Internal auditors are struggling to maintain their identity and purpose as the organizations they audit undergo drastic changes. Total quality management, business process…
Abstract
Internal auditors are struggling to maintain their identity and purpose as the organizations they audit undergo drastic changes. Total quality management, business process reengineering, globalization, and self‐directed teams are dismantling hierarchical command and control structures. Advances in information technology continuously render control procedures obsolete. The ‘value’ of traditional internal audit is seriously questioned from the board room to the show room. CoActive audit is an internal audit model designed for team/technology based organization cultures, where the focus is on process enhancement rather than assessment and reporting. It provides synergistic solutions to real problems, rather than a quasi‐independent appraisal offering recommendations of potentially marginal value. Auditing has its origins in antiquity, apparently when rulers with wealth had the objective of maintaining their wealth by detecting fraud on the part of their servants. While external auditing was originally formulated with the same objective, through the years it changed its primary objective to emphasize the ‘professional review of financial statements by an independent expert, so that a professional opinion indicating that financial condition and results of operation have been fairly presented can be given.’ While internal auditing formulated its objective to ‘assist members of the organization in the effective discharge of their responsibilities,’ it continued the basic doctrine that auditing is an expert, independent, appraisal function. While many internal auditors today keep auditing as they have in the past, the organizations they are auditing are undergoing drastic changes. Total Quality Management, Self Directed Teams, and Business Process Reengineering are dismantling the old hierarchical command and control systems that depended on auditors to verify compliance. Advances in Information Technology have rendered manual control procedures obsolete. While most internal auditors have successfully made the transition from a reactive audit process that basically reported on history to a proactive approach based on risk assessment and focused on the present, the changes occurring within our organizations demand even more fundamental changes. Contemporary internal auditors openly acknowledge that they feel change must occur within the internal auditing community, and these leaders are venturing forward trying new philosophies and approaches. CoActive Audit is a combination of these new philosophies and methodologies, with its roots in the teachings of the primary management visionaries of the times. It is a vehicle to help internal audit grow, to re‐energize, to expand both its reach and grasp. It is about change, about recognizing the world has drastically changed, about realizing that some of our most basic assumptions are no longer valid, about understanding that some of our codified standards may hinder rather than help, and about replacing the old that is no longer appropriate with a new that is. It is time to focus on enhancing internal control, not merely reporting on it. It is time to build control into business processes, not simply assessing compliance with policies and procedures. It is time to recognize that the traditional internal audit methodology may be counterproductive to the goal of ensuring a reliable internal control system. It is time for CoActive Audit: the next critical step for internal audit. CoActive Audit enhances management control processes using today's management philosophies and methodologies. It represents a fundamental transformation of traditional internal audit philosophy, a 180 shift in mental models and paradigms. The essential components are an audit approach that is: Concurrent — rather than historical; Collaborative — rather than autonomous; Consultative — rather than judgmental; Client‐based — rather than standards‐based; A Catalyst — rather than an inhibitor.
Examines the mature market, defined as consumers age 50 years orolder, and reviews 33 segmentation methods for the mature market andidentifies five key segmentation criteria…
Abstract
Examines the mature market, defined as consumers age 50 years or older, and reviews 33 segmentation methods for the mature market and identifies five key segmentation criteria: discretionary income, health, activity level, discretionary time, and response to others. Integrates methods devised by other researchers and provides marketers with a step‐by‐step, actionable segmentation method based on these five criteria. Offers implications for managers.
Details
Keywords
Xinran Yang, Junhui Du, Hongshuo Chen, Chuanjin Cui, Haibin Liu and Xuechao Zhang
Field-effect transistor (FET) has excellent electronic properties and inherent signal amplification, and with the development of nanomaterials technology, FET biosensors with…
Abstract
Purpose
Field-effect transistor (FET) has excellent electronic properties and inherent signal amplification, and with the development of nanomaterials technology, FET biosensors with nanomaterials as channels play an important role in the field of heavy metal ion detection. This paper aims to review the research progress of silicon nanowire, graphene and carbon nanotube field-effect tube biosensors for heavy metal ion detection, so as to provide technical support and practical experience for the application and promotion of FET.
