...ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION Vol. 24, No. 1 February 2009 pp. 63–76 Assessing Information Technology General Control Risk: An Instructional Case Carolyn Strand Norman, Mark D. Payne, and Valaria P. Vendrzyk ABSTRACT: Information Technology General Controls (ITGCs), a fundamental category of internal controls, provide an overall foundation for reliance on any information produced by a system. Since the relation between ITGCs and the information produced by an organization’s various application programs is indirect, understanding how ITGCs interact and affect an auditor’s risk assessment is often challenging for students. This case helps students assess overall ITGC risk within an organization’s information systems. Students identify specific strengths and weaknesses within five ITGC areas, provide a risk assessment for each area, and then evaluate an organization’s overall level of ITGC risk within the context of an integrated audit. Keywords: internal controls; general control; ITGC; risk assessment. INTRODUCTION he Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX 2002) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Auditing Standard No. 5 (PCAOB 2007) require that the organization’s chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO) include an assessment of the operating effectiveness of their internal control structure over financial reporting when issuing the annual report. External auditors must review management’s internal control assessment as part of an annual integrated audit...
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...end as it was catering to the high social classes in the country but after economic crisis it adopted marketing strategies that cater to other social classes. III. Background Enchanted Kingdom is the pioneer theme park in the country, boasting seven fantastic theme zones, and imported rides and attractions. Enchanted Kingdom economic conditions prevailing in the late 1997 that the company deferred its expansion plans, facing problem like how to even out demand throughout the year?, how customers avoid spending too much time waiting for the major rides and how the park boost park attendance. IV. Review of Related Literature Enchanted Kingdom is the pioneer theme park in the country, boasting seven fantastic theme zones and imported rides and attractions. It is located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines. It is 26 kilometers away from Makati, It is a proud member of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. It also got accredited with the International Theme Park Inc. to ensure that it complied with international safety standards. Aside from its 21 rides and attractions, all of which were imported from the United States, Germany, and Japan, there were a variety of food outlets, specialty shops and video games centers. To ensure its safety standards all crew working in...
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...The impact on competitive advantage on McDonalds One of the competitive advantages is the strategy used in a company. In McDonalds Company, the strategies can be divided into several parts which are the strategies of competitors, globalization, health issues and how McDonalds overcome them, respect towards cultural differences among every different countries, and they put a strong focus on children. There are many international fast food franchises such as Burger King, KFC, Subway and etc. However, McDonalds are one of the international fast food and they are struggling that the consumers start to switch to their competitors in the year of 2002 (Han, 2008). It is because most of their competitors put a strong emphasis on offering healthier, hotter and higher quality of food yet cheaper. In this case, McDonalds used the strategy of adapting environmental change, that they start promoting healthier and affordable prices to satisfy the customer’s demands. Besides that, McDonalds also faces the impact of health issue. Some claims that McDonalds provide oily and unhealthy food that will lead a person to become an obese. However, McDonalds came out with the strategy of changing their menu to by adding salads and other lighter options into the menu. Other than that, McDonalds serve McGriddles sandwiches for breakfast in United States and Canada. Furthermore, they provide the customers to access the internet with the technology of wireless platform. This strategy of McDonalds has...
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...Passion for the Outdoors and for People | CASE APPLICATION 1 | | Juan Uzcategui. | 10/22/2014 | 1. According to Maslow's hierarchy, which basic needs does the Patagonia culture meet? What would it be like to work at Patagonia? According to Maslow’s hierarchy, the basic needs that the Patagonia culture meet is the Esteem because it allows the employees to be confident, self-esteem, allow them to achieve their goals by coaching its managers, and by training the managers to define expectations, communicate deadlines, and then let employees figure out the best way to meet those after being well trained. Also the respect of others, and respect by others is very important for an organization that wants to keep its employees motivated. None of the employees have private office. If an employee does not want to be disturbed, he or she wears headphones. That is a great way to show that everyone is equal and that each one of them are allow to do anything the feel like doing but always respecting each other. What would it be like to work at Patagonia? Work at Patagonia would be a paradise especially for people that like the beach, people that have kids, and for people that does not like to be wearing office clothes at all times. The beach lovers have a big advantage to work for Patagonia because they already are in their favorite place and being able to catch some waves and some sun in the middle of the workday is just fantastic, it makes the employee more motivate and...
