Internal Auditing Information Technology Case Study

Internal Auditing Information Technology Case Study Yue Sun (Leah) Activity 1. Key entity-level controls COSO Component Entity-level Controls Control Environment Organization wide integrity code of conduct Raising awareness and application of the code Granting restricted accesses to managers based on their department and responsibility scope Risk Assessment Organization wide risk assessment Risk appetites designed by department managers Having senior managements or control groups review and approve risk appetite Control Activities Organization wide policy protocol Independent internal audit committee oversight Information technology general control Information Communication Utilizing secured and monitored communication system for employees Monitoring Activities Performance management system Regularly perform internal auditing processes Activity 2. Audit procedure for information technology general control Determining whether the managements hold a positive attitude and approach toward integrity and ethics. Determining whether policies exists to define acceptable IT practices, conflict of interest, and or other expected standards of ethical behavior within the organization. Determining whether management take proper precaution and disciplinary action in circumstances where dishonor the policies. Determining whether practitioners and management receive complete necessary training to efficiently perform their duties. Determining whether the integrity code of conduct is being applied throughout daily operations. Determining whether the role of each employee is well defined, documented, and understood by all parties in the organization. Determining whether all procedures are properly documented by designated employee and the documentation is securely managed with restricted access. Determining whether there are processes in place to monitor the integrity and the ethical value within the department. Audit procedures and evidence that indicate operating effectiveness Audit procedures to determine operational efficiency Determining whether the tasks and goals are performed and achieved. It implies that the controls are operating efficiently when management and employees meet the expectations associated with their responsibilities. Evaluating the commitment of the management and employees when executing the internal controls set as higher level commitments from management and employees lead to higher level operating efficiency. Determining whether management is promoting and trying to enforce the internal controls in the organization. Observing the efficiency and effectiveness of communication between management and employees. It indicates that the controls are operating efficiently when management and employees keep an open and transparent communication channel. Observing the attitude of both management and employees towards integrity and ethics in the internal controls. Evidence that indicate operating effectiveness The operation should be considered effective when management holds a positive tone throughout the organization and the communication between management and employees is effective and transparent. Having an ethics and integrity program that is honored by both management and employees is another indicator for effective operation. Activity 4. SHR Corporations entity-level controls are mostly soft in nature and therefore, can impact the corporations employees in terms of how they approach issues. Such entity-level controls do operate across the organization to mitigate risks that threaten the company while provide assurance that the objectives of the organization would be achieved. In addition, the entity-level controls have both internal and external effect. For instance, such control would impact on the effectiveness at transaction and processing level which could minimize the risks that would prevent the company from achieving its objectives. Weakness in SHR Corporations entity-level controls include incidents where management is not dedicated to train and mentor employees. Lacking communication between management and employees could impact the operating effectiveness greatly. Another weakness would be when less reliance is placed on control activities that are performed by employees who require highly judgmental or complex tasks. In order to amend the listed weaknesses, management should be assessing the quality of the internal control performance across the organization. Monitoring activities are necessary and SHR should also acquire independent evaluation by internal auditors to minimize risks. Management and employees behavior could be affected by the entity-level controls that are carried out across the entire organization. Based on the risks that the organization is currently facing, the entity-level controls would require managements to assess and report on the effectiveness of the internal control of the organization. The independent internal auditors should confirm and evaluate such reports concerning the effectiveness of the corporations internal control. Management and employees behavior at business processing level could be positively impacted since entity-level controls could improve their accountability. Having an effective entity-level controls would help both management and employees comply with organizations policies and code of conducts. Because entity-level controls provide assurance to the board and management that the established procedures and policies are performed throughout the organizations operation. When auditing controls over the companys purchases and accounts payable, SHRs entity-level controls could affect professional skepticism since effective controls could minimize potential risks and misappropriation. Meanwhile, the entity-level controls would facilitate the assessment of process-level risks that could affect the operation of the organization. In addition, process-level controls could assist when conducting direct testes of transactions in order to ensure the financial statements are accurately presented.

