This study discusses the future directions of effective Design for Deconstruction (DfD) using BIM-based approach to design coordination. After a review of extant literatures on existing DfD practices and tools, it became evident that none of the tools is BIM compliant and that BIM implementation has been ignored for end-of-life activities. To understand how BIM could be employed for DfD and to identify essential functionalities for a BIM-based deconstruction tool, Focus Group Interviews (FGIs) were conducted with professionals who have utilised BIM on their projects. The interview transcripts of the FGIs were analysed using descriptive interpretive analysis to identify common themes based on the experiences of the participants. The themes highlight functionalities of BIM in driving effective DfD process, which include improved collaboration among stakeholders, visualisation of deconstruction process, identification of recoverable materials, deconstruction plan development, performance analysis and simulation of end-of-life alternatives, improved building lifecycle management, and interoperability with existing BIM software. The results provide the needed technological support for developing tools for BIM compliant DfD tools.

Despite the relevance of building information modelling for simulating building performance at various life cycle stages, Its use for assessing the end-of-life impacts is not a common practice. Even though the global sustainability and circular economy agendas require that buildings must have minimal impact on the environment across the entire lifecycle. In this study therefore, a disassembly and deconstruction analytics system is developed to provide buildings’ end-of-life performance assessment from the design stage. The system architecture builds on the existing building information modelling capabilities in managing building design and construction process. The architecture is made up of four different layers namely (i) Data storage layer, (ii) Semantic layer, (iii) Analytics and functional models layer and (iv) Application layer. The four layers are logically connected to function as a single system. Three key functionalities of the disassembly and deconstruction analytics system namely (i) Building Whole Life Performance Analytics (ii) Building Element Deconstruction Analytics and (iii) Design for Deconstruction Advisor are implemented as plug-in in Revit 2017. Three scenarios of a case study building design were used to test and evaluate the performance of the system. The results show that building information modelling software capabilities can be extended to provide a platform for assessing the performance of building designs in respect of the circular economy principle of keeping the embodied energy of materials perpetually in an economy. The disassembly and deconstruction analytics system would ensure that buildings are designed with design for disassembly and deconstruction principles that guarantee efficient materials recovery in mind. The disassembly and deconstruction analytics tool could also serve as a decision support platform that government and planners can use to evaluate the level of compliance of building designs to circular economy and sustainability requirements.

Purpose: This paper contends that the dominant voluntarism approach to the accountability of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) is inadequate and not fit-for-purpose. It argues for the establishment of an international legal mechanism for securing the accountability of TNCs particularly in the context of developing countries with notoriously weak governance mechanisms to protect all relevant stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts insights from the fields of management and international law to draw out synergies from particular understandings of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and international human rights. The governance challenges in developing countries with regard to securing the accountability of TNCs is illustrated with the Nigerian experience of oil-industry legislation reform. Findings: The specific context of the experiences of developing countries in Africa on the operations of TNCs particularly commends the need and expedience to create an international legal regime for ensuring the accountability of TNCs. Originality/value: Mainstream research in this area has focused mainly on self and voluntary models of regulation and accountability that have privileged the legal fiction of the corporate status of TNCs. This article departs from that model to argue for an enforceable model of TNC accountability based on an international mechanism.

Purpose- This paper aims to (1) investigate the position of International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in the International Federation of Accountants’ countries’ status on International Standards on Auditing’s adoption and (2) assess the factors influencing ISA adoption in these Centres. Design/methodology/approach- This research drew its data from various sources, including the World Economic Forum dataset, the World Bank Report on Observation of Standards and Codes, the World Development Indicators and the Economic Intelligence Unit Report on Democracy Index on fifty countries classified as IFSCs. The adoption status is then regressed on a number of variables of interest. To establish that our results are robust, we used a combination of different regression techniques comprising OLS, multinomial and logistic regressions. Findings- In addition to GDP growth and education level, this paper adds new evidence to the literature by reporting the positive association between the level of democracy and the enforcement of securities’ regulation on ISA adoption. It argues that political, economic, social and legal factors impact on ISA adoption in the IFSCs. Research limitations/implications- The sample size is limited to 50 from a population of 99 IFSCs because of lack of data. Some of the independent variables are basically archival data. Reliance is placed on WEF with regard to the measurement of protection of minority interest, securities and exchange regulations, and on Economic Intelligence Unit for democracy index. Practical implications- This paper stresses the importance of ISAs in IFSCs and the role of political power and the enforcement of securities laws on the adoption of ISA. Originality/value-This study fills the research gap relating to the absence of empirical studies on ISA adoption and its drivers in IFSCs.