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...Communication Values and Ethics TARES TEST: FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR ETHICAL PERSUASIONS Persuasion is defined as methods used to influence attitudes, raise awareness, educate or influence behaviors’. While ethics (moral philosophy) is a subject that primarily is not concerned with increased profits or increased visibility. It is, rather, concerned with what one ought to do—or ought not to do. Thus, it’s easy to persuade others but it will be tough when once involve by the ethics. Ethical persuasion is the practice of influential communication that respects the dependence of the audience by presenting truthful and relevant information. It enables audiences to make voluntary, informed, rational and reflective choices. Sherry Baker and David Martinson propose a five-part to test how ethical a persuasion should be, including methods for guiding ethical persuasion have been identified and to check and determine the ethical worthiness of the message. TARES is an acronym for Truthfulness, Authenticity, Respect, Equity and Social Relevance. Truthfulness pertains to the message of the persuader where the persuader should tell the truth and nothing more than a truth, a fact with reliable sources and should not be fall into deception. Second is authenticity which means that living in reality makes our life worth living. It compromises the integrity and personal virtue that requires the persuader should act decently, sincerity and genuineness is love the persuadees and sincerely...
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...revolutionary, yet it also displaces the order of nature with the manipulation and altering of the code of life: DNA. GMO foods are foods that have been genetically modified to produce some desired effect, like pesticide resistance, within crops, plants and animals. As with many artificial goods, when they alters and impacts the natural world and the food chain, they becomes a topic of concern. GMOs are fantastic in terms of health as they are mostly beneficial while bearing little risk. However, while GMOs are a positive force in terms of health, the rest of the technology is primarily negative. They disrupt biodiversity by introducing modified...
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...| Name and role | Perspective | | Park Jehee: The CEO of the watchband manufacturer Timepiece | The companies already doing business in the KIC don’t appear to be suffering from the uncertainty. And global firms have always operated in politically volatile regions, often quite profitablyWithout risk, there’s really no reward | | Kim Jaehyun | 1. The labor savings and productivity estimates in the KIC literature seem real.2. Capital risk also seems low because of the South Korean government’s guarantee of up to 90% of our capital investment, along with privileged access to low-interest loans.3. We have to consider how manufacturing in North Korea, given the international sanctions it’s under, would affect customs and trade agreements. Exporting goods made in the KIC could be problematic. | | Mark Lee: | Our factory would provide a better work environment than what they’re used to. But we would have no transparency and very little autonomy. | | Keel Young-hoon | 1. North and South Koreans are working side by side for the first time in decades! North Koreans are getting exposure to market economics. And it’s a fantastic show of goodwill toward the North. 2. The KIC will be a key factor in our reunification. | Dilemma: Should Park set up shop in Kaesong? | | Expert 1Youssef Nasr(agree) | Expert 2Ian Bremmer(disagree) | Experts’ perspectives on the case | 1. Park should base her decision on two perspectives: a business one and a humanitarian one. 2. But...
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...In the book Outliers, Joe Flom faced discrimination because of his faith and as a result, was not able to get a job at law firms. Instead, he was forced to take the “petty” cases involving money. However, after the 1970s, there was a boom in the number of company mergers and takeovers, and companies needed to hire lawyers who knew how to handle the cases involving money. Flom’s experience, the product of adversity became an advantage. He later used this advantage to create a new law firm and became very successful. After reading the chapter about Flom, I was able to connect with him because of an experience of mine, where adversity turned into an opportunity. Recently, my local library hosted a party for students to celebrate the end of the school year. Elated that school was over, my friend and I were in a mood for a party, so when we saw the advertisement for the party online, we immediately trekked to the library to celebrate. When we arrived at the party, we were surprised to see a room full of kids around the middle school elementary school age. The adult hosting the party refused to admit my friend and I in, after she claimed that we were “too old for these things”. She was stubbornly resolute on her decision to prevent us from entering, despite our profuse explanations that we were also students, and there is no age limit on candy, music and tote bags....
