Question 2

Culture in any country contains the most basic values that an individual may hold. It affects the way that individuals would like their society to be structured and how they interact with its substructure. Accounting may be seen as one of those subcultures. Accounting is affected by its environment, including the culture of the country in which it operates. Hofstede (1980) developed a model of culture as the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from another. Hofstede argued that, much as a computer operating system contains a set of rules that acts as a reference point and a set of constraints to higher-level programs, so culture includes a set of societal values that drives institutional form and practice.

As Gray (1988, page 5) explains:

the value systems or attitudes of accountants may be expected to be related to and derived from societal values with special reference to work related values. Accounting values will in turn impact on accounting systems.

societal values are determined by ecological inuences and modied by external factors . . . In turn, societal values have institutional consequences in the form of the legal system, political system, nature of capital markets, patterns of corporate ownership and so on.

Required:

1. Discuss the impact that you think culture and differences between countries might have on the development of financial accounting and reporting.

[14 marks]

2. In your view is it reasonable to expect International Accounting Standards should be implemented by all countries?

[5 marks]

3. Why might it be practical for a developing country to adopt international accounting standards?

[5 marks]

[Total for Question 2-= 24 marks]