Possible Inherent Conflicts Between the Public Auditor and the CFO on Case Study

Possible Inherent Conflicts Between the Public Auditor and the CFO on Internal Controls - Case Study Example The public auditor, whose primary job is to give an opinion on the financial statements of the company after necessary examination of the statements, also places his reliance on the internal controls established by the management of the company to prevent, detect and mitigate the events of frauds and errors which may lead to erroneous financial reporting and deception of the shareholders. This is the reason that the auditor lays great emphasis on the establishment of strong and well defined internal controls where the occurrence of material misstatements can be prevented, and if not, then properly detected and appropriate actions be taken to mitigate the same from occurring again. In the course of the audit, the strong emphasis laid by the auditors on establishment of the internal control department may create conflicts between the auditor and the management of the company, specially the Chief Financial Officer. The auditor and the CFO initially have their roles clearly defined as to the extent of their jobs and are required to work independently with clear objectivity without interference in each other’s work. The auditor’s responsibility is to report on the financial statements prepared by the management whether they are free from material misstatements and give a true and fair view. The auditor also has to report on the internal controls established by the management if they are organized enough to prevent and detect the frauds and errors. The auditor has to ultimately report to the shareholders on the safeguards established by the management to safeguard their rights. Conventionally, the role of the CFO is understood to be in the position of manager and regulator concerning the implementation of principles of accounting. Further, the post of the CFO also includes the preparation of the financial statements and related reports along with the supervision of the capital structure of the

News release Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

News release - Assignment Example The company CEO, Brian Cornell says that the company will seek to redeem its reputation as a leading online shopping outlet in the country. However, the business of online shopping continues to experience security challenges due to increasing sophistication of data theft technologies. The CEO states that the company will invest in data security systems to detect any fraudulent activities in order to implement the new strategies. Cornell asserts that the business of the company remains stable despite the attacks. The corporation is taking bold actions to ensure data security. The measures include constant monitoring of possible fraudulent activities, advising customers to create stronger passwords and also to report such criminal attempts to the relevant authorities for further investigations. â€Å"Despite the security breaches last year, the company has recorded an increase in digital sales. This means that our loyal customers have more trust in the company and believe that their data is safe with us. We will maintain our commitment towards offering our customers quality services. We will also deploy other value-addition strategies to give customers more value for their money. For example, the company will expand its free shipping to customers during the festive season to increase their trust in the company. We will also continue seeking other sustainable ways of increasing customer satisfaction,† says Cornell. In 2013, the company experienced a major data breach that exposed the customers’ details. The data bleach targeted credit and debit card details of the customers. The company considers the act as criminal and aimed at reducing the trust in the company. The CEO explains that the company’s digital sales depend on products offered by the company and how it rewards its loyal customers. The company will increase the products to 35000 to give the customers a wider

Friday Night Lights Movie Essay Example for Free

Friday Night Lights Movie Essay I strongly believe that it is important for parents to be involved in the extra-curricular activities of their children. This builds encouragement for the son/daughter, and makes them respect their parents even more. Yet at the same time there is a line that must not be crossed by the parent. Once you reach the point of getting physical and abusive, you know that the line has been crossed. There has to be some sort of understanding that your child is not going to be perfect at everything that he or she does. The important thing is the effort that they put into it, not the outcome of their performance. As a parent you must also realize that this is your child’s life, not yours. Parents should try to understand that support is a great way to build confidence. This is vital to building discipline and a stronger relationship between parent and son/daughter. In the movie Billingsley’s dad takes it to a whole different level. He wants everything Donnie does to be absolutely perfect, ultimately trying to live within his son. Donnie’s dad finds the need to humiliate and harass his own son in order to build some sort of toughness, and expects that this method will make him play better. This is definitely not the way to solve the problems Don was having on the football field. I understand that his dad was a drunk with an attitude problem, but that certainly does not give him the right to treat Billingsley that way. Just imagine the frustration and discouragement building inside of Donnie. Trying to have fun playing football must have been near to impossible for him. Donnie probably had a lot of negative emotions and tons of pressure while playing, worrying how his father would react to not living up to his expectations. Any mishaps Donnie would have on the field should have been left for his coach to address, not his dad. His dad should have played his part as a loving parent and supported his son, no matter the outcome.

