Effects of IFRS adoption on the financial statements of Nigerian listed entities: the case of oil and gas companies

On 28 July 2010, the Nigerian Federal Executive Council approved January 1, 2012 as the effective date for the convergence of Nigerian Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS) or Nigerian GAAP (NG-GAAP) with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). By this pronouncement, all publicly listed companies and significant public interest entities in Nigeria were statutorily required to issue IFRS based financial statements for the year ended December, 2012. This study investigates the impact of the adoption of IFRS on the financial statements of Nigerian listed Oil and Gas entities using six years of data which covers three years before and three years after IFRS adoption in Nigeria and other African countries. First, the study evaluates the impact of IFRS adoption on the Exploration and Evaluation (E&E) expenditures of listed Oil and Gas companies. Second, it examines the impact of IFRS adoption on the provision for decommissioning of Oil and Gas installations and environmental rehabilitation expenditures. Third, the study analyses the impact of the adoption of IFRS on the average daily Crude Oil production cost per Barrel. Fourth, it examines the extent to which the adoption and implementation of IFRS affects the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of listed Oil and Gas companies. The study further explores the impact of IFRS adoption on the contractual relationships between Nigerian Government and Oil and Gas companies in terms of Joint Ventures (JVs) and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) as it relates to taxes, royalties, bonuses and Profit Oil Split. A Paired Samples t-test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and Gray’s (Gray, 1980) Index of Conservatism analyses were conducted simultaneously where the accounting numbers, financial ratios and industry specific performance measures of GAAP and IFRS were computed and analysed and the significance of the differences of the mean, median and Conservatism Index values were compared before and after IFRS adoption. Questionnaires were then administered to the key stakeholders in the adoption and implementation of IFRS and the responses collated and analysed. The results of the analyses reveal that most of the accounting numbers, financial ratios and industry specific performance measures examined changed significantly as a result of the transition from GAAP to IFRS. The E&E expenditures and the mean cost of Crude Oil production per barrel of Oil and Gas companies increased significantly. The GAAP values of inventories, GPM, ROA, Equity and TA were also significantly different from the IFRS values. However, the differences in the provision for decommissioning expenditures were not statistically significant. Gray’s (Gray, 1980) Conservatism Index shows that Oil and Gas companies were more conservative under GAAP when compared to the IFRS regime. The Questionnaire analyses reveal that IFRS based financial statements are of higher quality, easier to prepare and present to management and easier to compare among competitors across the Oil and Gas sector but slightly more difficult to audit compared to GAAP based financial statements. To my knowledge, this is the first empirical research to investigate the impact of IFRS adoption on the financial statements of listed Oil and Gas companies. The study will therefore make an enormous contribution to academic literature and body of knowledge and void the existing knowledge gap regarding the impact and implications of IFRS adoption on the financial statements of Oil and Gas companies.

Care planning for aggression management in a specialist secure mental health service: user involvement

This paper describes an audit of prevention and management of violence and aggression care plans and incident reporting forms which aimed to: (i) report the compliance rate of completion of care plans; (ii) identify the extent to which patients contribute to and agree with their care plan; (iii) describe de-escalation methods documented in care plans; and (iv) ascertain the extent to which the de-escalation methods described in the care plan are recorded as having been attempted in the event of an incident. Care plans and incident report forms were examined for all patients in men's and women's mental health care pathways who were involved in aggressive incidents between May and October 2012. In total, 539 incidents were examined, involving 147 patients and 121 care plans. There was no care plan in place at the time of 151 incidents giving a compliance rate of 72%. It was documented that 40% of patients had contributed to their care plans. Thematic analysis of de-escalation methods documented in the care plans revealed five de-escalation themes: staff interventions, interactions, space/quiet, activities and patient strategies/skills. A sixth category, coercive strategies, was also documented. Evidence of adherence to de-escalation elements of the care plan was documented in 58% of incidents. The reasons for the low compliance rate and very low documentation of patient involvement need further investigation. The inclusion of coercive strategies within de-escalation documentation suggests that some staff fundamentally misunderstand de-escalation.

Sharing the vision: representing the matters of concern for design-led fledgling companies in Scotland

Design is being performed on an ever-increasing spectrum of complex practices arising in response to emerging markets and technologies, co-design, digital interaction, service design and cultures of innovation. This emerging notion of design has led to an expansive array of collaborative and facilitation skills to demonstrate and share how such methods can shape innovation. The meaning of these design things in practice can't be taken for granted as matters of fact, which raises a key challenge for design to represent its role through the contradictory nature of matters of concern. This paper explores an innovative, object-oriented approach within the field of design research, visually combining an actor-network theory framework with situational analysis, to report on the role of design for fledgling companies in Scotland, established and funded through the knowledge exchange hub Design in Action (DiA). Key findings and visual maps are presented from reflective discussions with actors from a selection of the businesses within DiA's portfolio. The suggestion is that any notions of strategic value, of engendering meaningful change, of sharing the vision of design, through design things, should be grounded in the reflexive interpretations of matters of concern that emerge.