Internal Control Essays (Examples)

Internal Control

In the United States, all corporations planning to go public have to maintain an adequate internal control system. LJB is a small company that does local distribution and wants to go public. The president has decided to get an independent audit firm to carry out the assessment while identifying its areas of weakness. In case failure is reported by this audit firm, it could be fined or the officers could go to prison. Internal controls help in detecting any errors in the report from accounts and also protect assets. This also helps in efficiencies as law and order is followed by the company operations (Tysiac 2012).

There have been human errors that are caused by over working or wrong assumptions by members of staff. There are also some fraudulent human beings who can rip off a company if it's not well protected internally. This allows the law to…

Internal Control

he Importance of Internal Control Programs

An effective internal control program in an organization ensures the efficiency of its operations and helps a business to attain its objectives by minimizing the chances of violation of rules and regulations by the employees. It safeguards the organization's assets and promotes the reliability of the accounting and financial information. Failure to implement an effective internal control program results in a corporate culture in which employee theft and fraud and financial misreporting thrives. he importance of having an effective 'internal control program' is reflected in a 2002 Report which estimates a loss of $600 billion in 2001, or about $4,500 per employee, as a result of on-the-job fraud in the United States. (Quoted by Gibson and homas, 2003)

Effective Internal Control echniques

he commitment of the senior management towards an effective Internal Control Program is crucial for its success. he management must…

Internal Controls

Organizations have the responsibility of accounting for all of their financial and operational data in an effective and efficient manner that is in compliance with all regulations as well as industry practices. Having a set of internal controls in place can help streamline an operation which provides a level of efficiency as well as offers protections again various risks. The SEC has been in an increasingly important role and has received increased power in 2002 when legislation for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed. Although most of the rules and regulations under this act affect only publically held companies, many of the required accounting procedures can serve as best practices for companies that are not publically owned.

Quality assurance is generally one of the most important aspects to constructing a set of internal controls. Internal controls can assist with analyzing processes and monitoring operations to ensure that high quality…

Internal Controls

Companies need to be aware of the varying influences that are acting upon their organization. One method of examining the current situation is to divide the perception into ideas and influences that are arriving from the external environment and those that are internally controlled. Internal controls are important because they rely on leadership, courage and skill for these actions to take hold. The purpose of this essay is to prepare a comprehensive checklist for evaluating controls. The essay will use Louwers et al. (2007) basic five tiered framework to create this checklist and ensure that it can indeed be used for practical and pragmatic purposes at the internal business strategic level.

The checklist is divided into 5 distinct sections: Control Environment, Risk Assessment, Control Activities, Information and Communication, and finally, Monitoring. Each component of this checklist plays an important role in ensuring that a company or organization is…

Defining internal control techniques usually need ethics as base reference. This is because the condition of employees must always be considered, whether an internal control will positively or negatively affect the people within an organization. Thus, when establishing an internal control program, the "good for all" must always be the objective. While internal control techniques define what is good for an organization, the employees who comprise an organization must therefore benefit that "good." And, what is good must always be in accordance to the values of ethics.

Define the Importance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The importance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is apparent in the treasury management of corporations. According to Steven Krippner, on the purpose that Sarbanes-Oxley Act serves, it protects investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosure..."

The Sarbane-Oxley Act is important because it regulates and protects investors, especially those who file financial reports in accordance…

and, most internal auditors are still reporting to the CEO or chief financial officers -- the very people who were responsible for most of the past enormous scandals. Therefore, the affectivity of internal audits in correcting the original problems that caused the Enron scandal, for instance, is minimal at best right now. While SOX requires management to test internal controls over financial aspects of the corporation, this reporting structure poses obstacles.

Risk Management

While risk management, as part of corporate governance, includes identifying and tracking all risk areas and developing plans to deal with those risks, including fraud, it is clear that only with frequent re-assessment can risk management become an effective tool to control illegal and unethical practices. Again, along with other effective corporate governance activities and responsible company management, risk management has the potential to avoid another Enron.

Conclusion

HealthSouth Corp., Chiquita rands, AIG, ernard Madoff -- all…

The CEO of ENRON attempted to give a rosy picture of the company financial position to protect his own investment in company shares.

As a part of internal control, the accounting function and actual physical stocks should not be managed by the same person. This removes the temptation of cooking the books and allowing the stock to disappear without anyone noticing the fraud.

Protecting computer records through limiting access to accounting and record functions protects integrity of records and also removes the risk of unauthorized persons altering the records to commit fraud.

Regular and independent audits are essential for internal control. Failure of internal control is most often due to failure of proper supervision and independent checks of business related matters. Auditor must understand the business, its internal controls and the business environment to audit the system.

Internal controls helps business to achieve its performance and profitability objectives without risking…

Internal Control Systems

Internal Control

This paper examines the premise that, within any organization, there are inherent limitations of internal control systems. Internal controls are established to meet certain business requirements, and are intended to:

Protect an organization from waste, fraud and inefficiency

Ensure the accuracy and reliability of accounting and operating data

Secure compliance with the organization's policies

Evaluate the performance of units within the organization (Kansas State University, 2003).

Given these goals, it can be seen that internal controls relate to good business practices.

