Abstract
Knowledge-based companies are transforming everything: the way they are organized and managed, the way they do work and develop new products, the way they manage risks, and their relationships with other organizations in order to survive and compete in the rapidly changing business environment. The accomplished companies in this harsh competition are the ones that focus on the customer, get rid of the nonvalue and low-value activities, decentralize the decision making process, reduce the time required to perform key activities, and form new networks and collaborations with suppliers, customers, and competitors (AICPA, 1994).
Key Terms in this Chapter
The eXtensible Markup Language (XML): A language that defines a set of codes or tags that can be attached to text to define the meaning of the text.
The eXtensible Assurance Reporting Language (XARL): XARL is an XML-based extension of XBRL which is designed to enable assurance providers to report on the reliability of information distributed over the Internet.
Virtual Enterprise: A group of autonomous firms that form a single temporary company; each group of firms has a range of problem solving capabilities and resources at their disposal.
Web-Based Business Reporting: Public reporting via the World Wide Web or related Internet-based communications medium.
Corporate Governance: The set of both institutional and market-based mechanisms that induce the self-interested controllers of a company (those that make decisions regarding how the company will be operated) to make decisions that maximize the value of the company to its owners (the suppliers of capital).
The eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL): A language for capturing financial information throughout a business’ information processes that will eventually be reported to shareholders, banks, regulators, and other parties in order to make the analysis and exchange of corporate information more reliable and easier to facilitate.
Business Reporting: The public reporting of operational and financial data by a business enterprise.