About
166
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Introduction
Dr. Lawrence Murphy Smith is a Professor of Accounting in the College of Business at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. His academic record includes over 200 journal articles, 23 books and monographs, 175 academic conference presentations, 37 research grants, and 28 awards and special recognitions for teaching and research. His research is highly referenced, with over 5,000 citations to his work shown on Google Scholar.
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September 1981 - May 1984
August 2011 - August 2017
August 2017 - present
Education
June 1979 - August 1983
Publications
Publications (166)
In 1494, the first book on double-entry accounting was published by Luca Pacioli. Since Pacioli was a Franciscan friar, he might be referred to simply as Friar Luca. While Friar Luca is regarded as the "Father of Accounting," he did not invent the system. Instead, he simply described a method used by merchants in Venice during the Italian Renaissan...
Research on environmental matters is interdisciplinary, involving business, history, sociology, and science. Taking care of the environment has long been an important issue, going back to ancient times. As part of corporate social responsibility, companies are expected to safeguard the physical environment. To be identified as “green” or “environme...
Empirical research has shown that public policy such as tax and transfer programs have had a deleterious effect on marital stability. This study analyzes the cost to individuals of various aspects of the marriage penalty tax (MPT) and thereby how it discourages marriage and how it harms both individuals and society at large. Decline of the family,...
This article (editorial) proposes actions to be taken by educators and practitioners in providing ethical direction to the accounting profession. In the wake of corporate scandals and a shaky stock market, Congress passed legislation that established a new board to oversee auditors of publicly traded companies and increased prison sentences for fra...
This study examines some of the documentation tools and techniques that forensic accountants, internal auditors, external auditors, and others can use to document accounting and financial reporting systems under investigation. While prior research has addressed these items piecemeal, this study is the first to incorporate them, along with current r...
Human trafficking continues to be a profitable multi-billion dollar business. People are either callous toward human rights or they are unaware of the crime occurring. Many businesses may unknowingly facilitate human trafficking by providing services, such as transportation, hotels, or haircuts, or purchasing products from unfamiliar sources that s...
The success of business firms and other organizations relies on the trustworthiness of reports and other documents prepared by management accountants. This study examines the personal ethical values and ethical value types of management accountants. Data were obtained from a survey of members of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). The su...
Prior research has examined the relationship of religiosity to aspects of business risks, notably, the ethical environment in which business firms operate. Religiosity is connected to economic factors and societal factors. This study examines the relationship of religion-based ethics, specifically Judeo-Christian ethicality, in a country (measured...
In this study, we examine major cryptocurrencies, present notable fraud cases, describe fraud risks, and analyze cryptocurrency financial performance. People debate whether cryptocurrency is an investment opportunity, the new Dutch Tulip Bubble, or a giant Ponzi scheme. There have been a number of high-profile fraud cases associated with cryptocurr...
Purpose
Cyber terrorism poses a serious technology risk to businesses and the economies they operate in. Cyber terrorism is a digital attack on computers, networks or digital information systems, carried out to coerce people or governments to further the social or political objectives of the attacker. Cyber terrorism is costly in terms of impaired...
In 1494, the first printed book on double-entry accounting was written by Franciscan Friar Luca Pacioli, later called the Father of Accounting. He would become close friends with Leonardo da Vinci, the iconic symbol of the Renaissance. This study analyzes simultaneously the lives of Pacioli and Leonardo, using a ‘biographical lens’ approach, incorp...
Research has shown that rankings of personal values significantly differ between accounting professionals and accounting students in the United States and other countries. This difference implies a lack of Person-Organization (P-O) fit between students and the accounting profession. This study presents an educational pedagogy, using both a Curricul...
Relationship marketing uses a strong relationship between seller and customer to offset limitations of selling an intangible service, such as insurance. Social media can facilitate interactions between agent and customer, thus strengthening the relationship. Customers willingly connect with companies via social media. This article examines the soci...
Helping students to gain an understanding of accounting issues and to master technical skills are critical to their success in the accounting and business fields. At the same time, educators can assist students by helping them develop character and personal values such as compassion. Being compassionate has a positive impact on a person’s life as w...
