Showing papers on "Audit published in 1993"

Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption-II

Abstract: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has been developed from a six-country WHO collaborative project as a screening instrument for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption. It is a 10-item questionnaire which covers the domains of alcohol consumption, drinking behaviour, and alcohol-related problems. Questions were selected from a 150-item assessment schedule (which was administered to 1888 persons attending representative primary health care facilities) on the basis of their representativeness for these conceptual domains and their perceived usefulness for intervention. Responses to each question are scored from 0 to 4, giving a maximum possible score of 40. Among those diagnosed as having hazardous or harmful alcohol use, 92% had an AUDIT score of 8 or more, and 94% of those with non-hazardous consumption had a score of less than 8. AUDIT provides a simple method of early detection of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary health care settings and is the first instrument of its type to be derived on the basis of a cross-national study.

Building a learning organization.

Abstract: Continuous improvement programs are proliferating as corporations seek to better themselves and gain an edge. Unfortunately, however, failed programs far outnumber successes, and improvement rates remain low. That's because most companies have failed to grasp a basic truth. Before people and companies can improve, they first must learn. And to do this, they need to look beyond rhetoric and high philosophy and focus on the fundamentals. Three critical issues must be addressed before a company can truly become a learning organization, writes HBS Professor David Garvin. First is the question of meaning: a well-grounded, easy-to-apply definition of a learning organization. Second comes management: clearer operational guidelines for practice. Finally, better tools for measurement can assess an organization's rate and level of learning. Using these "three Ms" as a framework, Garvin defines learning organizations as skilled at five main activities: systematic problem solving, experimentation with new approaches, learning from past experience, learning from the best practices of others, and transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. And since you can't manage something if you can't measure it, a complete learning audit is a must. That includes measuring cognitive and behavioral changes as well as tangible improvements in results. No learning organization is built overnight. Success comes from carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, and management processes that accrue slowly and steadily. The first step is to foster an environment conducive to learning. Analog Devices, Chaparral Steel, Xerox, GE, and other companies provide enlightened examples.

Public Sector Management

Abstract: PART ONE Introduction The Public Sector in the United Kingdom Politics and Public Sector Public Spending Social Policies and Management PART TWO: Introduction PART TWO A: DIRECTLY MANAGED SERVICES Managing Performance Service Design and Customer-Citizen Orientation Audit and Inspection Collaboration PART TWO B: OUTSOURCED SERVICES Managing through Markets Managing through Contracts Privatisation, Regulation and Public-Private Partnerships

The qualitative research audit trail: a complex collection of documentation

Abstract: A qualitative study typically involves a large volume of researcher-generated data, including notes about the context of the study, methodological decisions, data analysis procedures, and self-awareness of the researcher. Such data are important in many aspects of the study, particularly in the development of an audit trail to substantiate trustworthiness. Unfortunately, there is little information available to assist researchers in generating the needed documentation. In this article, we discuss the types of data that contribute to credible investigations. Strategies for maintaining effective records in qualitative studies are included, along with examples from our own research.

Assessing student performance : exploring the purpose and limits of testing

Abstract: What is assessment and how does testing differ from it? Why will a move to performance tests, by itself, not provide us with an adequate system of student assessment? How might we better "test our tests" beyond the technical standards that now apply? And why won't increased national testing offer us the accountability of schools we so sorely need? In this book, Grant P. Wiggins clarifies the limits of testing in an assessment system. Beginning with the premise that student assessment should improve performance, not just audit it, Wiggins analyzes some time-honored but morally and intellectually problematic practices in test design, such as the use of secrecy, distracters, scoring on a curve, and formats that allow for no explanation by students of their answers. He explains how many test-design standards serve technical experts and their needs rather than students and their interests. And he discusses how useful and timely feedback is an absolute requirement of any authentic test. By showing us that assessment is more than testing and intellectual performance is more than right answers, Wiggins points the way toward new systems of assessment that more closely examine students' habits of mind and provide teachers and policy makers with more useful and credible feedback.

