The effects social media has on teenagers Essay Example for Free

The effects social media has on teenagers Essay Argument 1 A new study released by researchers at The Miriam Hospital’s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine shows a link between social media use and poor academic performance illustrating that: Freshman women spend upwards of 12 hours a day using some form of social media, And nearly four in 10 college students said they could not go 10 minutes without checking one of their mobile devices meaning that when they are preparing for a test or completing homework, every 10 minutes they are stopping to check their model devices, resulting in them getting caught up in their social life’s rather than them putting all of their focus into their school assignments, Students try to multitask rather than just but their full attention into their assignments Since social media is still comparatively new, researchers are unable to know the long-term effects. However, if the effects of other entertainment are considered, such as the time spent watching TV. Studies show that it results in a negative impact on attention and academic performance. Resulting in a decrease in grades and learn to read late and slower. Argument 2 If teenagers are used to only having to type the words that they want to say to the individuals, when they are face to face with them they will not be used to having to respond right away When they are in important life  situations, such as a job interview they will not be able to seem as good of a candidate if they are unable to give good, solid answers on the spot as the Youtube video made by Ms. deGuzman called â€Å"I Forgot My Phone† suggested having all of these devices at are finger tips may actually cause us to feel more alone, unable to connect with people on are face to face way leading to us feeling like we never have really good company. Read more: Effect of social media on youth essay Argument 3 Amanda Forest, a graduate student in the department of psychology at the University of Waterloo, has found that individuals with low self-esteem often express a lot of negative emotion on their face book profiles. Resulting in a number of people not reaction to well, making angry and hurtful comments. Overall not being as liked as the people with high self-esteems. This therefore, can further damage that individual’s perspective of themselves. Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills also found that preteens and teenagers using face book are more prone to anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders A team of researchers from Chicago University’s Booth Business School, led by Wilhelm Hofmann, have found that Face book and social media websites may be as addictive as alcohol or cigarettes. As people fear that they will miss out on the latest gossip of who is dating who and what party is going on that night. Oh and god forbid they miss the thousand selfie that their bff posed.

Media Prima and Astro Malaysia: Staff Management

Media Prima and Astro Malaysia: Staff Management 1.0 Introduction Media Prima is the biggest listed media group in Malaysia, owning all main private television stations and having approximately 54 percent of Malaysian television viewers, with its closest rival, the pay-television satellite operator, Astro, which offers over 100 channels or stations, controlling a market share of roughly 29 per cent. RTM controls 17 per cent of the market. Media Prima wholly owns TV channel like TV3, NTV7 and TV9 and holds a 99.5 per cent interest in 8TV. TV3, Media Primas flagship television station and the number one free-to-air television station in the country, finished the 2007 season dominating the years top 20 programmes (The New Straits Times, 4 January 2008). TV3 recorded a 33 per cent share of viewers in 2007 among over a hundred channels available on satellite and FTA TV (The New Straits Times, 4 January 2008). The group also controls radio stations Fly FM and Hot FM, with a combined listenership of 3.5 million. Besides that, Media Prima has a 43 per cent stake in the equity of The New Straits Times Press, which has four newspapers in its stable. Media Prima is said to reach 22 million Malaysians daily: about 11 million television viewers, seven million newspaper readers and four million radio listeners. Malaysias population is a little over 25 million. Astro All Asia Networks Plc, the group that has the monopoly over Malaysias subscription television operation, reaches about 10 million viewers in some two million homes representing a penetration rate of approximately 38 per cent of Malaysias TV households in 2010. (Astro Annual Report, 2010) Astro began operating in 1996 and today offers over 100 channels with a wide mix of foreign and local programmes. Its sister company Airtime Management Programming runs the eight radio stations in its stable, include Hitz, Mix, Light Easy, Era, My, Xfresh, THR, and Sinar. 2.0 Training and Development Conduct a Training and Development in an organization is essential where it needs is identified during each employees annual career development review. From this process, the acquisition of new skills, competencies, attitudes and knowledge will lead the employees to changed behaviour from reactive to proactive, greater maturity and critical thinking. In Astro, employee satisfaction survey was carried out to complement existing communication channels. Opinions of 3,054 employees were collated through online survey forms. The survey sought employees views on 13 major categories covering various aspects of their jobs. (Appendix B) The total favourable for Training and Career Development where employees think about Astro is doing are 65 percent. This figure is considered moderate where it should take further action to improve. Thus, in 2009, Astro convened two full-scale Town Hall meetings to share latest developments and discussed the Companys direction, 48 training seminars on topics ranging from leadership courses to safety and health trainings as well as introduce new high definition service which is branded as Astro B.yond. Information that had transpired was recorded in DVDs, and will send to Astro offices across the country in future for training and development purposes. Realities in economic and advances in technology cause the availability of jobs in TV station have changed rapidly. Therefore, there were several training initiatives designed to increase the number of skilled people in Media Prima. In 2009, the organization invested about RM1.14 million for staff training which involved 3,615 man-days in total in the organization. A summary of the organization training breakdown for 2008 and 2009 is shown in Appendix C. The majority of the training is provided to technical staff which conducted at the organization itself. This is to ensure that the organization maintain the best quality and keep up to date with the latest technology and techniques available in media production. Although both organization utilize Training and Development, but the ways of conduct is very different. Astro adopt an audiovisual method where used of DVDs for training and development will helps the organization to reduce cost, manpower and not time consuming. On the other side, Media Prima utilize apprenticeship training where the employees enter the skilled trades given through instruction and experience in the practical and theoretical aspects of work. When employees face problems in workplace, they can solve it based on their experience gained during the training. 3.0 Performance Management System A new performance evaluation system in Astro consists of a 360Â ° feedback mechanism to get a balanced assessment of the employee own peers. The need for this balance is also reflected in a revised Performance Review Form. One significant aspect of the new performance evaluation is the Relative Ranking Rating which rewards high performing employees in a transparent manner. Employees who fall under the lowest of the three-tier scale will be coached and guided via a Low Performance Management Process (CAP) system. (Appendix D) At Astro, employees are given clear expectations of the accomplishments desired of them as well as the ways to perform and achieve these expectations. This is done through the Performance Management System (PMS) under which periodic performance evaluation exercises are conducted to review employees performance. With this system, employees are aware of their strengths and also given ample room to work on improving their performances. The reviews run in 2 cycles in the span of the financial year; a year end review in January followed by a midyear review in July. Media Prima has introduced a 360 degree feedback system which is also referred to as the multirater or multisource feedback. It provides employees with performance feedback from supervisors, co-workers, peers, customers and reporting staff. It also includes self-assessment. We implemented this system as we take human capital management and development very seriously. 360 degree assessment is a process whereby the company takes stock of its capability once every two to three years to meet business challenges. The process begins with the company putting in place a competency framework which is aligned to the business direction of the company. The competency framework is used as a guide to recruit, develop, assess and compensate the employees based on performance and capabilities. In the case of Media Prima, an external consultant was hired to conduct the data collection process as well as the feedback and the follow up process. 4.0 Compensation and Rewards The Group operates a performance based bonus scheme for all employees, including the executive directors. The criteria for the scheme is dependent on the achievement of key performance indicators (KPI) set for the Groups business activities as measured against targets, together with an assessment of each individuals performance during the period. Bonuses payable to the executive directors are reviewed by the Remuneration Committee and approved by the Board. Employees compensation is determined by their performance which is measured across various Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Media Prima uses a point-based system which ranges from 2 to 5 in determining the weight of the bonus (5 being the highest performing). This process is used to assess all employees (100%). The percentage of employees achieving each performing level and the entitlement of each level is listed in Appendix E. Exploring the Four Stages of the Audit Process: Case Study Exploring the Four Stages of the Audit Process: Case Study Internal Audit is an independent function that provides an objective assurance and consultancy activity to improve and add value on an organizations operation. The auditors aim to help the Merami Berhad accomplish its objectives by evaluating the effectiveness of its risk management, control, and governance processes by bringing a discipline, systematic approach. The audit process is divided into four stages which are Planning (Preliminary Review), Fieldwork, Audit Report, and Follow-up Review. One of the main key objectives to carry out an audit is to minimize the time and avoid disrupting ongoing activities. As we are a public accounting firm for Merami Berhad for the past five years. Meramin Berhad is a public listed company, whose sales for the year 2009 were over RM 25 million. The audit fees we normally charge to Merami Berhad are RM 50,000. Before an audit is assigned to staff, the auditor must consider a few matters such as the size of the company to be audited. If it is a Public Listed Company, 3 or 4 staff will be required. Besides that, the budget is very important as the auditor are always advised to stay within the budget so that the audit fees is sufficient to cover all the cost incurred especially the disbursements. The auditor should also consider about the deadline. An audit assignment usually has very tight deadlines and therefore staff must ensure that the Audit Report is submitted to the Partner of Review on time so that the signing of accounts is not delayed. When the audit manager assigns a job to the senior, the first thing the senior does is to meet with his team members to discuss about the job and to delegate duties to the respective members. The audit assistant will normally be asked to retrieve the previous years file of the company from the filling room. The previous year file is always used as a guide only. Staff must always tailor-make the audit for the year according to the events that occurred during the year. Once the last years file is retrieved, a new file will be opened for the current years audit. STAGE 1: PLANNING (PREMILIRARY REVIEW) Planning is essential as this is the first time we understand Merami Berhad business and their controls in the company. During the planning stage of the audit, the auditorwill contact the client to notifythem of an upcoming audit and to schedule a time during the year that is most convenient for the audit to commence and take place. The auditor will send them a preliminary checklist. This is a list of documents (e.g. organization charts, financial statements) that will help the auditor learn about their unit before planning the audit. After reviewing the information, the auditor will plan the review, conduct a risk