The challenge of establishing and maintaining internal control lies in the fact that there is just no such thing as the perfect control system. Given that the cost of implementing a control should not exceed its expected benefit, then that constraint in itself implies an upper limit on what is possible for an organization to implement. As Trenerry (1999, p.20) observes, "Most internal control…

Other people simply want to live beyond their means and see committing fraud as the way to receive extra money so they can continue to live a lifestyle they would otherwise not be able to afford. If they are angry at their managers or hate their jobs, there is also the possibility of committing fraud simply to "get back at" the person or persons they feel have slighted them. While none of these are good reasons to commit a fraudulent act, they are some of the most common reasons that have been offered when people who are committing fraud in the workplace have been caught.

Focusing on ethics can help prevent fraud, but it will not stop everyone. Additionally, more than ethics are needed in order to make sure procedures are followed properly. Often, there is no intended fraud or financial mistakes - only carelessness and misunderstandings left unchecked. Swift…

Internal Control Frameworks

Compliance models. Internal controls are processes that are designed to offer reasonable levels of assurance that objectives can be met in several important areas, including the reliability and security of financial reporting, the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, and legal and regulatory compliance. Many versions of compliance models exist that can serve as the foundation for organizational compliance initiatives. These compliance models are more suitable for certain industries than for other industries. The following description explores two compliance models and identifies relevant industries in which the models could be successfully employed.

Domain model for internal controls compliance. A close relation exists between business process management (BPM) and internal controls management (Namiri & Stojanovic, 2007). The process of constructing the architecture between the two entities entails identification of the significant accounts in the company and identification of the business processes that affect the accounts (Namiri & Stojanovic, 2007).…

Internal Control

The purchase orders are not always considered by Competition Bikes Inc. In the company's purchase system, control authorization and record retention are not frequently addressed. Generally speaking, purchase orders are appropriate for merchandise purposes. On the contrary, the Competition Bikes Inc. pays for unordered goods or excessive quantity without referring to company financial policy.

Competition Bikes Inc. does not consider all pertinent information concerning formal commitments during the transaction. Obviously, delivery means, payment terms and account distribution should be considered for the purpose of transparency and accountability in business. On the other side, materials received early or late may result in business interruption or excessive levels of inventory.

Weakness Corrective Actions

Independency between purchasing agent or buyer and supplier should be maintained. This can be accomplished through periodic buyer rotation, participation in purchase contracts, or the use of commodity teams. Other compensating controls should exist if business conditions…

The need for reconciliation is important here because it allows management to match the transactions with the money taken in for those transactions. The stubs presumably have numbers on them, which would allow management to reconcile specific stubs, but even at that management would have no way to actually track the transaction, it would simply know that a stub was missing, or that there were more stubs than money. So the need for reconciliation is important, but in this case if there is an option for Separation of Duties that would be more important. In addition, reconciliation is only possible if the stubs have the value of the ticket on them -- otherwise it is only possible to know how many customers there are, but not if some of them were seniors, children, students, matinee customers or any other group subject to a discount.

The control objective is to minimize…

However, internal controls are more than just discovering errors and irregularities, controls go hand in hand with internal audits. Audits differ from controls in that an audit will provide "an objective, independent review of bank activities, internal controls and management information systems to help the board and management monitor and evaluate internal control adequacy and effectiveness" (Comptroller p. 2).

Using audits and internal controls to provide information for the smoother and more seamless operation of a bank or financial firm can be composed into a governance system. The system would spell out the controls, standards, methods and designs for the entire operations. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Board recently published a statement that defined internal control systems. It stated that the internal control system would include "all of the financial, operational and other control systems which are carried out by internal controllers and which involve monitoring, independent evaluation and timely…

Internal Controls

Provide an example of an item that pertains to either (a) the internal control environment (the umbrella) or (b) a monitoring activity or (c) a risk assessment activity that relates to Microsoft Corporation.

In 2002, the SEC settled with Microsoft on allegations of accounting violations that understated revenues. Microsoft did not admit to any wrongdoing. The settlement did call for the corporation to cease and desist from misstating income, without requiring any restatement of earnings reports. The SEC finding was based on Microsoft's noncompliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in which material amounts of income were misstated in certain periodic filings with the SEC during the period from July 1, 1994 to June 30, 1998. Underscoring the audit finding by the Commission, was both an absence of documentation for the bases used for the accounting and evidence that Microsoft failed to maintain proper internal controls. A spokesman…

President

Inform the President of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public.

Instituting a system of internal checks and balances would be foremost in my recommendations to the company president since most internal control systems provide for independent internal verification; this principle involves the review of data prepared by employees. To obtain maximum benefit from independent internal verification:

Companies should verify records periodically or on a surprise basis.

An employee who is independent of the personnel responsible for the information should make the verification.

The company should also look at incorporating a Voucher Control System. Most medium and large companies use vouchers as part of their internal control over cash disbursements. A voucher system is a network of approvals by authorized individuals, acting independently, to ensure that all disbursements by check are proper.