Purpose
Congruence of personal values to organizational (the profession) values affects job performance, job satisfaction and ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to answer two research questions: (1) what are the personal ethical values of today's leaders in the US accounting profession and (2) are these personal ethical values congruent...
Corporate image advertising seeks to improve the reputation of a business, rather than promoting products or services. This study presents a descriptive analysis of corporate image advertising in the banking industry. Advertising by major banks from 2012 to 2019 is examined by content, usage, and audience response. Six advertising themes are identi...
Social media can be used for multiple purposes within the legal profession, such as client development, networking, disseminating information, and building awareness of the firm and its practices. This study found that the more social media platforms a firm uses, the higher its ranking among prestigious law firms. Based on the practices of successf...
Research has shown that a company benefits from including social media in its marketing mix. There is a continual increase in tweets, blogs, posts, and other applications of social media to connect to clients, employees, and other stakeholders. There are a number of social media platforms, ranging from older entries such as FaceBook and YouTube, to...
Purpose
Cybercrime is a prevalent and serious threat to publicly traded companies. Defending company information systems from cybercrime is one of the most important aspects of technology management. Cybercrime often not only results in stolen assets and lost business but also damages a company’s reputation, which in turn may affect the company’s...
Portfolio 5136-2nd, Contingent Environmental Liabilities: Disclosures and Accounting, explains how to account for and disclose contingent environmental liabilities. Accounting for environmental liabilities is increasingly important in an era of heightened scrutiny, a rise in socially responsible investing, and demands by stakeholders for increased...
Consumer demand for low prices juxtaposing with a company’s need for profitability drives corporations to minimize the costs of goods within their supply chains. This has led some unethical business managers to engage in human exploitation within company supply chains. However, consumers also demand that human rights are not violated in the making...
Consumer demand for low prices juxtaposing with a company's need for profitability drives corporations to minimise the costs of goods within their supply chains. This has led some unethical business managers to engage in human exploitation within company supply chains. However, consumers also demand that human rights are not violated in the making...
This study extends earlier research regarding the relationship of corruption to economic activity. Corruption negatively affects all members of society but research indicates a gender bias, specifically, that women are more vulnerable and suffer to a greater extent than men. In the current study, three measures of economic activity are examined: gr...
Research in philosophy, sociology, history, and business indicates that the family is the key building block of a nation or culture. In families, parents often struggle with time allocation between their jobs and family life. The pursuit of career and wealth can easily become over-prioritised to the detriment of family. Even in ancient times, this...
One of the biggest issues facing the global agriculture industry is the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in crops and food products. This study compares financial performance of major GMO food companies to other industries. Findings indicate that GMO companies had an average higher return on equity but also a higher level of risk. In ad...
This study reports on a survey of Millennials in the USA regarding GMO foods. Potential benefits of GMO food crops include improving agricultural productivity, such as insect-resistant and drought-resistant crops, and alleviating world hunger, particularly in developing countries. Scientific research fully supports the health and safety of GMO food...
Prior research has shown that a work environment that facilitates worklife balance not only benefits the personal lives of employees but also leads to better job performance and ethical decision-making. Allocation of time between career and personal life is an age-old challenge for working people. Work-life balance refers to the manner in which peo...
This paper presents effects of an online homework management system OHMS in a tax accounting course. An examination is made of student performance and perceptions with and without use of an OHMS in an undergraduate upper-level tax accounting course. Students indicated that they perceived their learning performance was enhanced due to use of the OHM...
Pensions are important to government employees. In the USA, some states fund almost 100% of the present value of future pension obligations; while in other states, the funding is substantially lacking. Results of this study show that states with lower state expenditures per capita, relative to states with higher expenditures, have provided better f...
This study provides an economic and financial performance analysis of prominent companies in the meat industry in the aftermath of public policy initiatives that divert corn to making biofuel and away from making food and animal feed. Results should be of interest to policy makers, investors, and other stakeholders. An important part of personal an...
This study provides a longitudinal analysis of print advertising by professional accounting firms for the period 1988 to 2012. Findings indicate that the most common messages of recent ads pertain to general image of the firm, auditing services, and tax services. The majority of ads in the most recent time period include a web address. Print advert...
