Auditing theory and practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Auditing theory and practice - Essay Example The company follows (assumption) international accounting standards (IAS) and international financial reporting system (IFRS) for accounting and presenting its financial statements. In addition, since the company operates in UK, all the relevant UK laws and regulations are applicable for its operations, financial statements development and reporting along with disclosure requirements. The company is facing stiff competition in the perfect competition market in which it operates. This has caused the company to reduce its selling price in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. This cost cutting has adversely affected the sales revenue growth rate and hence, the profitability. This is a prominent business risk that the company has been unable to satisfactorily deal with; as a result, the company has to bear a loss in 2005. In addition, another glaring risk is the ownership structure of the firm and demise of the majority shareholder Mr. Kale. This might lead to power struggle in the company which ultimately results in loss of productivity and negative politics. Together these five areas can be used to gather insightful information about the company’s internal control environment and its effectiveness in preventing, detecting or mitigating risks to the company. The control environment refers to the overall organisation structure and values system. The commitment of top management is mandatory, and control environment study provides assurance about top management’s philosophy and operating styles. These are reflected in company’s policies, strategies and operating procedures. The auditor should conduct detailed interviews with top management and should study the company documentation to gather information about the control environment of the company; as top management is ultimately responsible for implementing and operating the corporate governance structure for the company. Studying the control environment with a view to identify management’s

PetMeds Feedback Loops Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PetMeds Feedback Loops - Case Study Example In order to understand the applicability of feedback loops in an organization, one must consider the organizational structure of the company and identify the different feedback loops executed within. The organizational structure of the company is composed of four core departments - customer care, warehouse, pharmacy and corporate departments. The structure is designed in a way to provide direct business processes for the success of the company. Several systems practiced by the company such as customer relationship management and performance management provide a complete loop in the operations of a department as well as the overall process of its business. This paper focuses on two types of feedback loops that is currently practiced in the organization. The two types identified are balancing loop and reinforcing loop. A balancing loop contains a current state, action and desired state. The action attempts to bring two things, the current state and the desired state, into an agreement. On the other hand, the reinforcing loop composes of an action and the result. The action produces a result. The result then promotes more of the same action. (Bellinger, 2004) PetMeds implements a customer relationship management system in the customer care department. The customer relationship management practice of the company is an example of the reinforcing feedback loop. ... It involves several functions, processes and results. However, for purposes of this paper, a simple loop is identified. An example of such loop is how the marketers of the company promote the products in order to generate sales for the company. The marketers publicize the products through advertising in the tri-media such as television, print and radio as well as through the Internet. Their aim is to attract new customers as well as encourage existing customers into buying more of the company's products. The strategies implemented by the marketers are examples of actions in the reinforcing loop. Below is a simplified feedback loop that illustrates the customer relationship management system. Figure . Customer Relationship Management System As a result of the different marketing strategies of the company, customers choose PetMeds products and ultimately generate sales and revenue for the company. Satisfied customers reorder the products. As for new customers, the different promotions of the marketers will influence their buying preference and behavior. The satisfaction levels of the customers are measured in the customer relationship management system. The measurements are then feedback to the customer care department as well as the marketers in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. The evaluation then becomes the basis for the next marketing strategies that would be implemented and promoted. Performance Management System The performance management system is another type of feedback loop that is being utilized by PetMeds. This type of loop can be considered as a balancing loop. Every year, the company identifies critical success factors for their overall business as well as each department. These factors become the

International Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Politics - Essay Example To this the constructivists argue that customs, culture and ideas principally determine the awareness of the world that we live in. The distinctiveness and welfare of a state can be molded by ideas and this serves to have more or less lasting effects on international relations. Conflicts emerge from fundamental and controlling outcomes of standards and shared hopes, distinctiveness, culture and social processes (Baylis & Smith, 2005). The notion of liberalism maintains that in order to determine the behavior of the state, it is important to consider the state’s preferences, and does not accept the capabilities of the state for these purposes, which differ from one state to another. They are mainly dependent on the culture, economic system and the type of the government in each state. (International relations). Proponents of the dependency theory assert that all the third – world countries are not poverty stricken. In the past, these countries had been rich, but they the colonial regime exploited and impoverished them. The powerful first-world nations compelled the third world countries to integrate into the mainstream of the world economy, which rendered their economy subservient to the insatiable needs of the colonial regimes of the first-world nations. These countries were unable to satisfy the needs of their society, due to the compulsions of their colonial masters. The wealthy and industrially developed countries dominated the global economy, and were never exploited by colonialism. (The IR Theory Knowledge Base). Functionalism deals with the functionality of organizations in terms of their purposes and tasks. Most international organizations were developed to address several problems, purposes, tasks and demands. Therefore, theorists argue that the growth of these organizations was mainly based on their responsibility to sort out these issues that could arise from time to time. The neo  ­Ã¢â‚¬â€œ functionalism

Intro and conclusion for TVR journal entries Essay

Intro and conclusion for TVR journal entries - Essay Example ed to be completely objective as the nature of the term â€Å"journal entries† implies that I am given license to explore avenues of a personal kind as well. My journal entries for the book Mass Media in a Changing World by George Rodman are a personal account of my feelings about the Mass Media and how I feel it has affected the world around me. It is not an objective analysis of the chapters, rather a personal viewpoint with regard being given to latest issues and research. I have not tried to merely pick out scenarios from personal life, but have illustrated examples that most of the people can identify and relate with. Anyone reading the journal entries will not necessary get to know what the book itself contains, but rather s/he will gain an insight into how I, personally, feel about the Mass Media. I have enjoyed writing these journal entries a lot; they have made me learn new things along with reinforcing my beliefs about the Mass Media. Before reading the book and writing these entries, I believed Mass Media to be a two edged sword; not completely good or bad, engaging in these activities has reinforced these beliefs of mine. It is evident to me that the effect the Media has on us depends on the way it is used; when used for the good, it gives positive results and when used badly, it gives negative results. However, I also learned that there is no fine line between wrong and right in the Media and sometimes it is hard to establish what â€Å"ethical† exactly is in a given situation, however, I do hope that with the development of the Media, these ethical dilemmas can be solved and the Media can develop into a strong, positive factor in our lives. I have gained quite a bit of insight through writing these journal entries. I have learned that though the Mass Media is a positive tool when it comes to knowledge and information, it can, and often is, used negatively and focuses on the unusual and sensational. Mostly when corporations are involved, economic