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Asian Review of AccountingJapanese accounting academics perceptions on the global convergence of accountingeducation in JapanSatoshi Sugahara
Article information:To cite this document:Satoshi Sugahara , (2013),"Japanese accounting academics perceptions on the global convergence ofaccounting education in Japan", Asian Review of Accounting, Vol. 21 Iss 3 pp. 180 - 204Permanent link to this document:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ARA-09-2012-0050
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Japanese accounting academicsperceptions on the globalconvergence of accounting
education in JapanSatoshi Sugahara
Hiroshima Shudo University, Faculty of Commercial Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a survey on the perception of theglobalisation of accounting education among academics teaching at tertiary schools in Japan. With theacceleration of globalism in accounting education, the aim of this exploratory research is to investigatethe perceptions of Japanese academics toward this global convergence.Design/methodology/approach The sample was collected from accounting educators who wereteaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate level of the tertiary institutes in Japan. The subjectschosen for the survey were 300 members of the Japanese Accounting Association ( JAA) and wererandomly selected from the 2010 JAA Members Directory. A total of 87 responses were receivedproducing an effective response rate of 29 per cent.Findings The analysis of this study found that the majority of Japanese accounting academicsbelieved that the International Education Standards had no substantial effect on accounting education.Further it was found that most of the academics did not know how they could confront these obstaclesto achieve global convergence, although they were aware of the impediments.Research limitations This study failed to portray any possible suggestions or solutions on how toimprove future accounting education. Also the sample size was not large enough to generalise the findings.Finally, this study simply used the samples collected from the one single nation of Japan.Practical implications The findings will provide a positive direction for standard setters,policy makers and regulatory authorities on how they should proceed in both the design oftheir promotion strategies and on how to address obstacles that have arisen according to theseperceptions.Originality/value The primary strength of this study was the fact that it was the first study in theliterature to shed light on the perceptions of accounting academics in Japan on the global convergenceof accounting education.
Keywords International Education Standards (IES) for professional accountants,Accounting education, Japan
Paper type Research paper
1. IntroductionThis research reports on a survey of perception of the globalisation of accountingeducation among Japanese academics teaching in the tertiary schools. Several priorstudies have argued the impact of globalisation on accounting education in recentyears (e.g. Needles, 2010; Karreman et al., 2007). Such literature contend that theadoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has had a great impacton accounting education in various countries (Needles, 2010). Coupled with thisphenomena, many global organisations including the International Federation ofAccountants (IFAC) and the International Accounting Education Standards Board(IAESB) are beginning to play prominent roles in this globalisation of accountingeducation by providing a global framework through the International EducationStandards (IES) (International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB), 2010).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/1321-7348.htm
Asian Review of AccountingVol. 21 No. 3, 2013pp. 180-204r Emerald Group Publishing Limited1321-7348DOI 10.1108/ARA-09-2012-0050
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However, there is unlikely to have been a strong consensus and recognition of this issueamong accounting academics at the classrooms level.
The question therefore remains unexplored on how, as key stakeholders, academicsperceive the globalisation of accounting education as there has been no scholarlyresearch or guidance on this issue to date. Given this historical background, the aim ofthis exploratory research is to investigate Japanese academics perceptions towardvarious issues relating to the global convergence of accounting education. Thisexploratory study will also establish a framework and formulate more precise questionsthat can be addressed by future researchers. The study focuses on the perceptions ofaccounting academics because these people, being key stakeholders, play a pivotal rolein delivering quality assured accounting education programmes and so have a greatimpact on moulding future professionals in the accounting field. This paper is structuredby initially proceeds by presenting a literature review. This is followed by a sectionoutlining the research design and a review on the findings of the analyses. In conclusion,the study provides the interprets and implications from the analysis outcomes togetherwith some limitations of the study and recommendations for the future research areas.
2. Literature review and research questionsThere has not been an abundance of prior literature on the globalisation of accountingeducation. However, some previous papers in the international accounting field haveaddressed educators perceptions on the global convergence of financial accountingstandards (e.g. Rezaee et al., 2010; Joshi et al., 2008; Thomas, 2009). Of these, Rezaee et al.(2010) and Joshi et al. (2008) investigated perceived objectives, benefits, costs andobstacles of the IFRS convergence among accounting academics in the USA andBahrain, respectively. By contrast, no survey study has been administered that examinesactual educators perceptions on global convergence issues relating specifically toaccounting education. With these prior literature reviews in mind, the present researchcommences with the following overarching research question:
RQ1. How do accounting academics perceive the global convergence of accountingeducation?
To gather an understanding of this global convergence issue, the study must consider themany contextual factors that could influence accounting academics views. For example,the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB, 2009a) is now veryactive in attempting to lead their prominent initiative of prescribing global accountingeducation by using the IES. Academics views of the global convergence issue may beaffected by their opinions on the IES. Furthermore, just how to deal with IFRS in theaccounting curriculum is also another issue that has emerged with the convergence (e.g.Rezaee et al., 2010; Joshi et al., 2008; Thomas, 2009). Rezaee et al. (2010) conducted asurvey among educators and practitioners in the USA and found that 95 per cent of theacademics who responded believed that the integration of IFRS into the accountingcurriculum was important. Similarly, this may imply that the mandatory adoption ofIFRS also enhances the call for the global convergence of education.
Another important issue, cultural difference, may be a distinctive driver that formsacademics views on convergence issues. In prior literature, some studies have asserted thatdifferent perceived skills and competencies have emerged across nationalities and cultures(e.g. Lin et al., 2005; Hassall et al., 2005). Lin et al. (2005) examined the perceptions ofaccounting students, educators and professionals about the knowledge and skills needed in
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accounting education and empirically found differences in the perceptions of Chinese andUS respondents toward their skill perceptions. The authors concluded that the emphasis ofaccounting education in China was upon knowledge training, with greater weight given tosome technical accounting knowledge subjects, while the generic skill components receivedless attention. In general and according to this prior literature, it was found thatprofessional accountants from different cultures have different skill sets and competences.
There are other perceived variables and obstacles that may affect the successfulconvergence of accounting education. The former chairperson of IAESB, ProfessorMark Allison, reported to an Accounting Education Symposium at the 2009 EuropeanAccounting Association Congress that the variation in education systems is influencedby culture, law, economics and technology and is far wider than the variation inapproaches found in technical accounting matters (Wilson et al., 2009). This addressemphasised these variations that would be major obstacles to be overcome before wewill accomplish a successful implementation of global educational convergence.