People face the difficulty of how to allocate their limited time between work and non-work activities; this is the age-old problem of work-life balance. Facilitating work-life balance for its employees is a vital aspect of best practices in business management, which will engender higher levels of employee job performance and ethical behaviour. Thi...
This study examines factors associated with human trafficking in states of the USA. A better understanding of human trafficking can benefit anti-trafficking efforts of public administrators in governmental agencies, business organisations, and private citizens in non-governmental organisations. Findings indicate that locations with higher rates of...
This study provides an economic and financial performance analysis of prominent companies in the meat industry in the aftermath of public policy initiatives that divert corn to making biofuel and away from making food and animal feed. Results should be of interest to policy makers, investors, and other stakeholders. An important part of personal an...
More than ever, companies are tweeting, posting, blogging, and generally using social media networks to communicate with their consumers, employees, and other stakeholders. With the emergence of new social networks, companies are in the process of testing which network works best for them. Since consumers have different preferences and needs that m...
This article provides an overview of the importance of business and accounting ethics. Ethical values provide the foundation on which a civilized society exists. Without the foundation, civilization collapses. On a personal level, everyone must answer the following question: What is my highest aspiration? The answer might be wealth, fame, knowledge...
The mastery of the spreadsheet technique has become almost universal in economics departments. The authors explain, step-by-step, how the spreadsheet can be used as an instructional aid to teach basic microeconomic concepts.
In 2009, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) mandated public firms to file their financial statements using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). The SEC's main motive behind this mandate is that XBRL filings would enhance the informational efficiency in the stock markets by making financial data easier to use and analyze for a broad...
This article examines the public opinion of energy companies and the advertising they are using in order to counteract negative consumer opinion. Since today's consumers perceive that they are paying higher prices for gasoline, they want the sense of receiving more value for their money. Many consumers now choose their gasoline based on brand benef...
Human trafficking is the exploitation of people as property for forced labour, sexual exploitation, and organ trade. Human trafficking is a major crime industry, generating about $32 billion in revenues annually. This study examines the global scope of human trafficking and its negative effect on world society. This study tests the relationship bet...
Need for innovative and active-learning activities to enhance the teaching-learning experience have never been greater. Students of the 'video generation', compared to prior generations, often have learning styles that are not well matched to the traditional classroom lecture format of teaching. Use of case studies is well documented as an effectiv...
Finding a balance between allocating one's time for work and non-work activities is a challenge people face around the world. The global marketplace and advances in technology have played a role in requiring professionals to allocate more time to improving their job skills and knowledge in order to stay competitive. With this increase in time spent...
Companies and individuals are increasingly concerned about employee-friendly work environments and work-life balance. Past research shows that employee-friendly work environments and particularly work-life balance contribute to employee satisfaction. The present study addresses two important related research questions. First, while employee-friendl...
The adverse effect of corruption has been widely investigated in the literature. Corruption is said to hamper both economic and human development. A foe of transparency and ethical business ambiance, corruption promotes a trans-lucid accounting milieu. In this paper, we investigate the governmental accounting framework in a set of Sub-Saharan count...
The decision whether to require publicly traded companies to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) remains in flux. In 2008, the US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a roadmap leading to complete acceptance of IFRS in the US. With the potential replacement of US GAAP with IFRS in the near future, understanding the impac...
This study examines the influence of firm management's ethical "tone at the top" (tone) and the working relationship of an auditor with his/her supervisor (senior) on the auditor's propensity to engage in an unethical, dysfunctional auditor behavior (DAB). Findings indicate that environmental factors influence the staff auditor's decision of whethe...
Assessing operational risk, particularly related to internal control, is increasingly important to business firms. This is especially the case for publicly traded companies that are engaged in multinational operations, which involve additional complexity and risk. In the United States, for example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires public companies t...
Accounting principles in the United States are converging toward international standards. If convergence continues, and there are proponents and detractors, then the U.S. system of accounting, called Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), will eventually be replaced by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Convergence has pr...
