Teaching effectiveness of non-native English-speaking teachers (NNEST) in accounting, economics and finance has become a significant issue due to the increasing trend of hiring NNEST in business schools. However, the literature has focused on the English language competence of NNEST, which is only one element of the factors that influence teaching effectiveness. This study examines students' perceptions of teaching effectiveness of NNEST in business disciplines in an Australian university to understand relevant NNEST issues of teaching from a cross-cultural communication perspective. Data were gathered via focus groups and student evaluation of teacher performance surveys. The thematic content analysis of the data indicated that students acknowledge that NNEST are knowledgeable and hardworking teachers; however, issues of intercultural communication apprehension hinder their teaching effectiveness. Besides, ethnocentric world views of students tend to adversely influence the teaching evaluation of NNEST. This study concludes that NNEST's issues are broader than mere linguistic competence, which suggests that business schools should focus on enhancing cultural understanding and minimising intercultural communication apprehension of NNEST in efforts aimed at enhancing NNEST's teaching effectiveness.

Purpose This paper aims to examine ethnographic evidence on the acculturation of non-native English-speaking teachers in accounting (ANNESTs) in an Australian university to understand the process, strategies and outcomes of the acculturation process. Design/methodology/approach Ethnographies of five ANNESTs representing diverse cultural backgrounds were studied. Data were collected from publicly available sources and informal discussions supplemented by semi-structured interviews. Findings The findings show that integration – that is, learning and participating in the Australian host culture while maintaining original cultural values – is the most popular acculturation strategy, followed by assimilation, whereby ANNESTs interact primarily with the host culture and retain loose links with their original culture. ANNESTs covered in this study fall into different stages of the acculturation process depending on their English language competency, the extent of contact with native Australians, cultural proximity and length of residence in Australia. Practical implications This paper concludes that challenges of acculturation confronting ANNESTs concern broader cultural issues than language proficiency alone. Institutional support directed at enhancing teaching effectiveness of ANNESTs should be devised from this perspective. Originality/value Given the cultural relevance of accounting systems and the influence of culture on the learning and teaching styles of ANNEST, the study illuminates that ANNEST’s acculturation strategies could facilitate or hinder the ANNEST’s speed of cultural understanding necessary to productively engage in the learning and teaching.

In this paper, we examine the factors that influence the development of accounting and reporting practices in Sri Lanka in the backdrop of its political and economic environment. We find that the early days of accounting in Sri Lanka were heavily influenced by the British colonial system. Subsequently, its greatest influence was derived from the regulatory and institutional framework backed by local and British professional accounting bodies. We also interview key stakeholders to draw insights on how the institutional factors contribute to the development of financial reporting in Sri Lanka. We discover that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) is a key player in developing and implementing accounting standards and the best financial reporting practices. We observe that although the Sri Lankan Government has undertaken many initiatives to improve the quality of financial reporting, monitoring and enforcing regulations remain weak partly due to political interference. Therefore, we suggest that strengthening the existing regulatory mechanisms will help to improve the reporting quality and build investor confidence.

We examine the effect of independent directors’ (IDs’) heterogeneous directorships on performance and diversification of high growth firms in a sample of 1152 firm-year Australian listed company observations over the period 2007 to 2010. We find a positive association between some measures of IDs’ heterogeneous directorships and the firm performance of high-growth firms as measured by return on assets. We also find a positive association between IDs’ heterogeneous board ties and firm diversification. This study highlights that decisions concerning the appointment of IDs to corporate boards should be based on the strategic context of their other directorships. We extend the literature on multiple directorships by showing that it is not a narrow focus on the number of directorships as a proxy for reputation or busyness that matters. Instead, it is the precise nature of these directorships.

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