Contenu du sommaire : Varia

Earnings management and voluntary delistings: the French case of OPROThis article investigates the accounting behaviour of managers who voluntarily bring their firm private in the context of a BOSO (the French mechanism of Buy out Offer with Squeeze Out). We make the hypothesis of negative earnings management before the delisting in order to minimise the price offered to minority shareholders. A quantitative study is performed using a unique dataset spanning 1997-2006. This data set consists of 140 French firms, of which 70 were voluntarily delisted via BOSO and 70 were business-matched control fi rms. We measure the discretionary accruals and we find a significative earnings management one year before the delisting for the firms which were voluntarily delisted (around – 6 % of total assets). Conversely, the control sample exhibits no earnings management. The results show more aggressive earnings management when the majority shareholder did not enhance its control just before the delisting.

The determining factors for audit quality, the case of governmental financial statements auditThe financial audit of the governmental accounts is part of an international movement of reforms. The point for this study is to develop a model of specific factors for the public accounts audit quality.The modelling is based on a longitudinal case study (2006-2009) carried out in the Cour des comptes and within the framework of a participant observation. The employed data are interviews (41), experimental and bibliographic data.Factors for public accounts audit quality result from inferential approach (literature review) and from inductive approach. They are introduced following two groups: organizational skills and human skills.

Roles assigned to management accounting by managers and accounting change: a question of adequateness or a mere disillusion?The non-satisfaction stemming from mainstream perspectives on the use of management accounting by managers is bound to that they suffer from a lack of alignment with the specificities of the managerial work and to that they have produced diffuse and non-integrated knowledge. By adopting a managerial perspective, this paper informs on the roles assigned to management accounting by managers within a context of major accounting change. Based upon a case study of a large organization in the manufacturing sector, the findings shed light on the coexistence of four roles of management accounting. Notwithstanding this, it was highlighted that information and relation roles dominate decision-making and cognitive roles. We emphasize the inadequateness of the accounting change with managers' expectations in terms of roles assigned to management accounting. A large cognitive gap between managers and designers of the new accounting device is outlined. This gap is partly due to a lack of appropriate measures to assist managers in accomplishing their organizational roles.

Franchising network controlFranchising network control issue is pointed out, taking into account the specific nature of this type of network, franchisor and franchisees motivation and behaviour as well as the different dimensions of the implemented control.An analysis of control within franchising networks is developed, underscoring various levers of control that are used and their evolution over time.An interview-based exploratory research has been carried out among ten franchisees and franchisors. Findings seem to support the proposed representation.Proposals about franchising network levers of control (operations conformity control, effectiveness management control and social control) are made and a global pattern is set out that includes different phases all over the franchisor-franchisee relationship life cycle (before exploitation start, at operations start, at exploitation stabilization stage, at the contract renewal and after).

Revisiting the controller's role: a North American perspectiveThis article deals with the role and activities of controllers in a North American context. The North American controller is a managerial member of the finance function and often is a member of a professional accounting body. He is globally responsible for the management control process of his organization and specifically responsible for control tools and practices, including budgeting. The literature presents two contradictory images of the controller. The stereotypical image of a bean counter emerges extensively. Simultaneously, normative descriptions prepared by accounting bodies and others portray controllers as business partners. The fact that the normative view of the accountant as business partner has so often been called into question suggests that transition to this role has proven difficult.Four profiles of the accountant in organization emerge : fiduciary, analyst, hybrid and transactional. These profiles are differentiated by the activities performed by accountants and by their role orientation. The emergence of specific role profiles is explained in part by the task orientation of the respondent, his experience in external auditing, the sector of activity and the ownership structure of the fi rm.

The international accounting standardisation crisis, an intellectual crisis
The international accounting standardisation crisis is not a strictly technical crisis linked to a bad application of the fair value criteria, but an intellectual crisis related to the conceptual framework and its underlying episteme. This framework, from which international standards issue, is in itself a factor of market instability, and to an even greater extent, of corporate instability. Centering solely on the information needs of investors, it transmits a representation and stock management of the company that negates and destabilises it as an economic and social entity. The international standards-setter finds itself faced with a real intellectual crisis that calls for a complete re-think of its conceptual framework through reference to an enhanced vision of the company, thus opening up new opportunities for theoretical research on accounting concepts and principles for researchers in accounting.