Can we trust othello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 18000 words

Can we trust othello - Essay Example because we added it later to the part we have submitted earlier ,so it seems he skipped the first part including the methodology which was not revised ,but it is not problem . So , what is left now is the changes according to his comment and the conclusion . I will contact the administration about what you have asked about ,but please try to keep with me for the last and sooner I wish to have the revised update with the conclusion and the division of the chapters . The tutor comments by saying â€Å"I’ve underlined where I have suggested changes to the text .COMMENTS are in bold. it will be necessary for you to group some of the sections ,into chapters. That will make the whole discussion much easier to read . In addition to several eminent theatrical works such as Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear, Shakespeare is renowned the world over for working on a fourth eminent work that has been famously known as ‘Othello’. Othello, thus completes the quartet of four great tragedies produced by perhaps the greatest playwright mankind has ever witnessed. Othello has been the favorite of critics the world over and has served to become the apex of Shakespeare’s work of theatrical plays and as such is unique among Shakespeare’s known works on tragedies. However, the other three works, namely King Lear. Macbeth or Hamlet, are set against a backdrop of state affairs, whereas Othello has been found to focus on the private world with a primary focus on the lives and passions of its main characters (Bradley, 1904, pg. 21). Without doubt, Othello has often been termed as a ‘tragedy of character’. The swiftness with which Othello descends into the ocean of jealousy combined with a fit of rage and the manner in which his deputy Iago is able to utilize the strengths of his dazzling villainy have long fascinated students of Theatre and arts apart from regular critics of the play. One of the primary reasons behind such a fascination and amazement can be attributed to

CRIMINAL LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

CRIMINAL LAW - Essay Example Thus in the current scenario unless a case beyond reasonable doubt is made Susan would be considered as innocent. As far as the burden of proof is concerned, such burden lies on the prosecution who in turn has to prove beyond all reasonable doubt including but not limited to satisfaction of the jury of the guilt of the defendant. (Woolmington v. DPP)1 The main elements that required to be proved in criminal law or be specific a criminal offence are actus reus (the action of the accused), mens rea (the requisite intention for the commission of the offence) and the absence of any defence or if any defence is raised it is negated to the satisfaction of the court. (Lord Diplock in R v Miller)2 Another element that needs to be taken into account is that the actus reus and mens rea of the criminal offence that was committed need to coincide, however it is pertinent to mention that such requirement has been interpreted broadly by the courts. (Fagan v. Commissioner of Police3). The actus reu s of an offence is generally satisfied when a positive act is committed. It has often been required that that has been committed must be voluntary, this can be seen from what Lord Denning said that ‘No act is punishable if it is done involuntarily, and an involuntary act in this context...means an act which is done by the muscles without any control by the mind such as spasm, a reflex action or a convulsion; or an act done by a person who is not conscious of what he is doing such as an act done whilst suffering from concussion or whilst sleepwalking...’ (Bratty v Attorney General for Northern Ireland)4 . Thus the act of the defendant must therefore be voluntary and a wilful movement of body. The next element is mens rea which is concerned with the state of mind of the defendant. There had been cases which were decided upon by the courts in which the criteria were set up whereby the mens rea for a criminal act would be established. The cases that were decided upon took i nto account intention, subjective recklessness, objective recklessness, lacuna etc. Mens cannot be said to be wickedness by way of any moral or general sense (Dodman)5 . Furthermore even if it is proved to the court that the motive behind the criminal act was good, it cannot be relied upon as a defence (Chiu-Chang v. R)6 . In respect of mens rea the current situation is that of Woollin7 and R v. G. And this has been reached after considerable refining of the original test for intention. Thus the test for direct intent is the that the defendant had intended a result by committing the particular act; and for oblique intent is that the result may have been that the result was a virtually certain consequence of the act. The actus reus of mens rea was provided by Sir Edward Coke in the seventeenth century whereby he stated that the act is committed if the defendant ‘unlawfully killeth any reasonable creature in rerum natura under the Queen’s peace’. The definition of unlawfully does not include the killing of for example the use of reasonable force for self defence (Re a (Children)8. Clearly it can be seen that due to the car of Susan going straight into the pedestrian would be considered to be an act is unlawful. As far as killeth is concerned that refers to the requirement that the acts of the defendant can be attributed to be a legal cause of death. Clearly

History Of Internet Banking In Malaysia Information Technology Essay

History Of Internet Banking In Malaysia Information Technology Essay In early 2001 the bursting of the Internet bubble has created numerous assumptions that Internet services companies have lost their opportunities. The Internet companies and Internet players have been fighting for survival, and most of them have been still experiencing losses. There are still going discussions among practicing managers and academics in reaching a consent in their debate about this new technology: whether the Internet changes the basic way people do business or whether it is just an evolutionary process, offering simply a new distribution channel and communication medium (Moe and Fader, 2001). According to Brown (2001), the New Economy or e-commerce businesses are still at the early life stage. In spite of the collapse of dot.com stock prices in March 2001, Internet usage and e-commerce continued to grow at a fast speed. According to eMarketer (2003), the US B2C e-commerce returns comparing to US$51 billion in 2001reached US$70 billion in 2002, i.e., a jump of 37%. It also forecasted that revenues of the e-commerce would increase by 28% to US$90 billion by 2003; by 2004 would occur another increase of 21% to US$109 billion; and to US$133 billion, a further 22% increase, by 2005. The expected extensive growth of online purchases via the Internet will give enormous chances to businesses in general, and Internet Banking (IB) in particular. In this study the terms IB and Online Banking (OB) are used interchangeably. IB/OB is different from Electronic Banking (e-banking) in that the latter is a higher level activity that encompasses not only IB/OB, but also Mobile Banking, SMS Banking, ATM, WAP-banking and other electronic payment systems that are not operated through the Internet. Our study will focus on IB, because it is considered as the most significant and most popular delivery channel for banking services in the cyber age. Banks can benefit from much lower operating costs by offering IB services, which require less staff and fewer physical branches. Customers will also benefit from the convenience, speed and round-the-clock availability of IB services. In order to be able to formulate better marketing strategies for increasing IB usage in the future banks need to study the factors that influence customers intention to adopt IB so that banks. This study aims to examine the behavioral intention of UUM students to use IB services with a focus on users perceptions of ease of use and usefulness of IB, and of security of using this new technology to meet their banking needs. In Chapter 2, we provide a review of the previous literature on innovation diffusion and technology adoption, based on which we propose a model of customers intention to adopt IB. We discuss the research methodology in Chapter 3. History of internet banking in Malaysia On June 1, 2000, the Bank Negara Malaysia let locally owned commercial banks offer Internet banking services. On June 15, 2000 the first bank to offer Internet banking services in Malaysia was Maybank, the largest domestic bank in terms of assets as well as network distribution which commands its own portal at www.maybank2U.com. Subsequently, internet banking services were offered by Hong Leong Bank, Southern Bank, Multi-Purpose Bank and etc. A review of the Malaysian banking sites in the Internet discovered that all domestic banks, which have been settled an anchor bank status by the BNM, have a web presence. This banking service is currently being provided to individual customers of the bank and the site boasts of the latest 128-bit encryption technology to dispel worries of security among bank customers. Internet banking service provided in the portal consists of banking enquiry functions, credit card payment, bill payment, accounts summary, and funds transfer as well as transacti on history. In the banks providing internet banking services customer support service is provided via e-mails as well as via telephone lines and it is available daily from morning to mid-night (source: http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/JIBC/0103_01.htm). Problem Statement From reviewing related articles on the current topic, we can find evidence that although consumers have had an interest in advanced internet banking services and tended to have various financial sources or tools for money transactions; they have not quickly changed their main propensity to use banking services or goods that they are already familiar with (Futurics 2001). For example, new electronic banking goods or services have not quickly substituted for traditional ones and non-online banking goods or