From another context academics also view the variation in stakeholders roles acrossnations as being sensitive factors affecting this convergence. For example, the AICPA as amember body of IFAC is considered an appropriate accounting enforcement agency in theUSA, but it does not control the education requirements for the certification examinations(Needles, 2008). Differences in professional qualification schemes are another one of thekey contextual factors. In supporting this argument, Peek et al. (2007) investigated thecertification and licensing requirements of the accounting profession in Canada, Mexicoand the USA. The findings suggested that more diligence should be placed on simplifyingand standardising the certification and licensing procedures in order to facilitate truecross-boarder assimilation of accounting and auditing services in NAFTA countries.
Given the above literature review, this study addressed the six key contextual factorsincluding IES, IFRS, professional skills and competencies, obstacles, stakeholders andprofessional qualification. From these factors the following research questionwas developed:
RQ2. What contextual factors affect accounting academics perceptions toward theglobal convergence of accounting education?
Given the above two questions, this research also attempted to extract more meaningfulfactors that drive accounting academics overall perception of the globalisation ofaccounting education. Such factors are that could impede successful implementation ofthe global convergence of accounting education and necessary to understand so thatpossible solutions to achieve this goal are put in place. Policy makers and accountingcurriculum designers in Japanese universities will then be able to make effective use ofthis information to assist their future reforms of university curriculums and educationalschemes in Japan. These factors formed the basis of the RQ3 which examined theassociation of academics overall views from RQ1 with the contextual factors from RQ2.This conjunct research question was formulated as follows:
RQ3. What specific factors affect educators overall perceptions of the globalconvergence of accounting education?
3. Sampling and research design3.1 Data collectionFor the purpose of this research, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted in July2010. The sample was collected from the accounting educators who were delivering
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units at the undergraduate and postgraduate level of the tertiary institutes in Japan.Initially the subjects were identified as 300 members of the Japanese AccountingAssociation ( JAA) who were randomly selected from the JAA Members Directoryissued in 2010. The JAA is the largest accounting academic association and includes1,900 members whose positions are basically educators and researchers teachingaccounting related subjects. Certified public accountants, tax accountants andcompany auditors were excluded from the sample according to the research purpose.The questionnaire was sent to each subject via mail and included a self-addressedreturn envelope. Of the 300 questionnaires initially distributed in September 2010, 89responses were received before the deadline. From these responses two were eliminatedfrom the analysis due to the incompletion of the questionnaire. As a result, an effectiveresponse rate of 29 per cent (87 questionnaires) was achieved. Table I demonstratessubjects age, gender, position, research interest, academic level and CPA qualification.
3.2 Questionnaire developmentThe questionnaire administered in this research contained two sections. In the firstsection, subjects were asked their perceptions on various aspects regarding globalisationof accounting education. Each survey item was developed by the authors with referenceto previous literature dealing with the topics of global convergence of accounting andbusiness reporting (e.g. Rezaee et al., 2010; Joshi et al., 2008; Thomas, 2009). For thesecond section, subjects were also asked demographic information including their age(AGE), gender (GENDER), academic position (POSITION), research interests(RESEARCH), academic level (AFFILIATION) and CPA qualification (CPA).
3.2.1 Measures for RQ1: overall perceptions. To measure overall perceptions, thisstudy first prepared three questions to seek academics perceptions about the needs,feasibility and major challenge of the global convergence issue. This idea was used inJoshi et al. (2008). These authors applied similar questions to investigate the perceivedroles of IFRS education among academics. Moreover, the present paper addressed an
n Missing Classifications
Age Maximum Minimum Average (SD)
87 5 78 29 48.02 (11.410)Gender Male Female
87 1 74 (86.0%) 12 (14%)Position Professor Others
87 0 49 (56.3%) 38 (43.7%)Research Bookkeeping Financial
accountingManagementaccounting
Auditing Othersa
87 0 6 (6.9%) 51 (58.6%) 9 (10.3%) 7 (8.0%) 14 (16.1%)Affiliation Undergraduate Accounting
SchoolsbOtherpostgraduate
87 0 54 (62.1%) 9 (10.3%) 24 (27.5%)CPA Qualified Non-
qualified
87 0 8 (9.2%) 79 (90.8%)
Notes: aOthers category consists of two for financial analysis research topics; three for taxaccounting; nine for no-description. bThe Accounting Schools are special postgraduate institutionsthat educate students who are aspiring to become qualified professional accountants
Table I.Demographic information
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additional more perception issue on whether global convergence of accountingeducation helps increase global comparability to form an efficient market. This isbecause the IAESB set their mission to serve the public interest by strengthening theglobal accountancy profession, whose ability must satisfy a users information needscontributing to an efficient economy (International Accounting Education StandardsBoard (IAESB), 2009b, pp. 2-3). For these four questions (see 4.1.1 for details of eachquestion item), a five-point Likert scale was used to measure subjects responses.
3.2.2 Measurement for RQ2: influential attributesAs for the second research question, six key contextual factors were extracted fromprior literature reviews and discussed in this study. These identified topics were IES,IFRS, professional skills and competences, obstacles, stakeholders and professionalqualification. In total, 29 questions divided into six specific themes were created tofocus on this research question (Table II). For these items, a five-point Likert scale wasused to measure subjects responses.
3.2.3 Measures for RQ3: association. As mentioned, the study extracted morespecific and meaningful components from the original 29 items in order to examine indetail RQ3. The compound factors formed from this analysis were then explored toinvestigate the associations with educators overall perception toward the globalconvergence issue. All variables for RQ3 have been captured in the process to addressRQ1 and RQ2.
4. Results4.1 RQ1: overall perceptions4.1.1 Four individual perceptions. Table III demonstrates academics viewstoward the globalisation of accounting education. It was found that 58.6 per cent(47.1 per cent for agree; 11.5 per cent for strongly agree) of the respondents believedin the necessity for the global convergence of accounting education to assurehigh-quality professional accountants across nations (OPE1). Further, 55.6 per centof participants (35.6 per cent for agree; 20.7 per cent for strongly agree) agreed theglobal convergence helps develop a more efficient marketplace (OPE2). Theseeducators views were very consistent with IAESBs mission to strengthen publicinterest and trust through the development of education (IAESB, 2009a,b pp. 2-3).On the other hand, the results reported that 47.1 per cent of responses (29.9 per centfor agree; 17.2 per cent for strongly agree) consented to the idea that globalconvergence was quite idealistic (OPE3). Moreover, 89.6 per cent of sample (28.7per cent for agree; 60.9 per cent for strongly agree) agreed that there were majorchallenges and obstacles that needed addressing in order to accomplish globalconvergence (OPE4). In summary, academics positively assessed the necessity andimportance of accounting education and its global convergence, but they alsorecognised that there were various impediments.
