The objective of this research is to investigate employee satisfaction in one of Indonesian busi-ness firms named BM*. The study also tries to identify different factors influencing on employee satisfaction in the firm and to give appropriate suggestion for performance improvement. Meth-odology of this research is based on a survey and a questionnaire based on Human Resource In-dex (HRI) with measure 15 is used for the assessment. The results show that employee satisfac-tion of BM* was relatively high. However, some of the attributes show the HRI were low. The study gives some insight to improve the customer satisfaction.

Six Sigma is a statistics-based approach focusing on minimizing defects and variations in prod-ucts and processes. Although it is used generally in production-based businesses, Six Sigma has been used in service sector businesses in the recent years as well. The aim of this study is to de-termine healthcare and banking sector managers’ perceptions related to Six Sigma, and compare healthcare managers and banking managers in terms of their opinions about six sigma. The study was done between February 2016 and October 2016 in private healthcare organizations and pri-vate banks operating in Turkey. The intended population of the study involves the managers working in these organizations. To compare perceptions of healthcare sector managers and bank-ing sector managers, Mann Whitney-U test was used. According to the statistical tests per-formed, there is not any statistically significant difference between healthcare sector managers and banking sector managers in terms of their view about Six Sigma. However, managers from the both sectors noted that Six Sigma could provide important advantages to their organizations. This result was considered as important because it indicates that Six Sigma can offer benefits for different and distinct parts of service sector, such as banking and healthcare.

Selection of optimum methods which have appropriate speed and precision for planning and de-cision-making has always been a challenge for investors and managers. One the most important concerns for them is investment planning and optimization for acquisition of desirable wealth under controlled risk with the best return. This paper proposes a model based on Markowitz the-orem by considering the aforementioned limitations in order to help effective decisions-making for portfolio selection. Then, the model is investigated by fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms, for the optimization of the portfolio in selected active companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2012-2016 and the results of the above models are discussed. The results show that the two studied models had functional differences in portfolio optimization, its tools and the possibility of supplementing each other and their selection.

This paper examines the association of the presence of royal family members on the board of directors with audit committee effectiveness. The sample of this study consists of 444 listed manufactured firms in Saudi Arabia for the period 2012-2019. Using the Pooled OLS regression, the result of the study shows that royal family ownership is associated with audit committee effectiveness, giving support to the substitution hypothesis. The result indicates that members from the royal families are good monitors imposed into the companies' managements as both taking the role of decision makers and owners who may substitute the effectiveness of the audit committee. The presence of royal family members on the board has an alternative for the effectiveness of the audit committee. The marginal effect of audit committee effectiveness as an internal corporate governance mechanism is substituted by the presence of royal family members on the board. This study provides insightful evidence to regulators and policy makers at the company and country levels on the relationship of royal family ownership and audit committee effectiveness.

Continuous improvement of accounting policies coincides with the increase and development of earnings management. Several studies focus on this topic, and it became subject to many investigations. This paper deals with current literature focused on several axes of earnings management like motives for practicing earnings management, earnings management types, developed models to discover earnings management, factors affecting earnings management, and the consequences of earnings management practices. Besides, this research focuses on earnings management in Saudi Arabia in particular. In the recent period, Saudi Arabia is going through changes in the Saudi economy and changes in accounting systems, such as adopting the IFRS standards, which provides opportunities for expanding research into earnings management in the Saudi Arabia context. Several studies conclude that Saudi companies' earnings management practices are done in several ways and affected by many factors.

This study aims to estimate and predict the effect of stock prices on profit volatility, net profit, and comprehensive income on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 2014-2019. The study uses quantitative analysis with secondary data consisting of 98 banking companies on the Indonesia stock exchange from 2014 to 2019. The results prove that the share price has a significant effect on net income and comprehensive income but does not have a significant effect on profit volatility, so that net and comprehensive income has relevance to the share price and investors can make both variables in conducting further fundamental research. Previous studies measured the level of volatility of earnings, net income, and comprehensive income on the share price, but when trialing other approaches by causality, share prices affect net income and comprehensive income but not for profit volatility. In this study, however, the change includes detailed income variables due to Financial Accounting Standard No. 1, a shift in terms from profit and loss statements to systematic profit and loss statements.

