Why Austen bores the modern audience Essay Example for Free

Why Austen bores the modern audience Essay But the scenario with Darcy and his two proposals counters this philosophy, and makes an extremely discreet statement. Alternatively There must be something that makes the novel a universally acknowledged classic. Here are some of the ways Jane Austen attempts to quell boredom In contemplating this, it must be taken in mind that social attitudes were at a peak of mildness and placidity in the Victorian period (table legs = table unmentionables); much less was required to imply passion to the reader (this rather paradoxically Victorians must have needed much dirtier minds). In the complete book I dont think there is one romantic physical gesture cited; even the language goes little further than expressing how cheerful the speaker is (I was utterly delighted); but when Austen does want to construct specific atmospheres she demonstrates a range of artistic techniques to achieve this: inside the first chapter of the third volume there is a scene possessing an excitement foreign to the rest of the book. Austen introduces Darcy back into the story without any real preceding apprehension: while the former was conjecturing as to the date of the building, the owner of it suddenly came forward from the road, which led behind it to the stables. This remark is so subtle that it takes a few seconds to contemplate what has actually happened in that respect we share exactly the feelings that Elizabeth must be experiencing. Various dialogues in the preceding volume give the impression that there is no danger of Darcys materializing; and the consistent tepidity of the novel assure us that Austen wouldnt stoop so low as to fabricate a coincidence like this that when it does happen it seems ingenious. There are some attractive and imaginative narrative techniques inside the book which momentarily quench the monotony, and when I read the fourth chapter of the third volume, I have to confess that I was intrigued. The chapter is narrated on the behalf of a character other than the main focus of the story (Elizabeth), in the standard form of a letter. But interestingly, there are two correspondences making up the chapter, one composed a day after the other; which is a rational way to break up the continuity of the story and thus generate some much required tension. The form of the novel three separate volumes could have several motives: printing restraints, a desire to make more money, writers block (more time to keep the publishers happy)* or genuine artistic consideration. Indeed, the events fit pretty tidily into three sections, with cliff-hangers at the end of the preceding two (will they stay in London oh, they will; what will happen when they get to Mr. Darcys house Theyll theyll meet Mr. Darcy). The book has a standard relationships-problems-weddings structure. Jane Austens choice of language is pretty limited to the rigid and self-important vocabulary necessitated by the presence of upper-class Victorian females (vexed, delighted, utterly ); she employs this to great effect though, probably owing to her own circumstances. Aside from the abovementioned portentous dispatch there are some instances of words employed for a specific effect: Darcys letter in chapter twelve of the second volume is a good example Austen writing on behalf of an apologetic and mildly arrogant rejectee. Darcy pleads her justice in perusing his countenance, and he offends her out of necessity. The previous example especially is both humble and superior: he only insults her because he is forced to; nevertheless he is taking a liberty by considering a necessity to affront. (I resisted an urge here to cross reference Jane Austen with Catherine Tate. Its obvious who the real genius is ) Patterns of words are exploited throughout; recurrently the phrase structure of the adverb most followed by an adjective in creating speech for the fairer sex: most displeased, most agitated, etc. The effect achieved is much the same as the abovementioned an upper-class verbalization. The spectrum of emotional effects throughout the whole book is small. From the depiction of mild anticipatory discomfort to the fairly strong sense of awkwardness portrayed in Elizabeths meetings with Darcy subsequent to the receiving of the explanatory letter, there is no contrast harsh enough for us to relate in any significant way to the characters happiness at the end of the story. In conclusion, despite my judgment of this book as an uneventful, upper-class, pretentious, boring novel so distant from todays morals as to be almost surreal; which only approaches the mildly amusing in the half-hearted humour directed at the un-funny comments by Mr. Bennet above; I can go as far to say that when compared with the two greatest writers of her era, Austen has a comfortable top-three placement. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

In Depth Market Analysis On Bmw Marketing Essay