When looking to hire new employees, it is vital that the company…

Discrepancies

This case study is indeed correct in asserting that properly run inventories truly are essential to the functioning of any organization. Inventory discrepancies need to be eliminated aggressively in order for an organization to move forward. Furthermore, this case study was astute to assert that such discrepancies could be avoided by examining past mistakes and working hard to fix them. Furthermore, the cases study was also wise to point out that many inventory mistakes could be avoided by holding more employees responsible for such mistakes. Greater employee accountability is absolutely vital in establishing an environment of trust and efficiency. However, there are other tools in place that can be used to make sure that inventory mistakes don't occur. One such tool is something known as cycle counting. This process is able to balance the accuracy of all inventory records by determining the number of counting material via the year…

Internal Control and Accounting Analysis of ABC Limited: Analysis of Weaknesses and ecommendations

The report was prepared to cover the requirements of the AAT ICAS unit. The AAT ICAS refers to an Internal Control and Accounting System where the report serves as investigation of the weakness area of the business control and makes the recommendation to fix this problem. The following report reviews the restaurant business particular in payroll area.

The report reviews the accounting system of ABC Limited and makes recommendations.

The report was carried out via observation. A certain business was chosen; the researcher asked permission of the manager of the business and spent three days, one in each restaurant observing the premises and the workers at their work. The researcher acted as inconspicuous observer. She also interviewed the different workers in an informal manner regarding the tenor and quality of their work. She conducted background research on…

Internal Control for Information Security: nnotated Bibliography

Making the case for Network Security. (2012, pr 19). Retrieved from Wikibon Blog:

http://wikibon.org/blog/making-the-case-for-network-security/

This author addresses the central concerns regarding information security in the modern business world using broad strokes to make the importance of network security as a key business operation readily apparent to the reader. s the article is addressed primarily on business managers and other practically interested personnel, the language is a bit too full of professional jargon and other needless complications, however the basic facts that the author lays out and the conclusions drawn from these facts and their relationship are quite straightforward and clear. Though not providing any truly in-depth and concrete data or profound insights, this presents overview information that is directly related to the investigation of network and information security.

Information: Complying with the Safeguards Rule. (n.d.). Retrieved from Bureau of Consumer Protection: http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus54-

customer-information-complying-safeguards-rule…

Transaction-elated Audit Objectives

Auditing internal controls are processes instituted by companies to assist them accomplish specific goals and objectives (The Institute of Internal Auditors, 2004). In addition, internal controls help in directing, monitoring as well as measuring organization's resources. Internal controls are vital since they help firms prevent and detect fraudulent activities thus protecting important resources; both physical and intangible. In most organizations, internal control objectives correlate to reliability of financial reporting, timely feedbacks on achievement of operational and strategic goals, and full compliance with stipulated laws and regulations.

At specific transaction levels, internal controls are actions taken to achieve a specific objective such as payments made to third parties for services rendered (Caplan, 1999). Moreover, the institution of internal control procedures reduces process variations, leading to more predictable outcomes. Business managements typically have three broad objectives in designing an effective internal control system. These controls include reliability of financial…

Internal Control Analysis

Publicly owned and operated businesses have always been flashed an evil eye of suspicion by many corners of society but the depth and breadth of the scrutiny now bestowed is not a higher pitch than ever, and for two major reasons. The first reason is that the blogosphere, social media and the Internet and general has made it much easier to share and disseminate salacious information as well as engage in legal malfeasance. The other reason is that there was a wave of scandals or other major situations in the last decade or so that rocked the corporate world to its core at the time, those being the tech bubble, the wave of corporate scandals that included Enron, Tyco and MCI WorldCom and then there was the aftermath of the global recession vis-a-vis the housing market and other businesses that either had to be bailed out (e.g.…

Accounting internal control is the methods and procedures used to ensure the accuracy and validity of the financial statements, as well as to protect against abuse and fraud, making sure information is delivered in an accurate and timely manner. (Griffin) Internal controls consist of information systems and physical controls that are carried out in the line of job duty. The two primary goals of internal control is to ensure that financial information is delivered accurately and free of material misstatements, as well as to protect investors and the company from fraud and theft. Without internal controls, investors are damaged with losses and the company's financial condition is damaged, which can cause bankruptcy, or even closing of the company with huge losses.

Prior to the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, huge accounting scandals erupted that cost investors their money, employees their jobs, and caused companies huge losses of assets and…

Once the invoice is received, the accounting personnel should check if it matches the pending purchase order. The data introduced in the accounting system should roughly include the following: the current date, the invoice date, the purchase order number, the General Ledger account number and the amount of the actual invoice.

The check must be completed and any supporting documentation should be attached and forwarded to the Office Manager for approval before the actual check can be processed or made. As for the status of the check, the Accounts Payable Department should be contacted if there are any difficulties and questions. Any supporting document might also be mailed with the check by the AP Department, should the requestor make such a demand.

Various problems regarding checks might arise. For instance, a check is deemed invalid and voided if there is an error in the payee amount, if the error occurred…

Forecasting and planning for risk is the best way to avoid losses, rather than passively accepting the inevitability of such losses in the 'insurance' mindset. For example, when a corporation has 'the' hot new toy at Christmastime, rather than assuming the toy will always be as popular, it often creates artificial scarcity before the holidays, and then afterwards it plans a new type of publicity campaign to continue to sell the toy at robust levels, but without expecting the same level of buying frenzy will continue into the next year. Planning for the future is the best way to guard against losses and bad decisions.