4.1.2 Aggregated measure of overall perceptions. This study also attempted toformulate an aggregate measure of academics overall perception of the globalconvergence issues. The questionnaire asked four individual questions to assesstheir overall perceptions, of which two questions (OPE1 and OPE2) addressed thestrong calls for the global convergence (NECESSITY), while the other two questions(OPE3 and OPE4) asked contrasting and opposite views on the same issue(INFEASIBILITY). These two dichotomous views should have been mixed in withthe four questions to form a single measure of the overall perception. Accordingly,
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IES itemsIES1 IES should work as the global benchmark to eliminate the differences in accounting
education between countriesIES2 IES should be the set of minimum requirements that all the countries must comply
with at least in terms of accounting educationIES3 IES has no substantial effect on actual accounting education at tertiary schoolsIFRS itemsIFR1 Mandatory adoption of IFRS enhances the need for global convergence of accounting
educationIFR2 Global convergence of financial reporting standards under IFRS increases the need
for IESIFR3 Without global convergence of accounting education, it is impossible to accomplish
the goal of convergence in financial reporting practice by IFRSIFR4 Use of principle-based IFRS increases the importance of judgement and decision-
making skills and relatively reduces the importance of technical skills (e.g. doubleentry bookkeeping skill)
IFR5 Use of principle-based IFRS increases the importance of judgement and decision-making skills and relatively reduces the importance of knowledge memorisation
IFR6 Global convergence of accounting education will guarantee high-quality judgementsand decision making among professional accountants around the world whenapplying principle-based IFRS
Professional skills and competences (PRO) itemsPRO1 Professional skills and competencies should be globally prescribed and converged so
that professional accountants in any country can provide high-quality assuranceservices
PRO2 Accounting ethics education in the tertiary curriculum should be converged globallyto assure the common high-ethical competency of professional accountants acrossthe world
PRO3 It is appropriate to teach the generic skills needed by professional accountants in thetertiary accounting curriculum around the world
Obstacles (OBS) itemsOBS1 Cultural differences between countries are an obstacle to accomplishing global
convergence of accounting educationOBS2 Differences in educational systems between countries are an obstacle to
achieving global convergence of accounting educationOBS3 Language differences between countries are an obstacle to accomplishing global
convergence of accounting educationOBS4 Differences in CPA/CA exam schemes between countries are an obstacle to achieving
global convergence of accounting educationOBS5 It is not necessary to seek global convergence of accounting education if we must
overcome lots of obstaclesOBS6 Lack of knowledge about IES among accounting academics is an impediment to
achieving global convergence of accounting educationOBS7 Whether or not accounting education can be globally converged depends on the level
of awareness of this issue by each individual accounting academicsStakeholders (PAR) itemsPAR1 The government and related authorities in each country need to assist the progress
of global convergence of accounting educationPAR2 Accounting academics have a strong influence on accomplishing global convergence
of accounting educationPAR3 The professional accounting bodies of each country have a strong impact on
accomplishing global convergence of accounting educationPAR4 Professional accountants have lots of things they can contribute to accomplishing
global convergence of accounting education
(continued)
Table II.Question items under the
six themes
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the following formula was created to represent the aggregated measure of overallperception:
Aggregatedmeasure of overall perceptions AMOP z-score for mean score of OPE1 OPE2 z-score for mean score of OPE3 OPE4
Under this formula, a positive AMOP score would indicate that the respondentswould have a relatively positive view of the issue even though they did recognisesome negative sides. In contrast, a negative AMOP score would show that therespondents would tend to have an overall infeasible view of the issue even thoughthey partially evaluated it positively. The AMOP score of zero was assigned to anacademic who responded mutually inclusive to the convergence issue. The resultof preliminary descriptive analyses allowed us to hypothesise that frequency of AMOPwas normally distributed. Accordingly, it was interpreted that the majorityrespondents did not have extreme but mutually inclusive opinions about the globalconvergence issue.
4.2 RQ2: conceptual factors4.2.1 IES. Among the several key factors, this research first investigated educatorsperceptions of the IES. With regard to these IES, some controversial discussionhas been seen in the literature. The latest IES framework confirms that IESsare expected to serve as international benchmarks, which will allow IFAC memberbodies to measure the gaps from the actual developments in accounting education(IAESB, 2009a, b). Using IES as the benchmark, stakeholders can identify strengthsand weaknesses in the professional qualification of accountants and auditors, and thiswill ensure progress over time toward sustainable institutional capacity (Needles, 2008;Karreman et al., 2007). On the other hand, an opposing view criticised this benchmarkapproach, and suggested that the objective of IES is to provide minimum requirementsto assure global integrity and consistency rather than diminishing differences ininternational certification requirement (Stocks, 2009). The present research preparedthree questions to address this discussion.
Professional qualification (QUA) itemsQUA1 It can be thought possible to converge the differences in the systems for recognising
CPA/CA qualifications existing between countiesQUA2 It seems to be possible to accomplish global convergence of accounting education
even though CPA/CA exam schemes are different between countriesQUA3 Requirements for practical experience must be prescribed globally to assure high-
quality competence of professional accountants all over the worldQUA4 It can be thought possible to implement a Global Unified CPA/CA exam across the
world in the near future (Unified CPA/CA exam)QUA5 The contents of post-qualified education (CPE/CPD) should be prescribed to
internationally assure high-quality competence of professionalaccountants
QUA6 The successful convergence of global accounting education largely depends onProfessional Mutual Recognition Agreements between professional accountingbodies from different countriesTable II.