services. Although various electronic banking services have emerged since the ATM was introduced 30 years ago, a lot of consumers still use checks as a primary source for money transactions, and banks still have a lot of bricks and mortar branches in the market. According to the Survey of Consumer Finances in 2001, about 60% of household heads used checks as a primary source. Furthermore, the number of bank branches expanded from about 65,000 to about 73,000 from 1994 to 2003, even t hough the number of U.S banks fell from about 12,500 in 1994 to about 9,000 during the same period (Hirtle Metli, 2004). In spite of the emergence of a series of advanced electronic banking services, both consumers and banks still regard non-electronic banking as one of the important sources for money transaction. However, in global terms the majority of private bankers are still not using internet-banking channel. There are multiple reasons for this. To start with, customers need to have an access to the internet in order to utilize the service. Furthermore, new online users need first to learn how to use the service (Mols et al., 1999). Second, nonusers often complain that internet banking has no social dimension, i.e. you are not served in the way you are in a face-to-face situation at a bank branch (Mattila et al., 2003). Third, customers have been afraid of security issues (Sathye, 1999; Hamlet and Strube, 2000; Howcroft et al., 2002). However, this study focuses in the adoption of internet banking services by customers in evidence of the students of Universiti Utara Malaysia. Our study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the factors influencing the adoption of internet banking services by UUM students. Research questions The study intends to answer the following questions: How UUM students Attitude influence their Intention to use IB? What relationship does the Perceived Usefulness have with the UUM students Attitude and Intention to use IB? What relationship does the Perceived Ease of Use have with the UUM students Attitude and Intention to use IB? Is Perceived Web Security really a concern to UUM students who are using IB? Research Objectives The main aim of this study to determine the basic factors influence the usage of internet banking in UUM and to examine the factors that affect the adoption of internet banking. The specific objectives are as follow: To investigate how UUM students Attitude influence their Intention to use IB; To examine the relationship of Perceived Usefulness with the UUM students Attitude and Intention to use IB; To investigate the relationship of Perceived Ease of Use with the UUM students Attitude and Intention to use IB; To investigate whether Perceived Web Security is a concern for the usage of internet banking. Significance of the Study The study will contribute in expanding the body of knowledge in the internet and technology adoption literature. It will provide academicians and researchers with an update on the usage and acceptance of internet in the banking sector. This research can contribute to an improved understanding of the factors related to users acceptance of new technology. In particularly, this study acts as an understanding of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Also, this research can stimulate the banks providing their services inside UUM Campus such as CIMB, Islamic Bank and Maybank to improve their internet banking services. In the particular perspective, this study is significant to offer useful information for bank management in creating IB marketing strategies. For marketing practitioners, the aim is to offer a holistic and in-depth overview of how customer forms, experience and exploit their satisfaction towards services that offered by the banks. This study contributes to the literature by formulating and validating TAM to predict IB adoption. CHAPTER TWO Literature review Although in the past most of studies aim were to extent of understanding of user adoption of technology, few of these studies were conducted on IB services by extending the well-established Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). It is an appropriate time to study the user adoption of IB when the numbers of global banking groups are rapidly offering and improving IB services on the rise (American Banker, 2002). Both academics and banking executives will be interested in such a study. in particular, this study investigates the students perception on the adoption of internet banking for their private purpose. In other words, our survey focused on UUM students purpose to use internet banking to handle their banking issues. 2.1. Technology Acceptance Models Davis (1989) developed the Technology Acceptance Model, according to this model users adoption of computer system depends on their behavioral intention to use, which in turn depends on attitude, consisting of two beliefs, namely Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness. In fact, Davis developed TAM by building upon an earlier theory, the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975). In TRA, Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) proposed that intention is the immediate determinant of the corresponding behavior, which is divided into (1) attitude toward behavior, and (2) subjective norm concerning behavior. Davis posited d in TAM that the two theoretical constructs, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use, are fundamental determinants of system use in an organization. These constructs also provide better measures for predicting and explaining system use than other constructs (Davis, 1989). TAM has been widely used for predicting the acceptance and use of information systems, and recently has been applied to predict Internet adoption as well. In a recent study, Lederer et al. (2000) adapted TAM to study World Wide Web (WWW) usage and found evidence to support TAM. Another study of applying TAM in the WWW context was conducted by Moon and Kim (2001). They introduced the construct Playfulness to predict Attitude. Data were collected from 152 graduate students of management in Korea. Although the results of findings of test of TAM-related hypotheses showed that they were all supported, the results deviated from the basic belief of TAM that Perceived Usefulness is the key determinant of user acceptance of IT. The results of Moon and Kim (2001) revealed that Perceived Ease of Use has a more significant relationship with Attitude than Perceived Usefulness in the WWW context, and Perceived Playfulness (an intrinsic motivational factor) has a more positive effect on Attitude th an Perceived Usefulness (an extrinsic motivational factor). 2.2. Theoretical Model for IB Adoption IB is a new distribution channel for the delivery of banking services. From both academic and practical perspectives, it is interesting to understand and assess customers intention to use IB services. We have chosen TAM as the baseline model for this study because it is a well-tested model concerning users acceptance of technology. We augment TAM with the construct Perceived Web Security. Specifically, we hypothesize that Intention to Use is influenced by Attitude, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Web Security. We will test the strength of the hypothesized relationships embedded in the theoretical model and the robustness of the model in predicting students intention to adopt IB in Universiti Utara Malaysia Campus. TAM has been used by various researchers to predict users intention to accept or adopt a variety of technologies and computer systems. The technologies include electronic mail, text editor, word processing systems, and graphics software (Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989), spreadsheets (Hendrickson et al., 1993), Database Management Systems (Szajna, 1994), voice-mail and word processors (Adams et al., 1992; Chin and Todd, 1995). We use TAM with the constructs Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use to assess the determinants of students Attitude and Intention to Use (equivalent to the construct Behavioral Intention in TAM). While we adopt the original TAM in this study, we use Behavioral Intention as the dependent variable and skip the construct Actual Usage. On the theoretical front, an abundance of research studies have reported a strong and significant causal relationship between behavioral intention and usage of technology or targeted behavior (Sheppard et al., 1988; Venkate sh and Morris, 2000). It is therefore theoretically justifiable to use Behavioral Intention as a dependent variable to examine the acceptance of IB (Mathieson, 1991). Agarwal and Prasad (1999) also argued that for a survey-based research design, Behavioral Intention is more appropriate than Actual Usage as they are measured contemporaneously with beliefs and our study is survey-based research. On the practical front, it is worth noting that IB is still at an early stage of development among UUM students. The percentage of usage is not relatively high. Therefore, the choice of Behavioral Intention, rather than Actual Usage, as the dependent variable is considered both appropriate and necessary. In addition, Salisbury et al. (2001) argue that feeling secure in doing transactions on the Web is often cited by users as a major factor that removes their concerns about the efficient use of the Internet for making online purchases. Therefore, we include the construct Perceived Web Security as a predictor of Attitude and Intention to Use, as in the earlier study conducted by Salisbury et al. (2001). In their study, Salisbury et al. (2001) developed a set of four items to measure Perceived Web Security using a 7-point Likert scale. The results of their study showed that the three constructs, namely Perceived Web Security, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness, have a positive relationship with intention to purchase online. However, we will include the construct Attitude in our theoretical model. CHAPTER THREE Research Methodology There exists virtually no research examining UUM students behavioral intention to adopt IB services by extending TAM. To fill this gap, we will conduct a survey study for hypothesis testing using the framework of the original TAM as the foundation to determine the predictors of students Intention to use IB in UUM. To collect data, we will design a questionnaire by adapting the instrument and scales developed for TAM. We will augment TAM by adding the construct Perceived Web Security developed by Salisbury et al. (2001) and adapting their instrument and scale to measure this construct in our questionnaire. 