Mitigating risk by 'spreading' risk around is also problematic as a strategy, because it can simply result in embarking upon more risky ventures in a half-hearted way, and dilute rather than avoid risk. For example, regarding our line of chicken nuggets, what if consumer demand…

Internal controls are "methods put in place by a company to ensure the integrity of financial and accounting information," and to protect the organization's assets from misappropriation by internal sources (Investopedia, 2013).

Internal controls help to prevent fraud, but they also allow the company to have reliable data on all transactions, which can be used for any number of control purposes. Further, internal controls promote operational efficiency and they encourage adherence to management policies regarding the handling and recording of cash and transactions (No author, 2013).

There are a number of internal controls that can be put into place for the handling of cash. These include the segregation of duties, recording the receipt of cash, having cash handled only be authorized persons, having a copy of any cash receipts sent to the accounting department, verification of the amount received and reconciliation.

Segregation of duties means that the company should implement…

As, they will quietly establish different security procedures and tools (i.e. surveillance cameras) to determine what kind of actions staff members are engaging in. This will help EP, to see where are: the biggest weaknesses inside the organization. At which point, they can begin to identify which employees are contributing to the problem. This is important, because one of the biggest issues facing EP is: not having any idea of the overall scope the challenges they are facing. If they can increase their surveillance, they will be able to know how big the problem really is. Once this occurs, they will have identified those individuals that are making the situation worse and can deal with them accordingly. (Kilby, 2005, pg. 41)

Clearly, the biggest problems facing EP is a lack of accountability and transparency. This is troubling, because it means that managers are unaware of the various challenges that are…

Implicit in the use of these internal controls is keeping strategic plans and initiatives on track. This focus on continual alignment of strategies to their objectives through the use of internal controls is what separates those organizations attaining success with their supply chains or not.

One of the more successful organizations globally in orchestrating their supply chains through the use of internal EP controls is PC and laptop manufacturer Lenovo (Barrett, et.al.). According to studies of their supply chain completed by AM esearch, Lenovo has been able to attain a 37% reduction in supply chain costs over three years (Barrett, et.al.). In addition Lenovo has been able to stay profitable while experiencing 42% growth during the 4th quarter of 2009, a time when many of its competitors were facing financial losses. Compare their growth to the overall market growth of 17% and the value of supply chain-based internal controls becomes…

This implies a comparison of the results of the internal and external audits. Additionally, aside results and documents consulted, it is also necessary to assess the various variables used in the evaluations.

It is for instance possible for the company to alter the findings by focusing on more favorable variables. As a specific example, a financial audit could reveal increased organizational abilities to honor company debts, but this conclusion could solely be founded on the assessment of the company's short-term liquidity, in a context in which the assessment of the long-term liquidity would have revealed financial instabilities. In this order of ideas, the risks of altered results would decrease and the relevance of the findings would increase to better allow the auditor to assess the quality of the internal control systems.

At this stage, the auditors would make use of several technological applications through which to increase the efficiency of…

Describe 2 internal control procedures and explain how the company could use these internal control procedures to protect itself from the risks you have identified in part (a) above.

Demanding that all merchandise be accounted for, even so-called unsellable garments, is essential. If there is a discrepancy between the garments sold to the stores and the inventory sold to Sylvia, she must explain why and produce evidence (in the form of a record of all unsellable merchandise), and the manufacturer should be contacted for verification that a complaint was issued regarding the garments. Secondly, Sylvia must keep receipts for all of her expenses and submit them, but there should also be independent audits -- for example, the company could call up the restaurants and establishments she frequents, to verify that she indeed had reservations and ate there. or, the company could specify what types of transport and what places she…

The proper authorization to complete an inventory also needs to include training on how to manage the exceptions that often occur when physical counting is taking place (Corman, 1988).

The third principle to have adequate documents and records in place that can be quickly be used by the teams completing the audits. This also needs to be preceded with a training session focused on how to also manage exceptions to the paperwork as well, as each company's physical inventory processes are unique to their specific business models (andall, 1984).

The fourth and fifth principles are physical controls and independent checks on performance. These two principles need to anchor all training activity and also be continually audited to ensure performance to standards set over decades are attained. Physical controls and independent checks are also indispensable to the audit and final approval of physical inventory levels, which is the first step in…

Internal Fraud Detection

Fraud can be detected by deliberate effort through internal control efforts or by coincidence or chance. When companies do not practice strong internal control, it leaves the door open for employees to misappropriate assets without being detected, except by chance. y the time fraud is detected by chance, it could have cost a company millions of dollars in misappropriated assets.

The first coincidence discovered by the magazine company was in the process of a new auditor in an effort to get to know his new company and their accounting codes taking invoices to a vice president responsible for approving payment on them. The very top invoice was a forged signature, and upon evaluation, more invoices were discovered to have contained forged signatures, which is what set up the investigation. According to (Global Economic Crime Survey), 13% of internal fraud is detected by accident, 27% reported fraud in…

Control Mechanism: Advance Financial Management

Real corporate governance and financial control comprise of the utilization of monitoring and inducement mechanisms to bring into line different interests that are between managers and shareholders and urge the creation of shareholder value. Monitoring is not just a simple mistake, nor a conventional control, but founded on the control monitor. The United States, orld, Com Enron, Lam Tin, China's Guangxia, came from magnificence into ashes, weak in-house financial control is one vital reason. ' Theoretically, China's accounting auditing and profession it seems that there is management and disrepairs the worth controlled by, or would like to state control of mistake to evade such a propensity of thinking' (CAI Chun 2001). It is this propensity exists, that makes surveillance and controls the activities that are within the company fundamentally stop at the levels of supervision, fail to have control of the height.