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...crucial to the success of a company. Happy employees are more willing to give 110% versus employees who hate their jobs. I have personally experienced this. I worked for a company that had a fantastic culture and was a great place to work. I enjoyed working there for many reasons. The office was nice and my coworkers and I worked very well together. I looked forward to going to work every day, because it didn’t truly seem like work. I was able to do something I enjoyed with people I liked. I have also worked in a place that I hated. With this job, I was habitually late and often called out sick. I was not productive and spent a lot of time on the internet and on the phone. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and quit. I have developed the following ideas to prevent my employees from mimicking that behavior: Ergonomic Workspaces According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Musculoskeletal Disorder cases accounted for 33% of all worker injury and illness cases in 2011. OSHA indicates that there is a way to prevent these injuries from occurring, and that is to create ergonomic workspaces. “But work-related MSDs can be prevented. Ergonomics --- fitting a job to a person --- helps lessen muscle fatigue, increases productivity and reduces the number and severity of work-related MSDs.” I would create Ergonomic workspaces for all employees that would include plenty of natural sunlight. Healthy Snack Choices I would offer my employees healthy food choices for snacks. Items would...
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...Case Study: Wal-Mart's Foreign Expansion Brief Summary of the Case: The case explores the expansion of the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, internationally. Wal-Mart began its international expansion in the early 1990s in an effort to continue its growth. The company began with a joint venture in Mexio. Initially, the company tried to implement strategies similar to those that had proved so successful in the United States, however Wal-Mart quickly realized that to succeed, it would have to adapt to local demands. The company hired local managers who understood the Mexican culture and buying preferences, and changed its strategies accordingly. Wal-Mart continued its international expansion by establishing operations in Europe and South Korea, but in these markets, the company had less success. Not only did Wal-Mart compete head-to-head with established retailers, but its product offerings did not match the needs of consumers. Wal-Mart has had much greater success in China where it has found some similarities between the shopping habits of the Chinese and Americans. 1. Do you think Wal-Mart could translate its merchandising strategy wholesale to another country and succeed? If not, why not? No, I don’t think Wal-Mart could translate its merchandising strategy wholesale to another country and succeed because their merchandising strategy is based on the methods and culture of retailing of the United States. Also, as we learned in the text many countries and have different...
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...to pre-defined requirements but also to quality standards of the category it falls in. e.g. Standard for Quality Management Systems ISO 9001:2000 Automotive: ISO/TS 16949:2002 Energy: PC 242-ISO 50001 Food Safety: ISO 22000:2005 Medical Devices: ISO 13485:2003 Risk: ISO 31000 According to the ISO 8402-94 standards, “QUALITY” could be defined as “The set of characteristics of an entity that gives that entity the ability to satisfy, express an implicit needs“. It further states that “The purpose of quality is therefore to provide a client with a suitable offer with controlled processes while ensuring that this improvement does not translate into additional cost.1 Quality can be defined as a state of excellence whereby a product (due to our context) is free from defects, errors and produced according to standards defined by certain standards organizations. An example is the “ISO 9001” quality management standard. Quality Control in Project Management according to “PMBOK” (2007) “includes all activities of the overall management functions that determine the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities. Usually carried out by a quality control department, it involves close supervision of result to ensure they conform to the stipulated quality standards and in cases of non-conformance, causes and solutions are devised to either eliminate or correct the defect. This process should also be carried out throughout the project duration. ü Its Input are: - * Quality Management...