Hofstede Theory of Cultural Differences

Hofstede Theory of Cultural Differences As we know that today we are living in an era of globalization and culture has a very significant impact on the organization in which operates. Thats why so many researchers have placed too much importance to create a good relationship between the practices and culture of an organization in which it operates, but on the other hand according to the Earley (1994), if management practices are not according to the needs and demands of their employees so then the following problems will arise such as de motivation, low productivity and high turnover. So in order to overcome such problems, a very serious attention much is given to improve the culture of an organization as it ultimately effects the development and effectiveness of HRM strategies and policies. For better understanding of the effect of national cultures on development and effectiveness of HRM strategies, firstly the concept of culture must be clearly understood. A pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Brewster et al (2008), p.14-15 This definition of culture basically defines that culture is a set of believes, norms and values that people acquire and share with others. The basic feature of culture is that, culture is adaptive. It is helpful for those people who are coming or joining a new place and easily come to know about the existing problems in an organization. Another definition for a culture is: the core of culture is composed of explicit and tacit assumptions or understandings commonly held by a group of people; a particular configuration of assumptions/understandings is distinctive to the group; these assumptions/understandings serve as guides to acceptable and unacceptable perceptions, thoughts, feelings and behaviours; they are learned and passed to new members of the group through social interaction; culture is dynamic it changes over time (Milliken and Martins, 1989). This definition by Milliken and Martins basically defines that culture has two characteristics, first is, its a collective phenomenon, everybody used to share it and secondly it shapes the way people of that culture thinks and respond. As discussed earlier, this is an era of globalization, every single nation has its own culture, their way of thinking, perceiving, responding is absolutely different from different nations. That is why every culture has its own set of values, beliefs and norms. And it easily be seen by different examples of nations like wise: if we see USA the rate of freedom is very much high over there similarly independence, individualism and level of competition tends to be very high in USA but on the other hand lets take Japan where much importance is given to belongingness, all the work is done on group consensus, seniority is also taken into account and cooperate with each other as much as they can similarly in Arab countries family harmony and parental guidance is high and much of the authority is given to the senior member of the society. In Asian countries like Pakistan, ratio of hospitality is very high, respect for seniors and aged people are also high, mostly a decision is taken by havin g guidance from a senior member of a family. Most of the cross-cultural researchers like Hodstede and Trompenaars argued that the culture of the society plays a vital role and helps a lot in reshaping the practices of the management. As the society vastly vary in cultures, management has to keep in mind different methods for motivation of the employees from different cultures and sometimes it creates a problem for the management in decision making process. Hofstede Cultural Dimension: Now I will explain in detail that how management practices differs when organization operates in diverse cultures. Taking into consideration the work done by Hofstede (1980), where he carried out a research by analysing the questionnaires filled up by IBM employees in 70 countries. He concluded that cultural differences depend on four factors: Power Distance: Power distance is the extent in which less powerful members of the society or organization enjoys unequal distribution of the power. For instance, Females and Minorities. In organizations where power distance is high, Hierarchy tends to be taller where all major decisions are taken by few members of the top level management and all decision making process is centralised. High power distance also means that low level management cannot challenge the decision taken by upper level management and also it is very difficult to meet them. But on the other hand where power distance is low, decision making process is decentralised, all the big and small decisions are approved by taking help from the low level management. The basic concept over here is the employee empowerment, and these organizations are found with flat hierarchical pyramid. For Instance: Virgin group of companies. Where chairman of the organization have made small departments and they are allowed to take all decisions regardi ng their department, this helps them out in good decision making skills and also the employee empowerment. Uncertainty Avoidance: Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened about a typical situation and have created a set of beliefs in order to avoid these situations. High uncertainty avoidance companies or nations tend to have a strong belief on heir experts and their knowledge and their managers are low risk takers and have a high need for security and these countries are usually developed nations. And countries with low uncertainty avoidance tend to be more risk takers. All activities running in an organization are usually unstructured and there are few written rules, as the managers are willing to accept the risk that is why employee turnover is high in these organizations. From the perspective of HR, all employees are open to accept the new ideas and viewpoints. Individualism versus Collectivism: Individualism refers to the extent to which people look after for themselves and their immediate family only. People in individualistic society tend to gain individual rewards and want to take all decisions by themselves. As they are responsible for their decisions only, they also rewarded individually. Countries which are high in individualism tend to be wealthier and developed, where all promotions are made on the basis of market value. But on the other hand, societies with collectivism tend to work in a group and take care for each other in exchange of loyalty. Countries which are high in collectivism tend to be poorer, where individual initiatives are low and promotions are given on the basis of seniority. Hofstede argued that countries like America, Great Britain and Australia tend to be individualistic societies. Where employees are running behind the individual recognition and promotion in an organization is the major motivational force. But countries like China, Japan and Pak istan, tend to be collectivist society, where all decisions are made on group consensus. Everybody take care for each other and employees are more focused towards group recognition. And the most important over here is that, management encourages cooperation and loyalty and they are treated as a family rather than an individual working for the organization. In 1992 Holden mentioned collectivist society as: Japanese managers spend up to 30% of their time, in and outside normal office hours, educating their younger colleagues and initiating them in the lore and wisdom of the company, preparing them functionally and psychologically for the operations outside the firm (Holden, 1992, p.31) Masculinity versus Femininity: A Masculine culture is the one in which basic social values are success, money and things. A country which is high in masculinity, people laid great importance on recognition, advancement, showing off, material achievement and being outward. But on the other hand countries which are high in femininity, tend to be caring and loving. A great importance is laid on cooperation, group decision making, friendly atmosphere and more employee freedom. Organizations which are working in low masculine society, promotions are made on the basis of merits and all employees are treated as a member of one family, but in organization working in high feminine society, rewards are set in such a way so that more and more competition takes place between employees rather than cooperation. Conclusion: It can easily be concluded that, Hofstede shows that national cultures contain at least four dimensions and every organization has to come up with these dimensions as they are working in diverse cultures. After analysing these dimensions a company can easily operate in diverse cultured society as national culture has a significant impact on the organization. Knowledge of different cultures is very much essential for the organizations which are working as multinationals and also for HR Professionals, as people who are going to hired by the organization have different set of beliefs regarding motivation, loyalty, career development and decision making. So a proper match must be there between the organization practices and the national culture, in this way an organization can easily succeed in a society in which it operates. So that there would be a positive impact of national culture on the development and effectiveness of HRM strategies and policies.