Company's in-house financial…

CONTOL Self-ASSESSMENT

Order ID: Control Self-Assessment

Control Self-Assessment (CSA), also known as internal audit risk assessment is one of the management tools used to facilitate workers to be more effective in realizing their goals and managing associated risks which occurs, as a result. In risk management, organizations can "systematically identify potential exposures, take corrective actions early, and learn from those actions to achieve objectives" (David, 2004, p.6).

CSA in a company takes place to control and maybe to develop more controls if required within the company or a department. Within an organizational department, the employees are to determine the hindrances to be overcome or the strength to be leveraged and they are to agree on the most appropriate action to do to improve on the situation. One of the strengths of this management tool is that, it brings employees together, so that they can be able to identify and focus…

The fifth principle of cash disbursement is that of independent internal verification. This occurs at Guard Dog because the reconciliation is conducted by the assistant chief accountant, not the treasury. There are other controls as well that are consistent with the principles of internal control of cash. The invoices are stamped "PAID" when the check has been issued, for example. Also, in each key department there are two individuals, which allows each individual to take vacations. The checks are compared to the invoices before they are issued. By doing all of these things, Guard Dog is following the principles of internal control of cash disbursements well.

4-2A. a) There are several weaknesses in the internal control. The head usher counts the money unsupervised; financial management and audit is conducted by the same group; regular audits are not conducted; only one employee keeps records; the financial secretary conducts reconciliation and audits;…

Control and the AIS

Control and the Accounting Information System

This paper discusses the process of integrating controls into the accounting information system (AIS) using enterprise risk management (EM) components. EM is defined as "a process, effected by an entity's board of directors, management and other personnel, applied in strategy setting and across the enterprise, designed to identify potential events that may affect the entity, and manage risk to be within its risk appetite, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of entity objectives." (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, COSO, 2004, p.2).

According to COSO, EM encompasses:

Aligning risk appetite and strategy

Enhancing risk response decisions

educing operational surprises and losses

Identifying and managing multiple and cross-enterprise risks

Seizing opportunities

Improving deployment of capital (COSO, 2004, p. 7).

EM integrates concepts of internal control and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Internal controls of accounting systems are intended to protect…

A major objective of the custodial Financial reporting system is to be continuously and accurately responsive to regular and ad hoc requests for custodial financial reports" (Website of the Internal evenue Service, 2008).

The new information system has not been entirely implemented in the meaning that it still in the stages of control and testing. Once its implementation has been completed, the FMIS is expected to perform the following tasks:

Support the financial audit conducted by the General Accountability Office

Prepare the financial statements of the Internal evenue Service

Prepare reports for trending on operational impact

Feed the BPMS (the Business Performance Management System), the CCW (Compliance Data Warehouse) and the CAP (Custodial Accounting Project)

etrieve the information necessary for the Federal Payment Levy Program (FPLP), and finally

Analyze and report on modules with credit balances belonging to frozen credit processes (Website of the Internal evenue Service, 2008)

The GAO…

Kaplan vs. Porter

The author of this report has been asked to compare and contrast two very popular models when it comes to strategic business decisions and the management involvement surrounding the same. One of those two approaches is the work of Kaplan and Norton while the other is that of Porter. Kaplan and Norton had a "notion," per the assignment parameters, of a strategic management system while Porter's work as come to be known as the Five Forces. The two frameworks are similar in some ways but they are also very different in other ways. This brief report shall compare and contrast the two approaches in several ways so as to reveal what makes them different and what makes them the same. While the two approaches being compared and contrasted in this report are different, they are both aligned toward the same overall goal and are centered on the…

This study demonstrates that different total P. fraction releases may differ between two bodies of water under similar oxygen conditions (Kisand & Noges, 2003). This study is important in that it highlights the complexity of understanding P. fractions in any given body of water. There are a multitude of potential reactions in any body of water. Oxygen plays a role in the reactions of any individual lake, but one cannot make predictions based on oxygen level alone.

Shallow lakes differ from stratified lakes in many ways. A stratified lake typically reaches equilibria in such a manner that it becomes divided into regions. This is not the case with shallow lakes. With a shallow lake, the entire lake may change from clear water to macrophyte dominated to algae dominated, each phase has its own state of equilibrium (Dokulil & Teubner, 2003). Total chlorophyll to phosphorus ratios are different in these various…

Analysis of California Pizza Kitchen Strengths and Weaknesses

California Pizza Kitchen has been able to rise above the difficult economic conditions in their largest markets by concentrating on the most strategically important process areas first. At the center of their strengths, the chain has is the ability to support their global brand with a unique, branded dining experience (Fair Disclosure Wire, 2010). Creating the integration between a restaurant's global brand and having the dining experience support and accentuate the brand's messaging and value is elusive and yet very profitable (McCaw, 2009). This is the greatest strength that California Pizza Kitchen has been able to attain in its history including its growth across geographies.