Determinants of audit fees for quoted UK companies

Abstract: This study reports further evidence as to the determinants of the audit fees paid by quoted companies in the UK. It outlines a framework based on the findings from semi-structured interviews with partners in four large audit firms and the results of previous research, and tests this framework by means of multivariate analysis using 1987 data for a large sample of quoted UK companies. A model explaining 87 per cent of the variation in audit fees is constructed. The principal explanatory variables are found to be auditee size, return on shareholders equity, the number of subsidiaries, the lag between the year end and the date of the audit report, the size of the auditor, a measure of auditee diversification, the ownership structure of the auditee, and whether the auditor was based in London, with the last three being new variables introduced in this study.

Debiasing Audit Judgment with Accountability: A Framework and Experimental Results

Abstract: This paper examines whether accountability, defined as the requirement to justify one's judgments to others, mitigates recency. Recency refers to the tendency to overweight evidence received later in a sequence.' Ideally, judgments are influenced by the substance of evidence, not the order in which it is evaluated. Audit judgments may be prone to recency because auditing involves updating beliefs about financial statement assertions on the basis of new evidence. Indeed, audit judgment research documents recency in experiments with no explicit accountability requirements. These results have implications for audit efficiency and effectiveness if there are no mechanisms in the audit process to correct or mitigate these tendencies. One such mechanism is the

Getting comfortable with the numbers: Auditing and the micro-production of macro-order

Abstract: Field observations of two audit engagements are used to interpret auditing as a ritual which transforms the financial statements of corporate management from an inherently untrustworthy state into a form that the auditors and the public can be comfortable with. The analysis draws on Collins' theory of interaction ritual chains (American Journal of Sociology, 1981, pp. 984–1014) to create an interpretative theory of auditing which offers insights into both the micro-level interactions within the audit team and the macro-level role of auditing in the economic order.

An Empirical Study of the Audit Expectation-Performance Gap

Abstract: The critical, litigious environment which characterises auditing today can be traced to the audit expectation-performance gap. Defined as the gap between society's expectations of auditors and auditors perceived performance, it is seen to comprise ‘reasonableness’ and ‘performance’ components, the latter being subdivided into ‘deficient standards’ and ‘deficient performance’. Empirical research was conducted in New Zealand in 1989 to investigate the audit expectation-performance gap. The study enables the duties which constitute the reasonableness, deficient standards and deficient performance components of the gap to be identified. It also provides the means to estimate the relative contribution of the duties to their respective components, and of the components to the overall gap between society's expectations of auditors and auditors' perceived performance. The research provides new insights into the structure, composition and extent of the audit expectation-performance gap but, more important...

Audit effort, audit fees, and the provision of nonaudit services to audit clients

Abstract: SYNOPSIS AND INTRODUCTION: In this article, we use audit-hour and billing-rate data supplied by a large public accounting firm to address the question, "Does providing audit clients with nonaudit services result in knowledge spillovers and audit production efficiencies that could produce economic rents for the auditor?" In prior analytical work, both Simunic (1984) and Beck et al. (1988) have argued that knowledge acquired while providing nonaudit services may "spill over" to the production of the audit, and thus generate production efficiencies. If audit production efficiencies lead to cost savings that are retained in whole or in part by the auditor (rather than passed on to the client), then economic rents accrue to the auditor, creating incentives for the auditor to resolve disputes in the client's favor. Although several past studies suggest that the joint provision of audit and nonaudit services may give rise to knowledge spillovers that could lead to economic rents (Palmrose 1986; Simon 1985; Simunic 1984; Turpen 1990), they do not provide direct evidence that spillovers or rents exist, and the empirical results are mixed. For example, Abdel-khalik (1990, 320) reports that he was unable to detect interdependencies between audit and nonaudit fees, a direct contrast to the findings of Simunic and Palmrose. Further, Palmrose reports a positive relation between audit fees and the nonaudit fees paid to nonincumbent firms, a finding that weakens the argu-

Dynamic software version auditor which monitors a process to provide a list of objects that are accessed

Abstract: A data processing system and method features an object selector including an auditor for recording, as an audit record, which versions of objects are accessed by a processor during a data processing process. Each derived object is associated with an audit record. A system build process starts the auditor prior to executing commands which produce derived objects, and stops the auditor when those commands are completed. The process also includes any arbitrary sequence of commands. An audit cache memory stores the most recent audit entries made by the auditor while producing an audit record. A linker is also provided for linking a common identifying label to each object version whose identity is recorded as an entry in an audit record associated with the identifying label. An audit record comparator is provided for determining the difference between source object versions used in building two or more derived object versions.