workshop primarily to identify key risks and raise risk awareness, draft an audit plan, and schedule an opening meeting. Engagement Letter Merami Berhad is informed of the audit through anannouncement or engagementletter from the Internal Audit Director. This letter communicates the scope and objectives of the audit, the auditors assigned to the audit, the audit methodology used in the audit and other relevant information. This letter serves as a contract which outlines the responsibilities of the auditor and client to prevent any unnecessary misunderstanding of what is expected or required of the other party. The auditor and the client must also agree on the terms of the engagement. Opening Conference Nearer the start of the audit, the auditor will arrange a meeting with Merami Berhad to discuss the scope and objectives of the audit. The opening conference should be held to gather information about the mission, critical processes, and control procedures of the unit to be used in the preliminary survey process. The opening meeting should include senior management and any administrative staff that may be involved in the audit. Merami Berhad describes the unit or system to be reviewed, the organization, available resources (personnel, facilities, equipment, funds), and other relevant information. The audit senior usually discusses with the client about the companys performance for the year in terms of increase or decrease in profitability. This may due to factors ranging from launching of new products during the year to high-position staffs leaving the company. These will all be documented in the Business Understanding Document. The internal auditor meets with the senior officer directly responsible for the unit under review and any staff members he wishes to include. It is important that the client identify issues or areas of special concern that should be addressed. The time frame of the audit will be determined, and we should discuss any potential timing issues (e.g. vacations, deadlines) that could impact the audit. The opening conference is an important step in a regular audit. It is an opportunity to establish the proper tone and to begin building good relationships. Preliminary Survey In thisphasethe auditor gathers relevant information that they have gained from the opening conference is used in conjunction with other relevant information about the unit in order to obtain a general overview of operations. He talks with key personnel and reviews reports, files, and other sources of information. This may include information on budgets and strategic plans as well as past audit reports. There are certain risks that the auditor will always review to ensure that they are being adequately controlled and managed these include financial transactions, local risk management and business continuity planning. Internal Control Review All of this information is then used to make a preliminary assessment of the risks and controls for Merami Berhad unit. The auditor will review the units internal control structure, a process which is usually time-consuming. In doing this, the auditor uses a variety of tools and techniques to gather and analyze information about the operation. The review of internal controls helps the auditor determine the areas of highest risk and design tests to be performed in the fieldwork section. In the interests of quality and consistency, the Head of Internal Audit reviews this work and agrees the scope of work to be carried out. Audit Program Preparation of theaudit programconcludes the preliminary review phase. The audit program establishes theproceduresnecessary to complete an efficient and effective audit. It includes a detailed plan of the work to be performed as well as the steps required to achieve the audit objectives. There should be sufficient detail for less experienced staff to perform the steps however it should not be overly detailed whereby it might cause auditors to execute steps routinely and override their judgment. STAGE 2: FIELDWORK Transaction Testing Revenue Cycle Sales procedure and cash receipt transaction are the 2 checking procedures under revenue cycle. Sales Procedure A sales quotation provides a pre-sales processing environment which allows prospective buyers to examine the costs involved for a completion of work. A sales quotation typically consists of information like quantity, item and its description, unit prices and etc. Many businesses cannot have an upfront price for the service they provide. Thus, sale quotation should be provided by companies to its customers to give them an estimate of the cost involved. In addition, a delivery order is written directions from a consignor or shipper of a shipment to a carrier or freight forwarder to release the shipment to the named delivery party in freight-prepaid shipment. It allows direct delivery of goods to the carrier or warehouseman. Invoices are essentially a detailed bill left by vendors and outside supplier for goods or services rendered to a company under sales procedure. The document may be called a Sales Invoice, from the point of view of the vendor, or a Purchase Invoice by the buyer. A typical invoice might list the quantity of each item, prices, billable hours, service description and a contact address for payment. While some expenses may be paid through an accounts payable department by the posted due date. Besides, cash sale can be used in several different contexts. A cash sale has to do with the purchase of goods or services and involves the immediate possession of the new owner, without any delay in time between purchase and assuming full ownership in just about every situation. In the world of finance and in retail situations, people are engage in cash sales on a delay basis, Segregation of duties is critical to effective internal control. It reduces the risk of both erroneous and inappropriate actions. The handling of cash receipts and accounting for such receipt need to segregate. This is to reduce the likelihood that errors will remain undetected by providing an accounting check over the receipt of cash. For example, those who handle cash receipts would not have the authority to prepare or sign cheques, would not have access to accounting records and would not be involved in reconciling bank accounts. If a person has access to both the cash receipts and the accounts receivable records, it is possible for cash to be diverted and the shortage of cash in the accounting records to be covered which can result in theft of the entitys cash. In the other hand, for those who perform sales activity including those who maintain contact with customers and issue sales orders, would not perform any credit approval, billing, shipping, credit memo, cash receipts and a ccounting activities. Cash Receipt Transaction Most business customers pay by cheque or electronically. Cash receipts are only given to acknowledge cash payments; which are rarely made by business customers. Cash register and lockboxes are often used as safeguards here. In order to prevent fraud and error, different employees should be responsible for receiving and recording cash collections here. The purpose of preventing fraud and error is the validity, completeness, timeliness, authorization, valuation, classification, posting and summarization. Its very important to the cash receipt transaction. The auditor can check monthly bank reconciliation to prevent any recorded cash receipts not deposited in order to ensure the validity of the cash receipt transaction. For instance, misstatement in sales that may occur includes fictitious sale being recorded in the account o f a regular customer. Expenditure Cycle There are two checking procedures under expenditure cycle, which are purchasing procedure and cash disbursement transaction. Purchasing Procedure A purchasing transaction normally begins with a purchase requisition generated by a department or support function. A purchasing order is then the purchase of goods or services from a supplier. As soon as the goods and services have been rendered, the entity records a liability to the supplier and pays later. Basically, there are three types of for purchase transactions which are the purchase of goods or services on cash or credit, payment of the liabilities arising from such purchases and return of goods or services. The second type is cash disbursement transaction to clear liabilities resulting from purchase of goods or services. The final type is a purchase return transaction which involves the return of goods previously purchased to supplier for cash or credit. Good segregation of duties must be done in order to prevent embezzlement or any fraudulent activities. Firstly, a purchaser who orders should not be the person who receives goods. This can prevent the purchaser from placing excessive orders and keeping the rest of goods. Next, a person who purchases items should not be the person who writes the cheques for it. This can avoid the person from creating orders and make payments to fictitious companies. Then, the person who writes cheques should not handle the reconciliation. This is because nobody will aware even if he writes cheques to himself or relatives. Cash Disbursement Transaction Cash disbursement can be defined as paying out of funds in a discharge of a debt or expense. Transaction Related Audit Objective (TRAO) is used here to evaluating the existence and quality of controls. The auditors transaction-related audit objectives follow and are closely related to management assertion. That is because the auditors primary responsibility is to determine whether management assertions about financial statements are justified. These transaction-related audit objectives help the auditor accumulate sufficient competent evidence required by the standard of fieldwork and decide proper evidence to accumulate for classes of transactions with a framework. In order to ensure the validity of the cash disbursement transaction, the auditor tests the validity of purchase transactions whether there is any fictitious or non-existent purchases may have been recorded in the clients records. Assets or expenses will be overstated if fraudulent transactions are recorded. As for Completeness, auditor must ensure that purchase that has been made in recorded accordingly. If fail to do so will lead to understating of assets or expenses, and the corresponding accounts payable will also be understated. As for Timing, a timing error occurs if transactions are not recorded on the dates the transaction took place. As for Authorization, the person who has authority to approve purchase should not have access to cash disbursement for the purchase. As for Valuation, appropriate methodology is used to calculate transactions and to review various reconciliations. The valuation of accruals depends on the type and the nature of the accrued expenses. As for Classifications, the major issues related to the presentation and disclosure assertions are identifying and reclassifying any material debits contained in accounts payable. For instance, segregation of purchasing and cash disbursement journal is crucial to ensure that correct amount would be allocated properly. If purchase transactions are not properly classified, assets and expenses will be misstated. As for Posting and summarization, control tools should be used to reconcile vouchers to the daily accounts payable listing or else the daily postings to the purchases journal should be reconciled to the accounts payable subsidiary records. Income Statement or Profit and Loss Account First of all, the auditor should determine and try to find out the major changes or the modification that would affect the normal relationship has been made in the production and sales area. Audit assistant are responsible to handle on detect the significant adjustment in the policies of company that would affect the item stated in the income statement. After analyze on such adjustment to ensure that no material error is found then it will continue proceed to the final stage of the audit section. For example, significant changes in employee benefits might affect salaries and employee compensation and have an effect on the income statement. Other than checking in the income statement of a company, the auditor would also look into the balance sheet on the assets and liabilities. Before the auditor start to work on it, a copy of clients balance sheet should be prepared to working papers. There are procedures of carrying out an audit on assets and liabilities. Auditors should categorize each item in the balance sheet accordingly to the audit checklist. Assets All of these are the components of assets. For Cash in Bank To ensure the information that stated in the column of the balance is complied what it really had in the bank, a confirmation request letter will be sent to all the related bank which the entity had dealing with within the financial period. In addition to get confirm to relevant bank that the balance in the bank of the company, the auditors also can get an opportunity to request the bank to provide other information such as the securities that the company held in the safekeeping. The response from the bank give the company a gold evidence to prove that cash at bank that stated in the balance sheet is complied with the real amount in bank at the balance sheet date. With the cooperation of bank, the confirmation