Acc 564 Assignment 3 Fraud in the Accounting Information System
In September 2008, one of the largest corporate scandals unfolded in the United States. Lehman Brothers, a global financial services firm was declared bankrupt. This was unanticipated considering the company’s financial statements indicated it was financially sound. What was not known, however, is that over $ 50 billion in loans had been carefully concealed as sales (Kimberly, 2011). In the ensuing scandal, Lehman allegedly conspired to disguise its true financial position by disposing off its toxic assets in the short term. The toxic assets costing the company $ 50 billion were sold off to Cayman Island banks on the condition that the company would buy them back. This created a false impression that Lehman had disposed off the toxic assets worth $ 50 billion, and hence the sales figure of the same amount reflected in its financial statements. The scandal was perpetrated by Lehman executives with the help Ernst & Young,...
BUS660 Contemporary Issues in Organizational Leadership
Evaluating effectiveness of teachers
Teachers can be evaluated for effectiveness based on two general criterions: Practice and products.
Teacher practice
Teacher practice accounts for about 80 percent of the total overall evaluation. Trained principals and supervisors are used to carry out the assessments by observing the teachers about three times a year. Each observation sessions is followed by meetings between the teacher and the observer in order to give back important feedback to the teacher. Teachers must be thoroughly trained on the evaluation procedures to be used in evaluating their effectiveness. Observers must also be trained on the various instruments to employ in teacher evaluation (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2015).
Instructional indicators – teacher instructional indicators are assessed based on the following.
Does the teacher establish instructional objectives while delivering content to students?
Does the teacher relate objectives to student experiences?
Level of learner involvement.
Demonstration of desired skills to students.
Delivery of content using a variety...
OMM640 Business ethics and social responsibility
Ethics, Compliance, Auditing, and Emerging Issues
Describe an emerging global risk for 2015 and beyond
Technology risk is insofar the greatest challenge facing majority of businesses across the world, yet many remain oblivious to the risks they are exposed to. Technology risk includes cyber attacks, data fraud/theft, critical information infrastructure breakdown and misuse of technologies. Technology risk has the greatest financial impact on a company, in addition to time consumption and loss of trust from customers. The impact and likelihood of a cyber attack in the modern business environment is estimated at above average, and the threats are becoming more each day. This is compounded by the fact that businesses have become more hyper-connected, and sensitive personal and consumer data is currently being stored in cloud where hackers can gain access from any part of the world.
Currently, more businesses continue to lean on technology as an integral part of their daily operations. This is due to the...
Mkt 100: Walmart marketing research paper
Wal-Mart is a multinational retail corporation dealing in warehouse stores and discount departmental stores. The retail corporation has its headquarters in the United States, in the Arkansas state. Walmart focuses on giving customers the best value for their money by providing quality products at low prices, and with outstanding customer service. This sets Wal-Mart apart from the rest of the competition.
Walmart’s unique selling preposition is a focus on “everyday low prices” (EDLP) while delivering quality products to customers (“Walmart,” 2014). The retail corporation stocks a broad assortment of products such as national brands and local merchandise that reflects the need of consumers in the area of operation. The company focuses on an “everyday low cost” strategy that aims at keeping costs low. This enables Wal-Mart to sell at relatively low prices compared to other retailers in the market (“Walmart,” 2014).
Walmart has a number of marketing objectives. The retail corporation seeks to deliver locally relevant products...
Acc 564 Hacking the AIS Assignment
As more businesses lean on technology to support their operations, unexpected challenges are emerging in the technological environment. Hackers, whose identities in most incidences remain anonymous, have become a major threat in the operations of most businesses. On November 2013, a cyber-attack on Target Company threatened to throw the company in a financial crisis, coupled with lack of confidence from majority of its customers. The cyber-attack on Target Company resulted in over 40 million customer accounts becoming compromised (Ziobro, 2014). Hackers were able to gain sensitive information of cardholders following the attack. This attack was discovered three months later, and resulted in loss of customers’ money.