Paeadise Lost :: Essays Papers

Paeadise Lost In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, we can see that there are the two ideas damnation and salvation through the characters of Satan and Adam & Eve, respectively. It is Satan’s sin of pride that first causes him to fall from God’s grace and into the depths of hell. This same pride is also what keeps him from being able to be reconciled to God, and instead, leads him to buy into his own idea of saving himself. With Adam & Eve, we see that although they too, disobeyed God, they repented of their sin, and were reconciled to the Divinity through the saving judgement of the Son. It is their ability to admit their wrong doings to God that allow them to have the promise of returning to Paradise; something that Satan was not able to do. In the fourth book in Paradise Lost, we see Satan wrestling with himself over what has happened, his fall, and what it is he is about to do, his completely setting himself against God. He is able to recognize that God’s forgiving nature extends even to himself, "I could repent and could obtain By Act of Grace, my former state", and is if only for a moment, unsure as to "which way I shall fly"? However, Satan knowingly chooses to cling to his foolish pride, and is unwilling to ask and receive the forgiveness of God, "is there no place left for repentance†¦ none left†¦ disdain forbids me". It is important to understand that Satan fully comprehends the sin he is about to commit as he is well aware of the consequences for his actions. He allows his pride to completely remove him from ever regaining his "former state", and so damns himself and the other fallen angels to the hell set aside for them. This idea of his last and lost chance to reconcile himself to the Divinit y is seen when he declares "So farewell Hope†¦ Farewell Remorse: all Good to me is lost". This demonstrates his complete sense of despair, and thereby, his complete rejection of both God and His love. When we look at Adam & Eve, we see what might be considered tragic "heroes" in the sense that they also knowingly doom themselves to be removed from Paradise, and subjected to the harsh, new world as well as death, and yet persevere with the hope for a better future.