In Depth Market Analysis On Bmw Marketing Essay Due to the failure to grow market share, the group adopted a strategy of organic growth in its early 2000s.This resulted in the launch of a large number of models with varied price and class ranges leading to further market development. This renowned European carmaker BMW is well known for its high quality products and services which comes in wide ranges, its global brand image and its highly output cars. This report emphasizes on the companys strategic goals and values and the impact of political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors in the present competitive world on the company. The main objective behind the case study is to understand its strategic capability, its target market, market segmentation which is keys to success in the competitive market like of any industry, also by discovering positioning options, calculating and further understanding the importance of brand management and selecting the appropriate methods for the strategic development of a company. This report analyses the ability of the company to succeed and compete with its competitors. It will also discuss about the challenges it will come across in the near future. Learning Objectives The main learning objectives after analyzing the case study are: Evaluation of Classic and Contemporary models, concept and tools used in business strategy and planning which include PESTEL analysis, Value chain analysis, SWOT analysis, Porters five forces, Industry life cycle and Cycle of competition. The process BMW used to identify their strategic goals and values Analysis of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and legal factors and its influence on its strategy The strategy used to achieve its competitive advantage Future challenges impact on the Company The reason for BMW considering the international business environment and its response towards it. The use of Value chain analysis for BMW in order to improve its competitive position. Summarization of its knowledge and understanding of its external business environment, its management and its ability to change, develop and implement business strategy. PESTEL Analysis In the macro-environment, there are various factors which affect the decisions of the managers in regards to the strategic development of any organisation. Some of the macro change factors include Tax changes, new laws, trade barriers, demographic change and government policy changes. (http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_12.htm) According to Thomas (2007) when an organization undergoes various changes and faces complexity in upcoming situations, it is hard to keep a track of activities in external environment and its erratic effect on the strategies of the firm. In such a situation PESTEL analysis is done which helps in analyzing the key drivers of change that helps in predicting the businesses future environment. Political factors: These factors emphasis on the government policy such as the degree of interference in the economy. In an automobile industry, the possible factors are: Tax laws and government policies by foreign government have a great affect on the automobile industry. According to Hill, 2008 Success of the business in the global market is determined by the probable foreign policies. As the laws and regulations that had affected the automobile industry also included the environmental factors affecting it adversely, it was made mandatory for all the car manufactures to consider the environment while making their manufacturing process. Economic factors include factors affecting an organization on economic ground like exchange rates, taxation changes, inflation, and interest rates and so on. For an automobile industry the economic factors are: The decreasing exchange rate of Euro had an adverse affect on the European car makers as due to difference in exchange rate increases the price per product and reduces the profitability for sale per product. According to Autofacts, 2004 Emergence of developing states like China and India s excess capital and buying power regionally and globally. Global increase in GDP (market value of all goods and services) services from 2.0% to 3.1% in 2008 and regular economic downturn in the US market in 2008. Buying capacity of people and the population figures even affects the automobile industry. High amount investment in marketing and on the new designs production of automobile blocked huge amount of revenue although the supply was more than the demand. Social Factors: Changes in social trends like income distribution, ageing population, and attitudes to work can have a greater impact on demand for a product by a firm and it also might result in the willingness and availability of individuals to work. Like in UK, as the population has been ageing has resulted in increment of costs to the firms who are committed to pension payments for staff who are living longer. (http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_12.htm) For an automobile industry the factors could be: As a result of recession, the buying behaviour of consumers seems to be changed. Automobiles environmental issues and its harmful emissions (Johnson,2005) Change in demand for a new product in terms of the launch of a new brand can be one of the social factors. Technological Factors: New products are created due to new technologies. Technology reduces costs, improve quality and lead to innovation of a new product. These developments not only benefit consumers but also the organisations providing the products. (http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_12.htm). The latest the technology is, greater is the demand for that product especially in terms of automobile industry. Examples are: The cost of manufacturing increases with the adoption of new technologies. Due to increment in the use of technology, the ratio of competitors is too high now. Restrictive measure on technology which are linked to the environmental