of cash on deposit provides evidence to the existence of cash at bank and as to rights and obligations. If the balance per bank statement is different, bank reconciliation would have to be done by the audit assistants. For Account Receivable A details list of account receivables balances of the customer should be obtain before the auditor and access to the balance. The auditor will trace totals to comparative summary of accounts receivables balance and randomly select customers account from the listing to send itemized statements to get the response or confirmation of the balance. Review the confirmation replies letter from them and test accounts where there are no replies. Keep track with the potential bad debts to be written off, if exist, check the opening balances again. For Inventories When inventory is material to the financial statements, the auditor is required to attend the entitys physical inventory counting unless it is impracticable. Examine clients physical inventories count determine whether the clients counting methods are effective. The purpose of inventory attendance is to enable the auditor to obtain audit evidence regarding the existence and condition of the inventory and consider if there is any obsolescence in it. The auditor may select a sample of inventory items from the client count records and trace them to the perpetual inventory records for checking purposes. For Prepayment expenses Randomly choose the official receipts or documents that can support prepayment expenses and test on it. Then, send conformation letter to conform the amount due. For Non Current Assets The auditor should obtain a list of fixed assets expenses that register under the clients company such as depreciation charges, loss or gain on the disposal of the fixed asset, net book value, revaluation amount and etc. The revaluation done should be back by the evidence or documentation authorized by the professional. Check to invoice and agree to the description, price, date and etc. The physical existence and the condition of the assets should be check and determine whether it is located at companys premises. As for disposal of fixed assets, ensure that there is proper authorization and that profit or loss on disposal is properly recorded. Liabilities For Short Term Notes Payable A bank conformation letter should be sent out to inquire loan balance status of the company. Auditors have to calculate the principal and interest paid to check whether it comply with the figure in the balance sheet. For Long Term Debts Review the loan agreement and direct the attention to the relevant information to acquire the accurate interest charged based on the nominal interest rate calculation and auditor have to be ensuring that the interest rate stated in the income statement same with the result of calculation. For Income Tax Account The documentation of the transaction of the company is required to keep for minimum 7 year required by law. Client is required to show documentation and support for every aspects of companys tax return. For example, if the client claims itemized deductions, receipts for those deductions must be produced. In addition, to justifications for why the taxpayer felt that those deductions were legitimate. Besides that, taxpayers must open their accounting methods to inspection and demonstrate that all of their income was in fact properly documented and claimed on the tax return. This can be done through proper recording and classification for provision for taxation and deferred taxation. Advice Informal Communications As the fieldwork progresses, the auditor discusses any significantfindingswith the client. Hopefully, the client can offer insights and work with the auditor to determine the best method of resolving the finding. Usually these communications are oral. However, in more complex situations, memos and/or e-mails are written in order to ensure full understanding by the client and the auditor. A lot of information is shared via e-mail, of course, but there is more face-to-face conversation.Other than that, I would like to mention for this communication question is language. Most communications with a greater group of people (and formal meetings) are held in English; however it depends a lot on who is speaking if you will understand that person. Also if it is only me and, says, two other Indians, it is very likely that they switch to Hindi or Kannada (local language) without noticing. I then sometimes have to remind them to stay with English. Distinguishing between first and surnames is als o impossible for me, same with deciding if a name is male or female I just have to guess or find some neutral ways to address or ask for people. In particular cases, we may also provide drafts of organizations charts, proposed forms or modifications to forms, financial data or other statistics, or drafts of findings and recommendations that later may be incorporated into the formal audit report. These are all considered informal communications between the auditor and the client. Their purpose is to promote constructive communication and avoid misunderstandings. Our goal: NO SURPRISES. Audit Summary / Financial Monitoring Upon completion of the fieldwork, the auditor summarizes the audit findings, conclusions, and recommendations necessary for the audit report discussion draft. Write a summary memo to document the results of fieldwork. Conclude as to whether the information reported by the state agency in the Section 1512 reports is accurate, reliable, and timely. The audit summary gives an overview of all work done sheets according to their topics. The audit summary template gives the title, the audit number, the topic of the summary and of the work done sheets, and the creation date. In addition to the work done sheets, the audit summary also contains a summary of the observations and findings as well as an overall assessment and conclusion of the audit result. Before writing the audit summary, auditors should agree the working papers on which the summary is based with their audit lead. Working Papers Working papers are a vital tool of the audit profession. They are the support of the audit opinion. They connect the clients accounting records and financials to the auditors opinion. They are comprehensive and serve many functions. The result of audit activities must be documented truthfully, consistently, clearly, and completely, with a comprehensible description of all material details. This involves both the contents of a fieldwork activity and the procedure itself. This documentation of fieldwork activities is referred to as working papers to express its connection with the work results. The basic requirements for proper documentation apply to all types of fieldwork activities, although there are different types of documents, depending on the nature of the audit. In addition to the working papers which are mandatory, other documents can be created as optional extras; they contain information beyond the minimum information requirement. The working papers are an indication of the audit quality in general. This needs to be considered because queries by different groups of addresses or their requests for information may often require access to this documentation. Accordingly, the working papers may serve as discussion or evidence documents, for example for queries from the Board, the unit requesting the audit, Internal Audit Management, the Audit Committee, or the external auditors. The preparation of working papers is subject to certain organizational requirements. Each auditor always has the main responsibility for preparing the documents, both during and immediately after fieldwork. Even though the audit lead and Audit Manager have ultimate responsibility for quality assurance, each auditor has to prepare and maintain the working papers with the necessary attention to detail. Working papers may be compiled by hand or entered directly into a system (which is normally more expedient, because it makes it easier to access the information again). STAGE 3: AUDIT REPORT The third stage of carrying an audit is to prepare an audit report. After all the evidence for each of the item in the financial statement have been collected and proven, the senior audit and the audit assistant is going to check the closing balance amount of the balance sheet and the trial balance with the ledger account whether they are compatible with each other and to ensure that each figure is agreeing with the previous year audit account in order to prepare a working trial balance and the working paper. After this all procedure has been done, our audit assistant will prepare an audit report which expresses the opinion of the auditor, evidence of audit and recommendation for the information improvement. Discussion Draft In order to implement this process, first the auditors will discuss to prepare a draft for internal audit report to outlining the audits work, recommendation for the information that should provided and the timeframe to complete the report. The draft that prepared by the management department will show that who will responsible to implement the job, the action to be taken and the timeline to do the job. After the draft has been discussing, a meeting among the auditor will be held in order to assign the job to the person selected for preparing the report and meanwhile the draft will be sent to the particular auditor. Formal Draft The report will become the final report if the response of the management is integrated with the audit report draft. The important information that present in the report includes the title of the report, the duty of the management and the auditor in preparing the report, the scope paragraph that show the evidence of the examination and the accounting principles use to prepare the report, the opinion paragraph which expresses the opinion of the auditor and whether the financial statement is complying with the statutory requirement and the name, signature and address of the auditor who preparing the report. This is to make sure that if there is any fault present in the report, it is the responsibility of the particular auditor to in charge with the case. Final Report After that, the auditor will present the final report to the audit committee and the copies of the report will sent to the senior auditor, the management department of the audit firm and our client, Merami Berhad to review and get the approval. Client Response In our report, we could include or attached the client response in the audit finding prior to issuance of the final report. The client should highlight how report findings will be determined and include an implementation timetable in the response. However, some managers may likely to make a decision which not to implement an audit recommendation and to accept the risks that might occur with an audit finding. For example, the treasury balances are reconciled monthly instead of reconciled daily. The differences are out of the way and have been controlled since that date. The adjusting entries are made with proper documentation and review. Client Comments In our report, we always include the clients comment on our Internal Audits performance as it is part of the Internal Audits self-evaluation program. The feedback has proven to be very beneficial to us as we improve our procedures due to clients suggestion. STAGE 4: FOLLOW-UP Followed-Up Review These required certain actions taken to resolve the audit report findings may be tested to ensure the desired result were achieved. For each item included in the follow-up, review status information provided by management to determine if information addresses all parts of finding and if a corrected date or revised due date has been provided. During this stage, we will contact unit management to obtain any missing information. We also evaluate action reported as taken in response to each finding to see whether the finding has been satisfactorily corrected. If necessary, develop audit tests to prove that the finding has been corrected based on the nature of the finding and responses. The Director of Internal Audit or the auditor in charge of the follow-up review will prepare a memorandum for senior management that notifies them that audit activities are underway and describes the follow-up process. This memo should include timeframes for the project, a copy of the outstanding findings relating to areas reporting to that senior manager, a request that they distribute the findings to these areas and ask the managers to provide Internal Audit with the information requested, a statement that these comments were previously distributed as part of an audit report or close-out letter, and notification that the results will be reported to the Chancellor and Board of Trustees. Followed-Up Report In the follow-up report, it lists all of the actions taken by the client to resolve the original report findings. Unresolved findings will also appear in the follow-up report and will include a brief description of the finding, the original audit recommendation, the client response, the current condition, and the continued exposure to board of company. A discussion draft of each report with unresolved findings is circulated to the client before the report is issued. The follow-up review results will be circulated to the original report recipients officials as deemed appropriate.