3.1. Sample Size This study aims to investigate the self-reported behaviors of students and their intention to use IB services for their private purposes in UUM. We will request respondents to return their completed questionnaires. We will collect data from UUM students who use internet banking. We will as to fill in the survey questionnaires to a sample of 250 randomly students selected from a total of over 25,000 students in UUM. 3.2. Measurement of the Constructs In devising a useful measurement instrument for this study, we want to adapt an instrument and scales developed and validated in previous studies. We will base on TAM instrument, which has been replicated and widely used in other studies. In this study we use the adapted question items as the instrument to measure the respective constructs below, using a 7-point Likert scale for each item (with 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 = neutral, 5 = slightly agree, 6 = agree, and 7 = strongly agree). The constructs are defined in the following: Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) defined by Davis (1989) as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his job performance. Perceived Usefulness (PU) defined by Davis (1989) as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort. Perceived Web Security (PWS) defined by Salisbury et al. (2001) as the extent to which one believes that the World Wide Web is secure for transmitting sensitive information. It is also noted that the adoption of purchasing products on the World Wide Web may involve a greater degree of risk than the adoption of other IT innovations. When one purchases products online, there may be a perception of risk involved in transmitting sensitive information such as credit card numbers across the World Wide Web. Attitude (ATT) refers to an individuals positive or negative feelings (evaluative affect) about performing a particular behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Intention to Use (INT) refers to customers intention to use, as opposed to their actual use of, IB services. 3.3. Survey Questionnaire Based on the hypothesized model developed through a detailed review of the related literature on user acceptance of technology and new technology diffusion, we will devise a questionnaire as a measurement scale for the research. The questionnaire will be developed in English. We will try to make the questionnaire readable and ensure its accuracy and appropriateness. A factor analysis will be performed on the data collected from the pilot study. CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS Total 85 research questionnaires were distributed to and collected from the respondents in the library building of Universiti Utara Malaysia. The sample period consists of 3 weeks from August 22 to September 12, 2010. Factor analysis was done by using SPSS with the data collected by distributing questionnaires. 4.1. Respondents Demographic Characteristics The analysis of the statistics of the demographic characteristics of the respondents is presented in Table 1. Of the 85 respondents, 47.1% were female and 52.9% male; 37.6% were in the 21-25 age group, 41.2% were 26-30 in age, and 20% were 31-40 in age. As the research was done among master students, any respondent was not under the age of 20, and only one of them was over 40. Table 1 Demographics of respondents Demographic profile Frequency Percentage (%) Gender F Female 40 47.1 M Male 45 52.9 Total 85 100.0 Age A Under 20 0 0 B 21-25 32 37.6 C 26-30 35 41.2 D 31-40 17 20.0 E Over 40 1 1.2 85 100.0 Rogers (1983) has found the characteristics of innovation adopters as having high levels of education, and social status as well as income. Moreover, Gefen (1997) and Teo Lim (2000) by testing the gender differences which affect the awareness of e-mail and the Internet usage, found similar results with Rogers (1983). 4.2. Factor Analysis Using SPSS we conducted our exploratory factor analysis on our survey data. Table 2 presents the rotated factor matrix which is a result from independent variables Varimax rotated principal axis factor extraction. The 1.0 eigenvalue cut-off criterion was used for the independent variables factor extraction. The table points out that five factors which are the variables used for our research emerged and reports their factor loadings. For evaluation of the Cronbachs alpha we tested the data using the SPSS Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), where the Cronbachs alpha ranged from 0.896 to 0.914. To ensure convergent validity and item reliability we evaluated each of the items individually. All factor loadings except for b7, b10 and b15 (0.478; 0.424 and 0.486, respectively) were larger than 0.5, which characterize an acceptable significant level of internal validity. The factor loadings vary from 0.554 to 0.744 for Perceived Ease of Use, 0.478 to 0.686 for Perceived Usefulness, 0.424 to 0.642 for Perceived Web Security, 0.486 to 0.536 for Attitude, and 0.539 to 0.621 for Intention to Use. All 19 questionnaire items were held on to further analysis, because all factor loadings were found to be of an acceptable significant level. Table 2 Reliability and factor analysis (from SPSS analysis) Reliability Factor loading Cronbach alpha Variance explained (%) Perceived Ease of Use 0.911 76.920 B/b1-Using the Internet Banking (IB) service is easy for me 0.925 0.594 B/b2-I find my interaction with the IB services clear and understandable 0.929 0.613 B/b3-It is easy for me to become skillful in the use of the IB services 0.925 0.554 B/b4-Overall, I find the use of the IB services easy 0.927 0.744 Perceived Usefulness (PU) 0.914 7.979 B/b5-Using the IB would enable me to accomplish my tasks more quickly 0.929 0.522 B/b6-Using the IB would make it easier for me to carry out my tasks 0.925 0.603 B/b7-I would find the IB useful 0.927 0.478 B/b8-Overall, I would find using the IB to be advantageous 0.926 0.686 Perceived Web Security (PWS) 0.896 7.075 B/b9-I would feel secure sending sensitive information across the IB 0.926 0.575 B/b10-The IB is a secure means through which to send sensitive information 0.927 0.424 B/b11-I would feel totally safe providing sensitive information about myself over the IB 0.924 0.642 B/b12-Overall, the IB is a safe place to transmit sensitive information 0.925 0.639 Attitude (ATT) 0.907 4.772 B/b13-Using the IB is a good idea 0.927 0.536 B/b14-I would feel that using the IB is pleasant 0.928 0.502 B/b15-In my opinion, it would be desirable to use the IB 0.928 0.486 B/b16-In my view, using the IB is a wise idea 0.927 0.508 Intention to Use (IU) 0.906 3.254 B/b17-I would use the IB for my banking needs 0.925 0.621 B/b18-Using the IB for handling my banking transactions is something I would do 0.926 0.551 B/b19-I would see myself using the IB for handling my banking transactions 0.926 0.539 4.3. Reliability test For reliability tests, the Cronbachs alpha ranged from 0.925 to 0.929 for both Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness, from 0.924 to 0.927 for Perceived Web Security, while it ranged from 0.927 to 0.928 for Attitude and from 0.925 to 0.926 for Intention to Use. Correlation analyses of variables show that estimation ranges from 0.620 to 0.778 with significant P for all variables as shown in Table 3. Perceived Ease of Use has a direct impact on Perceived Usefulness with 0.000 significant level. Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Web Security significantly impacts on Attitude at the 0.000 level. Consequently, Attitude, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Web Security significantly effect Intention to Use. Table 3 Correlation of variables Estimate P PUà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ PEOU 0.683** 0.000 ATà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ PU 0.680** 0.000 ATà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ PEOU 0.620** 0.000 ATà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ PWS 0.778** 0.000 IUà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ ATT 0.768** 0.000 IUà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ PU 0.642** 0.000 IUà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ PWS 0.735** 0.000 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS 5.1 Limitations Since our research was performed with time limitation, as with other crossectional studies, it is not without limitations. A wider study for more fully investigation of the pre-launch stage, the promotion stage and the post-launch stage of IB would surely be an important donation to the IB literature in the future. Our research only covers Web security construction. Future research might concentrate on security and privacy separately, as the latter is arousing rising concentration in the Web literature (Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997). Moreover, the measurement instrument for Web security could be further developed to increase its validity in future studies. Our research was carried out in Universiti Utara Malaysia among international master students only. It may not represent all the students of UUM, as well as other territories and people. 5.2 Conclusions The findings of our empirical study support the theoretical model implementing TAM and the put up Perceived Web Security. From the results of our study Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Web Security are supported as predicting variables, which have an effect on intervening variables, Perceived Usefulness and Attitude, and the dependent variable Intention to Use IB. Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Web Security as well as Perceived Ease of Use directly effect Intention to Use. Perceived Web Security effects on Intention to Use directly, rather than passing through Attitude which is the intervening variable. It is consistent with the findings of empirical studies provided earlier (Salisbury et al., 2001). Reference Adams, D.A., Nelson, R.R. and Todd, P.A., 1992. Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology: a replication, MIS Quarterly, 16, 227-247. Agarwal, R., and Prasad, J., 1999. Are individual differences germane to the acceptance of new information technologies? Decision Sciences, 30, 361-391. American Banker, In brief: fast growth for small-biz web banking, American Banker 167 (20) (2002). Brown R.D., E-commerce: customer service success factors, Futurics 25 (2001) 18-30. Chin, W.W. and Todd, P.A., 1995. On the use, usefulness, and ease of use of structural equation modeling in MIS research: a note of caution. MIS Quarterly, 19, 237-246. Davis, F. D., 1989. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13, 319-336. Davis F.D., Bagozzi R.P. and Warshaw P.R., 1989. User acceptance of computer technology: a comparison of two theoretical models. Management Science, 35, 982-1003. eMarketer, The US B2C Review, 2003, http://www.emarketer.com/estats/081699_data.html http://www.emarketer.com/products/report.php?eglobal (retrieved on 29 August 2003). Fishbein, M.A. and Ajzen, I., 1975. Belief, Intention and Behavior: An introduction to Theory and Research. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts. Gefen, D., Karahanna, E. and Straub, D. W., 2003. Trust and TAM in online shopping: an integrated model. MIS Quarterly, 27, 51-90.Hamlet, C. and Strube, M. (2000), Community banks go online, ABA Banking Journals 2000 White Paper/Banking on the Internet, March, pp. 61-5. Hendrickson, A.R., Massey, P.D. and Cronan, T.P., 1993. On the test-retest reliability of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use scales. MIS Quarterly, 17, 227-230. Hirtle, Beverly J. and Christopher Metli. The Evolution of U.S. Bank Branch Networks: Growth, Consolidation, and Strategy, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Current Issues in Economic and Finance, July 2004, 10(8). Howcroft, B., Hamilton, R. and Hewer, P. (2002), Consumer attitude and the usage and adoption of home-based banking in the United Kingdom, The International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 111-21. Jarvenpaa, S.L. and Todd, P.A., 1997. Consumer reactions to electronic shopping on the World Wide Web. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1, 59-88. Lederer A.L., D.J. Maupin, M.P. Sena, Y.L. Zhuang, 2000. The technology acceptance model and the world wide web, Decision Support Systems 29, 269-282. Mathieson, K., 1991. Predicting user intention: comparing the technology acceptance model with the theory of planned behavior. Information Systems Research, 2, 173-191 Mattila, M., Karjaluoto, H. and Pento, T. (2003), Internet banking adoption among mature customers: early majority or laggards, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 514-26. Moe, W.W. and Fader, P.S., 2001. Uncovering patterns in cybershopping. California Management Review, 43, 106-117. Mols, N.P., Bukh, P.N.D. and Nielsen, J.F. (1999), Distribution channel strategies in Danish retail banking, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 37-47. Moon, J.W. and Kim, Y.G., 2001. Extending the TAM for a World-Wide-Web context. Information and Management, 38, 217-230. Rogers, E.M., 1995. Diffusion of Innovations, 4th Edition. The Free Press, New York. Salisbury, W.D., Pearson, R.A., Pearson, A.W. and Miller D.W., 2001, Perceived security and World Wide Web purchase intention. Industrial Management Data Systems, 101, 165-176. Sathye, M., 1999. Adoption of Internet Banking by Australian consumers: an empirical investigation. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 17, 324-334. Sheppard, B.H., Hartwick, J., and Warshaw, P.R., 1988. The theory of reasoned action: a meta-analysis of past research with recommendations for modifications and future research. Journal of Consumer Research, 6, 144-176. Szajna, B., 1994. Software evaluation and choice: predictive validation of the technology acceptance instrument. MIS Quarterly, 18, 319-324. Teo, T.S.H., Lim, V.K.G. and Lai, R.Y.C. (1999), Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in Internet usage, Omega, International Journal of Management Science, Vol. 27, pp. 25-37. Venkatesh, V. and Morris, M.G., 2000. Why dont men ever stop to ask for directions? Gender, social influence, and their role in technology acceptance and usage behavior. MIS Quarterly, 24, 115-139.

Elvis Presley Essay -- essays research papers

Elvis Aaron Presley, in the humblest of circumstances, was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953. Elvis? musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. In 1954, he began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture. He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for 131 different albums and singles, far more than any other artist. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army. His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Elvis died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977. It?s estimated that Elvis Presley has sold over one billion record units worldwide, more than anyone in record industry history. In America alone, Elv... ...d his legacy continues to reach new audiences. Half of Graceland's visitors are age 35 and under. On August 16, 1997, Elvis, via video, starred in an extravagant concert production entitled Elvis in Concert 97 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee, accompanied live on stage by over thirty of his former bandmates and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. The show played before a capacity crowd of fans who had come to Memphis from around the world to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Elvis' death. Elvis broke the Mid-South Coliseum's all-time record dollar figure for box office sales. This concert was the prototype for the 1998/1999 touring production Elvis - The Concert. By being the first performer ever to headline a live concert tour while no longer living, Elvis made history again. The March 1998 tour included a three-show smash engagement at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The August 1998 tour included the excitement of Elvis' "return" to the Las Vegas Hilton with an eight-show engagement. The January/ February 1999 European tour opened with a sell-out at London's Wembley Arena and, in effect, marked Elvis' first-ever concerts outside of North America.

Globalization Is Good

Globalization is a term used to describe the political, economic and cultural climate of today’s world. Some say it is the movement of people, language, ideas, and products around the world. Others see it as the dominance of multinational corporations and the destruction of cultural identities. Since the dawn of man, economies have been changing and expanding, but most importantly, converging. In recent years, although economic convergence has been occurring for ages, this idea has become a hot topic of political and economic debate.However one chooses to describe it, globalization is surrounded with controversy. With a discussion on globalization comes a set of competing views. Is globalization a force for economic growth, prosperity, and democratic freedom? Or is it a force for environmental devastation, exploitation of the developing world, and suppression of human rights? These two different views will be covered in this essay. The paper is divided into three different sec tions: the first one depicts the advantages of globalization. The second section provides a discussion about the treats or short-comings brought by globalization.The last part will explore the myths about globalization. 2 Globalization is a positive trend 2. 1Globalization’s Benefits for the World As we move further and further into the twenty-first century, the more clearly we are seeing the advantages of globalization. It has unlimited economic, technical, social and cultural benefits for developing countries. Globalization can mean sharing technological know-how, such as better methods of farming, or it can mean building roads or a dam to give people access to clean water or electricity. In a statistical analysis, globalization proves to have many advantages.During the 20th century global per capita GDP increased almost fivefold, the flow of private capital sharply increased, and technological innovation occurred. These are the factors of globalization and also the factors that sustain and improve standard of living. Standard of living is the most accurate measurement of a nation’s well-being. From 1960 to 1999, the infant mortality rate in Mexico dropped from 93 to 29. The life expectancy for the Chinese citizen increased from average 36 to 70 years.Even the countries of sub-Saharan Africa made improvements in infant mortality, life expectancy, and adult literacy. Everyone gains from globalization. The advantages of globalization also can be seen in the internet. Now, it is possible to have global communication. Someone in Africa can talk to someone in Canada in real time. Or, someone in the United States can email a friend in India and have it arrive in their mailbox in less than one minute. The transmission of information over the internet is making people who live in underdeveloped countries aware of what is possible.The advantages of globalization mean that news is transmitted around the world as it happens. It is a lot harder to keep peo ple in the dark about events happens in the rest of the world. The advantages of globalization on the international economy are substantial. Countries can invest in one another, loan money to one another, and develop trade with other countries. Businessmen can sell their goods in new foreign markets. The more goods that are sold, the more jobs are created. Even in economic difficulties, the world is a better place because the global market is more open and free.The movement of freedom and democracy is another one of the advantages of globalization. The world is becoming closer; all human beings share the earth with one another. It brings about cooperation in trying to make the earth a better place to live. The ultimate goal of globalization is the peace of the world–all countries becoming accepting of one another and the diversity of cultures and beliefs that exists in the world. Globalization can go beyond economic concerns to address such other issues as the environment.Whe ther it be disappearing forests, global warming, fishing laws, or helping to save endangered species of animals, people working together in a global way can have far-reaching consequences. 