Purpose This study investigates the characteristics of business and management consulting firms (firm size, international affiliation and scope of operation) affecting the adoption rate (i.e. recency of adopting big data analytics (BDA) as a new idea) and usage level of BDA. Ten critical areas of BDA application to business and management consulting were investigated, (1) Human Resource Management; (2) Risk Management; (3) Financial Advisory Services; (4) Innovation and Strategy; (5) Brand Building and Product Positioning; (6) Market Research/Diagnostic Studies; (7) Scenario-Based Planning/Business Simulation; (8) Information Technology; (9) Internal Control/Internal Audit; and (10) Taxation and Tax Management. Design/methodology/approach Survey data was obtained through a structured questionnaire from one hundred and eighteen (118) consultants in Nigeria from diverse consulting firm settings in terms of size, international affiliation and scope of operation (Big 4/non-Big 4 firms). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), multivariate discriminant analysis and multivariable logistic regression. Findings Whereas organizational characteristics such as firm size, international affiliation and scope of operation significantly determine the adoption rate of BDA, two attributes (international affiliation and scope of operation) significantly explain BDA usage level. Internationally affiliated consulting firms are more likely to record higher usage level of BDA than local firms. Also, the usage level of BDA by the Big 4 accounting/consulting firms is expected to be higher in comparison to non-Big 4 firms. Practical implications Contrary to common knowledge that firm size is positively associated with the adoption of an innovation, the study found no evidence to support this claim in respect of the diffusion of BDA. Overall, it appears that the scope of operation is the strongest organizational factor affecting the diffusion of BDA among consulting firms. Originality/value The study contributes to knowledge by exposing the factors promoting the uptake of BDA in a developing country. The originality of the current study stems from the consideration that it is the first, to the researchers' knowledge, to investigate the application of BDA by consulting firms in the Nigerian context. The study adds to literature on management accounting in the digital economy.

This paper examines the relation among corporate governance practices, pyramid ownership structure, and firm value by using a sample of Vietnamese listed firms. Using a sample of 103 non-financial firms listed on HOSE for the period from 2012 to 2014, and employing two-stage least square regression (2SLS) to deal with potential endogeneity, we find that some indicators, commonly adopted as a key components of corporate governance, such as size or independence of board of directors, are imperfect proxies for corporate governance practices. Our results indicate that it is better to employ a corporate governance index (CGI), including 117 criteria developed by Connelly, Limpaphayom, and Nagarajan (2012) since it allows for more comprehensive estimation of corporate governance. More interestingly, our results show that the pyramid ownership plays an important role in the effect of corporate governance on firm value. The results are consistent regardless of whether companies have high or low family ownership.

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Supply chain management (SCM) has been proven to improve the competitive advantage, and increase the effectiveness of operation in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) (Chin et al., 2012). This study investigates the measurement of SCM practice in Vietnam with the sample of 148 SMEs in Danang. The research findings exhibit the humble degree of SCM practices within these firms. These activities are in the primary form of SCM practice as supplier’s quality management, customer interaction, and customer satisfaction measurement. The findings also indicate the limitations in practicing SCM in Danang SMEs, and propose implications in policy adjustment to promote SCM practices and advance the competitive advantages of SMEs.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to incorporate risk in technical efficiency of ASEAN banks in a panel data framework for the period 2000 to 2015. Design/methodology/approach – The directional distance function and semi-parametric framework are employed to estimate efficiency scores for two scenarios, one with only good outputs and the other with a combination of good and bad outputs. Findings – The findings show there is no evidence of technological progress for banks in ASEAN and concerns about the outperformance of Vietnam’s banks. In addition, performance of Vietnam’s banks tends to be distorted by low level of loan loss reserves. Practical implications – To reflect the true performance and shorten the period of removing bad assets, the State Bank of Vietnam can request banks in Vietnam to book more loan loss reserves. Originality/value – By examining such a new approach, this study makes an early attempt to incorporate credit risk into the banking efficiency in ASEAN region.

The paper estimates technical performance of foreign-invested and local companies by analyzing a dataset for 11,210 companies in transport, warehousing and communication sector established by the GSO in 2010 and SFPF parameters. The results show that the average efficiency score of companies in this industry is 53.46%. These results also challenge the argument that performance of foreign-invested companies is always higher than that of local ones. On the contrary, type of companies is the main factor that affects the performance of foreign-invested companies in Vietnam JEL classification: F23, D24, C23.

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