Effects of Audit Fees on Audit Quality

Effects of Audit Fees on Audit Quality Chapter 1 In this part of dissertation, there is a grief introduction about this dissertation, which includes the following context: the background and overview of related researches in this paper; the motivation for doing this study and a introduction of the structure of this paper. Introduction Firth (1997) notices that the responsibility of auditor is reporting comparative correct financial information to shareholders in an independent position. However, what makes regulators concern more about is the client-auditor relationship, especially the economic relation, which formed in the long-term cooperation may have impact on auditors independent position. For a long time, because of the dependence of auditors fees on client firms, therefore, the controversy about whether this economic dependence might impair auditors independence position and audit quality make many empirical researches in the area. The impairment of audit independence caused by the economic relationship will result in the audit opinion shopping. Previous studies consider about the affects of audit fees on audit quality in two ways: high audit fees paid to auditors may be the reflection of the complexity of auditing process and also increase auditors effort. However, on the other hand, large audit fees paid to auditors might easy to build the economic bonding between client and auditors, thus, auditors are easy to compromise to audit independence, as the fear of losing highly profitable fees. Though a lot studies have researched the relationship between audit fees and audit quality, most of the studies just have blue results for their studies (Hoitash, Markelevich and Barragato, 2007). Basing on the theory that examining the fees paid by client firms will better analyze the relation between audit independence and audit quality, this paper uses the methodology consistent with the way used in previous studies, i.e. Kinney and Libby (2002), Choi, Kim and Zang (2006), Hoitash et al (2007), in which develop a methodology that is depended on the notion that audit fees related to expected fees have effect on audit independence and quality. Therefore, being same as previous studies here will use to audit fees model to measure the expected fees in order to compare with the actual fees paid to auditor. Using the methodology in Choi, Kim and Zangs (2006) study, the differences between actual fees and expected fees are divided into two parts: the positive one and negative one, which helps us to compare whether there is any different reflection when auditors are paid less or excess their expectation. As for the proxy for examining audit quality, the discretionary accruals mode l which drawn from previous literature are selected. As suggested by Choi, Kim and Zang (2006), the modified Jones model for discretionary accruals is used in this paper. The variables in models are selected according to previous studies which consider the influence on audit fees from perspectives of client firms sizes, auditing risk, complexity and the size of audit firms (Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam, 1993). Beside dividing abnormal fees into positive subsample and negative subsample, the combined sample is cut into other two subsample which are based to the sizes of audit firms, which aims to examine the different behaviors to audit fees between BIG4 auditors and NON-BIG4 auditors. Thus, the objective in this paper is to prove whether abnormal fees might result in lower audit quality and whether there is different behavior to abnormal fees between BIG4 and NON-BIG4 auditors. Continuing the previous study which is finished by Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam (1993), this study uses the data collected from UK market in order to find out related evidence from this market and 787 observations cover the period from 2006-2008 are collected from UK quoted public companies will help to examine audit fees paid to auditors. In addition to examine the relation between abnormal audit fees and audit quality, this study also follows the investigation which is finished by Ashbaugh, LaFond and Mayhew (2003) which focuses the study on whether the payment of non-audit fees has influence on audit independence. To extent this study, the paper here will test the ratio of non-audit fees to total fees paid to auditors which aims to find whether there is a positive relation between increased ratio of non-audit fees and decreased audit quality. Being different with Ashbaugh et als (2003) research which analyzes non-audit fees in full sample, this non-audit fees here will be analyzed in subsample with positive abnormal fees and subsample of negative fees respectively, thus, whether non-audit fees have different influences on audit quality when auditors are paid higher or lower fees than their expectation should be examined. The motivation for doing this study is based on the aim that finding out whether the economic bonding between auditors and client firms is existed really, as this relationship is one of the most controversial topic in public and academic area, especially after the Enron even and the failure of Anderson, this topic motivates more and more interesting in this area. However, according to the results of previous studies, many studies failed to prove the existent of this relationship between auditors and client firms, and the results in other relative studies are ambiguous. Moreover, because of active economic environment and accounting events, most studies paid attention on American market, as for other markets, seldom of relative investigations can be found. The aim in this study is try to find out relative evidence from UK market. The structure of this paper follows: the next part is a literature review in related area which introduced both early and latest studies; and then is the development of hypotheses the resource of relative theory and the contribution of hypotheses are included in this part. The design of methodology is presented in chapter 4 which has a description of important models in detailed. Furthermore, the chapter after it is the description of sample and the result of test, which is also the center of this study. The limitation and conclusion will be displayed in the last chapter which gives an overview and comment of this study. Chapter 2 There is a literature review of relative studies in this part. The literature review covers the studies in relative area which includes the result of studies and the development of methodology related to the investigation. The primary previous studies are displayed and concluded in this chapter. 1. The importance of auditor independence Since the collapse of Enron in US and the scandal of Andersen, the worlds capital market confidence was reduced (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002). A large of the attention is paid on accounting and auditing practices, especially on the auditor independence. As some scholars (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002) point about that the independence of auditor is the base of the public confidence to audit process and the guarantee of the quality of financial information. In addition to this, rather than a benefit to investors, auditing also reduces the cost of information exchange for two sides (Douch, 1980 and Simunic, 1982). From these words, we can easily know that a high quality of auditing information might ensure the reliability of market information, therefore, many experts in this area focus their empirical researched on factors for the reduction of auditor independence in order to find out the reasons for impairing auditor independence. The economic bonding between client and auditor account f or an important position in this kind of research. 2. Review on the payment of high audit fees on opinion shopping DeAngelo (1981) shows the evidence through investigating the low balling phenomenon in audit market that when audit firms have a significant economic benefit on client firms, audit quality and independence are easy to be reduced. The same as DeAngelos (1981) research, Magee and Tseng (1990) also have similar conclusion. Authors extend the previous research (DeAngelo, 1981) to find out in which condition the economic bonding may lead to the impairment of audit independence. The study provides a result that when auditors compensation is tied to the decision of audit opinion and then, their independence is more likely to compromise to economic bonding. Frankel, Johnson and Nelson (2002) take the research in this area to provide empirical evidence for the relation between audit fees and earnings management. Their study is based on data selected from 3074 proxy statement listed in SEC in the period from Feb 5, 2001 to June 15, 2001. The evidence of this research confirms the assumption th at there is an association between audit fees and the possibility of the compromise of audit independence. Kinney and Libby (2002) continue the research from Frankel, Johnson and Nelson (2002). Through analyzing the empirical research which has been done in the previous study, authors draw up a conclusion that auditors are probable to loss their independence in reducing their willingness to resist with client-induced biased in reporting audit opinion, when there is a strong economic benefit between auditors and clients. However, some empirical tests in the same area conclude the opposite results. Craswell, Stokes and Laughton (2002) do the research to indentify whether fee dependence have impairment on audit independence. They do the research from both aspects of national market level and local market level, but they find evidence neither from national market level and local market level can demonstrate that fee dependence has negative impact on audit quality. In other words, the economic bonding is not existed in the auditor-client relationship. In the following paragraphs, literature review about the impact of abnormal audit fees and non-audit fees on audit opinion shopping are shown. 