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Strongdisag
ree
Disag
ree
Neutral
Agree
Strongag
ree
OPEitem
s(n87)
12
34
5Mean(SD)
w2(significance)
OPE1
11(12.6%
)9(10.3%
)16
(18.4%
)41
(47.1%
)10
(11.5%
)3.34
(1.199)
41.67(0.000)***
OPE2
8(9.2%)
8(9.2%)
22(25.3%
)31
(35.6%
)18
(20.7%
)3.49
(1.190)
22.02(0.000)***
OPE3
7(8.0%)
14(16.1%
)25
(28.7%
)26
(29.9%
)15
(17.2%
)3.32
(1.176)
14.78(0.005)***
OPE4
1(1.1%)
0(0.0%)
8(9.2%)
25(28.7%
)53
(60.9%
)4.48
(0.760)
73.87(0.000)***
Note:***Significantat
theo0.01
level
Table III.Overall perceptions ofglobal convergence ofaccounting education
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The result is displayed in Table IV. It was found for the survey item IES1,48.2 per cent of total samples (35.6 per cent for agree; 12.6 per cent for strong agree)contended IES usage as the global benchmark to eliminate differences in accountingeducation between nations. The mean score for this item was 3.40. Similarly, for IES2,most academics had a positive perception that this standard should be considered theminimum requirement that all nations must at least comply with. Total respondentswho agreed with this statement stood at 55.2 per cent (39.1 per cent for agree; 16.1per cent for strong agree; 3.48 for means score). However, both of these IES approaches(global benchmark and minimum requirement) should be mutually exclusive as theyare dichotomous options to be facilitated by IAESB (e.g. Needles, 2008; IAESB, 2009a;Stocks, 2009; Karreman et al., 2007). This inconclusive result was also displayed in thefindings where the majority of responses were of the neutral view, and were 37.9 and29.9 per cent of total subjects for IES1 and IES2, respectively. Further, educatorsneutral attitude to IES is deemed to be affected by their belief that IES had nosubstantial effect on actual accounting education, because the result of IES3 indicatedthat 63.2 per cent of total responses (36.8 per cent for agree; 26.4 per cent for stronglyagree) agreed with the ineffectiveness of IES on accounting education.
4.2.2 IFRS. This factor was initially addressed by asking academics perceptions as towhether or not they believed the latest movement in IFRS adoption had significantrelationships with IES initiatives employed by the IAESB. Smith and Bergen (2009), forexample pointed out that training and education for a principled-based systemaccommodated by IFRS should include the education on how to apply strategicjudgements to identify the substance of economic events without the guidance of clearaccounting standards. These types of skills, including judgement skills, are categorised asgeneric skills and prescribed by the IES in an attempt to achieve high-qualitycompetencies for accounting professionals at the pre- and post-qualification stage(IAESB, 2010). Therefore, by adopting IFRS, it is more likely to generate a situationwhereaccounting educators will seek exposure to the IES, which in turn will enhance a globalconvergence of accounting education. Similar reasoning is supported by other studies (e.g.IAESB, 2010; Albrecht and Sack, 2000), where generic skills acquisition is more importantin the training and educational programmes compared to the memorisation and technicalskills training. According to IES2: Content of Professional Accounting EducationalProgrammes, it has been argued that the knowledge component of professional educationprogrammes are used to develop important skills for the profession but currentknowledge will become obsolete later in ones career. Therefore, the IES2 recognised that asurface approach to learning knowledge across a broad range of subjects is not in thelong-term interest of future professional accountants (IAESB, 2010).
Along with these discussions, the research prepared six questions. The results areshown in Table V. Being consistent with prior studies (Thomas, 2009), the majority ofrespondents believed that the IFRS adoption would increase the need for globalconvergence of accounting education (50.6 per cent for agree; 19.5 per cent for strongagree in IFR1). In particular, they agreed the IFRS adoptionwould enhance the need forIESs (37.9 per cent for agree; 13.8 per cent for strongly agree in IFR2). In contrast,educators, however, did not consider globalisation as the single solution to accomplishsuccessful adoption of IFRS, because participants who disagreed with IFR3 totaled47.1 per cent (24.1 per cent for disagree; 23.0 per cent for strongly disagree) plus 32.2per cent indicating their neutrality on this issue. It was found that most academics inthis study recognised that there were more important factors other than globalisationof accounting education to implement successful IFRS adoption.
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Strongdisag
ree
Disag
ree
Neutral
Agree
Strongag
ree
IESitem
s(n87)
12
34
5Mean(SD)
w2(significance)
IES1
6(6.9%)
6(6.9%)
33(37.9%
)31
(35.6%
)11
(12.6%
)3.40
(1.028)
41.90(0.000)***
IES2
7(8.0%)
6(6.9%)
26(29.9%
)34
(39.1%
)14
(16.1%
)3.48
(1.098)
34.43(0.000)***
IES3
3(3.4%)
7(8.0%)
22(25.3%
)32
(36.8%
)23
(26.4%
)3.75
(1.048)
33.40(0.000)***
Note:***Significantat
theo0.01
level
Table IV.Perceptions of IES
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ree
Disag
ree
Neutral
Agree
Strongag
ree
IFRSitem
s(n87)
12
34
5Mean(SD)
w2(significance)
IFR1
6(6.9%)
8(9.2%)
12(13.8%
)44
(50.6%
)17
(19.5%
)3.67
(1.107)
54.89(0.000)***
IFR2
7(8.0%)
5(5.7%)
30(34.5%
)33
(37.9%
)12
(13.8%
)3.44
(1.064)
39.83(0.000)***
IFR3
20(23.0%
)21
(24.1%
)28
(32.2%
)13
(14.9%
)5(5.7%)
2.56
(1.168)
17.54(0.002)***
IFR4
28(32.2%
)23
(26.4%
)19
(21.8%
)10
(11.5%
)7(8.0%)
2.37
(1.268)
17.77(0.001)***
IFR5
15(17.2%
)24
(27.6%
)27
(31.0%
)17
(19.5%
)4(4.6%)
2.67
(1.117)
18.46(0.001)***
IFR6
9(10.3%
)14
(16.1%
)32
(36.8%
)27
(31.0%
)5(5.7%)
3.06
(1.060)
31.10(0.000)***
Note:***Significantat
theo0.01
level
Table V.Perceptions towardsaccounting educationfor IFRS
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More concretely, the results revealed academics perceptions on to whether the strongeremphasis of judgement and decision-making skills may affect the importance oftechnical skills and memorisation in the education process. Anecdotal evidences in theliterature have articulated that principle-based IFRS relatively enhances generic skillsmore than technical skills (Smith and Bergen, 2009; IAESB, 2010). In Table V, the meanscores of IFR4 and IFR5 were 2.37 and 2.67, respectively, of which both were o3.00indicating a neutral level. What this result means is that our participants did notundervalue the importance of technical and memorisation skills, relative to judgementand decision-making skills.