The relationship between corruption and economic activity is a complex one. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship in selected countries between level of corruption and economic activity, using data obtained from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Transparency International (TI). Transparency Inter...
Research suggests that new information technologies can improve the functionality of business processes, leading to improved firm profitability. However, new technologies are not equal in their contributions to a company’s bottom line. Further, there is some debate as to whether early adopters of new technology benefit over later adopters. This stu...
The role of gender is an important issue in the accounting field, both in practice and in higher education. This study provides a longitudinal analysis of female authorship of articles published in six major accounting journals, three academic journals and three professional journals: The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal...
A geographic information system (GIS) is an information technology tool which supports presentation, analysis and communication of the geospatial dimension of data. GIS tools have made significant contributions to decision making in marketing, finance, accounting and business intelligence. Business educators can help their students by using teachin...
This paper presents perspectives of accounting faculty members on the relative importance of topics that should be presented in a one-semester graduate level international taxation course. Understanding of international taxation has become an increasingly critical part of the tax and accounting practices of the big four and other major public accou...
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Using a sample of 304 Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), this paper investigates gender differences in moral development and personal value preferences of CPAs. We used the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to measure moral development, the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) (Rokeach, 1973) to determine value preferences, and the Musser and Orke (1992) typology...
Use of case problems is a well established pedagogy for enhancing student learning. This paper describes development of an international consolidation case problem and reports how students responded to its assignment. The case problem could be effectively used in accounting classes such as international accounting and advanced accounting. Further,...
Use of accounting information to assess a firm's value is a very important subject for financial analysts, investors, lenders, policy-makers, and other market participants. This study compares the relative performance of three valuation models based on a sample of all relevant American Depositary Shares (ADRs) from selected Asian countries and a ma...
In December 2008, the SEC approved final rules which require companies to submit financial statements in XBRL format with their SEC filings, beginning with quarterly June 2009 filings for the largest companies and within three years for all public companies. Previously, the SEC established a voluntary filing programme for XBRL reporting in March 20...
The adverse effect of corruption has been widely investigated in literature. Corruption is said to hamper both economic and human development. A foe of transparency and ethical business ambiance, corruption promotes a trans-lucid accounting milieu. In this paper we investigate the impact of corruption in structuring a country’s governmental account...
Ethical corporate citizenship and good corporate governance have received increased attention since the financial scandals prevalent at the beginning of the new millennium. This study first explores the relationship of ethical corporate citizenship to financial performance (i.e., greater profitability and efficiency, and lower cost of capital). Sec...
Cybercrime, also called e-crime, costs publicly traded companies billions of dollars annually in stolen assets and lost business. Cybercrime can totally disrupt a company’s marketing activities. Further, when a company falls prey to cyber criminals, this may cause customers to worry about the security of their business transactions with the company...
This study is an extension of prior research that quantifies the magnitude of the marriage penalty tax (MPT) and measures the distributional effects on the U.S. population in general. We use the Internal Revenue Service’s Statistics of Income (SOI) data and the Census Bureau’s year Current Population Survey (CPS) database. Estimates of the MPT are...
Brand associations affect image and one source of brand association is a company’s reputation. While the relationship between a positive corporate reputation and operational performance is intuitively appealing, there has been relatively little empirical research. This study, using a comprehensive approach, seeks to empirically test the relationshi...
Accounting regulation is one aspect of the government's role in protecting the investing public's interest. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was an effort by the US Congress to remedy negative effects of earlier major accounting failures. Requirements of SOX highlight the critical role of internal control as a component of accurate and reliable...
The purpose of this study is to examine the current developments in the distribution of men and women in accounting academia, including university faculty positions and in leadership roles in the American Accounting Association (AAA). The study also reviews women's participation in the accounting practice field. The proportion of faculty positions...
Questions
Question (1)
IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) are now required or accepted in over 120 countries. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revised its rules in December 2007 permitting non-U.S. companies to file financial statements prepared according to IFRS without reconciliation to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) if the financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). On a 1 to 10 scale (1=very unlikely, 5=neutral, 10=very likely) how likely is the U.S. to accept IFRS for financial reporting by U.S.-based publicly traded corporations?