pollution are one of the most important technological factor (Allen, 2006) Environmental Factors: The most concerned factors here are environmental issues and global warming which affects the environment. It even includes the change in climate and weather. In terms of automobile industry, the factors can be: The taste and preferences of customers change with the change in trend. They now prefer eco friendly cars, fuel cell cars in order to environment friendly. Due to increase in global warming and the awareness of green house effect, the consumers are more into buying environment friendly products. Legal Factors are related to the legal environment in which the firm operates. (http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199296378/01student/additional/page_12.htm) Some of the examples can be employment law, health and safety law. In the automobile industry, the legal factors are: Rules and regulations in regards to pollution control all over the European countries. The import export duty tax and the ethics in regards to the manufacturing process vary from country to country. The firm is bound to follow the legal norms in order to maintain safety standards. Porters five forces It is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It draws upon Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_five_forces_analysis). It is a tool to assess the nature of competition by calculating the factors inside and outside an industry. It is done in order to develop business strategy and do an analysis of industry. (http://alfrancobakerhughes.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/porters-five-forces2.jpg) The Five Forces: Threat of new entrants: The threat for a new entrant in an automobile industry is the minimum due to high investment in order to set up manufacturing plants and assembly liners. The time taken to be recognized by the consumers is even more than any other industry. Above are the few barriers that there is hardly a threat of new entrant in the world of Automobile. Threat of substitutes: Although BMW is one of luxurious and renowned brand but can face a threat of substitutes due to other powerful brands like Audi, Toyota, Mercedes and so on. The other brands too as a wider choice due to huge range of products. Bargaining power of suppliers: BMW got a long relationship with its supplier and also got a tightly controlled distribution system. Suppliers have high bargain power because suppliers can dictate the cost of raw material. Long relationship with suppliers result in reduced cost of raw materials. Bargaining power of buyers: The bargain power of buyers is high due to availability of huge range of products as BMW and its competitors fall into exclusive car range. Consumers can choose a product on the basis of price. Competitive rivalry: As most of the bigger automobile companies are globally establishes, their target market is the same attracting the same group of customers. This results in greater competition especially in the markets of Asia, Europe and US. The key drivers of change Pestel analysis helps us to overview the macro environmental factors. The factors which can have a high impact on strategy are identified with the combination of the above i.e. Pestel analysis, Porters five forces and drivers of change. The drivers of change help managers make effective decisions. Some of them are: Consideration of environmental issues Change of customer demand for goods quality cost of ownership. Improvement in the use of technology and preference design due to change in taste and preferences of consumers. Trend of using small cars. The Industry life cycle It is composed of five stages from the launching of the product to its declination. The stages are development stage, growth stage, shakeout stage, maturity stage and decline stage. The first stage is the start up of a company with the innovation of its assets. Secondly, during the growth stage there is a minimal threat to new entrants and high growth with low bargaining power of buyers. Thirdly, in the shake out stage the firm focuses on its managerial and financial activities and is a stage of slow growth. Fourthly, the maturity stage faces high barriers to entry with increase in competition. At this stage the highest is the sales with high market share but with time, the growth stops and stage of declination comes. Considering the case study, BMW is in the maturity stage of industry life cycle. Although its growth is stagnant, its products like 1,3,5,7 series were standardized due to its huge market share and brand identity. Despite high barriers to entry in the maturity stage, BMW asset was a relatively high market share and status as a manufacturing excellence. SWOT Analysis It is a tool to analyze the internal strength and weakness with the external opportunities and threats. It helps in better understanding of how the internal strength and weakness with current strategy are capable of dealing with the changes in the external environment. Strengths In order to maintain good supply chain management, BMW maintains strong relationship with suppliers. As BMW uses the most advanced technology, it helps in enabling design, quality and price to prospective consumers. BMW has a good position in the market in terms of brand and gratitude factor. It can rely on its strength in order to gain competitive advantage with the help of its well qualified labor force. Brand image High turnover Highly qualified Labor force. Weakness: Low cost