Purpose: This paper contends that the dominant voluntarism approach to the accountability of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) is inadequate and not fit-for-purpose. It argues for the establishment of an international legal mechanism for securing the accountability of TNCs particularly in the context of developing countries with notoriously weak governance mechanisms to protect all relevant stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts insights from the fields of management and international law to draw out synergies from particular understandings of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and international human rights. The governance challenges in developing countries with regard to securing the accountability of TNCs is illustrated with the Nigerian experience of oil-industry legislation reform. Findings: The specific context of the experiences of developing countries in Africa on the operations of TNCs particularly commends the need and expedience to create an international legal regime for ensuring the accountability of TNCs. Originality/value: Mainstream research in this area has focused mainly on self and voluntary models of regulation and accountability that have privileged the legal fiction of the corporate status of TNCs. This article departs from that model to argue for an enforceable model of TNC accountability based on an international mechanism.

Environmental irresponsibility is one of the most prominent issues confronting host communities of transnational corporations (TNCs) engaged in the production of economic goods and, sometimes, services. Drawing mainly on stakeholder theory, combined with legitimacy theory, this article addresses how host communities in Africa combat the challenge of environmental irresponsibility of TNCs. To illustrate the dimensions and dynamics of the challenge, this paper examines the experience of despoliation of Ogoniland by the oil giant Shell in Nigeria. The analysis draws attention to the significance of the role of individuals and civil society groups in securing accountability of one of the most formidable fronts of economic globalisation. The analysis is particularly relevant to the experience of environmental irresponsibility in the context of weak governance structures.

Despite the proliferation of studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is a lack of consensus and a cardinal methodological base for research on the quality of CSR communication. Over the decades, studies in this space have remained conflicting, unintegrated and sometimes overlapping. Drawing on semiotics – a linguistic-based theoretical and analytical tool, our article explores an alternative perspective to evaluating the quality and reliability of sustainability reports. Our article advances CSR communication research by introducing a theoretical-cum-methodological perspective which provides unique insights into how to evaluate the quality of CSR communication. Particularly, we illustrate the application of our proposed methodology on selected UK FTSE100 companies. Our two-phased analysis employed the Greimas Canonical Narrative Schema and the Semiotic Square of Veridiction in drawing meanings from selected sustainability/CSR reports. In addition, we present a distinctive CSR Report Quality Model capable of guiding policy makers and firms in designing sustainability/CSR reporting standards.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that are perceived as important for the statutory audit function to restore confidence in the financial statements, its value relevance and decision usefulness in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach – This research used a structured questionnaire to collect data from practising accountants, auditors and accounting academics within the UK. A factor analysis was undertaken to examine the potential inter-correlations that could exist between different factors obtained from the literature. The analysis reduced these variables into the more important factors which were subsequently modelled in a logistic regression analysis. Findings – The paper identified, as critical factors for enhancing statutory audits, “a continuously updated accounting curriculum”, “expansion of the auditor's role”, “frequent meetings between regulators and auditors”, “mandatory rotation of auditors”, “limiting the provision of non-audit services”, “knowledge requirements from disciplines other than accounting” and “encouraging joint audits”. It is hoped that addressing these issues might improve confidence in the audit profession, thereby reinforcing its value relevance. Research limitations/implications – The study's findings imply that professional accountancy bodies, accounting educators and accounting firms will need to incorporate the key factors identified in this study into their curriculum and training schemes. However, the generalisability of these findings might be limited as the research data were primarily obtained from UK accountants alone. Originality/value – This study extends the frontiers of knowledge on critical factors that could reinforce users’ confidence in the statutory audit function and have implications for policy and practice.

This study investigates the speed and drivers of IPSAS adoption in Indonesia. Using data from 205 local government entities, the results show while the interaction between auditors and representatives of opposition on the council has more impact on the speed of adoption than with the councillors representing the government, the timing of the council meeting has delayed the adoption of IPSAS accrual. Government grant, Supreme Audit Office, councillors and religious beliefs are the isomorphic drivers of IPSAS adoption. Our results support the hypotheses that the three institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic and normative) influence the speed of IPSAS adoption.

This study comparatively assesses the influence of board busyness (i.e., multiple directorships of outside directors) on stock market valuations of both Islamic and conventional banks. For a sample of listed banks from 11 countries for the period 2010-2015, results show that board busyness is differentially priced by investors depending on the bank type. In conventional banks, board busyness is significantly and positively valued by the stock market. This result suggests that investors perceive some reputational benefits arising from a busy board (e.g., extended industry knowledge, established external networks or facilitation of external market sources). In contrast, we find no supporting evidence on the market valuations of board busyness in Islamic banks. This result might be attributed to, both, the complex governance structure and the uniqueness of the business model which require additional effective monitoring, relative to that employed in conventional banking. Our results also show that investors provide significantly low market valuations for busy Shari’ah advisory board which acts as an additional layer of governance in Islamic banks. Findings in this study offer important policy implications to international banking studies and regulations governing countries with dual-banking systems.