2. 2 The Shortcomings of Protectionism The shortcomings of protectionism can be highlighted through the basic and logical principles of free trade and comparative advantage. Comparative advantage is the idea that two parties are both better off by specializing in the production of the product that they can produce for a comparatively cheaper opportunity cost and then trading at a rate which brings surplus to both parties.For example, the United States has a comparative advantage in producing services and highly skilled labor activities; therefore, the U. S. should produce highly skilled services and import other goods and services from nations that can produce them more cheaply. It is difficult to accept the fact that manufacturing, agricultural, and other such jobs will leave the United States an d go to India, China, Russia, etc. , but one must recognize that the United States economy as a whole benefits.Comparative advantage admits to the protectionists that a few jobs are lost, but different jobs are created and the economic well-being is improved. Trade, free from tariffs, extends a nation’s surplus. Exporting and importing both have the power to hurt and benefit consumers and producers, but both yield a greater total surplus. For example, the U. S. may import bananas from Brazil because Brazilian bananas are a cheaper price than U. S. domestic bananas. At the new price, consumers gain a considerable area of surplus and producers lose some, but the total magnitude of surplus increases.When countries implement tariffs and anti-globalizing and protectionist policies, they suffer an efficiency loss, as well as a smaller surplus than trade without barriers. Brazilian producers, without tariff, enjoy a large increase in surplus, while the country’s domestic cons umers do have a small loss. Comparative advantage and trade keep economic growth. Without economic growth, the United States would lose its power on the global playing field and its standard of living. 3 Globalization is a threat to the developing countries 3. 1 The Increasing Number of UnemployedThe most important disadvantage of globalization is the increasing number of the unemployed. After the industrial revolution, some countries became a power in industry. However production decreased and so unemployment was raised in the other countries. Another reason of the unemployment rise is that the need of less manpower. Many workers found themselves suddenly unemployed, as could no longer compete with machines which only required relatively limited work to produce more product than a single worker. 3. 2 Cultural invasion Another major damage of globalization is that some cultures are getting lost.The cultures of the countries that have more economic power are more dominant than others . Because, wealthy countries produce many things that can affect cultures, for example, clothes, movies and technologic products. While the global community is increasing, more and more people have became ignorant about social, ethical and moral values which are various in certain groups. Therefore, globalization damages small cultures which are in risk of being extinct. 3. 2 difficulty of competition The final significant effect of globalization is the difficulty of competition.With globalization, trade between the countries has been started to remove limits. Enterprises have prepared the ground to be in constant competition with not only national competitors but also international competitors. Therefore, business requires being in a more rigorous and challenging competitive atmosphere to maintain continuity and development. Rising of monopole companies and trough among production costs are the main effects of this hard competition in business. Undeveloped countries choose to use f oreign capital for their improvement however it disposes the equality and stability instead. . 3 Unparalleled Growth and Inequality in Economy and Society It must be recognized that there is great opposition to globalization due to the fact that some of the data points to globalization as a force which allows for unparalleled growth and inequality economically and socially.Globalization, as an impeller of capitalization, threatens the growth and prosperity of developing nations. The idea that â€Å"the faster poor countries open their economic boarders and deregulate their markets, the faster they’ll experience the benefits of economic growth† is open to criticism. Hodari, 2002) The link between poverty and globalization is evident by the widening gap between the privileged elite and the deprived masses. â€Å"The world’s 497 billionaires in 2001 have a combined wealth of $1. 54 trillion, well over the combined gross national products of all the nations of sub- Saharan Africa ($929. 3 billion) or those of the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa ($1. 34 trillion). It is also greater than the combined incomes of the poorest half of human. †(Shah, 2005) The increase in the gap between the classes has been widening for a long time.The IMF reports that the most recent World Economic Outlook studied 42 countries, representing almost 90 percent of world population, for which data are available for the entire 20 century. It reached the conclusion that output per capita has risen a little bit but that the distribution of income among countries has become more unequal than at the beginning of the century. One reason that globalization is often blamed for the growing inequity in wealth distribution is that debt repayment in developing countries has been linked to poverty.Institutions like The IMF and the World Bank lend money to less developed countries under the condition that the countries adjust policies and cut social expen ditures. â€Å"The developing countries now spend $13 for every $1 it receives in grants†. (Shah, 2005) In addition, LCD’s accept development aid in exchange for policy intervention. The developed nations institute policies which open free markets and trade in the LDC, the imports brought into the country often lead to the decline in the export of primary commodities. The 48 poorest countries account for less than 0. 4 per cent of global exports. †(Shah, 2005)These circumstances have increased poverty in many developing countries. 4 Myths about globalization No discussion of globalization would be complete without remove some of the myths that have been built up around it: Globalization has not caused the world’s multinational corporations to simply search the globe for the lowest-paid laborers.There are numerous factors that enter into corporate decisions on where to produce products, including the supply of skilled labor, economic and political stability , the local infrastructure, the quality of institutions, and the overall business climate. In an open global market, while jurisdictions do compete with each other to attract investment, this competition incorporates factors well beyond just the wage level. According to the UN Information Service, the developed world has two-thirds of the world’s inward FDI.The 49 least developed countries account for around 2 percent of the total inward FDI stock of developing countries. Nor is it true that multinational corporations make a consistent practice of operating sweatshops in low-wage countries, with poor working conditions and low wages. While isolated examples of this can surely be uncovered, because multinationals, on average, pay higher wages than what is standard in developing nations, and offer higher labor standards. Globalization is irreversible: In the long run, globalization is likely to be an unrelenting henomenon. But for significant periods of time, its momentum can b e hindered by a variety of factors, ranging from political will to availability of infrastructure. Indeed, the world was thought to be on an irreversible path toward peace and prosperity in the early 20th century, until the outbreak of Word War I. That war, coupled with the Great Depression, and then World War II, dramatically set back global economic integration. That fragility of nearly a century ago still exists today—as we saw in the aftermath of September 11th, when U.S. air travel came to a pause, financial markets shut down, and the economy weakened. These episodes are reminders that a breakdown in globalization—meaning a slowdown in the global flows of goods, services, capital, and people—can have extremely adverse consequences. Openness to globalization will, on its own, deliver economic growth: Integrating with the global economy is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for economic growth.For globalization to be able to work, a country cannot be s addled with problems provincial to many developing countries, from a corrupt political class, to poor infrastructure, and macroeconomic instability. 5 Conclusion As globalization has progressed, living conditions have improved significantly in virtually all countries. However, the strongest gains have been made by the advanced countries and only some of the developing countries. The income gap between high-income and low-income countries has grown wider is a matter for concern.And the number of the world’s citizens in poverty is deeply disturbing. But it is wrong to draw the conclusion that globalization has caused the divergence, or nothing can be done to improve the situation. To the contrary: low-income countries have not been able to integrate with the global economy as quickly as others, partly because of their chosen policies and partly because of factors outside their control. No country can afford to remain isolated from the world economy. Every country should seek to reduce poverty.The international community should endeavor by strengthening the international financial system, through trade, and through aid to help the poorest countries integrate into the world economy, grow more rapidly, and reduce poverty. That is the way to ensure all people in all countries have access to the benefits of globalization.