2 .1 The review of abnormal audit fees on opinion shopping From the literature review above, the evidence for the opinion shopping through the behavior of paying high non-audit fees is still absent. And some auditors (Kanodia and Mukferji,1994) point out that switching incumbent auditors cause clients loss initial engagement and negotiate fees, beside this, switching auditors is less likely for client firms to achieve clean opinion (Chow and Rice, 1982) and event more conservative audit opinion (Krishnan, 1994). Therefore, comparing with paying high non-audit services fees and switching auditors, paying auditors with higher audit fees is a more efficient and less risk approach in opinion shopping (Fang and Hong, 2004). However, although there are some proofs can provide the assumption that higher audit fees, on some extent, can exert impact on audit quality, to analyze the relation between abnormal audit fees and audit quality, there are many factors should be concerned about, as these factors (no just economic bonding) also result in high fees. Some practitioners extend their research in this area by analyzing the association abnormal between audit fees and the changes in audit opinions. Hoitash, Markelevich and Barragato (2007) consider the high audit fees paid to auditors on two aspects: one is the positive side which suggests paying high fees can increase auditors effort in their jobs, thus, the quality also be improved; the other is the negative side which suggests that high audit fees paid to auditors may enhance the economic dependence on clients, thus, auditors independence is easy to compromise to economic benefit and audit quality also reduced. In the research, they examine the fees paid to auditors between the period over 2000-2003, using two metrics to assess audit quality: the accruals quality measure and the absolute value of performance-adjusted discretionary accruals. They predict abnormal audit fees by using pricing model from previous studied Simunic (1980), and consider about the factors may have impact on fess pricing, such as risk, complexity, and company size. The outcome of this investigation shows the conclusion that abnormal audit fees might result in economic bonding and thus impair audit quality. Similarly, Choi, Kim, and Zang (2006) have the same category of abnormal audit fees: the positive abnormal fees and the negative abnormal fees, the sample in this research constituted by the data collected from 9820 listed large companies audit fees observations during 2000-2003 period. Study also choose model from Simunic (1980) to estimate the audit fees. The result of the regression model shows that evidence that the possibility of auditors independence compromise to economic bonding is depending on whether clients may pay higher audit fees than the normal fees. In another word, audit quality will be impaired by abnormal fees. Fang and Hong (2004) also issue the opinion about the abnormal fees that high fees paid to auditors may be caused by the real improvement in companies; therefore, the positive increase in audit opinion may also cause the increase in audit fees. Authors examine the relation between abnormal audit fees and audit quality by comparing the audit opinion in present year with the prior year, and find out the association between the abnormal fees and the changes of opinions. The database in this research is comprised by Chinese listed companies during the period from 2000-2002. Through the testing in regression model, authors find that the result is consistent with the positive relation between abnormal audit fees and improvement in audit opinion, which provides evidence that client companies succeed in opinion shopping through overpaying to auditors. 2.2 The relation between the size of audit firms and audit quality But one point worth researcher to notice is the higher payment of audit fees does not mean the tendency of opinion shopping necessarily. Some evidences from other area can proof that the purpose of opinion shopping is not the only reason of high audit fees. Simunic (1980) issues his opinion in the research of audit pricing that the competition in audit market is function of fees pricing. The same as this theory, the research on the low balling behavior (DeAngelo, 1981; Kanodia and Mukferji, 1994) confirm the opinion that competitive market will produce influence on audit fees. In addition to this, the audit firm sizes, the quality of auditors also have effects on audit price. Francis (1984) analyzes the effect from audit firm size on audit fees. Author researches for the evidences by comparing the differences of audit fees of Big-8 (Big-4 now) firms and of non-Big-8 firms over the period from 1974-1978 in Australian market. The research provides the evidence that there is larger size audit firms will result in higher audit fees, at the same time, study demonstrates that higher audit fee is consistent with higher audit quality. The similar research is done recently by Choi, Kim, Liu and Simunic (2008) through using a large sample from 1 5 countries and a cross-country regression. Beside this, study links the research to audit characteristic and legal environment. After analyzing the difference between the fees in Big-4 firms and non-Big-4 firms, authors achieve the conclusion that the relation between firm size and the level of audit fees is existed. According to the interview finished among auditors (Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam, 1993), the BIG 6 and NON-BIG6 (BIG4 now) auditors confirm that the BIG6 premium might exist if comparing with very small audit firms, but no medium size firms. The interview here reflects a phenomenon that the difference in audit fees between BIG4 and NON-BIG4 audit firms are not so obvious. 2.3 The payment of non-audit services fees on opinion shopping The provision of non-audit services by audit firms to client firms is another controversial topic in opinion shopping. Policy makers argue that the provision of audit and non-audit services to same clients is possible to reduce the level of auditors independence (Houghton and Ikin, 2001). At the same time, auditors protect themselves by arguing that supplying non-audit services does not impair their independence, because these works are often be done by different partners and staff. For a long time, researchers have never stopped investigating in the area. 3. The influence of non-audit fees on audit independence As to the audit independence, there are many definitions for it. DeAngelo (1981a, p.186) defines audit independence as the conditional probability of reporting a discovered breach; Knapp (1985) provides the definition as the ability to resist client pressure; the definition from AICPA (1992) is an attitude/state of mind; according to Magill and Previts (1991) definition, audit independence is a function of character, with the attributes of integrity and trustworthiness being key and ISB (2000) defines audit independence as the freedom from those pressure and other factors that compromise, or can reasonably be expected to compromise, an auditors ability to make unbiased decisions. Although there are somewhat differences between those definitions of audit independence, they have a common point that is the importance of objectivity and integrity (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002). Beside provide the audit services to clients, audit firms also provide other services to clients, these services are called non-audit services, such as management advisory and consulting, but the compliance related services, such as taxation and accounting advice, are also included in them. However, as many experts (Beattie, Brandit and Fearnley, 1996) point out that this kind of non-audit services related closely to the annual reporting round. Therefore, the use of consultancy for non-audit services is somewhat wrong. What is discussing most in academy about the provision of non-audit services is the potential conflict of interest faced by audit firms who receive large non-audit fees from their audit clients. For example, after the Enron case, it was disclosed that Andersen received $25m in audit services fees and $27m for non-audit fees (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002). So, such high non-audit services fees paid to audit make public and scholars to suspect that the provision of non-audit services increases the economic bonding between auditors and clients. Many investigations are based on the assumption that the provision of non-audit fees reduces auditors independence, as they fear for losing high profit engagement with clients in the future; therefore, they are probably to give up independence for high profit. 3.1 The review of the researches in association between non-audit fees and audit quality In the early 1980s, researchers had found that the percentage the revenues from providing other services in audit firms had increased lot (Barkess and Simnett, 1994). The early empirical study is done by Simunic (1984). Author establishes his study on the assumption that those client companies who purchase non-audit services have a higher audit fees paid to auditors than audit fees from those companies who do not purchase non-audit services, and both of them hire the same incumbent auditors. In this investigation, author just focus the test in Big-8 (Big-4 now) firms, which avoids the differences on audit quality, and selects a database compromise of 397 US listed companies. From the research, he finds out than there is a positive relation between non-audit services and audit fees. Simon (1985) continues previous research (Simunic, 1984) in this area by using more recent data in the period from 1978-1983. His research depends on the voluntary disclosure from proxy statements (the non-audit services fee is not disclosed that time). His research also produces the result that client firms who purchase non-audit services have higher audit fees than those companies without the engagement of non-audit services with audit firms. The evidence from UK market (Ezzamel, Gwilliam and Holland, 1996) constitutes the research on the data from 314 UK listed companies. From the study, authors found out similar result consistent with previous researches (Simunic, 1984; Simon, 1985). To be different from above studies, this study joints non-audit services with other factors together to investigate the effects on audit pricing. Many previous researches have confirmed the phenomenon that the positive relationship between the purchase of non-audit services and higher audit fees paid by clients exists. But the existence of this relationship causes regulators, practitioners and publics attention about whether this economic bonding between client firms and auditors might impair audit independence. Barkess and Simnett (1994) concern about independence on two aspects, one perspective is to examine whether those clients purchase other services from auditors are less likely to receive qualified opinion; the other one is the determination of the relationship between the provision of other services and audit service by comparing those companies who provide non-auditor services but do not change auditors and those companies change auditors. In the study, the sample is compromised by the Top 500 listed companies in Australia for each of the years from 1986 to 1990. From the study, they conclude the result that 85%of the companies in the research purchased non-audit services from the incumbent auditors and the increase in the percentage in stable in the period. In addition to this, their result supports the point that there is a positive relationship between audit fees and the provision of non-audit services. As far as the audit independence concerned, their research show that there i s not identified relationship between the supply of non-audit services and the type of audit report, as they found that there were 308 qualified opinions in the total sample of 2094 audit reports. Therefore, they concluded that there was not enough evidence can demonstrate the hypotheses that auditors were less likely to issue the qualified opinion when the level of non-audit services to clients was higher. In other words, the provision of other services does not impair audit independence. However, Wines (1994) concluded the opposite result by testing 100 public companies on the Australian Stock Exchange at 30th June 1980, in the sample, 24 of these companies were failed to do the test, therefore, and