...education departments in the UK. Methodology Drawing on relevant literature, the authors develop a quality audit tool that incorporates all key components of effective quality management programmes and apply it to a single UK case study department. Findings The findings suggest that the potential for quality enhancement is determined by the manner in which the evaluation is conducted and subsequent change implemented. Perhaps unsurprisingly there is currently an emphasis on internally derived quantitative data and there is potential to enhance the management of the quality of HE programmes. Research Limitations/Implications This article has concentrated on the development of the quality audit tool and tested this within one UK department. Work is underway to now test the tool on an international basis. Paper type Research paper Key Words quality, higher education EVALUATING QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENTS Introduction In many countries and many cultures, the issue of quality management has been firmly on the agenda of higher education institutions for quite some time. Higher education for the masses and a growing climate of increasing accountability (Oldfield and Baron, 1998, Eriksen, 1995) are frequently cited as the rationale for a greater emphasis on quality. Accordingly there has been a good deal of research into the subject of quality in higher education, with well-recognised contributions from all corners of the globe1. Within the UK there are particular...
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...result of innumerable corporate scandals such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco. These companies were misrepresenting their financial reporting to investors and stakeholders to make themselves look more financially stable when in reality they were not. This misrepresentation resulted in huge financial losses and the mistrust of investors in the market. In order to better control financial reporting and restore investors trust, the SOX act was passed. Sarbanes-Oxley aims to enhance corporate governance and strengthen corporate accountability. It does that by: • formalizing and strengthening internal checks and balances within corporations • instituting various new levels of control and sign-off designed to • ensure that financial reporting exercises full disclosure • Corporate governance is transacted with full transparency. (Sarbanes-Oxley Essential Information) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act implemented new standards for financial reporting accountability in a way that CEOS could not pass on the blame to others. They cannot hide behind the “I was not aware of the company’s financial issues “reason anymore. Executives are now held responsible for any financial misrepresentation in their companies’ reporting. They are also held accountable for the design and implementation of new internal control to validate their financial records. Thus, they are responsible of making sure that an internal control report as well as an internal control assessment report is filed along their financial...
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...------------------------------------------------- Execution Manual 20 ------------------------------------------------- Evaluation of Recommendations 22 ------------------------------------------------- Credits 23 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Table of Figures ------------------------------------------------- Table 1 FastCat Compensable Factors 7 ------------------------------------------------- Table 2 FastCat Technical Complexity/Know How 8 ------------------------------------------------- Table 3 FastCat Sales and Support 9 ------------------------------------------------- Table 4 FastCat Innovation 9 ------------------------------------------------- Table 5 FastCat Accountability 10 ------------------------------------------------- Table 6 FastCat Job Structure 18 ------------------------------------------------- Executive Summary In assisting in the growth and leadership of FastCat’s healthcare software system, JJAS...
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...books” because they wanted to keep the company’s stock price growing. Managers and accountants “cook the books” because they are forced to do so by their CEO and CFO. WolrldCom CEO Ebbers believed that increasing the stock price is their number one priority, so he set up a goal for the corporation--“The goal of WorldCom is to be the No.1 stock price on Wall Street”. In the 1990s, WorldCom built their revenues quickly by acquiring other companies. That’s how they do to meet their expected growth. However, when they tried to merger Spring, they were blocked by the Justice Department. When they failed to expand their company by merging other companies, the executive team got lost and not sure how to expand the company in a legal way. As a result, WorldCom’s revenue growth slowed. At the same time, the Dot-com bubble started to burse, so the revenue for the whole telecommunication industry begun to decrease. However, Ebbers wanted to remain the same Expense-to-Revenue Ratio to ensure stock price moving in favorable direction. Which was impossible at that time for WorldCom to fulfill without making the number up. Therefore, the executives decided to “cook the book” to increase the stock price and meet their goal by making the false entries. For the accountant, they are pressured to “cook the book” because they are forced to do so. WorldCom encouraged a systemic attitude that employees should not question their superiors, and should do whatever they were told...