Stages of Study and Evaluation of Internal Control Essay

The stages/activities involve in studying and evaluating internal control are: A. Obtaining an understanding of the entity’s internal control structure. B. Assessing the preliminary level of control risk. C. Obtaining evidential matter to support the assessed level of control risk. D. Evaluating the results of evidential matter. E. Determining the necessary level of detection risk. STAGE A. Obtaining an understanding of the entity’s internal control structure. In planning the audit examination, each of the five components of internal control must be studied and understood by the auditor to enable him to (1) identify types of potential misstatements; (2) consider factors that affect the risk of misstatement; and (3) begin to design appropriate testing procedure. Understanding the Control Environment The auditor should obtain sufficient knowledge of the control environment to understand management’s and the board of director’s attitude, awareness, and actions concerning the control environment. The auditor should concentrate on the substance of management’s policies, procedures, and related actions rather than their form because management may establish appropriate policies and procedures but not act on them. Understanding Control Procedures Because some control procedures are integrated in specific components of the control environment and accounting system, as the auditor obtains an understanding of the control environment and accounting system, he is also likely to obtain knowledge about some control procedures. The auditor should consider the knowledge about the presence or absence of the control procedures obtained from the understanding of the control environment and accounting system in determining whether it is necessary to devote additional attention to obtain an understanding of control procedures to plan the audit. Understanding the Accounting and Internal Control Systems To understand the design of the accounting information system, the auditor determines (1) the major classes of transactions of the entity; (2) how  those transaction are initiated; (3) what accounting records exist and their nature; (4) how transactions are processed from initiation to completion, including the extent and nature of computer use; (5) the nature and details of the financial reporting process followed. Typically, this is accomplished and documented by a narrative description of the system or by flowcharting. The operation of the accounting information system is often determined by tracing one or few transactions through the system (called a transaction walk-through). Information controls relating to the accounting system are concerned with achieving objectives such as: Transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization. All transactions and other events are promptly recorded in the correct amount, in the appropriate accounts and in the proper accounting period so as to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with an identified financial reporting framework. Access to assets and records is permitted only in accordance with management’s authorization. Recorded assets are compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken regarding any differences. When obtaining an understanding of the accounting and internal control systems to plan the audit, the auditor obtains knowledge of the design of the accounting and internal control systems. When the transactions selected are typical of those transactions that pass through the system, this procedure may be treated as part of tests of control. The nature, timing, and extent of the procedures performed by the auditor to obtain an understanding of the accounting and internal control systems will vary with, among other things: The size and complexity of the entity and of its computer system. Materiality considerations. The type of internal controls involved. The nature of the entity’s documentation of specific internal controls. The auditor’s assessment of inherent risk. Ordinarily, the auditor’s understanding of the accounting and internal control systems significant to the audit is obtained through previous with the entity and is supplemented by: a. Inquiries of appropriate management, supervisory and other personnel at various organizational levels within the entity, together with reference to documentation, such as procedures  manuals, job descriptions, and flow charts; b. Inspection of documents and records procedure by the accounting and internal control systems; and c. Observation of the entity’s activities and operations, including observation of the organization of computer operations, management personnel and the nature of transaction processing. The auditor determines the policies, procedures, methods, and records placed in operation by inspecting documents and directly observing the policies and procedures in use. The auditor can examine actual, completed documents and records to bring the contents of the manual to life and better understand them. In addition, the auditor can observe client personnel in the process of preparing them and carrying out their normal accounting and control activities. This further enhances understanding and knowledge that controls have been placed in operation. Documentation of Understanding The auditor should document the understanding of the entity’s internal control structure elements obtained to plan the audit. The form and extent of this documentation is influenced by the size and complexity of the entity, as well as the nature of the entity’s internal control structure. Generally, the more complex the internal control structure and the more extensive the procedures performed, the more extensive the auditor’s documentation should be. 1. Internal Accounting Control Questionnaire Internal accounting control questionnaire contains a series of questions designed to detect control weaknesses. Most questionnaires are designed to yield â€Å"yes†, â€Å"no†, or â€Å"not applicable† answers to the questions. A â€Å"yes† answer generally indicates a satisfactory degree of internal accounting control while a â€Å"no† answer indicates a possible weakness in control or at least indicates that further investigation is required. If the weakness is material, them it should be reported to a senior management, the board of directors, and the audit committee. â€Å"Material weakness is one in which the procedures or degree of compliance with the procedures fail to provide reasonable assurance that material errors or irregularities would be prevented or promptly detected during the accounting process.† In completing the internal control questionnaire, the auditor should consider the  following critical aspects: 1. Is the system of internal control sound? 2. If it is not reliable, what errors might occur? 3. What alternative audit procedures should be adopted if the system is unreliable? Advantages They provide audit assurance that attention is given to presence or absence of all controls listed and that certain features of the system are not overlooked. They provide a means of obtaining uniform documentation of internal control system reviewed. They provide inexperienced audit staff members with guidance in performing internal control reviews. They facilitate the early detection of potential weaknesses in the system. Disadvantages Auditor may view the questionnaire device for accomplishing an automatic evaluation of internal control. Controls listed on questionnaire may not suit the particular circumstances of a specific audit. The auditor may overlook pertinent control not included in the questionnaires. 2. Flowcharts Flowchart is a symbolic diagram of a specific part of an internal accounting control system indicating the sequential flow of data and/or authority. An internal control flowchart uses standardized symbols, interconnecting lines, and annotations to represent information, document, and document flow. It provides a pictorial overview of a client’s internal control activities. It illustrates the interaction of individuals, records, and control related to a particular department or class of transactions. Internal control flowcharts generally reflect the segregation of duties by using a column across the top to reflect different departments and the flow of documents and the flow of documents from left to right. Advantages Easily understood. Since flowcharts provide a visual description supplemented by a written narrative, they are more easily understood. Better overall picture or complex system. A complex system may be reduced to a one or two-page flowchart which might otherwise require a 15-page internal control questionnaire or a 10-page narrative memo. Parallels EDP documentation. EDP systems are commonly documented with flowcharts which make it easier for EDP  purchase personnel to relate to the auditors. It is easy to update. Disadvantages Higher level of knowledge and training are required to prepare a good flowchart of a complex system. Flowcharts take more time to prepare and require more knowledge. It is more difficult to spot internal control weakness. The ff. questions should be answered before a flowchart is prepared: 1. Who performs the various functions in the routine? 2. Why are these functions performed? 3. What work is performed, and is the work considered input or output? 4. When are the functions performed and in what sequence? 5. How are the functions performed and in what sequence? Conference with senior management, supervisors, and employees using the above checklist should be conducted by the independent auditor before flowcharting the routine. In addition, copies of all forms, documents and reports used in the routine to be flowcharted should be obtained. A primary purpose of the internal control flowchart is to communicate effectively. The ff. techniques should assist in meeting this goal: Standardized symbols. Auditors use a uniform set of symbols developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Flowlines. The flow of documents should be from top to bottom and left to right. Arrowheads may be used on all lines and should be used when the flow is not standard or is bi-directional. Documents. When a document is created, its source should be indicated. Multiple-document symbols are required when multiple copies of the document are prepared. The disposition of every copy or each document should be shown. Processing. Processing symbols are used to identify any procedures applied to documents such as their being filed. Annotations. Comments and explanations should be used to make the flowchart easier to understand or more complete. The ff. guidelines may be useful in preparing a flowchart: Determine the class of transactions or transaction cycle to be flowcharted. Obtain an understanding of internal control by making inquiries of client personnel, observing employee activities, and examining documents, records, and policies and procedures manuals. Organize the flowchart into columns, using a different column for each department, function, or individual. Draw a sketch of the flowchart. Draw the flowchart and insert comments and annotations. Test the flowchart for completeness by following a few transactions through the chart. 