author examined the 76 left for over the period of ten years. From the test in these 76 listed companies, author drawn up the findings that 7 of 76 companies paid a higher level of remuneration for non-audit services to auditor than the provision of audit services and those companies with non-qualified opinion had higher payment of non-auditor services fees than those companies with qualified opinion (28 companies. Hence, Wines gives the summary that the evidences from the research in 76 listed companies associate with the assumption that the provision of non-audit services has impairment on auditors independence. Wines (1994) also points out the limitation in his research is difficulty in assessing audit quality by considering the frequency with which auditing firms iss ue qualified opinions. However, one problem in Barkess and Simnett (1994) and Wine (1994) studies is that their sample is not large enough in test. Craswell (1999) makes advantage in his study by using a larger data sample and makes the evidence related to auditors actual decisions. The fiscal-year data chose by author to examine are obtained from who audit Australia, the sample is consisted by 885 public listed companies in 1984, 1477 in 1987 and 1079 in 1994, the results show that in each of the year (1984, 1987, 1994) the result does not associate with the assumption that non-audit services have negative effect on auditor independence, which is consistent with Barkess and Simnett (1994). But one limitation in his research is that this study just compares the companies with qualified opinions with those companies with unqualified opinions, while a better test should compare the companies with qualified opinions with such companies with clean opinions but experienced problems and likely to raise qualifications. Although most of the investigation have done by researchers show that the provision of non-audit services does not impair audit independence, regulators still hold the assumption that auditors will prefer to give up their independence in order to obtain more non-audit services fees from clients (DeFond, Raghunandan and Subramanyam, 2002), especially after the Enron accounting scandal. In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the Act) imposed the prohibition on the provision of non-auditor services, which based on the direction of enhancing auditor independence, reducing conflict of interest and the concern that all non-audit services were not created equal (American Institute of CPAs, 2002). At the same time, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, 2002) made the revision the Commissions regulations related to the non-audit services, which are consistent with the content in Sarbanes-Oxley Act. After the prohibition on non-auditor services added in Sarbanes-Oxley Act and SEC was carried out, many scholars continue the prior researches in this area. Frankel, Johnoson and Nelson (2002) used a sample constituted of 3074 proxy statements, used two indicators (discretionary accruals and the likelihood of firms meeting earning benchmark), to test whether audit independence would be reduced when the non-audit services grew. The consequence of the research indicates the evidence that there is an association for the assumption that auditors likely tend to sacrifice their independence when the non-audit services fee is high. Ashbaugh, LaFond and Mayhew (2003) continued this research, but the conclusion challenges the results made by Frankel, Johnoson and Nelson (2002). In the test, they used the same indicators as prior one. In the test, they find that there is no relation between positive discretionary accruals and auditor fee metrics; furthermore, their test proof that the relatio n between fee ratio and the likelihood that firms beat analysts forecasts is not existed, in other words, auditors independence will not compromise to clients high non-audit services fees. 4. Review of the development of models In empirical studies, the relative models will help to connect independent variables together in order to analyze the relation between each variable. In the study of the relation between audit fees and audit quality, the most important models are the model for measuring audit fees and audit quality. In this part, a review of the development and modification of two models is displayed. 4.1 Review of the development of audit fees model Since Simunic (1984) develops the audit fees model in order to predict the expected audit fees, the model has been developed lot in these years. In the beginning, Simunic (1984) provides the theory that the audit fees level will be affected by the several factors, such as the client firms sizes, the complexity of auditing process, audit firms sizes and audit risk. The following scholars provide the related variables for model which the used to decide expected audit fee. Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam (1993) point out in their study audit size is an explanatory variable which has important influence on the determinant audit fees. In the study, authors suggest to use the measurement of turnover to control audit size, which is also the measurement of client firms sizes. However, the use of turnover as determining is not unproblematic because the definitions of turnover are varying widely between companies and industries. Therefore, to measure audit size and client firms sizes, many researchers choose the total assets as variable. To consistent with previous studies, Ashbaugh, LaFond and Mayhew (2003); Choi, Kim and Zang (2006); and Hoitash, Markelevich and Barragato (2007) use the nature log of total assets to control client firms sizes and audit size. In addition to using total assets and turnover as proxies to audit size, on most investigations, likes Ashbaugh et al (2003) choose the number of employees to quantize audit size. Both of these scholars use number of business segments and geographic areas in measuring audit sizes. As for the measurement of complexity of audit process which is another reason for increasing audit fees, Chan et al (1993) suggest to use the number of subsidiaries to measure it. According to previous studies (Ashbaugh et al ,2003; Hoitash et al ,2007), the proportion of foreign subsidiaries will have influence on the increase of audit fees, therefore, the ratio between foreign subsidiaries and total number of subsidiaries is selected to measure this effect on audit fees. Furthermore, Choi, Kim, Liu and Simunic (2008) use the ratio of the sum of inventories and receivables to total assets to present complexity. Lastly, the dummy of gain or loss before extraordinary items is a popular variable in latest studies, such as the study in Hoitash et al (2007). The level of risk in audit processing is another factor causes increase in audit fees. Turley and Cooper (1991) provide the hypothesis that there is a positive relation between audit risk and audit fees. Chan et al (1993) predict higher risk makes consequence in higher audit fees is because auditors want to take the excess fees than normal level as an insurance premium and this hypothesis is supported by interview findings. Most of previous studies focus on using such variables as liquidity ratio (the ratio between current liabilities and current assets), and gearing ratio (the leverage), to test the level of audit quality. However, as previous scholars point out that the audit risk which is the reflection of the nature of the business of the enterprise and the control of enterprise is difficult to measure. Therefore, the subjective judgments in measuring audit risk are hard to avoid. The level of client firms performances is will also has impact on audit fees. According to the interviews between audit partners (Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam, 1993), it is confirmed that there is a link between the level of client firms profitability and the level of audit fees, and the association between them is negative. Furthermore, it is commonly agreed that when a client is facing with financial pressure is more likely to ask for controlling overhead costs wich might be result in higher audit fees. To measure the level of this variable, Chan et al (2003) use the return on equity to measure it, while other researchers like Hoitash et al (2007) and Chan, Kim, Liu and Simunic (2008) use the return on assets to measure this. Beside variables above, there are other potential reasons which might also cause the changes in audit fees. However, seldom of previous studies pay attention on these potential variables (Chan, Ezammel and Gwilliam, 1993) according to the study finished by Chan et al (1993), the control of ownership is also one of the variables in audit fees model. The hypothesis in their paper makes the assumption that the extension of audit services will be a factor in the ownership control as companies with a diverse ownership structure are required a higher quality audit. Therefore, the audit fees are increased. However, it is difficult to measure the extension of ownership control directly. The timing variable is another reason in the fluctuation of audit fees (Chan et al, 1993). According to the audit season in UK market, the accounting year between 1 December and 31 March is the busy season, others are non-busy, and the former season will increases audit fees as auditors have a comparatively shorter deadline in it. Moreover, though test, authors find that the legal liability also have impact on the level of audit fees, as the evidences demonstrate that legal liability is a fee-increase factor. Lastly, other variables, such as the location of auditors, are seldom be used as variables in investigations. 4.2 Review of the development of discretionary ac

Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament by Willa Cather Essay examples --

A Symbolic Perception Imagine being entrapped in a life that you did not feel you belonged in. That is the story of Paul in â€Å"Paul’s Case,† written by Willa Cather. He lived in a suburban home where everyone seemed the same and there was a feeling of despair. Paul, who was a young man, felt that his father, teachers and classmates misunderstood him and therefore were unworthy of his company. In the story there are many symbolic elements. Flowers, for instance, symbolize Paul’s personality and life. The parallel between the boy and the flowers is made by the author many times throughout the short story. In the beginning of the story Paul has a meeting with the teachers of his school because he was misbehaving. For the meeting Paul shows up wearing â€Å"clothes [that] were a trifle outgrown . . . [with] a red carnation in his buttonhole† (49). This shows his total disrespect for authority because he is going to get disciplined; and the teachers thought this â€Å"was not properly significant of the contrite spirit befitting a boy under the ban of suspension† (49).† The flower he wore shows that he does not care about school or his teachers: his teachers felt â€Å"that his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation flower† (50). The principal also noted his conceit as he left the meeting and bowed which was described to be â€Å"a repetition of the scandalous red carnation† (51). It is almost as if the flower is his strength and reminds him of his ne...