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...Other countries have fought this outcome by banning certain ingredients allowed in their foods; and those McDonald’s outside of the United States, are unable to put these toxic products in their foods (Young, 2015). Singapore will fine you over four hundred thousand dollars as well as imprison you for fifteen years if Azodicarbonamide is found in food (Young, 2015). Here in America, typical “hamburgers” from fast food restaurants have used more than a thousand different cattle and can be raised by five different countries (Schlosser, 2004). This raises eyebrows as a major health hazard as it becomes difficult to locate the location of any contaminates that may make people become ill with...
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...half of which contains the food which you eat with the spoon provided while the other half contains the surprise. These two parts are joined and when opened make a noise that children love, a “clack” that heralds the surprise they will find inside. This extremely modern and amusing product was born of highly specific needs which in this case consisted in taking Kinder Sorpresa to those parts of the world where distance and climate might have hampered its distribution (chocolate shell, packaged in an aluminium film cannot be sold in hot and humid countries). Instead, Kinder Joy withstands humidity and high temperatures and is a hyper-protected and hygienic product suitable for emerging markets such as Africa, South America, India, or places where the climate is not conducive to chocolate. Here the packaging is technically highly advanced and the content integrates perfectly with its packaging… Exceptional research was carried out on barrier, multi-layer and thermoformed materials. Our objective was to protect the product totally. You can easily imagine the difference in terms of costs between Kinder joy and the egg wrapped in aluminium. The format is identical but they are worlds apart. The little surprises contained in the eggs have reached an incredible level of sophistication. They are well made and coloured, with instructions for assembling them… tiny perfect products. The whole creative side of the surprises is dealt with internally, by a company belonging to a group called...
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...Case # 3 Jet Blue Airways Discuss the trends in the U.S. airline industry and how these trends might impact a company’s strategy Overall the US airline industry is a cut-throat business which is extremely competitive. The cliché ‘it’s a dog eat dog world’ applies perfectly here. Over the past few years the situation grew even worse due to the recession, increased unemployment, the weakened dollar exchange, and difficulty predicting how OPEC will behave month to month. The fluctuation in the oil market has a direct effect on ticket prices bought in bulk or reserved six to nine months in advance. Airline pay close attention to the oil Futures Market to make sure their purchases of fuel is hedged. Airline companies are divided into a few categories. Jet Blue is in the discount airline category, where lowering the fixed cost is an important factor. For a discount airline to offer cheaper price, services must be cut as well as the number of airports serviced. Only destinations with high volume are able to be serviced, thus a traveler may be forced to have multiple connections to reach their destination. Airplanes must be leased instead of bought to reduce the upfront cost. In-flight meals and unlimited beverages are curtailed or completely removed. The absence of complimentary cases of beer or soda cans adds to savings on gasoline as well as price per can which is factored into lowering the ticket price. Full service airlines such as Singapore and Lufthansa, cater to a...
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...suffering negative profits from -￡200 to -￡50 in 2009. As the poor situation described above, Marcro’s restaurant may face bankruptcy in next half a year. In order to return the company back to be profitable, effective actions must be taken immediately. In this report, Measures are proposed based on the problems the restaurant has currently in different aspects which are: costing, menu, opening hours, staffing kitchen customer service, restaurant décor and atmosphere, competition and management style. 2. Problems and Suggested Actions 2.1 Cost and Menu Current problems: ➢ The menu is too elaborate which contains 15 types of pasta 25 types of pizza and 12 types of desserts. This leads to high costs and wastage of ingredients every day. ➢ The Menu is all written in Italian that confuses customers when ordering food. ➢ From the perspective of some customers, the menu is a bit dated which has been kept the same all the time. Besides, they think the food is comparatively higher than food in similar restaurants. Suggested actions: ➢ Conduct a survey among customers to get feedback about their favorites. According to the survey, simplify the menu and select 8 most popular types of pasta, 15 types of pizza and 6 types of desserts. ➢ Redesign the former Italian version menu with English translation and food pictures beside. ➢ On the basis of original menu, introduce 2 new cotemporary Italian cuisines for pasta, pizza and desserts respectively. Before sold in the restaurant...
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