Design/methodology/approach
The article introduces the structure and principle of three kinds of FET with three kinds of nanomaterials, namely, silicon nanowires, graphene and carbon nanotubes, as the channels, and lists examples of the detection of common heavy metal ions by the three kinds of FET sensors in recent years. The article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of the three sensors, puts forward measures to improve the performance of the FET and looks forward to its future development direction.
Findings
Compared with conventional instrumental analytical methods, FETs prepared using nanomaterials as channels have the advantages of fast response speed, high sensitivity and good selectivity, among which the diversified processing methods of graphene, the multi-heavy metal ions detection of silicon nanowires and the very low detection limit and wider detection range of carbon nanotubes have made them one of the most promising detection tools in the field of heavy metal ions detection. Of course, through in-depth analysis, this type of sensor has certain limitations, such as high cost and strict process requirements, which are yet to be solved.
Originality/value
This paper elaborates on the detection principle and classification of field-effect tube, investigates and researches the application status of three kinds of FET biosensors in the detection of common heavy metal ions. By comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each of the three sensors in practical applications, the paper focuses on the feasibility of improvement measures, looks forward to the development trend in the field of heavy metal detection and ultimately promotes the application of field-effect tube development technology to continue to progress, so that its performance continues to improve and the application field is constantly expanding.
Details
Keywords
John U. Farley and Donald R. Lehmann
Considers the current thrust in marketing to create global products, brands and strategies but also to “act local” when appropriate. Deciding which elements have similar effects…
Abstract
Considers the current thrust in marketing to create global products, brands and strategies but also to “act local” when appropriate. Deciding which elements have similar effects and which are significantly different conceptually requires meta‐analysis of each of the elements. Reviews some applications of marketing meta‐analysis with a focus on international research. The potential international impact of meta‐analysis in view of current trends in information technology and the globalization of marketing is promising, especially when the focus is on variables such as culture, geography, and economic condition rather than country per se.
Details
Keywords
Lynn Sudbury and Peter Simcock
The purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and behavioural variables previously shown to be pertinent to older adults in the gerontology and marketing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A self‐complete questionnaire was administered to an age‐based quota sample of 650 older consumers (aged 50‐79) in the UK. Using the age and consumer behaviour variables, cluster analysis was performed. The clusters were then profiled using ANOVA, Kruskal‐Wallis and χ2 techniques, using those variables not included in the initial analysis.
Findings
The results confirmed that the older consumer market is not homogeneous. Rather, five distinct segments emerged which differ considerably from one another on a range of variables, including consumer behaviours.
Practical implications
The model has practical implications for targeting older consumers, and the paper provides guidelines on how to reach the different segments.
Originality/value
The paper, the result of the largest known empirical study into older consumers in the UK, provides a comprehensive segmentation model that overcomes many of the limitations of previous segmentation studies pertaining to older adults. It also fills a research gap noted by several previous researchers in that a variety of different types of age are utilised.
Details
Keywords
Examines the role of professional associations, governmental agencies, and international accounting and auditing bodies in promulgating standards to foster auditor independence…
Abstract
Examines the role of professional associations, governmental agencies, and international accounting and auditing bodies in promulgating standards to foster auditor independence domestically and abroad. Focuses specifically on the role played by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Government Accounting Office. Also looks at other professional associations in banking, industry, and manufacturing sectors dealing with sensitive issues of auditors′ involvement in such matters as management advisory services, operating responsibilities, outsourcing, opinion shopping, auditor rotation, and other conflicts of interest which may impair auditor independence.
Details
Keywords
Patricia Huddleston and Linda K. Good
Success of retail firms is dependent on a motivated workforce, yet little is known about what job characteristics motivate employees from former command economies. Investigates 11…
Abstract
Success of retail firms is dependent on a motivated workforce, yet little is known about what job characteristics motivate employees from former command economies. Investigates 11 valent job motivators for Russian and Polish retail sales staff and their expectations of receiving these rewards. Retail sales managers rated the importance of these motivators to their employees. Data were collected in two Russian and two Polish cities. The most important motivators to Russian and Polish sales employees are pay and friendliness of co‐workers. In most cases, managers’ perceptions of job motivators were similar to their employees. The expectation of receiving incentives were measured and results show both Russian and Polish employees had significantly lower expectations of receiving all 11 job motivators relative to the importance they attached to them.