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Payback methods of capital budgeting are commonly used by business for project evaluation, though discounted cashflow techniques are recommended, and there are pragmatic factors related to the position of management which help explain this behavior. Payback methods are used by 85% of firms in the survey, and nearly half of firms answering the survey say that payback methods are important in decisions on capital budgeting. If management rewrads are linked to accounting earnings, payback methods are more likely to be used, and shareholder wealth interests are less likely to be given importance.

The authors call for research on the effects of computing in accounting education while differences between computer use and non.use might still be detectable. Without research, accounting educators will not know the extent of learning effects associated with computer use or whether they are integrating computing into curricula in ways that maximize learning. This article surveys learning theories and concepts relevant to research on computing in accounting education and discusses five categories of attributes for measurement: performance, attitude, relevance to accounting practice, resource use, and time spent. Impediments to research are presented along with approaches for mitigating them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study Investigated the role of language as an attention-directing device in improving student writing quality in an accounting systems course. Language analysis is the application of rules governing the syntax, or structure, of writing; it does not Include understanding of meaning or the use of literary license. Computer programs that perform language analysis compute readability Indices for the writing as a whole and create marked copy identifying potentially Improvable structures, such as a preponderance of passive-voice verbs. Although they do not Indicate specifically how to revise the marked structures to Improve the writing, language analyzers simplify the writer's editing tasks by calling attention to sentence structures violating syntactical rules or stylistic guidelines. In this experiment, students using a computer-implemented writIng aid for language analysis scored better on two different written assignments than students not using the aid. The assignments were (1) documentation for beginning users of a microcomputer spreadsheet program and (2) a memorandum recommending a computer hardware upgrade plan for a growing company. The results were adjusted for (1) number of hours each student worked on the assignments, (2) student scores on a preliminary diagnostic test, (3) student grade-point averages, (4) student academic standing in course credit hours, and (5) student gender. The finding of improved performance with the automated aid suggests that use of writing aids for language analysis has potential for improving accountants' written communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the role of creative thinking as a means of improving system developers' abilities to make accounting information systems work. Creative thinking is a structured process of mess-finding, fact-finding, problem-finding, idea-finding, solution-finding, and acceptance-finding for the purpose of implementing new solutions. In this experiment, treatment subjects received instruction in creative thinking and completed a comprehensive case designed to elicit creative thinking; control subjects did not receive instruction in creative thinking and completed a narrowly focused exercise rather than the comprehensive case. There was no consistent difference between the subsequent performance of treatment and control subjects. The results were adjusted for demographic and other variables reflecting subjects' aptitude, academic preparation, and experience in information systems. The finding of no performance difference suggests several possible interpretations: (1) that the exercise of creative thinking may not be measurable, at least not with traditional examinations, (2) that experiential knowledge may dominate the contribution of creative thinking, (3) that learning to think creatively, if it can be taught at all, may require more than one instructional experience, or (4) that different instructional methods might be needed. Depending on which interpretation is more valid, this finding has varying implications for academic and professional educational programs. If creative thinking is not measurable, then one would never know if training in creating thinking had been effective; if experience dominates creative thinking, then the best approach may be to give new system developers experience with actual systems; if the inculcation of creative thinking requires more than one instructional experience, then creative thinking concepts should be integrated into more than one course and reinforced over time; and finally, if different instructional methods are needed, then further experimentation is desirable to develop more effective instructional approaches. Regardless of which interpretation has the most merit, the only way to improve the instruction in systems is for instructors to experiment with new approaches and document their results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]