Voice over Internet Protocol Essay -- VoIP Technology Networking Essay

Voice over Internet Protocol Definition of VoIP â€Å"Mr. Watson, come here, I want you!† These were the first words that were spoken over the phone back on March 10 1876. If you combine this invention with the same invention of the first computer that was completed nearly 70 years later in 1946, you would then be able to access VoIP. VoIP is also known as voice over internet protocol. VoIP is in essence the ability to talk with ones voice via computer to computer. In the next few pages you will learn about the history of VoIP, how it works, the requirements that are needed to use VoIP, the benefits and risks of this type of technology, and lastly you will get a glimpse at the future of VoIP. Not many people know what VoIP is or even that it exists. VoIP was designed to help with the costs for long distance charges. The idea or premise of this type of technology was conceived to use ones phone line and make a call through the Internet. It was designed to be used for both local and long distance calls thus cutting phone bill costs. The VoIP way of communication was started back in 1995 and was the result of work done by some hobbyists in Israel (Interangent, 2005). These hobbyists as well as other great inventors saw a good idea. Their idea was to be able to communicate through the computer as appose to talking over the phone. The idea was not so much to get away from the phone system but more to avoid long distance charges. In the beginning VoIP was only available when there was a direct personal computer to personal computer connection. Later in 1995 Vocaltec, Inc. released Internet Phone Software (Interagent, 2005). In the beginning it was fairly difficult to use. Due to the fact that in order to really be able to communicate using VoIP both the computers that were trying to communicate to each other would be required to use the same equipment, have a sound card and use a microphone. It was a good first effort, but as many firsts, the quality was very poor. VoIP would make great strides in the next three years. In 1998 VoIP had made such great strides that some companies were able to offer personal computer to phone services. The strides also were able to offer phone to phone contact. In the beginning VoIP did not charge their customers but chose to get payment through advertisements. When you made the phone call you would have to wait through an advert... ...base TechLand Group (2005). Strategies for Migrating Corporate Voice Traffic to the Data Network, Retrieved June 6, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.techland.co.uk/index/page.index Try-three. (2005). History VoIP Article. Retrieved May 21, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.try-there.com/voip/directory/history-voip.html Tyson, J. (2005). How stuff works. How voip works. Retrieved June 3, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm Voippreview. (2004). History of VoIP. Retrieved May 20, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.voipreview.org/news.details.aspx?nid=51 Wagner, J. (2004, June 21). Networking. Retrieved May 26, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.internetnews.com/infr/article.php/3371431 Webopedia (2005, June). VoIP. Retrieved June 10, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.webopedia.com What Is (2005, June). VoIP. Retrieved June 10, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.whatis.com Wikipedia (2004). Definitions in Technology. Retrieved May 26, 2005, from the World Wide Web: www.wikipedia.com Wikipedia (2005, June). VoIP. Retrieved June 11, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.wikipedia.org

Lesson learned

There comes a time in everyone's life when bad things happen that we wish had never occurred. This experience, that result in being punished or even disciplined by our parents, guardian, police or even by a teachers, often leads us to learn an Important life lessons. Soon, we realize that we did something we know we should not have done. Growing up, I was always the kid who had to be punished; not because I was bad, but by doing and saying stupid things, and by keeping the wrong set of friend, who often got me Into trouble.My punishments Include, being grounded from my phone, television ,and everything else that I would consider fun. When I would get into trouble, often I was deadlines by my parent, but getting deadlines by Mrs.. White – who was my fifth grade teacher at All Mercy middle school- was very different and scary. I was slating In Mrs. White's math class, and she began to pass out our Math test scores. I was, and still, am Inefficient In my math skill. As she passed the tests back, my anxious eyes searched the bright colored room, was expecting the worst. E colorful posters were not enough to distract me from my inevitable bad grade, and the blue walls were hardly calming. The garden I received was very low. A depressing, bold looking in bright red ink, was burned at the top of the paper close to where my name was written. I got mad at myself,and I let out an exasperated sigh that Just happen to include the â€Å"F -word† . Everybody in the class, including Mrs.. White, turned toward me with looks of shock and astonishment. Mrs.. White then shouted my name and said; â€Å"Tamari, get in my office owe l† I was in shock at myself that I had lousily sighed this obscenity.I was so scare to go to Mrs.. White's office. In a angry tone of voice, she shouted again, â€Å"Tamari, in my office now! † I was so terrified to face her, because I and never heard Mrs.. White sound so angry before. She shouted one last time, â€Å"Tamari, in my office, right now! † I walked slowly, slower than a turtle, into her office. I could feel the entire class staring at me as I walked as slow as possible. Finally, when I reached Mrs.. White's office, she had me sit down in front of her desk. She said, † You know saying the F word was unacceptable. I nodded my head. That day after lunch, Mrs.. White had me apologize in front of the entire class for using foul language, and she had me sit In the naughty corner of the class by myself for four days. I was happy that Ms. While did not called my parents because I knew my punishment would have been much worse. Luckily, my parents never actually found out that I used the F word at school. That day I clearly learned that there are consequent for my actions, and I have to be more careful with the things I say.Word can get you Into trouble, but not Just In the classroom, at work, and their power to hurt others . Because word are very power, you can hurt someone feeling by sa ying the wrong thing. Be aware of using polite words also show how matured and respectful a person can be. Lesson learned By tinniest 16 important life lessons. Soon, we realize that we did something we know we should set of friend, who often got me into trouble. My punishments include, being When I would get into trouble, often I was disciplined by my parent, but getting disciplined by Mrs..White – who was my fifth grade teacher at All Mercy middle school- was very different and scary. I was sitting in Mrs. White's math class, and she began to pass out our Math test scores. I was, and still, am inefficient in my math room, I was expecting the worst. The colorful posters were not enough to distract me received was very low. A depressing, bold looking â€Å"F†, in bright red ink, was burned at astonishment. Mrs.. White then shouted my name and said; â€Å"Tamari, get in my office now I was in shock at myself that I had lousily sighed this obscenity.I was so â€Å"Tama ri, in my office now! † I was so terrified to face her, because I and never heard White's office, she had me sit down in front of her desk. She said, † You know saying sit in the naughty corner of the class by myself for four days. I was happy that Ms. White did not called my parents because I knew my punishment would have been have to be more careful with the things I say. Word can get you into trouble, but not just in the classroom, at work, and their power to hurt others . Because word are very Lesson learned There comes a time in everyone's life when bad things happen that we wish had never occurred. This experience, that result in being punished or even disciplined by our parents, guardian, police or even by a teachers, often leads us to learn an Important life lessons. Soon, we realize that we did something we know we should not have done. Growing up, I was always the kid who had to be punished; not because I was bad, but by doing and saying stupid things, and by keeping the wrong set of friend, who often got me Into trouble.My punishments Include, being grounded from my phone, television ,and everything else that I would consider fun. When I would get into trouble, often I was deadlines by my parent, but getting deadlines by Mrs.. White – who was my fifth grade teacher at All Mercy middle school- was very different and scary. I was slating In Mrs. White's math class, and she began to pass out our Math test scores. I was, and still, am Inefficient In my math skill. As she passed the tests back, my anxious eyes searched the bright colored room, was expecting the worst. E colorful posters were not enough to distract me from my inevitable bad grade, and the blue walls were hardly calming. The garden I received was very low. A depressing, bold looking in bright red ink, was burned at the top of the paper close to where my name was written. I got mad at myself,and I let out an exasperated sigh that Just happen to include the â€Å"F -word† . Everybody in the class, including Mrs.. White, turned toward me with looks of shock and astonishment. Mrs.. White then shouted my name and said; â€Å"Tamari, get in my office owe l† I was in shock at myself that I had lousily sighed this obscenity.I was so scare to go to Mrs.. White's office. In a angry tone of voice, she shouted again, â€Å"Tamari, in my office now! † I was so terrified to face her, because I and never heard Mrs.. White sound so angry before. She shouted one last time, â€Å"Tamari, in my office, right now! † I walked slowly, slower than a turtle, into her office. I could feel the entire class staring at me as I walked as slow as possible. Finally, when I reached Mrs.. White's office, she had me sit down in front of her desk. She said, † You know saying the F word was unacceptable. I nodded my head. That day after lunch, Mrs.. White had me apologize in front of the entire class for using foul language, and she had me sit In the naughty corner of the class by myself for four days. I was happy that Ms. While did not called my parents because I knew my punishment would have been much worse. Luckily, my parents never actually found out that I used the F word at school. That day I clearly learned that there are consequent for my actions, and I have to be more careful with the things I say.Word can get you Into trouble, but not Just In the classroom, at work, and their power to hurt others . Because word are very power, you can hurt someone feeling by sa ying the wrong thing. Be aware of using polite words also show how matured and respectful a person can be. Lesson learned By tinniest 16 important life lessons. Soon, we realize that we did something we know we should set of friend, who often got me into trouble. My punishments include, being When I would get into trouble, often I was disciplined by my parent, but getting disciplined by Mrs..White – who was my fifth grade teacher at All Mercy middle school- was very different and scary. I was sitting in Mrs. White's math class, and she began to pass out our Math test scores. I was, and still, am inefficient in my math room, I was expecting the worst. The colorful posters were not enough to distract me received was very low. A depressing, bold looking â€Å"F†, in bright red ink, was burned at astonishment. Mrs.. White then shouted my name and said; â€Å"Tamari, get in my office now I was in shock at myself that I had lousily sighed this obscenity.I was so â€Å"Tama ri, in my office now! † I was so terrified to face her, because I and never heard White's office, she had me sit down in front of her desk. She said, † You know saying sit in the naughty corner of the class by myself for four days. I was happy that Ms. White did not called my parents because I knew my punishment would have been have to be more careful with the things I say. Word can get you into trouble, but not just in the classroom, at work, and their power to hurt others . Because word are very