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...there are two reasons assessment of student learning is important. Assessment is needed for improvement. Improvement, with its internal focus provides • opportunities for the academic community to engage in self-reflection of its learning goals, to determine the degree to which these goals correspond to student and societal needs, and to evaluate if students’ activities, products, or performances coincide with the academic community’s expectations; • offers information to students about the knowledge, skills, and other attributes they can expect to possess after successfully completing coursework and academic programs. • establishes ways for academic units to understand the dimensions of student learning when seeking to improve student achievement and the educational process. Assessment is needed for accountability. Accountability, with its external focus, provides Step One: Identify Goals A goal is a statement expressing what ideals are to be achieved. Goal statements tend to be broadly philosophical, global, timeless and not readily amenable to measurement. They capture the knowledge, skills, and values that students should acquire in a program by a course. This first step in identifying goals requires faculty and others to reflect on questions such as the following: • what is the mission of this unit that guides and encapsulates the essence of learning - the knowledge, the skills, the values or attitudes to be achieved by students? • are these goals compatible...
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...Sarbanes Oxley Companies Abstract Sarbanes oxley act 2002 was passed on July 30, 2002 and only the public companies are now feeling its impact. This act frequently called the “most significant accounting or auditing legislation since the securities exchange Act of 1934”. After the implementation it has established its demands to the companies for proper management and disclosure of risk. Nortel networks is a giant corporate in telecom industry and as it is expected they also have faced the challenges come from the SOX act. Some of them are in favor and some are against the Nortel. ‘SOX’ has manipulated a larger impact on Nortel internal employee and external customers as well as their financial statement. The outcome of the Nortel is clearly different from before implementing the SOX. This paper is to find out the deeper understanding of SOX, how it governs the public corporate, financial disclosure and practice of public accounting in general sense. Besides this it will focus on the outcomes of Nortel network after implementation of SOX and its financial statement. Introduction There have been found a number of corporate financial scandals (e.g. Tyco International) that provides various type of weakness in the governance and auditing practice in the organization. It represents the failures in controlling the reliability and integrity to the stock markets. The scandals cost billions of dollars for the investors when the affected companies were collapsed. As a result, these...
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...uses and disclosures, patient access, accounting of disclosures, sanctions policy, breach policies and procedures. * Healthcare Trends Bring New Compliance Challenges * EHRs and Additional Points of Disclosure * Increased Risk from Physician Practice Acquisitions * HIE and Information Governance * Broadening HIM’s Role to Meet Evolving PHI Disclosure Management Needs Comprehensive review of policies and procedures, ensuring proper PHI disclosure management on an ongoing basis and should include policies related to the HIE environment such as the Data Use and Reciprocal Support Agreement (DURSA) and the sub-data set available through the DURSA, and audits of the HIE environment. Conducting internal audits in a variety of ways (planned, unplanned, or even “mystery” audits, when the staff doesn’t know it’s being audited) can promote better compliance. Ensure software...
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...Three Major Sins of Professional Development How Can We Make It Better? .Authors:VARELA, ALEJANDRA M..Source:Education Digest, Dec2012, Vol. 78 Issue 4, p17-20, 4p.Document Type:Article.Subject Terms:TEACHERS -- In-service training -- United States TEACHER development -- Methodology PROFESSIONAL education -- United States CAREER development TEACHERS -- Training of -- United States CLASSROOM management -- Study & teaching TEACHER participation in curriculum planning.Geographic Terms:UNITED States.Abstract:The article addresses flaws with teachers' professional development and in-service training programs in the U.S., particularly noting the lack of teacher input in professional development and curricula planning. It discusses the lack of practical demonstrations of concepts taught in professional development courses. It comments on the issues with treating all teachers and subjects the same, isolating in-service training from daily classroom practices, and ignoring follow-up. It notes the benefits of utilizing research-driven practices in classroom management and teacher training..Lexile:1240.ISSN:0013127X.Accession Number:83883062.Database: MasterFILE Premier.... Translate Full Text:. Choose Languageالإنجليزية/العربيةанглийски език/български英语/简体中文英語/繁體中文angličtina/češtinaEngelsk/danskEngels/DuitsAnglais/FrançaisEnglisch/DeutschΑγγλικά/ΕλληνικάEnglish/Hausaאנגלית/עבריתअंग्रेज़ी/हिंदीangol/magyarInggris/bahasa IndonesiaInglesi/Italiano英語/日本語영어/한국어Engelsk/Norskانگل...