3. Narrative Description A narrative is a written description of a particular phase or phases or a control system. Although useful for describing simple systems, narratives may be adequate when a system is complicated or frequently revised. If the systems are extensive and/or complex, separate narratives may be prepared for a smaller groups of control which relate to specific classes of transactions or accounts. Some auditor prepare narrative descriptions to accompany internal control questionnaire or flowcharts in order to provide information not otherwise included. Advantages: Narrative is flexible and may be tailor-made for engagement. Requires a detailed analysis and thus forces auditor to understand functioning of the system. Disadvantages: Auditor may not have the ability to describe the system correctly and concisely. This may require more time and careful study. Auditor may overlook important portions of internal control system. A poorly written internal accounting control narrative can lead to a misunderstanding of the system thus resulting in the improper design and application of compliance tests. 4. Internal Control Checklist This contains a detailed enumeration of the methods and practices which characterize good internal control or of item to be considered in reviewing internal control. 5. Decision tables In this approach, the system is depicted as decision points. Advantages and disadvantages are similar to those of the flowchart approach. STAGE B. ASSESSING THE PRELIMINARY LEVEL OF CONTROL RISK After obtaining an understanding of the accounting and internal control systems, the auditor should make a preliminary assessment of control risk, at the assertion level, for each material account balance or class of transactions. The preliminary assessment of control risk is the process where the auditor evaluates the effectiveness of a client’s internal control policies and procedures in preventing or detecting material misstatements in the financial statement assertions, namely: (1)/(2) Existence/ Occurrence. Procedures that require documentation, approvals, authorization, verification, and reconciliations. (3) Completeness. Procedures that ensure that all transactions that occur are recorded such as accounting for numerical sequence of documents. (4) Right and obligations. Procedures that ensure that the entity has a right to asset or an obligation to pay arising from the transaction. (5)/(6) Valuation/ Measurement. Procedures that ensure that a proper price is charged and that mathematical accuracy are present in recording and in developing the accounting records and financial statement. (7) Presentation and Disclosure. Procedures that indicate that a review has been made to ascertain that a transaction has been recorded in the proper account and that financial statement disclosure have been reviewed by competent personnel. The process of arriving at the auditor’s assessment of control risk is an iterative process that is refined as the auditor’s obtain more and more evidence about the effectiveness of various internal control policies and procedures. After obtaining the understanding of the internal control structure, the auditor may assess control risk at the maximum level. The term maximum level is used in this section to mean the greatest probability that a material misstatement that could occur in a financial statement assertion will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by an entity’s internal control structure. Control risk may be assessed in quantitative terms, such as percentages, or in nonquantitative terms that range, for example, from a maximum to a minimum. Assessing control risk at below the maximum level involves- Identifying specific internal control structure policies and procedure relevant to specific assertions that are likely to prevent or detect material misstatements in those assertions. Performing tests of control to evaluate the effectiveness of such policies and procedures. The preliminary assessment of control risk for a financial statement assertion should be high unless the auditor: a. Is  able to identify internal controls relevant to the assertion which are likely to prevent or detect, and correct a material misstatement; and b. Plans to perform tests of control to support the assessment. Assessing Inherent Risk In developing the overall audit plan, the auditor should assess inherent risk at the financial level. In developing the audit program, the auditor should relate such assessment to material account balances and classes of transactions at assertion level, or assume that inherent risk is high for the assertion. To assess inherent risk, the auditor uses professional judgement to evaluate numerous factors, examples of which are: At the Financial Statement Level The integrity of management. Management experience and knowledge and changes in management during the period. Unusual pressure on management. The nature of the entity’s business. Factors affecting the industry in which the entity operates. At the Account Balance and Class of Transactions Level Financial statement accounts likely to be susceptible to misstatement. The complexity of underlying transactions and other events which might require using the work of an expert. The degree of judgment involved in determining account balances. Susceptible of asset to loss or misappropriation. The completion of unusual and complex transactions. Transactions not subjected to ordinary processing. Relationship between the Assessment of Inherent and Control Risks Management often reacts to inherent risk situations by designing accounting and internal control systems to prevent or detect, and correct misstatements and therefore, in many cases, inherent risk and control risk are highly interrelated. In such situations, if the auditor attempts to assess inherent risk and control risks separately, there is a possibility of inappropriate risk assessment. As a result, audit risk may be more appropriately determined in such situations by making a combined assessment. Identification of Specific Internal Control Policies to Specific Assertions  Auditors are interested in control activities because they assist in establishing the validity of financial statement assertions. Controls that enhance the reliability of the financial statements may be preventive controls or detection controls. Preventive controls avoid errors and irregularities while detection controls recognizing that error will occur even under ideal conditions provide for a â€Å"double-check† to locate significant occurrences after the fact. If an entity’s controls are found to be effective, the auditor may reduce the selected auditing procedures to test a group of assertions. Control activities may provide direct evidence about the many assertions. In identifying internal control structure policies and procedures relevant to specific financial statement assertions, the auditor should consider that the policies and procedures can have either a pervasive effect on many assertions or a specific effect on an individual assertion, depending on the nature of the particular internal control structure element involved. Conversely, some control procedures often have a specific effect on an individual assertion embodied in a particular account balance or transaction class. The objective of procedu res performed to obtain understanding of the internal control structure is to provide the auditor with knowledge necessary for audit planning. The objective of test of controls is to provide evidential matter to use in assessing control risk. When the auditor concludes that procedures performed to obtain the understanding of the internal control structure also provide evidential matter for assessing control risk, he should consider the degree of assurance provided by that evidential matter. Although such evidential matter may not provide sufficient assurance to support an assessed level of control risk that is below the maximum level of certain assertions, it may do so for other assertions and thus provide a basis for modifying the nature, timing, or extent of the substantive tests that the auditor plans for those assertions. STAGE C. OBTAINING EVIDENTIAL MATTER TO SUPPORT THE ASSESSED LEVEL OF CONTROL RISK The auditor obtains evidential matter to enable him to determine the proper level of control risk by performing test of controls or compliance tests on selected policies and procedures. Compliance procedures are designed to obtain reasonable assurance that those internal controls on which tests requiring inspection of documents supporting transactions to gain evidence that controls have operated  properly and inquiries about and observation of controls which leave no audit trail. Test of Controls Procedures directed toward either the effectiveness of the design or operations of an internal control structure policy or procedure are referred to as tests of controls. Tests to obtain such evidential matter ordinarily include procedures such as inquiries of appropriate entity personnel, inspection of documents and reports, and observations of the application of specific internal control structure policies and procedures. Tests of control are performed to obtain audit evidence about the effectiveness of the: a. Design of the accounting and internal control systems, that is, whether they are suitably designed to prevent or detect and correct material misstatements; and b. Operation of the internal controls throughout the period. The auditor should obtain audit evidence through tests of controls to support any assessment of control risk which is less than high. The lower the assessment of control risk, the more support the auditor should obtain that accounting and internal control sy stems are suitably designed and operating effectively. When obtaining audit evidence about the effective operation of internal controls, the auditor considers how they were applied, the consistency with which they were applied during the period and by whom they were applied. The concept of effective operation recognizes that some deviations may have occurred. Deviations from prescribed controls may be caused by such factors as changes in key personnel, significant seasonal fluctuations in volume of transactions and human error. In computer information system environment, the objectives of tests of controls do not change from those in a manual environment; however, some audit procedures may change. The auditor may find it necessary, or may prefer, to use computer-assisted audit techniques. STAGE D. EVALUATING THE RESULTS OF THE EVIDENTIAL MATTER Based on the results of the tests of controls, the auditor should evaluate whether the internal controls are designed and operating as contemplated in the preliminary assessment of control risk. The evaluation of deviations may result in the auditor concluding that the assessed level of control risk needed to be revised. In such cases, the auditor would modify the nature,  timing, and extent of planned substantive procedures. The conclusion reached as a result of assessing control risk is referred to as the assessed level of control risk. In determining the evidential matter necessary to support a specific assessed level of control risk below the maximum level, the auditor should consider the characteristics of evidential matter about the control risk. Generally, however the lower the assessed level of control risk, the greater the assurance the evidential matter must provide that the internal control structure policies and procedures relevant to an assertion are designed and