Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between characteristics of information communication technology (ICT, adoption, confidence, competency and training) and auditing practices. The paper further explained the significance of the auditing practices, evaluated the relationship between ICT characteristics (adoption, confidence, competency, training) and auditing practices. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a quantitative approach, where a set of questionnaires was developed by making necessary adaptations to available scales/items. Data were collected from practicing chartered accountants in Kerala targeting 89 respondents from various professional auditing firms. The results were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and structural equation modelling-partial least squares statistical tools. Findings The findings confirmed that there is a positive relationship between three components of ICT factors on audit practice, namely, ICT adoption, ICT competency and ICT training, whereas the factor, ICT confidence has a negative relationship with audit practice. Thus, the availability of ICT-competent staff, their practical ICT knowledge, sufficient and adequate ICT training assist audit firms from doing audit by implementing customized audit software for audit practice. Research limitations/implications A limitation of the study is that limited variables of ICT on audit practice are taken in the model. Refinement of the model and the variables (such as ICT challenges), ICT perceived benefits and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model used provide an opportunity for future research. Practical implications The barriers facing by non-big four audit firms (especially sole proprietorship and limited liability partnership firms) faces ICT challenges requires intense management interventions to be self-equipped for the current information technology (IT) world and to facilitate and to ensure fairness of financial statements to the stakeholders that strongly links auditors advance IT skills and available firms resources to investment and adopt audit software for the benefits of the audit firms. Originality/value The paper upstretched some of the ICT challenges that will assist as points, which have been helpful for future researchers, and have provided accounting and auditing professionals, auditing professional institutions and their management, government, tax officials, policy makers, auditing software vendors and other stakeholders the bases for encouraging ICT adoption.

No abstract

This paper focuses on a joint academia-industry Building Information Modeling (BIM) partnership in Ireland. The partnership was based on €3 million design and build project that was developed via a tender process in late 2012 using 'traditional' technology (including 2D CAD). The successful tender was led by Clancy Construction and their team gave the tender information to Waterford Institute of Technology for a student BIM project to be completed in the second semester of the 2012/13 academic year (January to May). The students were a mix of Architectural Technology, Construction Management and Quantity Surveying. As part of their scheduled semester modules they developed a BIM model of the proposed building. The industry partners continued to develop the 'real' design and build project in parallel with the student BIM project. At the end of the semester a full presentation by the students of their project was made to the design and build team. The paper reviews the general context of BIM in AEC Education and the associated role of academia-industry partnerships. An overview of both the industry design and build project and the student BIM project is also included and the associated lessons learned are identified. The paper concludes with an overview of the 2013/14 BIM related plans at Waterford Institute of Technology, including the extension to the academia-industry partnership agreement for everyone's benefit.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of emerging technology (technology adoption, perceived benefits, technological challenges and ease of use) and the auditing practice of accounting professionals.Design/methodology/approachThe primary method of data collection was a questionnaire directed to newly practicing chartered accountants who are partners of sole proprietorship or partnership firms in India. The data were analyzed by using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe findings revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between characteristics of emerging technology (technology adoption, technological challenges and ease of use) and auditing practice, while factors of the perceived benefits had a negative relationship with auditing practice.Research limitations/implicationsThe study model would aid technology enabled audit research by giving a platform for a new study to investigate further detailed solutions to emerging information technology determinants.Practical implicationsThis study illustrates how tools technique perceived benefit motivates sole proprietorship practicing auditors to adopt emerging technology- enabled auditing software for auditing client's financial statements. Further, this study has added to the information technology auditing literature and might add benefits to the numerous other audit firms to adopt in emerging technology tools their audit firm.Social implicationsAudit firms, generally sole proprietorship and partnership firms, should be given enough awareness about the latest audit software tools to carry out their audit tasks efficiently.Originality/valueThe study findings highlight benefits of emerging technology-enabled auditing practice among owners/partners of the sole proprietorship or partnership firms, which is not extensively discussed in the prior studies. Furthermore, it broadens knowledge of perceived benefit, technological challenges and ease of use in technology-enabled audit software in the auditing and accounting literature.

Dielectric nanocomposite elastomers based on poly(styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene) (SEBS) and SEBS-grafted-maleic anhydride (SEBS-g-MA) with barium titanate (BT) suitable for electroactive applications were successfully manufactured by using two corotating twin extrusion systems. The main purpose of the work was to investigate the thermal, mechanical, dielectric, and morphological effects of additives on SEBS and SEBS-g-MA to widen their applications for electroactive applications using fast and more cost-effective simple production process. The morphological characterization showed a good and bad dispersion of BT into SEBS-g-MA and SEBS with 34.9% and −3% dielectric permittivity change in SEBS-g-MA and SEBS upon addition of 10 wt% BT. In addition, dielectric permittivity change, thermal change (enthalpy relaxation and thermal transitions), and mechanical (Young’s modulus, hysteresis loss under multiple stress cycles, storage modulus, loss modulus, and tan δ) properties of elastomers were found to be a function of additive concentration, compatibility and interaction between elastomers and additive type, orientation of additives, and reinforcing factors of additives in elastomers. A simple and effective modeling technique was used to demonstrate the effects of dielectric properties on nanocomposites due to poor dispersion of additives.