Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government

The paradigm shift from "governing" to "governance" we witness takes place at a time of growing public mistrust in government in general and its use of tax resources in particular. This presents governments and polities with new challenges that have to do with various issues of public accountability, transparency and social responsibility. This paper suggests that, as a result of this shift to governance, more attention must also be given to risk management not only by government but also by other formal and covert participants in the governing process.

The aim of this study is to utilise legitimacy theory to explain the impact of the Beijing Olympic Sponsorship Program on annual report social disclosures including event-related disclosure of local sponsor companies for this legitimacy enhancing and maintaining positive event. The study is concerned with examining whether the arguments developed in relation to legitimacy repairing negative events explain corporate disclosure response to these legitimacy maintaining and enhancing positive events. The findings indicate that sponsors disclosed more social and event-related information but this was not the case for non-sponsors. It was also found that sponsors disclose more event-related information than non-sponsors but not in relation to overall disclosure. This result provides support for legitimacy theory for these legitimacy maintaining and enhancing positive events but is not entirely identical to the findings for legitimacy repairing associated with negative events.

The influence of corporate governance systems on the reporting practices of the global automotive industry firms is investigated. This industry is important due to its truly global scope and the economic ripple effect of its vastly intertwined supply chain. The extent of financial ratio disclosure information in the annual reports of the world’s top automotive firms is measured. The findings show that although most firms are profitable in 2008, they are sparse in communicating their financial ratio positions. Most of these massive automotive firms are deemed to have good corporate governance systems. However, improvements could be made with regard to corporate governance practices. These corporate governance systems are found to be a statistically positive influence on the extent of financial ratio disclosures. Improved communication should enhance stakeholder understanding of the actual financial position of firms in this most highly visible global industry.

As the strategic potential of procurement has been explored by academics and professionals, there has been increasing discussion surrounding the ways that procurement can be of value to an organisation. Theories of competitive advantage are discussed as one method for procurement to add value. In this paper the major types of competitive advantage – cost leadership and differentiation – are outlined and the importance of procurement’s alignment with overall corporate strategy for achieving a competitive advantage is stressed. Three procurement strategies – operational improvement, supply chain collaboration and sustainable purchasing – are discussed as further examples of how procurement can create a competitive advantage for an organisation. The discussion highlights three complications that surround determining the value of the competitive advantage: indirect relationships, implementation gaps and measurement. Conclusions drawn from this discussion indicate that these complications are common to all strategies discussed. Despite the complications in determining the value of competitive advantage, it is shown to be an important way that procurement can be valuable to an organisation