The second greatest strength of the company is its ability to continually create unique food entrees and continually keep the in-restaurant dining experience new and exciting even for the most loyal customers. This ability to create a…

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The determination for marketable security with respect to disproportionate distribution is accomplished by reducing the amount of marketable securities that is treated as money using the following steps:

1. The excess of the partner's share of net gain that would be recognized if all securities of the type distributed held by the partnership immediately before the transaction were sold at fair market value over

2. The partner's share of gain that would be taken into account if the securities held by the partnership immediately after the transaction were sold.

While the term "marketable securities" includes interests in actively traded precious metals and other financial instruments that are set forth in the applicable IRC code and regulations, there are some exceptions to this provision, though, and it does not apply in three specific situations as noted below:

1. Contributed by partner. If the security itself was contributed to the partnership…

internal business process perspective balanced scorecard turns attention aspects organization's operations possibility direct control managers employees. Here a summary approach: Niven, P. (N.D.) Internal Process perspective.

The balanced scorecard at the Duke Children's Hospital

The change process at Duke Children's Hospital was decided upon as the healthcare institution faced severe challenges. Its operational costs were increasing while its revenues were decreasing. Issues had been raised about eliminating specific programs and reducing the palette of services offered. The levels of productivity on the part of the staff members were decreased, as was their satisfaction and the satisfaction of the patients.

In addressing these issues, the managerial team at the hospital focused on the integration of the clinicians and administrators in a strategic manner, with the aid of the balanced scorecard. As a result, the revenues increased and the net margin of the hospital increased by $15 million. Employee satisfaction also increased…

Internal usiness Process

In 1996, Duke Children's Hospital was facing tremendous challenges associated with a reduction in the number of Medicaid reimbursements that they were receiving from the government. To deal with these issues, the balanced scorecard approach was implemented at the facility. This is a tool that allows executives to effectively determine the various risks facing the business by looking at a number of elements to include: the financial, the customer, the internal organization and learning / growth. During the process of implementing these changes, the hospital followed on all encompassing approach. This helped to bring the various staff members into the strategy, which reduced the amounts of animosity surrounding any kind of proposed changes. Once this occurred, is when the staff and managers were working together to deal with these issues. ("alanced Scorecard asics," 2011) (Meliones, 2001, pp. 21 -- 29)

Analysis

The hospital focused on three key…

Aside quality and financials, control techniques are also present in other organizational departments, such as engineering, logistics, information systems, pre-series center, production technical support, purchasing and sales and marketing. While all these organizational processes are thoroughly controlled, incremental emphasis is placed on control techniques at the level of logistics operations. At this organizational stage, the control functions refer to the following:

Timely delivery of the vehicles

Adequate supply of automobile components (achieved through an ongoing fruitful relation with the purveyors)

The sequence of vehicles and forecasting of future needs

The creation and verification of time schedules before production is launched and ensuring that the times are respected (during production)

At the level of automobile distribution: correctness of the receipts, verification of product sufficiency or shortness, global distribution of products through global access to the Bentley automobiles and finally, freight upon delivery, such as road freight, sea freight or air freight…

Presently, the ed Line consists of three segments Downtown LA, Wilshire Center and N. Hollywood and the total coverage is 17.4 miles. Apart from this, the review identified the possible financial and schedule risks. It was inferred that the cost and completion schedules were justified; however funding risks were present for the North Hollywood segment. Apart from that, MTA's overall finances and the operating budget shortfalls might impact the ed Line. Therefore it was recommended that FTA need MTA to keep its finance plan up-to-date and to clearly find out and make priority in its different capital and operating costs revenues by source, and the specific revenues which are to cover specific costs. FTA approved the recommendation. Finally the report concluded that the ecovery Plan's 7-year projections of revenues and costs can be supported and were justified. Nevertheless MTA would be encountering a deficit of $1.1 billion. ("Transportation Investment Projects…

The company's turnover ratios are slightly better than the industry -- the asset turnover is better; inventory turn is better, but receivable turn is worse. Overall, Masco is struggling, but this is reflective of struggles in the industry as a whole. The company therefore is generally performing on par with the industry, or perhaps slightly more poorly.

ith declining sales, and general industry malaise, Masco has struggled to perform. Despite a diversified product range, Masco has demonstrated that its products are not sufficiently differentiated in order to withstand the rigors of a slump in the housing market. Even with the congruence between Masco's different product lines, the strategy has not been a success. Masco share price has dropped significantly, equity has been eroded. Masco shares were worth over $35 as recently as January 2005 but now trades at $7.66.

Strength & eaknesses

Masco has several strengths. These include its diversified…

Controlling Function at Google

Analysis of the Control Management Function at Google

Google's ability to innovate quickly indicates how agile and quickly adaptive the company is in interpreting opportunities and threats. The highly innovative culture of the company is continually being improved through intensive hiring, management and management control processes. One of these is the highly successful ule of 20%, which provides engineers the freedom of using up to 20% of their time on potential new product concepts and ideas (Machlis, 2009). The challenge for Google is controlling the very rapid pace of innovation and growth from a managerial perspective without stopping the momentum of new venture creation and development. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the controlling function at Google.