Further, the outcome of IFR6, which represented a 3.06 mean score (36.7 per cent foragree; 36.8 per cent for neutral; 26.4 per cent for disagree), consistently indicated that therewas no consensus among participants regarding the effectiveness of global convergence toguarantee high-quality judgement and decision-making skills. This finding revealed thatrecent strong emphasis of judgement and decision-making skills as found in previousresearch papers (IAESB, 2010; Albrecht and Sack, 2000) has not been sufficientlydisseminated to the majority of our participants and they did not agree on a call for theglobalisation of accounting education to address the skill and competence issue.
4.2.3 Professional skills and competencies. The current paper then attempted toexplore how accounting academics would perceive the global prescriptions forprofessional knowledge and skills. As seen in the previous section, accountingeducation for professional skills and competencies have been highly emphasised in theIES and IFRS (e.g. IAESB, 2010). Apart from these external influences, it is not clearwhether academics perceive to prescribe globally some educational components suchas professional skills, competencies and even generic skills. It is widely contended thattodays global dynamic business environment requires the accounting profession toarm itself with new skills so as add value in the accounting world (e.g. De Lange et al.,2006; Albrecht and Sack, 2000). Further, professional attitudes including ethics are alsoaddressed in this subsection. More specifically, teaching ethics in the global villagepresents special challenges because literature continuously argues that the definition ofethics depends on culture (Needles, 2005). As students are already influenced by theirindividual backgrounds before they begin to study, professional accountingprogrammes, may have limited success in influencing their behaviour and cognitiveabilities. In contrast, International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB,2006) contended a different view on this issue.
To address these arguments relating to professional skills and competences, thepresent study prepared three questions with results shown in Table VI. It was foundthat the majority or 44.8 per cent of participants (33.3 per cent for agree; 11.5 per centfor strongly agree) believed that professional skills and competences should beglobally prescribed and converged, although 28.7 per cent of the subjects retained aneutral position (PRO1). It should be noted that this high neutral opinion contradictedto the demands for such skills and competencies provided by previous studies (e.g.De Lange et al., 2006; Albrecht and Sack, 2000). Our participants also did not have anintegral opinion on the importance of accounting ethics education in the tertiarycurriculum because the mean score of PRO2 was 3.01, that sparsely consisted of 40.2per cent for agree; 26.4 per cent for neutral and 33.3 per cent for disagreement. Thisinterpretation was also supported by the results of w2 goodness-of-fit test for this itemwhich was not significant (w2 9.26, p 0.055).
In contrast the mean score of PRO3 was 3.70, which indicated that our participantsinversely contended a strong agreement on the importance of teaching the generic
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Strongdisag
ree
Disag
ree
Neutral
Agree
Strongag
ree
PROitem
s(n87)
12
34
5Mean(SD)
w2(significance)
PRO1
11(12.6%
)12
(13.8%
)25
(28.7%
)29
(33.3%
)10
(11.5%
)3.17
(1.193)
18.23(0.001)***
PRO2
15(17.2%
)14
(16.1%
)23
(26.4%
)25
(28.7%
)10
(11.5%
)3.01
(1.271)
9.26
(0.055)
PRO3
4(4.6%)
10(11.5%
)13
(14.9%
)41
(47.1%
)19
(21.8%
)3.70
(1.080)
46.73(0.000)***
Note:***Significantat
theo0.01
level
Table VI.Professional skillsand competences
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skills commonly needed for professional accountants in the tertiary accountingcurriculum across nations. Although the majority of respondents were thought to besceptical to the effective prescription of global accounting education, they did retaincertain consensus on the importance of generic skills learning for professionalaccountants.
4.2.4 Obstacles. Previous studies also argued about various obstacles for asuccessful global convergence (e.g. Rezaee et al., 2010; Eastman et al., 2009; Larson andStreet, 2004). Eastman et al. (2009) for instance examined how an accounting educationsystem is affected by the difference in the structure of the countries capital marketsand financial reporting standards setting processes between the USA and Mexico.With the historical review of litigation processes and an interview-based survey, theauthors found that the differences in the distinct concept of the corporate entitystrongly influenced the delivery of accounting education at the tertiary institutions ineach country. Further, Larson and Street (2004) investigated perceived impediments toIFRS convergence in 17 European countries directly affected by the EUs decision of anIFRS adoption. The results indicated that an important issue affecting convergencewith IFRS was whether or not high-quality accounting materials were available in acountrys national language(s). The present research prepared six questions to addressthis background.
Table VII shows the results of the survey. The mean scores of 3.55 for OBS1 (33.3per cent for agree; 29.9 per cent for strongly agree), 3.44 for OBS2 (41.4 per cent foragree; 19.5 per cent for strongly agree), 3.40 for OBS3 (29.9 per cent for agree; 24.1per cent for strongly agree) and 3.44 for OBS4 (37.9 per cent for agree; 19.5 per centfor strongly agree) means that the majority of respondents recognised prominentobstacles existing that would inhibit convergence. These included cultural differences(OBS1), various educational systems (OBS2), language differences (OBS3) and CPA/CAexamination schemes (OBS4) across nations. Although educators were aware ofobstacles existing, it was not determined clearly on how they would confront theseimpediments in order to achieve a successful convergence. A total response rate of 42.5per cent articulated their neutral opinion for OBS5 on whether it was necessary or notto seek global convergence if one had to overcome a number of obstacles. Further, onlya minority of educators (19.5 per cent for agree and 8.0 per cent for strongly agree onOBS6) consented that by promoting IES among them was the solution to accomplishthis global convergence. For OBS6, 40.2 per cent of participants (20.7 per cent fordisagree; 19.5 per cent for strongly disagree) indicated that a lack of knowledge on IESwas not the primary obstacle for the successful convergence. However, the result ofOBS7 inversely discovered that 56.3 per cent of respondents (34.5 per cent for agree;21.8 per cent for strongly agree) agreed the stronger awareness of the issue was thecrucial aspect for the successful achievement of convergence, regardless of the specificknowledge of IES.
