Given the scant literature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting on mainland China, especially in the Western academia, the present paper aims at providing an overview of the CSR reporting requirements in that country. A comparison with major reporting trends such as the adoption of GRI‐G3 is made to further understand the development of CSR in China. A literature review of prior studies is also conducted concerning CSR in China, especially those which are available only in the Chinese language. In summary, the overview indicates that CSR reporting in China is at a very preliminary stage and more empirical research in this area is urgently called for. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance and informative earnings management (IEM) for Chinese listed firms. While most previous studies on earnings management adopt the opportunistic perspective, we examine earnings management from the informative perspective, treating discretionary accruals as a means for managers to signal private information to external stakeholders regarding the firm's future cash flows or potential earnings. We hypothesize that good corporate governance practices motivate firm managers to engage in informative earnings management. By developing a measurable proxy of IEM, we test the association of managerial IEM with internal corporate governance mechanisms. The empirical results support our hypotheses, indicating that corporate governance has a positive impact on the possibility of managerial IEM, and better corporate governance should contribute to improving the transparency of financial reporting and the informativeness of reported earnings.

PurposeIn recent years, China has been making progress in internationalizing its financial reporting system. However, it is believed that earnings management from legitimate accounting choices to fraud that violates generally accepted accounting principles, is common in the mainland. The purpose of this study is to identify the most frequently used earnings management techniques in China and the underlying factors that motivate firms to engage in earnings management.Design/methodology/approachData were gained through a questionnaire sent to managers and accountants in mainland Chinese companies.FindingsThe results show that the size and form of ownership of companies materially influence earnings management incentives and techniques in China. Public ownership companies have stronger incentives to manage earnings for management compensation, while private ownership companies pay more attention to tax expense savings. Also, several popular techniques employed in China are revealed.Originality/valueThis study presents a general picture of earnings management in China by surveying the opinions of accountants and financial managers in Chinese companies.

In view of the scarcity of studies on the relationship between national culture and total quality management (TQM), this paper examines the impact of Chinese cultural values on the total quality climate. Using a sample of 189 ISO 9000 certified companies in Taiwan, results from structural equation modeling indicate that Chinese cultural values do have a positive and statistically significant influence on these organizations’ quality climate. Given the results from a quantitative viewpoint, some congruencies among Chinese values and quality climate elements are suggested. Although using the case of Chinese culture, the theoretical proposition raised should gain generalizability in other national cultures towards a culturalist approach to the theorization of TQM.

Using a sample of total quality management (TQM) companies operating in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, a structural equation model explaining the influence of Chinese cultural values on TQM was tested. Results indicated that the proposed model demonstrated satisfactory goodness of fit. The underlying Chinese values of abasement, adaptiveness, harmony with people, harmony with the universe, interdependence, and respect for authority were found to have important influences on four quality dimensions, namely climate, processes, methods, and results.