The Audit Expectations Gap in Britain: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a postal questionnaire survey to ascertain the perceptions of individuals about audit expectations issues in Britain, including: what the role of the auditor is and should be; what prohibitions and regulations should be placed on audit firms; and what decisions auditors could be expected to make in a series of mini-cases. The questionnaire also included a semantic differential testing instrument which, through factor analysis, provides evidence about what different groups of individuals perceive to be the key attributes of auditing activity. The survey included chartered accountants in public practice, corporate finance directors, investment analysts, bank lending officers and financial journalists.

Why Do Private Companies Demand Auditing? A Case for Organizational Loss of Control

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to explain the motivation for owners of private companies to voluntarily demand audit (positive) assurance. It is hypothesized that the owner/manager seeks audits as compensatory control systems for the organizational loss of control inherent in hierarchical organizations. Thus, the expected value of wealth at risk due to loss of control sets a lower limit on the amount owners would be willing to pay for audits to compensate for that loss. The hypothesized relationship was tested using information for 103 private companies demanding audit (positive) assurance.The obtained relationships were basically unaltered by the introduction of lenders' requirement of audits (n = 40). Furthermore, the hypothesized compensatory aspect of audit assurance was absent for the demand for negative assurance (reviews) in a sample of 31 companies. This is consistent with the fact that negative assurance is not viewed as a way of providing confidence so as to compensate owners for loss of direct ...

National Beef Quality Audit-1995: survey of producer-related defects and carcass quality and quantity attributes.

Abstract: The National Beef Quality Au- dit-1995 was conducted to evaluate the progress of the beef industry since the time of the National Beef Quality Audit-1991 in improving quality and con- sistency of beef. Nine plants were assigned for auditing to Colorado State University, Oklahoma State University, and Texas A&M University. Person- nel from each institution visited three of their nine plants twice, once in the spring/summer and once in the fall/winter. Data were collected on 50% of each lot on the slaughter floor and 10% in the cooler during a single day's production (one or two shifts, as appropri- ate). Of the cattle audited on the slaughter floor, 47.7% had no brands, 3.0% had a shoulder brand,

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the SMAST-13: Predictive validity in a rural primary care sample.

Abstract: This study was conducted to compare the validity of a new screening instrument developed by the World Health Organization, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), to the short version of the MAST in 287 primary care patients. Subjects were classified as meeting a lifetime or current DSM-III diagnosis of alcohol misuse and/or dependence based on the DIS-R interview schedule. Using the original WHO guidelines (score of 11 or more), 37 (13%) scored positive on the AUDIT and 103 (36%) had a weighted score of 5 or more on the SMAST-13. The internal reliability of the AUDIT was 0.86, compared to the SMAST-13 at 0.85. Cut-off scores in this sample for current alcohol problems, utilizing Receiver Operating Curves, were 7-8 for the AUDIT and 5 for the SMAST. This study confirms the utility of the AUDIT for current alcohol problems and the SMAST-13 for lifetime or past problems in a rural clinical sample.

The review process as a control for differential recall of evidence in auditor judgments

Abstract: This experiment examines whether there are systematic offsetting differences in the manner in which initial decision makers and reviewers attend to information which ensure that evidence inconsistent with initial judgments is given adequate consideration. Differences in attention are proposed, which result in differential recall of evidence by the initial decision maker and reviewer and thus influence what knowledge initial decision makers and reviewers bring to their discussions and subsequent decisions. The results suggest that the review process can act as an effective control by increasing the chances that the implications of inconsistent evidence are considered.

The Economic Determinants of Auditor Compensation in the Initial Public Offerings Market

Abstract: This paper examines the determinants of auditor compensation in the initial public offering (IPO) market.' This setting offers the opportunity to investigate simultaneously two audit-pricing issues. First, investigating the determinants of IPO auditor compensation helps us assess the generalizability of previous audit fee research. Numerous studies (e.g., Simunic [1980], Francis and Simon [1987], and Ettredge and Greenberg [1990]) have used survey data to investigate the deter-

Corporate Assessment : Auditing a Company's Personality

Abstract: Chapter 1 - Management Audits, Chapter 2 - Measurement Issues, Chapter 3 - Corporate Culture, Chapter 4 - Corporate Climate, Chapter 5 - Communication Audits, Chapter 6 - Customer Audits, Chapter 7 - The Role of Audits in Organizations.

