Improving Accounting Information Systems to Facilitate Supply Chain Management (Published)
Supply chain management is among the most critical factors necessary for creating a competitive advantage for a company. In the current competitive market environment, firms strive to respond as well as offer its customers services faster. The information technology market is huge and is fast growing. Particularly, cloud computing is currently shaping the way various activities such as accounting, finance, and supply chain management are organized in the organization. Accounting information systems (AIS), being part of the management information systems, represents one of the most significant systems in the economic unit and it varies across different organizations depending on their application and the importance attached to them. Several organizations integrate and automate their business operations through the use of AIS. AIS is a computer-based system that increases the control as well as enhances the coordination of the operations of the organization. Some of the primary functions performed by AIS are data maintenance, data collection, data security, knowledge management, and information generation. Good AIS seeks to take advantage of surrounding circumstances to improve the quantity and quality of the information so as to enhance the users’ delivery mechanism hence providing different users with diverse types of important information to meet their demands. This paper examines how the integration of AIS assists in improving the company’s supply chain management in the Bahraini retail market. This research study found out that AIS increases the efficiency of information sharing between various parties such as the suppliers and other stakeholders thereby streamlining supply chain management in retail firms in Bahrain.
Keywords: Accounting Information Systems, Bahrain, Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain
ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND FINANCIAL REPORTING IN TAKAFUL COMPANIES – A CASE STUDY (Published)
This paper attempts to compare the financial reporting of two Islamic insurance companies “takaful” in two different countries; Bahrain and Sudan. Where Sudan is the first country to host takaful insurance in the year 1979. A case study methodology is applied where the financial reports of these two companies are studied over the years 2009 to 2012. The points under investigations are: Internal organizational structure, financial statements, financial policies, disclosure and notes to the financial statements, and management expenses. The results highlight that takaful companies in Bahrain are using mudharabah and wakalah models and their financial reports are prepared in accordance with IFRS are more informative and clearly understood. On the other hand takaful companies in Sudan use wakalah model and that their financial statements lacked elaborate disclosures rendering some of the information as not up to the standard. A closer look is taken by this study to investigate what could be the underlying factor for differences between these two companies in two countries
Keywords: Bahrain, Case Study, Financial Reporting, Sudan, Takaful
Accounting Policies and Financial Reporting – A case study (Review Completed - Accepted)
This paper attempts to compare the financial reporting of two Islamic insurance companies “takaful” in two different countries; Bahrain and Sudan. Where Sudan is the first country to host takaful insurance in the year 1979. A case study methodology is applied where the financial reports of these two companies are studied over the years 2009 to 2012. The points under investigations are: Internal organizational structure, financial statements, financial policies, disclosure and notes to the financial statements, and management expenses. The results highlight that takaful companies in Bahrain are using mudharaba and wakala models and their financial reports are prepared in accordance with IFRS are more informative and clearly understood. On the other hand takaful companies in Sudan use wakala model and that their financial statements lacked elaborate disclosures rendering some of the information as not up to the standard. A closer look is taken by this study to investigate what could be the underlying factor for differences between these two companies in these two countries
Keywords: Bahrain, Case Study, Financial Reporting, Sudan, Takaful