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... The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) ordered a number of reforms to enhance corporate responsibility, financial disclosure, and to fight corporate and accounting fraud. This regulation also put financial as well as criminal pressure on the perpetrators, including the auditors. The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) was named after two of its main architects, Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley. The SOX Act is composed of eleven titles. They are: Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Auditor Independence, Corporate Responsibility, Enhanced Financial Disclosures, Analysis Conflicts of Interest, Commission Resources and Authority, Studies and Reports, Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability, White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement, Corporate Tax Returns, and Corporate Fraud Accountability. This Act requires that top management assume responsibility for the financial records that are put out by the corporation. The have to sign off on the information before it is released. This is covered in Section 302. They are certifying that the report does not contain material untrue statements and that the statements provide a fair picture of the financial condition of the organization. This Act also put in place very large penalties for violation any of the rules of this regulation. This is covered in Section 802. Section 802 states that it can impose penalties of fines and/or up to 20 years imprisonment for altering or falsifying records. Sarbanes Oxley applies to all public companies...
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...Adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as an Important Piece of Legislation Accounting I 02/27/2011 Analyze the new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms that the SOX required. The main purpose of the Sarbanes Oxley Act was to establish an accountable system of regulations and policies to ensure proper compliance. The set of standards and deadlines the act put into place was mainly in response to an alarming amount of corporate and accounting scandals. With hopes of restoring the nation’s faith in its capital market, this government enacted legislation was divided into eleven sections that ranged from additional penalties to the establishment of a new accounting oversight committee, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Overall the new standards made publicly held corporations more liable for their actions or inactions, and even set in place procedures to apply to new legislation. The first tittle of the SOX established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and their purpose was to deliver proper registration of all auditors as well as ensure proper compliance with specific mandates. Part of the first title was also the exact definition of specific processes and procedures that all auditors must adhere to while performing their duties. The board also established policies that emphasized the importance of policing conduct, verifying compliance, and ensuring exceptional quality control...
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...Introduction: Shareholder empowerment in Malaysia Presently, Shareholders of public companies in Malaysia have limited power in making corporate decision. The precise scope of the powers of each organ is defined by the company’s articles of association, general principles of company law and the Companies Act 1965. Directors usually have the power to manage the business of the company, with the members being entitled to vote only on limited matters expressly reserved to them by the articles of association or the Companies Act 1965. Although they are granted the rights to make decision on the management board and the approval rights in passing directors’ proposals, some shareholders find it inadequate as the current approval rights is a fairly weak tool in controlling agency problem. With wide and in-depth coverage of ongoing corporate tussles, shareholder awareness has improved to the point that shareholders now want to hold management accountable to proper corporate governance. Hence, in this essay, the issue of whether Malaysia should encourage shareholder empowerment to improve corporate governance in companies and thereby attract more foreign direct investment is discussed. To support my arguments three main decision-making power; rules-of the-game, game-ending and scaling-down; as well as the approval rights and proposal rights are discussed. Definition of Shareholder empowerment Shareholder empowerment means the increasing rights given to shareholder to participate...
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...KITES SUMMER INTERNSHIP Project Final Report ITC TM&D June 13, 2013 Authored by: Vaibhav Goel Contents Introduction and Project Title .....................................................................................................2 Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................2 Deliverables and Scope Of Study .................................................................................................3 METHODOLGY .............................................................................................................................4 Roles and Responsibilities ...........................................................................................................4 Results and Achievements...........................................................................................................6 REPORTS AND STRUCTURE ..........................................................................................................8 Results ........................................................................................................................................9 Training Structure .....................................................................................................................10 Evaluation Structure..................................................................................................................11 Learning and Experience .......