Research Report: The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers fc

Research Report: The Great Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"The Great Gatsby: A Criticism of American Society,† author Ned Mack discusses how F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the American Society in the 1920’s for its trend to waste, advertise, encourage superficial relationships, and an obsession with appearances. All four of these things are very evident in the novel, and Mack just breaks each of them down individually. Mack talks about how the Valley of Ashes is an example of people being wasteful in the 1920’s. People in America use what they want and when they want and leave the remains or waste, you might call it, behind for the un-wealthy to clean up. â€Å"The valley of ashes was once a flourishing town, but was used until it was no longer valuable and was thus abandoned.† (qtd. In Mack) This is very true the rich people in the novel were by no means conservationist. They would not think twice about using things in excess and then discarding them how they please. Advertising plays a huge role in this novel. Mack says, â€Å"The billboard in the Valley of Ashes is held above the rest of the town and represents society worshipping advertising† (2). This is evident in the novel not only are business’ advertised but in a way people are always advertising themselves. By talking about their own business’ or even worse putting themselves on display and advertising themselves, but not as people, but more like objects and how wealthy they are. An example of this is when Mr. And Mrs. Mckee are at Myrtle’s party and the narrator Nick is talking about the Mckees and he says referring to Mrs. Mckee, â€Å"She told me with pride her husband had photographed her a hundred and twenty-seven times since they had been married† (qtd. In Mack) Subconsciously, Mrs. Mckee is advertising her husband and that he is a photographer. Mack goes on to talk about the American obsession with appearance that is shown throughout the novel. An example of this would be that Gatsby has a huge library filled with books that have never been opened. Gatsby is just trying to be someone that he is not in order to fit a certain image. Another character obsessed with her appearance and how people perceive her is Myrtle. At her party, she pretends that she has a kitchen full of servants who are waiting on her†¦when in reality she doesn’t. Research Report: The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers fc Research Report: The Great Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"The Great Gatsby: A Criticism of American Society,† author Ned Mack discusses how F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the American Society in the 1920’s for its trend to waste, advertise, encourage superficial relationships, and an obsession with appearances. All four of these things are very evident in the novel, and Mack just breaks each of them down individually. Mack talks about how the Valley of Ashes is an example of people being wasteful in the 1920’s. People in America use what they want and when they want and leave the remains or waste, you might call it, behind for the un-wealthy to clean up. â€Å"The valley of ashes was once a flourishing town, but was used until it was no longer valuable and was thus abandoned.† (qtd. In Mack) This is very true the rich people in the novel were by no means conservationist. They would not think twice about using things in excess and then discarding them how they please. Advertising plays a huge role in this novel. Mack says, â€Å"The billboard in the Valley of Ashes is held above the rest of the town and represents society worshipping advertising† (2). This is evident in the novel not only are business’ advertised but in a way people are always advertising themselves. By talking about their own business’ or even worse putting themselves on display and advertising themselves, but not as people, but more like objects and how wealthy they are. An example of this is when Mr. And Mrs. Mckee are at Myrtle’s party and the narrator Nick is talking about the Mckees and he says referring to Mrs. Mckee, â€Å"She told me with pride her husband had photographed her a hundred and twenty-seven times since they had been married† (qtd. In Mack) Subconsciously, Mrs. Mckee is advertising her husband and that he is a photographer. Mack goes on to talk about the American obsession with appearance that is shown throughout the novel. An example of this would be that Gatsby has a huge library filled with books that have never been opened. Gatsby is just trying to be someone that he is not in order to fit a certain image. Another character obsessed with her appearance and how people perceive her is Myrtle. At her party, she pretends that she has a kitchen full of servants who are waiting on her†¦when in reality she doesn’t.

