad approach to monitor the performance of the organization both during its life cycle and on the different social dimensions, from the perspective of the conformity of the management processes in relation to the economic, social, and environmental principles. Currently, the social responsibility reporting is a major challenge for the management of organizations in the context where honesty, transparency, business ethics, are values shared by an entire community. The research involves a process through which a series of correlations between the CSR reporting tools and the organization performance management can be analyzed by highlighting the role of the different reporting variables in the architecture of the performance indicators of the organization. The chapter addresses how a set of CSR reporting indicators can be identified and be integrated into the performance indicators which characterize the sustainability of a company.

Ethics in Accounting and Finance

Ethics forms the cornerstone of business and commerce today. It is the lifeblood of every institution be it private or public enterprise. Organisations have to develop and implement a properly structured policy on ethics outlaying proper governance within the institution. Accounting and finance services are crucial in managing a company's finances and wealth. In the accounting profession, in order for there to be transparency and trust, ethics is a crucial area that needs to be present. The many scandals and ethical dilemmas faced by countries organisations throughout the world has made us pause and take stock of what is happening in industry and has prompted action in law and governance towards ethics and corporate governance. South Africa too, has had its fair share of scandal that has had its legal fraternity, government, and business sector develop the Kings I, Kings II, Kings III, and Kings IV laws that stipulate corporate governance and ethics. Organisations have to be honest, professional, and transparent in their business practices.

Future Directions in Leadership Development

The problem of leadership, leader, and leadership style has provoked a considerable number of theoretical and experimental research, being one of the central themes of the psycho sociology of social groups. Being in front of a considerable volume of experimental data, obtained under very different conceptual and methodological conditions, the problem of leadership has a fragmentary character, being necessary a careful selection of the results that have a sufficient practical relevance. The objective of this chapter is to demonstrate the role of leadership development in the digital economy.

Sustainability Reporting

This chapter approaches some issues related to the implementation of sustainability reporting and its benefits within an economic entity. The main objectives of this chapter are to present a brief implementation guide of sustainability reporting, according to GRI requirements and the benefits of its use. Based on the specialized literature, the authors present various aspects encountered in implementing sustainability reporting, interpreting the information used for the internal management and the stakeholders through the sustainability indicators. All the aspects presented and analyzed are based on the existing specialized studies and on the higher education ones. The chapter ends with the authors' conclusions regarding the importance of implementing the guide of the sustainability reporting and its advantages and disadvantages in the short and long term. Through this contribution of the authors, new opportunities are opened in order to exploit the informational content specific to the sustainability reporting that is particularly relevant to all stakeholders.

Strategic Management Accounting

This chapter deals with some dimensions of strategic management accounting, including the instruments with which they operate and interconnect in order to make managerial decisions. The main objectives of this chapter are to present the general approaches of the concept of strategic management accounting, the dimensions of the application of strategic management accounting, and the strategic tools used by companies in establishing strategies and making decisions. Based on the specialized literature, the authors present the most significant theoretical-methodological approaches to strategic management accounting, the participation of management accountants in the decision-making process, the tools used by strategic management accounting. All aspects presented by the authors are based on existing literature, university studies, and specialized literature from around the world. The chapter concludes with the conclusions of the authors regarding the dimensions and implications of using the specific tools of strategic management accounting for decision making at managerial level.

The Role of the Leader in Increasing the Performance of the Entity

Business excellence models represent the entity's framework for synchronizing vision with action decisions in a more systematic and structured manner, which results in an entity's performance increase. This chapter aims to open new research and deepen directions at the intersection of accounting and management, between science and practice, with the role of potentiating performance as a result of managerial accounting and leadership vision.