How to Be a Good Teacher

Great English Teachers What are the characteristics of a good teacher of English? The traits range from great teaching and management strategies to a good attitude. Top Characteristics for Teachers There are 15 characteristics of effective teachers that range from having high expectations to being flexible and imaginative. These 15 characteristics can be placed into two categories: management and instructional techniques and personal traits. To have strong classroom management and instructional techniques, an English teacher needs to try a variety of techniques to find the ones that work for him or her. Instructional Techniques English teachers need to teach reading, writing, viewing, listening, and speaking. These are five distinct areas, and each has its own set of benchmarks and indicators. Simply put, English teachers have a great deal of content to juggle in the classroom. The list of indicators for their content is quite long. They need to be knowledgeable of grammar, vocabulary, writing, literary elements, great novels, researching techniques, speech strategies, etc. In addition to being a master of content, teachers need to have a large repertoire of teaching strategies. Direct instruction, collaborative learning, and the jigsaw strategy, are just a few techniques that effective teachers use in the classroom. Variety is the key. So, the English teacher must be flexible and willing to try a variety of strategies to see what works best with his or her students. Management Techniques Good English teachers must have excellent classroom management techniques. If teachers cannot manage their students successfully, very little learning will occur in the classroom. With the No Child Left Behind Act and current state policy, it is important that students make gains in their learning every year. For young teachers, classroom management is usually a struggle. New teachers need to be willing to seek out seasoned teachers to mentor them on how to handle the classroom properly and to try different classroom management strategies. Personality Traits Usually, the three most important personality traits are a flexible approach, a caring attitude, and a sense of humor. There are, of course, other personality traits that enable teachers to become great teachers. However, in the current torrent of change in education, a teacher needs to be flexible to help a student. It also helps to be able to laugh and to keep smiling in this climate of change. It is very important that students feel that their teachers care about them. They need to feel safe in a supportive learning environment because this may be the only safe place that some children have. A safe, caring learning environment will help students to work to their true potential. Last, teachers need to have a sense of humor. So many things go wrong every day. It is important to be able to laugh and to keep going. The students need a happy teacher, not an angry one. The characteristics of a good teacher of English include many traits and strategies. English teachers need to do their best in implementing techniques in the classroom to help our nation's children reach their learning potential Think back to your school days for a moment, who were your favorite teachers? Which ones did you learn more from and why? The chances are that they were ones who made your lessons â€Å"come alive†. Engage you in your lesson as opposed to the â€Å"talk and chalk† variety! Whilst having a sound academic background and knowledge of your subject is one thing, having the ability to relate to your students and convey your message in understandable, motivational terms is quite another. This means not only being able to relate to your learners but being able to adapt your material to suit their needs, and put it across in the most effective (personable? ) form, creating a positive, supportive learning environment. Teaching a Language Having been a teacher trainer for many years I have little time for the teacher who delivers the same lesson verbatim, year after year, without considering their individual students’ needs and learner types, or those whose ego is so large that they are unable to relate effectively to their students. To my mind, teaching a language requires different skills to teaching other subjects like History or Math. We don’t learn a language by talking about it; we learn a language by talking in it! Once a teacher has presented language, it is the students who should speak and use the language (as it is they who need the practice), and not the teacher talking the highest percentage of time – hence the term TTT -Teacher Taking Time. Language teachers also need to â€Å"rough tune† their language, speaking in terms that are slightly above the level of the learner, rather than over simplify (thus providing a false model) or bombard them with meta-language. Core Characteristics Carl Rogers, an American psychologist suggested there are three core teacher characteristics to help create an effective learning environment. †¢Respect: Being positive and non judgmental in regards to another person †¢Empathy: Being able to see things from another person’s point of view †¢Authenticity: Being yourself without egoistic barriers or hiding behind a job title These three qualities a far more likely to induce a more positive learning environment, where students are more inclined to take risks and take responsibility for their own learning. Communication between student and teacher becomes more open and honest and therefore a stronger bond emerges, based on mutual respect. These qualities should not be â€Å"clothes† that a teacher puts on in the classroom. They have to be genuine intentions. A good teacher is one who not only has knowledge of their subject but has the personality to convey it in engaging, motivational terms. Therefore demonstration and participation rather than explanation is often more effective. In short: An effective language teacher is one that cares more about their students’ learning than they do about their own teaching! Top 10 Tips for Teachers Teachers are often placed into an awkward and stressful situation, not really sure of their authority and sometimes not even placed with veteran teachers who are much help. These tips can aid student teachers as they begin their first teaching assignments. Please note: these are not suggestions for how to approach the students but instead for how to most effectively succeed in your new teaching environment. 1. Be On Time Punctuality is very important in the ‘real world'. If you are late, you will definitely NOT start out on the right foot with your cooperating teacher. Even worse, if you arrive after a class has begun which you are supposed to be teaching, you are placing that teacher and yourself in an awkward situation. 2. Dress Appropriately As a teacher, you are a professional and you are supposed to dress accordingly. There is nothing wrong with over dressing during your student teaching assignments. The clothes do help lend you an air of authority, especially if you look awfully young. Further, your dress lets the coordinating teacher know of your professionalism and dedication to your assignment. 3. Be Flexible Remember that the coordinating teacher has pressures placed upon them just as you have your own pressures to deal with. If you normally teach only 3 classes and the coordinating teacher asks that you take on extra classes one day because he has an important meeting to attend, look at this as your chance to get even further experience while impressing your dedication to your coordinating teacher. 4. Follow the School Rules This might seem obvious to some but it is important that you do not break school rules. For example, if it is against the rules to chew gum in class, then do not chew it yourself. If the campus is ‘smoke-free', do not light up during your lunch period. This is definitely not professional and would be a mark against you when it comes time for your coordinating teacher and school to report on your abilities and actions. 5. Plan Ahead If you know you will need copies for a lesson, do not wait until the morning of the lesson to get them completed. Many schools have procedures that MUST be followed for copying to occur. If you fail to follow these procedures you will be stuck without copies and will probably look unprofessional at the same time. 6. Befriend the Office Staff This is especially important if you believe that you will be staying in the area and possibly trying for a job at the school where you are teaching. These people's opinions of you will have an impact on whether or not you are hired. They can also make your time during student teaching much easier to handle. Don't underestimate their worth. 7. Maintain Confidentiality Remember that if you are taking notes about students or classroom experiences to turn in for grades, you should either not use their names or change them to protect their identities. You never know who you are teaching or what their relationship might be to your instructors and coordinators. 8. Don't Gossip It might be tempting to hang out in the teacher lounge and indulge in gossip about fellow teachers. However, as a student teacher this would be a very risky choice. You might say something you could regret later. You might find out information that is untrue and clouds your judgement. You might even offend someone without realizing it. Remember, these are teachers you could be working with again some day in the future. 9. Be Professional With Fellow Teachers Do not interrupt other teachers' classes without an absolutely good reason. When you are speaking with your coordinating teacher or other teachers on campus, treat them with respect. You can learn a lot from these teachers, and they will be much more likely to share with you if they feel that you are genuinely interested in them and their experiences. 10. Don't Wait to the Last Minute to Call in Sick You will probably get sick at some point during your student teaching and will need stay home for the day. You must remember that the regular teacher will have to take over the class during your absence. If you wait until the last minute to call in, this could leave them in an awkward bind making them look bad to the students. Call as soon as you believe you will not be able to make it to class.