Analysis of the Control Management Function at Google

The Google culture is highly collaborative by nature, having 360-degree feedback processes in place to ensure each project team…

If a violation of worker's rights occur, these unions can be contacted with complaints. Once again, if the worker's unions cannot resolve the problem adequately, consultation with higher authority figures is an option.

8.

Being a unionized institution, collective bargaining is very much part of the employment process. This generally occurs at the departmental level. Generally, higher-level positions are filled by persons already employed by the University. The collective bargaining process entails the establishment of a contract that both an employee and employer find agreeable. uch a contract concerns the conditions of the workplace, including the hours, rules, regulations, and wages.

Once an employee is accepted at the University, the head of department encourages this person to join a union. The employee is then included in a meeting with a union representative and the head of department to discuss the terms of the contract. When an agreement is reached, the…

This population of aging, having had just one child, will rely upon society as a whole to care for them, instead of an extended family as was once traditionally and culturally the case.

The Rural Subsistent Dwellers

Evidenced by the lower income figures reported widely, China's rural farming populations have perhaps been the hardest hit by the One Child Policy. here ancient traditions and customs once dominated the way of life in the rural areas, China's reform policies, especially that one limiting One Child per family, have long impacted the rural way of life and productivity in China (Diamant, Neil, 2000, 93). here families that farmed once had children, sometimes numerous children, and those children helped to farm and bring in productive crops that could sustain the family, with the results of the family's labors far reaching and providing a source of income as well; since the One Child Policy…

improving the organization's internal business processes, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.

Three areas where Apple must focus on improving their internal business process include: enhancing the work environment, quality control and research / development. These are important as they will have an impact on the company's mission, vision and strategy. In the case of the work environment, improving conditions will help to lead to better collaboration between employees and managers. It is at this point when critical issues can be identified early and new ideas are shared with executives to make the firm more competitive. ("Internal Controls and Safe Working Environment," 2012)

Quality control is when Apple is concentrating on dealing with design flaws and issues associated with their products. This is occurring because the firm is working with third party providers in China (i.e. Foxxcon). In the past they have…

performance indicators and internal budget controls like reviewing staff hours can be used to assess individual and organizational accountability. Strict AICPA standards are required for the peer-review process. In addition, internal budget controls are also effective performance indicators.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has published extensive and strict guidelines regarding the CPA peer review process (AICPA). The standards for membership in the AICPA are strict, "to retain their membership in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) members of the AICPA who are engaged in the practice of public accounting in the United States or its territories are required to be practicing as partners or employees of firms enrolled in an approved practice-monitoring program..."

In accordance with the AICPA standards, the firm will chose a single, qualified CPA from a list provided by the AICPA to conduct a peer review. This person will review working conditions,…

The objective of this tight control is to ensure that the illusion of the Magic Kingdom is maintained -- it is destructive to the customer experience for a young child to see a man in a Donald Duck suit smoking a cigarette or going to the bathroom.

Disney's other businesses are also subject to tight controls. The company relies on both specific job descriptions and on training as part of the control system. Such control requires strong centralization and a significant level of managerial input over all aspects of the business. Thus Disney's internal processes are designed by management and enforcement of best practices is strict. The result is a seamless experience where customers can suspend their disbelief and enter a magic world.

The alt Disney Studios also takes a highly-controlled approach, even though its core businesses are creative. Disney focuses on market research to help guide its creative processes,…

Advice for the Company on the New Internal Control Requirements

Internal control requirements are the policies, mechanisms and procedures that organizations should satisfy to minimize the operational risks. The internal control is very critical to deter employees from implementing fraudulent operations; an organization is required to adhere to the internal system before going public. Section 404 of the SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) Act states that internal control is critical for a publicly operating company and internal control system is an auditing and accounting procedure that organizations should employ to achieve an efficient, effective and reliable financial reporting.

Overview of the LJB Company operations reveals that the company does not meet the requirements of the Section 404 of the SOX Act. Part of the Section 404 of the internal control system is that the function of the internal auditor should be separated from the work of an external auditor. In other word, an…

Costco

Programs, Budgets and Procedures

Costco's approach to financial improvement will come in the form of a two-pronged strategy. The first is to increase inventory turnover, and the second will come in the form of increasing market share. Inventory turnover is a standard ratio that refers to "how many times a company's inventory is sold and replaced over a period of time," ("Inventory Turnover," (n.d.). Increasing market share usually depends on a multifaceted process that includes "innovation, strengthening customer relationships, smart hiring practices and acquiring competitors," (Investopedia, 2015).

While it is understood that Costco has exceptional inventory turnover rates, improving these will shorten the cash conversion cycle, and thus have a positive impact on the company's bottom line. There are two potential approaches to lowering the inventory turnover rate. The first is that the company can open more stores and seek to reduce the amount of days' inventory in each…

Wal-Mart Accounting and Finance

Determine whose rate of return (i.e., local or parent currency returns) Wal-Mart should use when evaluating foreign direct investment opportunities and justify the position.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an international flow of capital that provides a parent company or multinational organization with control over foreign affiliates. The behavior of exchange rates influences FDI activity. Exchange rates are defined as the domestic currency price of a foreign currency. Exchange rates can influence both the total amount of foreign direct investment that takes place and the allocation of this investment spending across a range of countries (Bogoslaw, 2009).