Target Company bears a huge responsibility in terms of effectiveness of its response to the security breach. Reports indicate that Target’s security team had earlier learnt of a breach in their system but downplayed the security warnings (Ziobro, 2014). The lack of follow-up gave hackers the upper hand where they...
Information Needs for the AIS
Accounting information system (AIS) is a computerized method of collecting, processing, storing, retrieving and distribution of accounting data to users in an organization. An information system makes it possible to collect and manipulate financial and accounting data in ways that it is usable to end users. The functions of an accounting information system can be put into three major categories: First, AIS ensures collection and proper storage of an organization’s financial data. Secondly, the system ensures that information is available to end users for decision making. Information may be supplied inform of financial statements or reports. Lastly, AIS ensures that controls are in place for proper processing and retrieval of information.
In many organizations, problems with the accounting information systems are encountered although seldom in established organizations. Corporate leaders are tasked with the responsibility of making critical decisions from the information they receive from AIS. Corporate leaders often make improper assumptions when handling accounting information systems and...
Effects of Legislation on HR Outsourcing
In recent years, more companies are turning to human resource outsourcing as a way of cutting costs. In response to this, the local, state and federal governments have established regulations curtailing outsourcing. These regulations have come to be known as anti-outsourcing laws which are common in many states (Jamieson, 2012). State legislation of outsourcing is meant to curtail outsourcing. Between the years 2003 and 2004, the number of bills seeking to reduce outsourcing rose tremendously from 4 to over 200 bills. Additionally, over 20 states were already seeking approval to pass the bills into law (“Thomson Reuters,” 2015). All the bills were meant to curtail in different ways outsourcing.
Most states have already passed legislation curtailing HR outsourcing. Possible consequences passed by these states include class action litigation and legislative initiatives that curtail outsourcing. For instance New Jersey’s S.494 law curtails the performance of service contracts outside of the U.S. (“Thomson Reuters,” 2015). The law only...
Comprehensive Audit Plan : ACC 574 Assignment 5
Make recommendations on the requirements for the feasibility study and discuss the Pros and cons for the design of SDLC with a recommendation for an optimal time frame for each stage.
A feasibility study is a basic audit procedure that helps the organization in compliance and preparation of a final audit. A feasibility study answers the basic question; can it be accomplished given the current resources? The feasibility study enables the management to determine all the resources necessary for the accomplishment of the tasks and the viability of the project (Kendall, & Julia, 2005). The following are the basic requirements for a feasibility study.
Analysis of the existing information system
For an organization to develop a new and advanced system, the existing system must be analyzed in detail in order to identify its weaknesses in detecting and averting fraud. The crucial thing in this step is for the team to comprehensively review the interactions of...
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is a Dallas based company that was established in 1967. Much of the company’s operations are concentrated in the domestic market, with only a few flights to international destinations. The airline has maintained a remarkable profitability and safety record in over 40 years of operations. In 2014, the airline marked its 42nd year of profitability, surpassing with over 15 percent return on invested capital (“Southwest,” 2014). This has mainly been achieved through effective management practices. Over the years, the airline brands itself as a low cost carrier while still delivering high quality services.
Southwest Airlines’ mission is “dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.” (“Southwest,” 2015). The airline’s mission statement is in line with its customer-focused strategic management practices. The company provides the highest quality of service to its customers through employees who understand and respond to customer needs. According to a recent survey published...
Assignment: 4 Emerging Auditing Issues
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
The role of PCAOB in improving reliability of audited financial statements
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is a non-profit private corporation formed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX-2002) to conduct supervisory roles to all accountants or auditors involved in producing audit reports for public companies (Palmiter, 2008). The board’s core mandate is to ensure that the independent auditors observe due procedures while auditing public companies. In addition to this, the body registers, conducts investigations and issues disciplinary measures to public accounting firms found guilty of auditing malpractices (Palmiter, 2008). The board also ensures that public accounting firms observe the SOX Act to the latter. The establishment of PCAOB has greatly enhanced reliability of audited financial statements for the public users of information. The following section provides a detailed analysis of the important role played by PCAOB.
PCAOB routinely conducts inspections upon public accounting firms to ensure that they adhere to all the...