operating effectively. Ordinarily, the auditor’s observation provides more reliable audit evidence than merely making inquiries. However, audit evidence obtained by some tests of controls, such as observation, pertains only to the point in time at which the procedures was applied. The auditor may decide, therefore, to supplement these procedures with other tests of control capable of providing audit evidence about other period of time. In determining the appropriate audit evidence to support a conclusion about control risk, the auditor may consider the audit evidence obtained in prior audits. In a continuing engagement, the auditor will be aware of the accounting and internal control systems through work carried out previously but will need to update the knowledge gained and consider the need to obtain further audit evidence of any changes in control. The auditor in addition, should consider whether the internal controls were in use throughout the period. An audit of financial statements is a cumulative process; as the auditor assesses control risk, the information obtained may cause him to modify the nature, timing, or extent of the planned tests of controls for assessing control risk. The evaluation is based on the effectiveness of the entity’s control structure in preventing and/pr detecting material misstatements, as determined by the tests of controls. STAGE E. DETERMINING THE NECESSARY LEVEL OF DETECTION RISK The auditor uses the acceptable level of detection risk to determine the nature, timing, and extent of the auditing procedures to be used to detect material misstatements in the financial statement assertions, auditing procedures designed to detect such misstatements are referred to in this section as substantive tests. The level of detection risk relates directly to the auditor’s substantive procedures. The auditor’s control risk  assessment, together with the inherent risk assessment, influence the nature, timing, and extent of the substantive procedures to be performed to reduce risk, and therefore audit risk, to an acceptably low level. In this regard the auditor would consider: a. The nature of substantive procedures, for example, using tests directed toward independent parties outside the entity rather than tests directed toward parties or documentation within the entity, or using tests of details for a particular audit objectives in addition to analytical procedures; b. The timing of substantive procedures, for example, performing them at period rather than at an earlier date; and c. The extent of substantive procedures, for example, using a larger sample size. As the acceptable level of detection risk decrease, the assurance provided from substantive tests should increase. Consequently, the auditor may do one or more of the ff Change the nature of substantive tests from a less effective to a more effective procedures, such as using tests directed toward parties or documentation within the entity Change the timing of substantive tests, such as performing them at year-end rather than at interim date. Change the extent of substantive tests, such as using a larger sample size. There is an inverse relationship between the detection risks and the combined level of inherent and control risks. The substantive tests that the auditor performs consist of tests of details of transactions and balances, and analytical procedures. The objective of tests of details of transactions performed as substantive tests is to detect material misstatements in the financial statements. The auditor should recognize, however, that careful consideration should be given to the design and evaluation of such tests to ensure that both objectives will be accomplished. Audit Risk in the Small Business The auditor needs to obtain the same level of assurance in order to express an unqualified opinion on the financial statements of both small and large entities. However, many internal controls which would be relevant to large entities are not practical in the small business for example is the segregation of duties. In circumstances where segregation of duties is  limited and audit evidence of supervisory control is lacking, the audit evidence necessary to support the auditor’s opinion on the financial statements may have to be obtained entirely through the performance of substantive procedures. How Adequacy or Inadequacy of Internal Control Affects Audit Procedures The primary reason for studying and evaluating internal control is to provide a basis for relying upon the system and for determining the extent of year-end substantive tests to be performed. There is an inverse relationship between the effectiveness of internal control and the extent of detailed audit procedures; more effective system requires less detailed testing. Strengths and weaknesses identified during the evaluation of internal accounting control and tests of compliance will affect the nature, timing, and extent of audit procedures. The audit is not specifically designed to search for errors or irregularities, although during the study and evaluation of internal accounting control system and the performance of substantive tests, errors, or irregularities may be discovered. The auditor must consider the audit implication when errors or irregularities are likely to exist. Documentation of the Assessed Level of Control Risk The auditor should document in the working papers. a. The understanding obtained of the entity’s accounting and internal control systems; b. The assessment of control risk. When control risk is assessed at less than high, the auditor would also document the basis for the conclusions. Figure 11.2 Relationship of Effectiveness of Internal Control and Substantive Tests Controls initially considered effective Controls initial not considered effective or not cost efficient Reduce control risk Assess control risk at maximum (100%) Reduce acceptable risk of overreliance on internal control Acceptable risk of overreliance on internal control- 100% (maximum) Perform tests of control (inquiries, inspection, observation, and reperformance) Perform no tests of controls Increase detection risk Decrease detection risk Reduce planned substantive test 1. Use less persuasive substantive tests. 2. Perform the substantive tests at interim date. 3. Decrease extent of substantive test by selecting a smaller sample size. Perform extensive substantive testing 1. Use more effective substantive tests. 2. Perform substantive tests at year-end 3. Increase extent of substantive tests by selecting a larger sample size. Communication of Performance, Improvements and Observations in Internal Control Management. As a result of obtaining an understanding of the accounting and internal control systems and tests of controls, the auditor may become aware of weaknesses in the systems. The auditor should make the management aware, as soon as practical and at an appropriate responsibility, of material weaknesses in the design or operation of the accounting and internal control systems, which have come to the auditor’s attention. The communication to management of material weaknesses would ordinarily in writing. Management letter may be made that will contain constructive suggestions or improvements in internal control or other suggestions for increased efficiency in operations. This letter is considered a by-product rather than the aim of the audit and is often completed sometimes after the completion of the field work. If however, the auditor identifies material weaknesses, he has a professional responsibility to communicate them to both senior management and the board of directors. The auditor should issue a written report at the earliest possible that it is documented in the work papers. Reportable Conditions Specifically, these are the matters coming to the auditor’s attention that, in his judgement, should be communicated to the audit committee because they represent significant deficiencies in the design or operation of the internal control structure, which could adversely affect the organization’s ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial data consistent with the assertions of management in the financial statements. Examples of reportable conditions are as follows: Deficiencies in internal control  structure design Inadequate overall internal control structure design Absence of appropriate segregation of duties consistent with appropriate control objectives. Absence of appropriate reviews, and approvals of transactions, accounting entries, or systems output. Inadequate procedures for appropriately assessing and applying accounting principles. Inadequate provisions for the safeguarding of assets. Absence of other internal control techniques considered appropriate for the type and level of transaction activity. Evidence that a system fails to provide complete and accurate output that is consistent with objectives and current needs because of design flaws. Failures in the operation of the internal control structure Evidence of failure of identified controls in preventing or detecting misstatements of accounting information Evidence that a system fails to provide complete and accurate output consistent with the entity’s control objectives because of the misapplication of control procedures. Evidence of failure to safeguard assets from loss, damage, or misappropriation. Evidence of intentional override of the internal control structure by those in authority to the detriment of the overall objectives of the system. Evidence of failure to perform tasks that are part of the internal control structure, such as reconciliation not prepared or not timely prepared. Evidence of willful wrongdoing by employees or management. Evidence of manipulation, falsification, or alteration of accounting records or supporting documents. Evidence of intentional misapplication of accounting principles. Evidence of misrepresentation by client personnel to the auditor. Evidence that employees or management lack the qualifications and training to fulfill their assigned functions. Others Absence of sufficient level of control consciousness within the organization Failure to follow up and correct previously identified internal control structure deficiencies. Evidence of significant or extensive undisclosed  related party transactions. Evidence of undue bias or lack of objectivity by those responsible for accounting decisions. Reporting- Form and Content Conditions noted by the auditor that are considered reportable under this section or that are the result of agreement with the client should be reported, preferable in writing. If the information is communicated orally, the auditor should document the communication by appropriate memoranda or notations in the working papers. Any report issued on reportable conditions should: Indicate that a purpose of the audit was to report on the financial statements and not to provide assurance on the internal control structure. Include the definition of reportable conditions.  Include the restriction on distribution as discussed in the previous paragraph. If no reportable conditions are found, an auditor may not issue a letter stating that. Such a letter may mislead users by implying a greater level of assurance about the lack of any significant deficiencies than the auditor could really provide. However, an auditor may issue a letter indicating that no material weaknesses were found during the course of an audit.