This study examines the effect of accounting knowledge and experiences of Iranian bank officers on the audit expectation gap, and investigates whether the gap mediates (or explains) the individual factor-loan decision performance relationship. Copies of a structured questionnaire were distributed to 113 loan officers from five large commercial banks in Iran and responses of 111 bank officers were analysed. The results show the existence of a fairly large audit expectation gap among the Iranian bank loan officers, and accounting knowledge was found to significantly mitigate the extent of the gap. More importantly, this study found a highly significant negative relationship between the audit expectation gap and loan decision performance of the Iranian bank officers. Further analyses indicate that the audit expectation gap fully mediates the individual knowledge-performance relationship. The findings of this study have important policy implications for recruitment and training of the bank officers.

Based on the knowledge sharing model by Nonaka (1994), this study examines the relative efficacy of various Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) applications in facilitating sharing of explicit and tacit knowledge among professional accountants in Malaysia. The results of this study indicate that ICTs, generally, facilitate all modes of knowledge sharing. Best‐Practice Repositories are effective for sharing of both explicit and tacit knowledge, while internet/e‐mail facilities are effective for tacit knowledge sharing. Data warehousing/mining, on the other hand, is effective in facilitating self learning through tacit‐to‐tacit mode and explicit‐to‐explicit mode. ICT facilities used mainly for office administration are ineffective for knowledge sharing purpose. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of intensity of market competition and strategic orientation on the adoption of green initiatives among public listed companies (PLCs) in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was distributed to all 921 PLCs, and 120 samples were analysed. This study used a statistical tool named partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM) for data analysis. Interviews were also conducted with a few selected companies to obtain in-depth information on green practices. Findings The findings of this paper reveal that strategic orientation significantly influences the adoption of green initiatives in Malaysian PLCs while the intensity of market competition does not. Competition on green products or services is not prevalent yet in Malaysia; hence, PLCs are reluctant to make huge investment in green activities. The extent of green initiatives adoption in Malaysian PLCs is just at a moderate level, suggesting that Malaysian PLCs are not so proactive but in the progressing stage of practicing green. PLCs still need some incentives to adopt more green initiatives. Research limitations/implications The present study only focussed on the green initiatives adoption in Malaysian PLCs; hence, the research findings may not be generalizable to other countries. This study only considered the contingency theory and stakeholder theory. Due to the time and cost constraints, the data were collected at only one single point of time; thus, it may inherit the usual limitations of cross-sectional data. Practical implications The findings of this study also give empirical evidence to the practitioners that their decisions to adopt green initiatives are significantly influenced by certain factors. Companies need to understand the key drivers of their green initiatives in order for them to meet the green challenges and to ultimately derive performance from their implementations. Regulatory authorities and financial institutions could facilitate and encourage for the effective implementation of green initiatives by providing more incentives and facilities. Social implications The findings of this study that provide the forces of green initiatives would arouse more environmental concerns among individuals, organizations, and society. The findings of this study also open an eye to the society that commitment of everyone, including upper and lower level of position, is needed in order to create the culture of green for the benefit of society as a whole. Originality/value This study contributes to the environmental management literature in the context of green and sustainable development, and to nurture green practices among industries and society for the aims to achieve the sustainability agenda. This study is conducted to explain the motivation behind the proactive decisions on sustainability practices. The current literature on green issues and sustainability provides limited evidence on what really drives companies to practice green.

Abstract:Environmental issues bring about thoughtful questions on the roles of business organisations in society. Irrespective of whether they are contributing to a better environment or worsening it, organisations have to acknowledge environmental or green issues through impact research and measurement. This article aims to examine the extent of green initiatives adoption and its impact on environmental performance of public listed companies (PLCs) in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey was conducted on PLCs and data from 120 samples were analysed using a statistical tool partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Interviews were also conducted with a few selected companies to obtain in-depth information on green practices and to support the survey findings. The findings reveal that the extent of green initiatives adoption and environmental performance is at moderate level. Green initiatives adoption positively affects the environmental performance of Malaysian PLCs. The present study contributes to the literature of environmental management in the context of green and sustainable development. It also provides some important contributions for management practices by providing empirical evidence to managers that green initiatives should be extensively adopted to enhance environmental performances.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to present a study on relationships between the design of management control systems (MCS), the use of MCS and organisational learning (OL). Design/methodology/approach -This study adopted a survey method. A written questionnaire was prepared and mailed out to collect quantitative data. After analysis of the empirical results, follow-up interviews were conducted to develop a deeper understanding of the empirical results. Findings -Findings of the study show that both the design and use of MCS are significantly associated with levels of OL activities in organisations, and the use of MCS is found to be a more influential factor in OL. Originality/value -This paper contributes to the accounting literature by providing empirical evidence on the relative impacts of the design and use of MCS on OL activities in organisations and the interaction between the design and use of MCS in influencing OL.