Sports Consumer Behavior

Taking a survey of all types of sports equipment around my house I see a variety of different things that my family and I tend to buy depending on the type of sport or activity anyone is into at the time. At first thinking of the this assignment and reading the instructions I did not think that I had any sports equipment in my household but once I started looking around I noticed that there are a lot of things that can be considered sports equipment like exercise equipment and clothing that I very frequently spend money on.Lately I had been getting into working out a lot because I want to lose weight for the summer which is right around the corner, and I have had these spurts a lot and have not gone through with the whole thing but each time I always buy something new that will help me to lose weight. I also took into account all the things that my boyfriend buys because most of the time we both buy stuff for his football. Currently he is playing semi-professional football locally fo r the city we live in and he is constantly buying new things from clothing to balls and pads for his games.The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) has a listing of all the different sports categories and the difference each made every year in sales. The sports category I chose to look at is the hunting and firearms category because it seems to show the most significant changes out if all of the other categories. The significant difference I see in the hunting and firearms category is in increase in sales of about $354 million dollars from 2008 to 2009.Looking at the history of hunting and firearms sales I can see that throughout the years it has continually been a significant increase each year. The only reason I can suggest that there is so much of an interest and increase in this category would be that more and more people are becoming interested in hunting and activities that include the use of firearms, and not to mention the hunters that have been hunting for years alway s upgrading to the newest and best equipment and firearms.A different category that is extremely high in value and the highest one of the forecast is exercise. I can identify with this category because I am one of the reasons that industry is so high, I know that there are a lot of people out there like myself that want to lose weight and will try any new thing that comes out for weight loss to see if it works. Looking at the amount that I spend on exercise equipment from the video’s and DVD’s to the weights and he bands and the sneakers and clothes I can see why the exercise industry is so big. People want the next best thing that is going to help them lose weight. A category that is the complete opposite from exercise is the Racquetball category where in the past few years it has had both increases and decreases in sales, but in 2009 was significantly lower than all of the other categories. I think that racquetball is so low in sales because not many people play this sport or for that matter are not too sure of what it is (like me).These are not one of the mostly popular sports that are played around the United States and for that reason I think is why this category is one of the lowest on this forecast. I think that the more popular a sport is and the more people know about it and have interest in it the more the public is willing to spend on the items for the sport or activity. One of the categories that definitely surprises me in terms of value is football, I know that this is a sport played all around the United States and is very popular but I didn’t realize how low the amount of sales for football equipment.The only reason I can think of that would make football so low in terms of value would be the fact that the manufacturers make football products so durable and sustainable that they wouldn’t need to be replaced as frequently as other sports and products. Knowing that most of these products are made to stand the toughness of this contact sport is a reason I guess I am not that surprised that the sales are low, these companies are making the best product to with stand everything and takes a lot to break them therefore customers do not have to replace them.Self-Survey of sports equipment purchased on a yearly basis: Weights -$60 Resistance bands- $30 P 90 X DVD – $125 Other workout videos and DVD’s- $100-$150 Workout sneakers – $200-$300 Workout clothes – $300 Miscellaneous workout equipment- $100 Football cleats- $200 Pads- $100-$200 Jerseys- $150 Footballs – $70 Football tights – $45 Football practice clothing -$200

