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Web-Based Corporate Reporting
Practices in India
-- M C Garg and Divya Verma
This study examines the use of Internet for corporate reporting in India. The study identifies the extent of
Web-based financial and non-financial disclosures and its relationship with various company characteristics,
which include size, profits, age, nature of industry, affiliation to business house, liquidity, ownership spread and
leverage of Indian corporates. Internet Disclosure Index (IDI) is calculated to measure the type and extent of Web
disclosure, using a sample of 200 companies. The study results indicate that industry sector, size of the company,
and association with business house positively affect the extent of information disclosure on websites.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
From Project Audit to Performance Audit:
Evolution of Performance Auditing in Australia
-- Sarowar Hossain
This study attempts to demonstrate the evolution of performance auditing in Australia. The previous studies
relating to the development of performance auditing (e.g., Porter, 1981; McCrae and Vada, 1997; Funnel and Cooper,
1998; Guthrie and Parker, 1999; and Wanna, et al., 2001) have used time frame to describe the development
of performance auditing in Australia. However, the present study argues that the development of performance
auditing in Australia has not been influenced by time, rather it has been influenced by the demand for performance
auditing by the government, policy makers, managements, and the users of the information of the government entities.
The development of performance auditing in the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) was mainly forced by
the changes in government functions, policies, and accountability to the people, such as New Public
Management, evaluation of economy, efficient use of government resources, and effectiveness of government programs.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Cost Management Practices:
A Cross-Country Study with Special Reference to Higher Educational Institutions in India
-- Bibhas Chandra and J K Pattanayak
Higher education in India still does not have a transparent and robust mechanism to ascertain the costs of
the services rendered at different levels. It has been observed that the prevalent costing methodologies practiced in
most of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India are at a nascent stage and ardently follow the old
traditional costing practices directed towards the statutory compliance of the funding agencies and most often are guided
by the instructions of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Government of India (GOI). In addition, the
cost allocation methods being practiced so far are not adequately capable of explaining the fully quantifiable
tailor-made outputs. The important noticeable fact is that universities in India lack a uniform and standard costs reporting
format in comparison to those of the developed countries. This paper broadly focuses on understanding, analyzing
and extracting the commonalities in the costing methodology practiced in the universities of some selected
countries, with special emphasis on the universities of India, which would further help in developing a uniform
costing framework.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
An Analysis of Raw Material Cost
in Indian Manufacturing Industry
-- Shurveer S Bhanawat
The rapid growth of automation due to information technology has changed the scenario of cost structure in
the manufacturing industry. The main challenge confronting the manufacturing industry is the increase in the cost
of production. The main factor which contributes to the cost of production is the cost of material. An attempt
has been made in this paper to analyze the share of raw material cost in the cost structure of the manufacturing
industry. A sample of 58 companies engaged in manufacturing activities was selected for the purpose of the present
study. The sample covers pharmaceutical, textile, cement, metal, oil, automobile, consumer goods and electrical
industries. A null hypothesis—there is no significant difference among different sectors of the Indian manufacturing
industry regarding raw material cost as percentage of gross sales—was constructed. After analyzing the ratios, chi-square
test was administered to check the hypothesis. The study results reject the hypothesis. The results also reveal that,
on an average, raw material cost as percentage of gross sales is 46.46% for the Indian manufacturing industry.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Liquidity Management and Control: A Comparative Study of Torrent Pharma and Cipla
-- S C Bardia and Shweta Kastiya
The paper discusses the application of quantitative techniques, besides the use of the technique of ratio
analysis, to empirically analyze liquidity management, an important aspect of financial management, by using the
financial information of two leading pharmaceutical companies of India. It covers a period of nine years (2000-01 to
2008-09). Six different liquidity ratios were used for this purpose. The paper highlights the application of
hypothesis testing technique (both parametric and non-parametric tests) in comparing the performance of the two
companies on all six parameters of liquidity analysis to examine and interpret the financial data. The study also offers
useful suggestions to strengthen the liquidity management of the selected companies.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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