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...Corporate governance and Auditing Introduction Corporate governance is a method that the proprietors and financial providers of a business exercises power and necessitate accountability for the assets that is trusted to the business. The proprietors choose a board of directors to be responsible for overseeing the business’s actions and accountability to interested parties. Many parties have a stake in the quality of an organization’s corporate governance. In this assignment, I will discuss two principles that surround corporate governance and how they tie into the recent legislation that was introduced to resolve ethical difficulties and changes. The three main parts of an audit will also be described, as well as the role of the audit committee. The oversight and primary responsibilities of the audit committee will be compared and contrasted. I will also attempt to explain the impact on the auditing profession by Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Two Principles Proprietors want disclosures from organization that are correct and empirically provable. Management has the responsibility to provide financial reports in certain incidences on internal control effectiveness. Management always have the key obligation for the correctness and comprehensiveness of an business’s financial statements. They must select which accounting principles best represent the economic material of the business transactions. Management also have the obligation to apply a system of internal control that reassures...
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...OL 325: Case Study Chapter 5: Gain Sharing at CircleWorks Tanya DeSilva Southern New Hampshire University There are several ways that CircleWorks would benefits from gain sharing. The information below will outline the advantages of gain sharing. I will also be including when gain sharing works best and the best way to implement gain sharing. The advantages of gain sharing are that it would help the company to achieve sustained improvement in key performance measures (Masternak). It would reward only performance improvement within the company. The payouts are self-funded from savings generated by the plan (Masternak). Gain sharing aligns employees to organizational goals that need to be met. Gain sharing fosters a culture of continuous improvement. This is something that the company will only benefit from going forward. It enhances employee focus and awareness by giving the employees a sense of empowerment. It increases the feeling of ownership and accountability. Employees feel like they are part of something bigger and don't just have a job. It enhances the level of involvement, teamwork and cooperation. This is currently something that is not uniform. There are only a few teams that work very well together. It supports other performance improvement efforts and helps promote positive change. And lastly, it promotes morale, pride, and more positive attitudes toward the organization (Masternak). Gain sharing would work best for CircleWorks because the company's...
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...Disease effects in the resource curse 4 2.1.2 Governance related aspects of the resource curse 4 2.1.3 Environmental and public health related effects of the resource curse 5 2.1.4 Institutions 5 2.2 How do these points relate to management in countries? 6 2.2.1 Management of oil discovery and exploitation in Norway 6 2.2.2 Management of oil discovery and exploitation in Nigeria 6 2.3 Is Uganda's current economy at risk of being cursed? 6 Section 3: Uganda Oil & Gas Policy 8 3.1 Conceptualizing the Oil & Gas Policy Framework 8 3.1.1 Linkages of the National Oil and Gas Policy to the Country’s key policy frameworks 8 3.1.2 Using Finite Resources to Create Lasting Benefits to Society 9 3.1.3 Transparency and Accountability. 9 3.1.4 Competitiveness and Productivity. 9 3.1.5 Capacity and Institution Building 10 3.2 Issues arising in the Oil & Gas Policy 10 3.2.1 Institutional Development 10 3.2.2 Size of oil reserves 10 3.2.3 Oil and Gas revenue management 10 3.2.4 Investment promotion 11 3.2.5 National Participation 11 3.2.6 Public anxiety and expectations 11 3.2.7 Contribution of oil and gas resources to the energy mix 11 3.2.8 Impact of oil and gas activities 12 3.3 Crosscutting Issues 12 3.3.1 Impact on national economy 12 3.3.2 Impact on Land Ownership and Use 13 3.3.3 Impact on the Balance of Payments 13 3.3.4 Impact on National Industry 13 3.3.5 Impact on Fiscal and Monetary Policy 14 3.3.6 Impact on Physical...
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