Perceptions of accounting practitioners and educators on e-business curriculum and Web security issues

College Student Journal, March, 2007 by Srinivasan Ragothaman, Angeline Lavin, Thomas Davies

This research examines, through survey administration, the perceptions of accounting practitioners and educators with respect to the multi-faceted security issues of e-commerce payment systems as well as e-business curriculum issues. Specific security issues explored include misuse/theft of personal and credit card information, spam e-mails, billing issues, hacking, and virus attacks. T-tests performed on the mean differences in responses indicated that practitioners were more concerned than educators about virus attacks, personal information being sold, and personal or credit card information being intercepted or compromised by hackers. Empirical results also show that practitioners have stronger feelings about the importance of communication and interpersonal skills as well as accounting knowledge and integrity/leaderships skills.

INTRODUCTION

The manner in which business is conducted today is constantly evolving, and the plethora of changes shows little sign of slowing. Much of the transformation can be traced to the rapid worldwide growth of electronic commerce. E-commerce is "... more than simply buying and selling goods electronically; it involves using network communications technology to engage in a wide range of activities up and down the value-added chain both within and outside the organization" (Applegate, 1998). The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International defines e-business as any process that a business organization (for profit, governmental or nonprofit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network (AACSB, 2000). It encompasses business-to-business, business-to-consumer, intra-organizational and consumer-to-consumer transactions as well as integrated business processes within an organization. While the majority of the e-commerce transactions are business-to-business sales, many retailers now see online sales as their best outlet for new growth. According to Forrester Research, Inc., U.S. online sales reached $78 billion in 2002, and total online retail sales are forecasted to reach $230 by 2008 (Hansen, 2003). More recent estimates put business-to-consumer spending in excess of $95 billion and projected 2005 sales at $250 billion (Liu et al., 2005). In addition, Liu et al. reported that business-to business online transactions amounted to $2.6 trillion, which was twice the amount originally thought possible.

Traditionally, businesses have been centered around functional areas such as accounting, finance, purchasing, manufacturing, sales, and the like. Frequently, each functional unit operates as though it were separate from the others. Each area typically has its own records, accounting procedures, and reporting system. Data from each functional area is frequently stored in separate databases that are not compatible or conducive to making organization-wide decisions (Ruf and White, 2000). However, more and more businesses today are shifting attention to business processes. A business process may be viewed as a goal-oriented collection of activities that take input, add value, and create output (Ruf and White, 2000).

As business changes, so must the field of accounting. Frequently referred to as the language of business, accounting has been shaped by a high volume of pronouncements and rules issued by agencies and organizations such as the SEC, FASB, and the IRS. The number of regulations that accountants must know and apply on a regular basis has grown exponentially, and this body of knowledge will continue to expand. An example of rapid changes that influence the accounting profession is the recent passage of the Sarbanes Oxley Act by Congress. As a result, this study will examine the perceptions of accounting educators and practitioners with respect to the impact of e-commerce growth on new accounting graduates' skills and knowledge, on professional certifications, and on course development and preparation. The continuing maturation of e-commerce and the Internet business market has been fueled by the growing number of Internet users. Despite the fact that Internet security has improved in recent years and the possibility of Internet security breaches has been reduced, a few highly publicized cases of security breaches have kept the issue in the forefront of consumers' minds. According to Gefen (2000), customers are concerned about online payments systems, company reliability, and the lack of privacy policies. Nabi (2005) reports that the perceived security and privacy risks associated with e-transactions make many consumers feel skeptical about e-commerce. Further, Liu et al. (2005) cited a study that found that 95% of surveyed Web users declined to provide personal data to websites at one time or another.

The remainder of the paper is organized into the following sec-tions. The second section discusses the motivation for this research project. A review of prior research on the accounting curriculum is provided in part three. The fourth section contains a discussion of survey data and the results of preliminary statistical analysis. The final section concludes with a summary of topics discussed in the paper.