Accounting and Society

Abstract: Professions, society and accountancy. Accountability. The role of auditing in society. Corporate social reporting. Beyond profit. Accounting standards. A conceptual framework. The power of accountants and accountancy.

Tax Compliance with Endogenous Audit Selection Rules

Abstract: This paper uses experimental methods to examine the effectiveness of endogenous audit selection rules in which the audit probability depends upon taxpayer actions. The results indicate that endogenous rules are able to generate compliance far greater than random audit rules, even when the random audit rate is 50 percent. In particular, a cutoff rule is most effective in increasing compliance, although it requires a large number of audits, and regimes in which back or future audits depend on a taxpayer's current declarations also significantly increase compliance. The results thereby provide strong support for strategic selection of tax returns. Copyright 1993 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG

Changing Perceptions of the Role of the Company Auditor, 1840–1940

Abstract: One advantage of studying history is to explain present practice or at least to help place current phenomena in perspective. This paper seeks to explore two related themes which have proved problematic from the earliest times of company auditing in the UK: the nature of the auditor's responsibility; and the public's perception of his role. The conventional view is that auditors were initially concerned mainly with fraud detection, and that it was not until the 1930s that greater emphasis was devoted to the verification of financial statements. This study suggests that statement verification was the primary audit concern in relation to public companies as early as the 1830s, though we acknowledge that later in the century more emphasis was placed on fraud detection. We therefore see the current debate over the auditor's responsibility as merely the latest movement in a continuing and fluctuating theme. We also show that the profession has encountered great difficulty in reconciling public expectations with the practicalities of auditing. General confusion over the role of the auditor has existed to such an extent that it has been difficult even for the profession to reach agreement on the main purpose of company auditing, and the message to be sent to the investing public. In these endeavours, the accounting profession was at the same time both helped and hindered by legal developments.

Sampling and the abstraction of knowledge in the auditing profession: An extended institutional theory perspective

Abstract: Statistical sampling has long been interpreted as a technical means for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of independent audits. This article subjects this interpretation to closer scrutiny from the perspective of institutional theory and the sociology of the professions. The article examines the role of statistical sampling as a social phenomenon complicit in modifying and controlling the accounting profession's abstract system of knowledge. In so doing, the discussion provides a more thorough understanding of the roles of sampling in the auditing profession, and it extends the institutional theory perspective by examining the role of group interest in the institutionalization process.

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in a routine health examination of long‐term unemployed

Abstract: A representative sample of 310 long-term unemployed in Norway was followed for 2 years with clinical examinations and the AUDIT questionnaire. 30% of the men and 8% of the women scored over the cut-off point for an alcohol use disorder. This gives a probable prevalence of 16%. The test predicted return to employment in this sample. The AUDIT answers were also used as a basis for dividing into three groups:‘normal',‘hazardous’ and‘harmful'. At 2 year follow-up, 27% had changed group, 32 respondents to the worse and 24 to the better. This‘unstable’ group was characterized by weaker social network and more frequent drinking. The AUDIT was judged as a useful instrument both in a routine health examination and as an epidemiological tool.

The effect of education on the audit expectation gap

Abstract: This paper examines the effect of education on students' perceptions of the meaning of audit reports and the responsibilities and duties of auditors. A research instrument, utilising semantic differential scales designed to measure the messages communicated through audit reports, was administered to two groups of undergraduate students at the beginning and end of a semester and to auditors. The experimental group consisted of final year undergraduate accounting students enrolled in their first auditing unit. The control group consisted of final year undergraduate marketing students not enrolled in the auditing unit. The results of the study suggest that education may be an effective approach to narrowing or eliminating the audit expectation gap.

A Scale of Perceived Independence: New Evidence on an Old Concept

Abstract: Reports the results of research on the topic of perceived auditor independence. Consistent with generally accepted auditing standards, independence is defined as the absence of bias in audit decision making. As a characteristic of individual auditors, independence is theorized as having a continuum of values. A mail survey was distributed to random samples of bankers and CPAs. Responses were received from 143 CPAs and 100 bankers. Results indicate that a continuum of independence exists; that there are significant differences in the perceptions of independence between bankers and CPAs in nine of the ten situations presented; and a respondent′s knowledge of accounting had no significant effect on evaluations of auditor independence. Discusses implications for ethical and regulatory controls on CPAs and presents future research opportunities.