4.2.5 Stakeholders. In 2009, IFAC and IAESB released the IES Framework toenhance understanding of the work of the IAESB over various stakeholders includingacademics/educators who play a part in the design, delivery or assessment ofeducation programmes for accountants; regulators and authorities with responsibilityfor legal and regulatory requirement of accounting education and/or oversight of thework of the accountancy profession; and accountants who undertake their ownlearning and development (IAESB, 2009a). Along this line, the present researchexamined academics opinions about the role of various stakeholders such asgovernment and related authorities (PAR1), accounting educators (PAR2), professional
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Strongdisag
ree
Disag
ree
Neutral
Agree
Strongag
ree
OBSitem
s(n87)
12
34
5Mean(SD)
w2(significance)
OBS1
12(13.8%
)9(10.3%
)11
(12.6%
)29
(33.3%
)26
(29.9%
)3.55
(1.379)
20.06(0.000)***
OBS2
11(12.6%
)10
(11.5%
)13
(14.9%
)36
(41.4%
)17
(19.5%
)3.44
(1.282)
26.50(0.000)***
OBS3
9(10.3%
)15
(17.2%
)16
(18.4%
)26
(29.9%
)21
(24.1%
)3.40
(1.307)
9.49
(0.050)**
OBS4
8(9.2%)
13(14.9%
)16
(18.4%
)33
(37.9%
)17
(19.5%
)3.44
(1.227)
20.29(0.000)***
OBS5
14(16.1%
)16
(18.4%
)37
(42.5%
)9(10.3%
)11
(12.6%
)2.85
(1.196)
29.26(0.000)***
OBS6
17(19.5%
)18
(20.7%
)28
(32.2%
)17
(19.5%
)7(8.0%)
2.76
(1.210)
12.71(0.013)**
OBS7
10(11.5%
)7(8.0%)
21(24.1%
)30
(34.5%
)19
(21.8%
)3.47
(1.247)
19.37(0.001)***
Notes:***,**Significantat
theo0.01
level,o0.05
level,respectively
Table VII.Obstacles of globalconvergence of accountingeducation
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bodies (PAR3) and individual professional accountants (PAR4) in an attempt to achievethe globalisation of accounting education. According to Table VIII, it was found thatacademics believe the role of professional accounting bodies of each country as themost important stakeholder for this globalisation (3.77 of mean score), followed by theindividual professional accountant as the second most important (3.45 of mean score).Table VIII also showed that accounting educators themselves consider they had alower influence (3.25 of mean score) than above two key stakeholders. The governmentand related authorities were found to be neutral among survey participants since themean score of these items were reported as 3.15. Accordingly, our participants tendedto perceive that individual accountants and professional bodies were critical for asuccessful implement of the global convergence of accounting education.
4.2.6 Professional qualification. Previous studies have discussed the necessity ofreforming the qualification scheme (Peek et al., 2007), CPA/CA examination (Peek et al.,2007), professional mutual recognition agreement (Peek et al., 2007), CPD (Paisey et al.,2007; Zajkowski et al., 2007) and practical experiences (IAESB, 2009a). Accordingly,these items were examined as part of the questionnaire in this study.
Table IX provides the results. First, QUA1 sought answers on the overall possibilityof converging globally the differences that exist between CPA and CA qualifications.The result was reported negatively, as the majority of participants (58.6 per cent)responded that such a convergence was considered impossible. Further statisticsreported relatively smaller mean scores for the CPA/CA examination schemes (2.71 forQUA2) and practical experience (2.83 for QUA3), of which negative perceptions wereconsistently associated with the lower score of QUA1. Of note, a difference in the CPA/CA examination scheme within each country was the crucial factor for successfulglobal convergence in the accounting education, because the score of QUA4 alsorevealed that the majority of participants (62.1 per cent) agreed that it would beimpossible to implement a Global Unified CPA/CA examination across the world (2.25of mean score for QUA4). Additionally many respondents also perceived CPE/CPD atthe post-qualification stage (QUA5) and professional mutual recognition agreement(QUA6) as a strong influential aspects. However, the majority responded to these twoitems as having neutral opinions (39.1 per cent for QUA5 and 37.9 per cent for QUA6).Previous literature attempted to stimulate the importance of the various CPA/CAqualification schemes (Peek et al., 2007; Paisey et al., 2007; Zajkowski et al., 2007;IAESB, 2009a, b), but these efforts have not reached individual accounting educatorsand so no enhancement in interest on these issues has taken place.
4.3 RQ3: conjunct association4.3.1 Principal component analysis. To address RQ3, the principal component analysiswas applied to extract more meaningful factors from all contextual factors that wereoriginally sought by the questionnaire. Among a total of 29 items, the IES3, OBS1,OBS2, OBS3, OBS4 and OBS5 were coded reversely from the original instrument andconverted to adjust for the respondents new perceived position before employing thefactor analysis (the higher the score, the more strongly the respondent agreed withglobal convergence of accounting education). This analysis was undertaken using thevarimax rotation technique with Kaiser normalisation to assist with the interpretationof potential influential factors. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin adequacy value was then usedto determine if a correlation matrix existed between these compounded factors. Thisadequacy value was calculated at 0.751 (at the 0.01 significant level), which indicateda correlation matrix was appropriate for this factor analysis.
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Strongdisagree
Disag
ree
Neutral
Agree
Strongag
ree
PARitem
s(n87)
12
34
5Mean(SD)
w2(significance)
PAR1
11(12.6%
)13
(14.9%
)29
(33.3%
)20
(23.0%
)14
(16.1%
)3.15
(1.234)
12.25(0.016)**
PAR2
10(11.5%
)15
(17.2%
)20
(23.0%
)27
(31.0%
)15
(17.2%
)3.25
(1.260)
9.49
(0.050)**
PAR3
5(5.7%)
9(10.3%
)13
(14.9%
)34
(39.1%
)26
(29.9%
)3.77
(1.158)
34.09(0.000)***
PAR4
5(5.7%)
11(12.6%
)23
(26.4%
)36
(41.4%
)12
(13.8%
)3.45
(1.065)
34.55(0.000)***
Notes:***,**Significantat
theo0.01
level,o0.05
level,respectively
Table VIII.Stakeholders
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Strongdisag
ree
Disag
ree
Neutral
Agree
Strongag
ree
QUA
item
s(n87)
12
34
5Mean(SD)
w2(significance)
QUA1
26(29.9%
)25
(28.7%
)20
(23.0%
)10
(11.5%
)6(6.9%)
2.37
(1.221)
18.57(0.001)***
QUA2
14(16.1%
)29
(33.3%
)17
(19.5%
)22
(25.3%
)5(5.7%)
2.71
(1.180)
18.46(0.001)***
QUA3
12(13.8%
)18
(20.7%
)32
(36.8%
)23
(26.4%
)2(2.3%)
2.83
(1.048)
29.37(0.000)***
QUA4
34(39.1%
)20
(23.0%
)16
(18.4%
)11
(12.6%
)6(6.9%)
2.25
(1.287)
26.16(0.000)***
QUA5
9(10.3%
)11
(12.6%
)34
(39.1%
)24
(27.6%
)9(10.3%
)3.15
(1.105)
28.80(0.000)***
QUA6
6(6.9%)
10(11.5%
)33
(37.9%
)27
(31.0%
)11
(12.6%
)3.31
(1.060)
32.25(0.000)***
Note:***Significantat
theo0.01
level
Table IX.Professional qualification
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The results of the principal component analyses are shown in Table X. Applyingthe eigenvalues greater-than-one rule, seven factors were screened from the 29 items asreplacements for the original variables. In the process of this analysis, items withscores40.60 were regarded as a loading for each compounded factor. The seven factorscores for academics perceptions produced 66.326 per cent of cumulative percentagesof variance. Each seven loading factor was labeled by the authors.