The War Against Social Research Topics

The War Against Social Research Topics Additionally, it's a superb way to obtain more insight in your topic and possibly pick up a couple more ideas for your own research. For this reason, you've got to be cautious about how you go about the variety of anthropology research topics. Straightforwardly discuss the methodology you're likely to apply in your research. The very first step is to choose the central topic of the research. Your friends may also provide important suggestions. If you're writing about social problems, you will usually be writing about the way the topic affects larger groups of people, including how poverty affects a whole generation. A fantastic a lot of the mentally ill feel as if their disease is only a little annoyance, and they aren't truly ill. Social behavior is a rich topic with a great deal of fun and fascinating regions to explore. On the flip side, you might write from an international perspective and examine sustainable cities all over the w orld. Our country has the greatest standards of living on earth. Some people today reside in rural areas which do not offer opportunities for folks to become familiar with their neighbors or to make new buddies. The policies affecting social workers today can result in food deserts forming and people who can't afford to become sick. Research an essay can take weeks or months, or so the process must be started whenever possible. You must write a minumum of one research paper in a semester for a lot of the subjects. The more you fully grasp the simpler it's for you to compose a thriving research paper. Reading, Writing, Questioning To recognize the list and long-answered questions, you have to be conscious of the present research paper of your area. The topic you go for determines the standard of your final paper. For instance, the topic issued may be too complicated, you might not have the moment, or you should improve the overall grade of the paper you write. Your selected topic should offer ample data to compose an appropriate research paper. Have a look at the Scope of the Topic You Have When you choose the anthropology paper topics to make sure they can be exhaustively handled within the range of the paper you've got. Who Else Wants to Learn About Social Research Topics? Moreover, there's a feeling that because of an excessive amount of involvement on Social Networking by students, they discover that it's hard to focus on their studies. Before you opt to tackle a project for your social psychology class, there are a couple crucial things you will need to contemplate. To improve your odds of performing better and having a suitable grasp of the concepts taught in the many cultural anthropology topics, it's necessary for you to focus on your professor in class. For example, there is an education system that aids children learn basic concepts in school. In many instances, sociologists must make the function of the study known. A social research proposal consists of the exact elements as an overall proposal. On account of the uniqueness of the topics related to this area, it will help to research concepts in more detail prior to making a last selection. In this instance, it can be helpful to begin with a couple broad topics, then break them down into smaller subheading or ideas, then go from that point. What Does Social Research Topics Mean? It's very quite important to compose a specific essay centered on your instructions. Once you have selected your subject, you'll need to compose a comprehensive outline that's in complete sentences. Students should select a topic which they're interested in since it will make the writing process simpler. Students who are not familiar with the writing process always has the choice to start looking for example papers. Following are a few of the suggested sociology essay topic for those students that are unable to pick a great topic for their assignment. The subject may not even understand how to answer the questions honestly. To start brainstorming ideas, students may use these topics. When the student has chosen an idea, they need to immediately begin researching information about this issue. You will notice key words for a wide range of topics that you're able to write about. Some tips are useful once you desire a topic that is appropriate for you. There are occasions when you're assigned with the topic but more frequently, you'll need to create a topic on your own. Our sociology topic suggestions can be employed to create unique tips for your own research papers. Social issues have always been an essential part of the human condition. By the conclusion of this post, you'll have an ideal social work research topic or no less than a clear approach to devise it. If you are fighting to produce an idea for a well-crafted paper, think about asking yourself a wide variety of cultural anthropology research questions. An excellent research paper idea may have a narrow focus or a broader perspective on an issue which affects a wide swath of individuals. After deciding who has jurisdiction over the records for the period of time you require, write a succinct request to t he suitable office. Utilizing available church records is recommended first. Be certain to search both records, especially because the 2 records sometimes contain different info. Local political or societal movements will probably have Twitter accounts you are able to check to find news kanawha county library live homework assist their gatherings and activities.

Donica Belisles Retail Nation Department Stores and the...

Donica Belisles Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada is a very brief and concise book. It is able to deal with the major social and economic topics from the early-twentieth century from the perspective of massive retailers. The book strictly focuses on the importance of these large departmental stores and how they impacted Canadian society and helped shape a consumer utopia. The book provides ample detail on its themes but is unable to give background information regarding certain topics. The author starts the book off with an introduction of Canadian retail stores and how they came into business relatively after the ones in US and Britain. However, the largest departmental stores such as Eaton’s, Simpson’s,†¦show more content†¦They knew that growing consumerism and advertising went hand in hand, so they began to advertise everywhere that they could. Even the appearance and bodies of their employees were used for means of marketing. In the last part of the book, the author talks about small retailers and co-operators and their views regarding the monopolized retailers. This part also talks about the mass retailing business from a broader perspective. It turns out that the government did not want to intervene in the retail business and they were only able to bring in a tax reform for these big businesses. Even today, mass retailers still dominate the consumer landscape. If I look at this book critically, there are a few things that I would like to point out. First of all, Donica Belisle did an amazing job in staying constant with the themes of the book, such as paternalism, consumerism and labour. Secondly, she manages to talk about the rise of mass retailers in great depth. And lastly, the book is very easy to understand as the flow of this book is remarkable. However, there are a quite a few concerns that I had with the text and content. There is no denying that Belisle outlined the main topics and concerns, but the department that she lacked was the background information. I constantly found myself researching topics such as consumerism prior to the World War, materialism, industrial capitalism and even the importance of vertical integration in the retailing business. MyShow MoreRelatedThe Canadian Retail Market Has A Complex And Multidimensional History1120 Words   |  5 PagesThe Canadian retail market has a complex and multidimensional history. Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada written by Donica Belisle, explores the journeys of major Canadian department stores such as Eaton’s, Simpson’s and HBC between the 1890’s and 1940’s. Specifically, she analyzes their development, morals and societal views from a feminist and paternalist perspective. These complex theories are coupled with both examples and clear explanations in order to gain a