Wal-Mart is among many multinational companies that have expanded production and distribution networks globally to take advantage of opportunities for higher local rates of return, market share, and accessibility to production inputs (Nathan, 2012). This -- along with foreign government import restrictions, opening of new markets and invitation for…

Internal Business Process Perspective balanced scorecard turns attention aspects organization's operations possibility direct control managers employees.

The balanced scorecard at Duke's Children Hospital

In the context of a rapidly evolving society, the health care sector must also develop new mechanisms by which to keep up with the emergent changes and challenges. One example in this sense is represented by the implementation of business tools and techniques within the act of health care provision.

One relevant example in this sense is offered by Duke Children's Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, which implemented the balanced scorecard to address some critical problems with costs of health care provision and nurse dissatisfaction.

"Between 1993 and 1996 DCH's cost per case increased $4,389, while reimbursement declined, leading to a negative net margin in 1996 of $11 million dollars. During this same period, nurse productivity declined from 80th percentile to the 80th percentile, while patient and…

Organization Behavior

Internal Supply Chain Management

ABOUT HAVEY NOMAN

Harvey Norman is a large scale retail chain owned and operated by Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. It is one of the most successful retailers in the Australian region. It promotes and sells all kinds of consumer products of world's top quality brands. The major product lines include personal computers, cameras, gaming, mobile phones, audio and video players, home appliances, furniture & bedding, gifts, home decoration and interior designing, fitness machines, leisure, etc. Headquartered in New South Wales, New Zealand, Harvey Norman operates with more than 230 stores in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Malaysia, Croatia, Singapore, Slovenia, and Northern Ireland. It was established in 1982 by Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman. The holding company, Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. has also franchised a number of retail chains in Australia; including Space Furniture, Joyce Mayne, Ariston Appliances, Domayne, etc.

Harvey Norman has a wide…

human resources. One is determining the levels of pay and benefits within the organization. Most companies are smart enough to understand the value of internal equity, since employees talk to each other, and it is difficult to discriminate internally in terms to pay, by law. Internal equity is practiced most strongly at companies that have strict policies with respect to pay scales. These are typically based on a combination of hierarchy, experience and ability. In some circles, the concept of internal pay equity specifically applies to all levels of the organization, from the CEO on down. A good example of a company that practices strong internal pay equity is Costco. Former CEO Jim Sinegal famously only made $200,000 per year and the new CEO makes less than a million, offering what is at least pay equity for a company in the United States.

Internal pay equity is important because it…

internal validity and external validity are important when designing, implementing, and reviewing empirical research. Internal validity refers to the design of the research and its methodology. Issues like sampling, statistical analyses, robustness of the variables, survey instruments, and researcher bias can impact internal validity. With regards to my research question, internal validity is of the utmost importance. The independent variables in this case include two different types of interventions: bloodless cardiac surgeries and blood transfusions. However, it is important to operationalize these two independent variables so that the researchers are clear on what exactly constitutes a bloodless surgery and a blood transfusion. Moreover, issues like hospital setting must be taken into account as a potentially confounding variable. When, where, and how these procedures are implemented can all have a bearing on the internal validity of the research design.

Likewise, the dependent variables are morbidity and mortality in patients. It is…

Audit in isk Management

Agelova, B., Koleva, B. (2015). The role of internal audit in risk management system of the companies. Economic Development, 3: 1-10.

This study shows that the purpose of the internal audit is increasingly oriented towards mitigating risk so that the firm in question can reduce uncertainty and exercise adequate, effective and appropriate decision making processes. The focus of the study is, therefore, on the internal audit aspect of a company's risk management. The purpose of the study is situated in evaluation research -- here, that which is evaluated is the "contribution of the internal audit in the management of risks in the Macedonian enterprises" (Angelova, Koleva, 2015, p. 1).

The sample used for this included the managers of 30 Macedonian enterprises along with 48 internal auditors in the epublic of Macedonia. The survey method was used for gathering data and the finding of the study was…

Louis Vuitton -- Case Study

Key Issues

To formulate a plan for the expansion of the brand into the international market. The planning and execution of strategies that would help on long-term commitment of support in the international market, depending upon different parts of the world.

The formulation of strategies and plans in cases of economic down times and interference of government policies.

Assess the performance of the company by taking into consideration the consumer trends, relevant fashion of time, the scope and demands of every international market.

To evaluate an effective model of communication and monitoring in order to analyze the trends of the existing markets that includes domestic market, variety and innovations of the products of the company.

Internal Analysis: Brand Recognition

Value

The parent company, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is one of the most famous, renowned and old fashion and apparel house. The company and the brand…

Internal Validity

Is maturation a possible threat to the internal validity of the study? Why or why not?

For measures of academic achievement, six months (which is the intended length of the study) is not a long enough period of time to be very concerned about maturation as a threat to internal validity. Most academic achievement tests have longer durations. Maturation is something to be considered because of the varying ages of the study participants, and the fact that we know children's brains mature at different rates and some mathematical concepts are not understood until the human brain does mature to certain levels. Moreover, since the boys will move in and out of residency, their exposure to other reading instructions methods and tutoring cannot be controlled.

Is history a possible threat to the internal validity of the study? Why or why not?

Yes. History is the occurrence of some unanticipated…