The largest cluster was named by the authors as DETAIL, which included the sevenoriginal items such as PRO2, PRO1, QUA5, IES2, QUA3, OBS5 and IFR6. These itemsrepresented detailed prescriptions of the IES. The second largest cluster wasinterpreted as obstacles (OBSTACLE) that included OBS1, OBS2 and OBS3. These
Factor1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Items DETAIL OBSTACLE COMPONENT PROFESSION ACADEMIC QUALIFY IFRS
PRO2 0.824PRO1 0.814QUA5 0.758IES2 0.677QUA3 0.662OBS5a 0.641IFR6 0.633OBS1a 0.880OBS2a 0.859OBS3a 0.764IFR2 0.749QUA2 0.604IES1 0.652PRO3 0.763QUA6 0.754PAR3 0.677OBS7 0.709PAR2 0.658IES3a 0.608QUA1 0.764QUA4 0.737IFR4 0.842IFR5 0.787Cronbachs ae 0.879 0.840 0.674 0.692 0.635 0.804 0.683Eigenvalues 8.513 3.007 2.002 1.704 1.541 1.346 1.122Variance (%) 29.35 10.36 6.90 5.87 5.31 4.64 3.86
Notes: aThese survey items were reverse coded in the original instrument and converted to normalposition (the higher score the subject responded, the more likely they agree with global harmonizationof accounting education) before employing the factor analysis. bExtraction method: principalcomponent analysis, rotation method: varimax technique with Kaiser normalization. cFactor Loading40.60 reported. dKaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.751 at the o0.01significant level. eThe internal reliability of each score was assessed by the Cronbach as. TheCronbach as were calculated in the range from 0.879 to 0.635. In general, a score 40.70 is deemedacceptable. Although these four scores were slightly lower than the acceptable level (0.674 forEXPECT; 0.692 for PROFESSION; 0.635 for ACADEMIC and 0.683 for IFRS), some previous studiesaccepted similar scores. For the remaining four factors, their Cronbach a scores were above thegenerally acceptable score of 0.70
Table X.Principal componentanalysis result
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original items stood for some impediments such as cultural difference, educationalsystem and language difference faced with successful convergence of education. Thethird loading cluster was interpreted and labeled as COMPONENT, which includedIFR2, QUA2 and IES1. These variables described inevitable components relating withthe globalisation of accounting education. The fourth cluster was loaded by threeoriginal variables such as PRO3, QUA6 and PAR3, and labeled as professionalaccountants and bodies (PROFESSION). These three items were related to professionalaccountants and professional bodies. Further, the fifth cluster consisted of OBS7, PAR2and IES3 and expressed as accounting academics (ACADEMIC) since these items wereaddressing the role of accounting educators. The sixth factor was interpreted as CPA/CAqualification (QUALIFY), and contained QUA1 and QUA4. The items in this cluster dealtwith the qualification schemes for CPA/CA. Finally, the seventh cluster was labeledas principle-based IFRS (IFRS), of which the components were formed by IFR4 and IFR5,because these items were based on principle-based IFRS. Consequently, the resultsindicated that these seven factors were compelling reasons in support of globalconvergence of accounting education among Japanese accounting faculties.
4.3.2 Multiple regression analysis. The study also undertook a multiple regressionanalysis to examine a possible association between academics specific views ofglobalisation of accounting education and their overall perceptions on this issue. Forthis regression, the seven compounded factors (DETAIL, OBSTACLE, COMPONENT,PROFESSION, ACADEMIC, QUALIFY and IFRS) from the principal componentanalysis were used as the independent variables, and the aggregated measure ofoverall perception (AMOP) in the section 4.1.2 was used as the dependent variable.Accordingly, the following multiple regression model was developed for the analysis:
AMOP a0 b1DETAIL b2OBSTACLE b3COMPONENT b4PROFESSION b5ACADEMIC b6QUALIFY b7IFRS e
where e* is error term.Table XI provided the results of regression analysis with AMOP. Findings included an
F-value of 15.214 (po0.01) and an adjusted R2 of 0.536. These statistical findings showedthat a sufficient relationship existed within this analysis model. The DETAIL, OBSTACLEand COMPONENT had significant and positive associations with AMOP (t 4.592,po0.01 for CONDITION; t 3.121, po0.01 for OBSTACLE; t 2.104, po0.05 for EXPECT).
The result was interpreted that educators were aware of details of the IESsprescriptions (DETAIL) and the inevitable components necessary to achieveglobalisation of accounting education (COMPONENT). It also tended to inspireacademics strong call for achieving global convergence in accounting education. Ifacademics knew more about IESs actual contents, they tended to agree with the idea ofglobal convergence of accounting education. Also if they were familiar with globalismtrends of IES, CPA/CA examination scheme and IFRS, then again tended to have a morepositive opinion on this idea. In contrast, the result of OBSTACLE indicated thateducators concerns about the impediments facing the goal of convergence significantlyamplified the negative ideas regarding the infeasibility of global convergence.
5. DiscussionThe finding from the regression analysis statistically discovered that educatorssensitivity of IESs detailed contents (DETAIL) and inevitable components
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(COMPONENT) to the globalisation of accounting education had a significant andpositive impact on their strong aspiration in support of this issue (AMOP). It wasproven that these two factors were the seminal drivers that stimulate Japaneseaccounting academics to go a further step toward global convergence of accountingeducation. This finding was quite informative, especially for the IAESB as thestandard setter, policy makers and regulatory authorities who intend to globaliseaccounting education in Japan.