Mobile Shoppers

The entire digital marketing world is quickly converging on mobile as a favorite shopping partner. Thanks to the increasing purchases and usage of smartphones, approximately 50% of adults aged 18-64 in the U. S. are mobile shopping. With all of these technologically advanced phones in pockets and purses, the way people shop is changing. Mobile shopping is not one activity – Mobile-shopping behaviors include using one's phone to facilitate any part of the shopping experience — from comparing products, evaluating prices, and selecting where to buy, to sharing product photos, tweeting price details, and actually completing the transaction.The mobile shopping experience can also include activities post-purchase, such as returning or servicing a product. Arc Worldwide conducted a nationwide quantitative survey of 1,800 mobile-phone owners, followed by qualitative research using webcams, Flip video cameras, and shop-alongs as shoppers utilized their phones in the shopping exp erience. Two key findings cast a light on who is mobile shopping and how, and what it means for the future. Lights shall inherit the future -Mobile shoppers fall into two groups.Heavy mobile shoppers comprise about 20% of all mobile shoppers and drive 80% of the activity volume. Light mobile shoppers comprise the rest. Heavies love their phones, using them to share photos, download music, and check the news. They also love any form of shopping, whether it be at home, on a computer, or in the store. It's not surprising that they really enjoy the nexus — indexing 10 times higher than lights in mobile shopping. Heavy mobile shoppers know and use mobile as a specialized tool for shopping.Light mobile shoppers have a much narrower outlook toward mobile with regard to shopping. They see it primarily as an inferior portable computer, and therefore primarily use it in the car and on the go. Sixty-two percent of light mobile shoppers told us it was just easier to go online from a comp uter vs. shopping on their phone. While heavies have driven the growth of mobile shopping thus far, our research indicates that future growth will come from a small group of lights with the greatest potential to become heavies. We call them high potential mobile shoppers.They love their mobile phones and shopping in the way heavies do, but haven't yet converted their shopping activities onto their phones. Smartphone shopping apps are helping consumers buy more online, and they’re getting people better deals on the street. Two new data points from online auctioneer eBay and price comparison app Scanbuy help drive that home, and more importantly, suggest where things are ultimately headed: Deal-hungry users are increasingly going to put pressure on retailers, both online and offline, to change prices in real time to satisfy these more savvy buyers.Ex. EBay said Wednesday that global mobile sales brought in almost $2 billion in 2010, up from $600 million in 2009. In the U. S. , eBay mobile sales grew almost 175 percent, generating nearly $850 million in gross merchandise value in 2010. What this confirms is that consumers are wielding their smartphones as shopping tools, arming themselves with data that’s informing their choices. In some cases, it’s pushing people to buy online. In other cases, they’re searching for better deals nearby.But as users get more access to pricing data wherever they are at all times, it’s going to force retailers to have to react more in real time with their pricing. If users can see there are deals to be found elsewhere, retailers are going to have learn how to respond quickly with counter offers. This is good news for consumers, who can leverage this data more for in-store discounts and bargaining. Flash an online price of a product at a Best Buy employee, and see if the price can be matched or beaten. It’s going to put more pressure on retailers to monitor these pricing schemes and devise qu ick strategies.It’s not enough to just offer check-in coupons and offers; they’re going to have to be aware of the competing offers available to consumers as they hunt for bargains. 1. Extend online brand reputation to mobile with seller ratings – Having a great online reputation is essential to driving online conversions, per Google. With seller ratings on mobile, brands and retailers can extend their online reputation from desktop to mobile devices and leverage the power of the mobile platform to drive conversions on the Web. The seller ratings extension lets mobile searchers to see merchants who are highly recommended by other shoppers.By showcasing relevant and useful rating information for a business, the extension can help differentiate that brand from its competition and guide potential customers to purchase from its site. In recent studies, campaigns with mobile seller ratings saw a 7. 5 percent increase in click through rates when compared to campaigns without this extension. Seller ratings are aggregated from merchant review sites all around the Web and the extension will only show when a merchant’s online store has a rating of four or more stars and at least 30 reviews. . Take customers directly to the desired conversion path with mobile ad site links – Ad site links enable direct navigation to specific pages of a Web site. Since navigating on the mobile Web can still be difficult, site links for mobile can be especially useful in taking customers directly to the desired conversion path on a site, per Google. For example, with site links brands can quickly guide customers to the best selling products on their site or to an online store locator.Mobile users find this format particularly helpful and on average campaigns with mobile site links see a 30 percent increase in click through rates when compared to campaigns without site links. Right now a maximum of two site links can appear on mobile devices with ads displ aying two links across one line or stacked vertically on two lines. One-line site links can show with the click-to-call phone extension and will display one link to the Web site alongside the brand’s phone number. One-line site links can also show with the seller ratings extension and will display the company’s online store rating as well as two links to its Web site.The quality of a brand’s ad will determine which variation of mobile ad site links will show. Two-line site links typically show for higher quality ads. 3. Drive customers in-store with offer ads – Running an in-store promotion? Brands can get the word out and incentivize customers to visit their store by placing a coupon right into their AdWords ads. Mobile ads with offers enable advertisers to include special deals in their mobile search ads, allowing users to store coupons via email or SMS.Ads also display the brand’s phone number or business location on a Google Map for Mobile so t hat customers have everything they need to go to the store, redeem the offer and make a purchase. 4. Click-to-call ads for easier contact – Ensure that customers can easily connect with customer service by including a business phone number in mobile search ads. Since users who make a call are showing interest in a brand’s product or service, they are more likely to make a purchase. With a call costing the same as a click to an ad, this is a very cost-effective ad format for driving quality leads and conversions for a business.