This paper examines the potential determinants associated with a firm’s decision to use a corporate website. The probability of web-based corporate reporting adoption was measured by using a dichotomous variable, where one is given if the firm has a website and zero otherwise. Based on a sample of 1217 US listed firms, it was found that 950 firms have a website and 267 do not. Those firms with a website are larger, more profitable and have a larger board size with more female directors when compared with firms without websites. In addition, the results of the regression analysis revealed that firm size, profitability, leverage, board size and the percentage of female directors in the boardroom have a significant positive impact on the probability of a firm having a website. However, firm age has a significant negative impact on the probability of web-based corporate reporting adoption. A weakness in the previous literature has been the neglect of firms without an online presence, which implies a potential selection bias. Consequently, this research contributes to the international accounting literature by expanding our understanding in relation to the probability of firms adopting web-based corporate reporting and the economic consequences of them doing so through reducing asymmetric information, which acts as an incentive to encourage investment.

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected the entire global financial market in an unprecedented way. Due to disruptions in the global market, the Jordanian financial market also responded to the pandemic and observed sudden volatility. The outbreak of the virus has led the management of the Jordanian market (Amman Securities Exchange / ASE) to halt trading on the secondary market during the period 17 March 2020 – 9 May 2020. Hence, using daily closing prices of listed firms, this paper empirically examines the market’s liquidity cost before its closure (2 January 2020 – 16 March 2020) and after (10 May 2020 – 31 December 2020). The premise of this objective rests on the fact that the trading activity on the secondary market, following the resumption of trading is carried- out within uncertain circumstances. The data used in this study comes from the daily trading reports published by ASE. All listed companies are included in the analysis. Based on the daily closing bid and ask prices, we calculate the daily spreads during two sub-periods (2 January 2020 – 16 March 2020 and 10 May 2020 - 31 December 2020). We then regress the daily spreads on daily stock prices, number of daily contracts, risk, and where the companies list their shares (first or second market). The main findings of this paper are threefold. First, liquidity cost in the ASE is relatively high. Second, following the resumption of trading on the secondary market, liquidity cost has increased. Third, other known determinants of liquidity cost are significant and have the expected coefficient signs. The fact that liquidity cost in the ASE is high, and higher even after the resumption of trading, necessitates some clear policy measures. These include a reduction in the currently used minimum tick.

Since late 2019 and throughout 2020, the global economy has been experiencing difficult times due to the outbreak of the lethal Coronavirus (COVID-19). This study looks at the financial impact of this epidemic on the global economy using Malaysian market index i.e. FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI before and during COVID-19. Measuring the financial impact of this epidemic on the Malaysia economy may help policy makers to develop measures to avert similar financial catastrophic impacts on the global economy. The study uses Sharpe optimal and naïve diversification model to solve a scenario that factors in the level of corporate social responsibility(CSR) exhibited before and during the epidemic to measure the financial impact on the stock portfolio. The results show that the emergence of COVID-19exacerbated the already weak Malaysian economy. Our findings may help the policy makers in Malaysia to develop and maintain techniques and policies that may mitigate the negative financial impact and handle similar epidemics in the future. Future studies could cover the financial impact of CSR using variable scoring and apply the portfolio model with practical and prevailing constraints.

The present study empirically investigates the long-run nonlinear relationship between the shadow economy and financial development targeting developing small open countries, such as Jordan. The study applied the cointegration test as an estimation technique in order to achieve its aim. The data used were mainly taken from Jordanian economy during the period (1990-2019). According to the test of Johanson cointegration, the empirical results of this study showed evidence of a long run inverted U-shaped relationship between the shadow economy and financial development. The results also showed that there is a long run positive relationship between inflation and the shadow economy. Consequently, these results lead to a profound implication when adopting policies to reduce the size of the shadow economy.