With regard to the detailed provisions of IES obtained from the principle componentanalysis, the topics of professional skills and competencies (PRO2), ethical attitude(PRO1), post-qualified education scheme (QUA5) and practical experience (QUA3) are alldealt with in IES2 Content of Professional Accounting Education, IES4 ProfessionalValues, Ethics and Attitudes, IES7 Continuing Professional Development and IES5Practical Experience Requirement, respectively (IAESB, 2010). Thus, one effective wayto spread this global convergence idea is to promote the IES more substantially amongthe Japanese accounting academics. However, a contradictory result was also foundfrom the result, revealing that Japanese academics tended to view IES as having nosubstantial effect on actual accounting education (see 4.2.1).
This educators negative perception about the IES were supposedly due to thetraditional accounting educational structure at the tertiary schools in Japan, wherethe curriculum development and its contents have been fully independent fromthe influence of the professional accounting bodies and have been responsible foreach educators autonomy. By contrast, Australian universities, for example, haveapplied an accreditation system, which allowed professional bodies to engage in the
Model Sum of squares df Mean square F Significance
Regression 135.614 7 19.373 15.214 0.000a
Residual 100.596 79 1.273Total 236.210 86
Unstandardized coefficient Standardized coefficientsB SE b t Significance VIF
(Constant) 6.532 0.810 8.067 0.000DETAIL 0.844 0.184 0.442 4.592 0.000*** 1.719OBSTACLE 0.338 0.108 0.235 3.121 0.003*** 1.049COMPONENT 0.379 0.180 0.195 2.104 0.039** 1.585PROFESSION 0.230 0.166 0.116 1.385 0.170 1.300ACADEMIC 0.184 0.156 0.101 1.181 0.241 1.345QUALIFY 0.154 0.127 0.107 1.214 0.228 1.435IFRS 0.039 0.123 0.025 0.320 0.749 1.110R 0.758, R2 0.574, Adjusted R2 0.536, Durbin-Watson test (DW test) 2.540Notes: Variance inflation factors (VIF) for independent variables were ranged from 1.719 to 1.049,which ware sufficiently small to reject this concern. The score of DW test was 2.540, which indicatedno statistical issue regarding outliers in the analysis. This research also examined normality of theresiduals. The result reported that the skewness and kurtosis were 0.089 and 0.050, which werenear 0. Thus these results ensured the normality of the residuals. ***, **Significant at theo0.01 level,o0.05 level, respectively
Table XI.Multiple regression results
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development process of accounting curriculum (Institute of Chartered Accountants inAustralia (ICAA) and CPA Australia, 2009). In the Australian case, the IAEBS wouldhave easy access to academics in order to promote the IES throughout the due processof course accreditation. Accordingly, it is interpreted that the traditional trait of theaccounting education scheme in Japan caused the majority of participants to respondwith a neutral opinion when it comes to IES issues.
Further, educators expectation on the global convergence of accounting educationwas also found to be in conflict with their traditional educational expectations in Japan.This was obvious from the fact that the majority of participants did not undervalue theimportance of technical and memorisation skills regardless of the strong emphasis onjudgement and decision-making skills in the latest literature (Smith and Bergen, 2009).Instead, these new generic skills were relatively underrated in the results. Kawahito(2004) recently supported this unique view for Japanese academics and contendedthat rote learning processes such as calculations or memorisations has prevailed inthe accounting education. Although this skewed situation was attempted to bemended particularly in the discussions around revising the CPA examination schemein 2003, many accounting academics were still obsessed with the traditionalimportance of rote skills.
This research also revealed that participants did not have a strong consensusabout the importance of accounting ethics education in the tertiary curriculum.Discussions on teaching common contents for ethics education across cultures havenot come forward in the literature to date (e.g. IAESB, 2006; Needles, 2010). In thissense, the present research also confirmed such controversial arguments existedamong Japanese accounting academics. Furthermore, this issue of ethics educationcould be reflected from other evidence that cultural differences were considered as thecritical obstacles for the globalisation of accounting education. The regression resultalso statistically indicated that such concerns about the impediments of ethnicity,language and social systems (OBSTACLE) were the vital drivers for educatorsto discourage their perception of the feasibility of global convergence (AMOP).The findings indicated that educators were well aware of the many obstacles, andalso suggested that the successful implementation of global convergence ofaccounting education relies on how to eliminate these perceived obstacles, becausethe statistics showed that this was the vital way to enhance academics to aspire to thecall for convergence. But the problem remains that the results do not provide clearexplanations on how academics could confront these obstacles so as to accomplish asuccessful convergence.
7. ConclusionThis study aimed to examine perceptions on various issues regarding the globalconvergence of accounting education among Japanese accounting academics. Thethree research questions were formulated to address overall perceptions of the globalconvergence issue, more specific contextual factors of the issue and the conjunctassociations between the above two questions. The primary strength of this study wasthe fact that this was the first study in the literature to shed light on academicsperceptions on the global convergence issue. The findings were also very informativeand useful to capture how actual accounting academics perceive the call for this urgentglobal convergence issue. For example, it was found that the majority of Japaneseaccounting academics believed that the IES had no substantial effect on accountingeducation. Further it was found that most of the academics did not know how
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they could confront these obstacles to achieve global convergence, althoughthey were aware of the impediments. These traits must be considered in contextas the unique educational scheme in Japan which has no accreditation system, unlikeAustralia, poses difficulties for Japanese academics to incorporate IESs into theiractual programmes.
These findings above provides encouragement for the IAESB to increase IESpromotion and exposure among accounting academics. To achieve this goal, theIAESB needs to strategically organise events such as symposiums and conferences todeliver their messages on the importance of the IES. Without an accreditation system,the IAESB also needs to improve dialogue with domestic accounting professionalbodies by helping them disseminate the IES among academics. This method to assistthe global convergence of accounting education could also prove useful to othercountries who, like Japan, do not have accreditation systems in place.
In contrast, this study does have several limitations. First it provided importantevidence on the perceptions of academics but failed to portray any possiblesuggestions or solutions on how to improve future accounting education. Thismay have been caused by the data collection method that used a structured andtraditional questionnaire method, and so was not designed to obtain future directionsfrom subjects. This weakness can be addressed by using inductive and qualitativemethods such as interviews or focus groups. Second, there were some issues inthe data collection process. For example, the sample was not large enough to generalisethe findings. In total, 71 per cent of non-response rate may have generatednon-response bias. Further methods should be executed to improve the effectiveresponse rate for any future study anticipated. Finally, this study simply used thesamples collected from the one single nation of Japan. Using multicultural subjectsfrom a range of different nations using this research model will hopefully bringnew findings and these would contribute to the development of our futureaccounting education.
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Corresponding authorSatoshi Sugahara can be contacted at: [email protected]
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