products of competitors and its perception of high price. BMW had an image of being serious and conventional in comparison with the other competitors. Environmental issues. Consumer sophistication and understanding. Opportunities: The number of products sold was increased inspite of most of the countries being hit by recession. Its attitude of advanced technology towards its products and its flexibility in development and manufacturing. Affordability due to interest rate being less. Its popularity increased among the developing countries like India and China. World wide recognized brand image. Introducing and developing a new product in the market with more advanced features. Threats: Economic downturn Different Legal factors of different countries. Increment in the number of entrants in the industry Competition level increasing day by day and its going to be hard to survive for a company who doesnt go along with the change in trend. Increment in the supply costs. Cycle of Competition There was a strong competition between all the competitors in the market with time and in order to overcome the hurdles which could have resulted in the loss, BMW had a rise in its turnover with the use of adequate technology. Core capability and competitive advantages are not permanent in nature as per the concept of cycle of competition. ; For example BMWs strongest competitors Toyota group. According to Kiley (2004), Toyotas whole assets including machinery, profit margins etc create threats for BMW as Toyota has established product in the small market region. Therefore, the available option for BMW is to compete through its core capability and competitive advantages. By implementing the use of scientific technology that BMW restores to, higher economies of scale can be achieved. BMW is one who serves from a small car to a bigger car like that from a mini to Rolls Royce. This is one which serves from a luxury segment to the premium segment which is not in case of all its competitors. Strategic drift Strategic drift refers to the change in strategy. Despite the occasional incremental development from cultural and historical factors, the reason for drift to occur is when company environmental changes negatively affect its operations. BMW emphasises on brand development that is a result from changes in the market. Strategic drift is better off explained when considering an example of acquiring of English brand Rover was due to the companys need of increasing production. Resources A resource is described as any physical entity that needs to be consumed first to get benefits out of it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource). There are two kinds of resources- Tangible and Intangible Resources. Tangible Resources are the physical assets like Labour force, machinery, finance within a firm and Intangible resources are the non physical assets like information, status and knowledge. The resources which BMW possesses are: It has highly qualified labour force composed of young and professional professionals. In 2003, BMWs financial resources the turnover was of 41.53 billion Euro, gross margins of 3.2 billion, 7.4% profit margins and annual surplus of 3.2 billion Euro. Supply chain and dealership management Effective market segmentation Its universally designed physical resources Its relationship with the its suppliers, quality of products, reliability and dealings makes them building strong relationship with their suppliers so that helps them in high bargain power of supplier. Brand image getting stronger due to its reliability and inevitable product quality. By the contribution of economies of scale, product/process design, experience and supply chain, cost efficiency at BMW is possible (Gerry, Scholes and Whittington, 2008) Supply costs Especially in terms of production and purchase of raw materials, supply costs play and important role within an organization. It is considered to be an important asset when input cost decides about the success of a company. With a work force of 104000, BMW has set up different locations like China, USA, UK, South Africa and Germany in order to manage its supply cost. It was guaranteed that the supply cost will be reduced if the transportation cost of raw materials is reduced. Experience The two primary things while considering experience in an organization are attainment of cost efficiency and control of costs. There is also a need to generate competitive advantage through experience by the firm itself and its unit costs. BMW has been in the automobile sector since the Second World War. Acquiring of the cumulative experience is expected to lower its unit costs. There is a need of increment in the unit produced annually from the established assembly units in this competitive market with the reduction in the cost. This reduction atleast guarantees capability of survival although the competitive advantage may not be achieved. Product/Process Design Product design is concerned with the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_design)The main reason for product design is to maximise working capital, labour productivity and better yield. In order to compete with the rival, it is adopted in order to gain competitive advantage. BMW has earned reputation in the global market as an engineering excellence due to its excellent performance in product/process design. Value Network for BMW BMWs assembly locations and manufacturing unit is independent on each other according to the value network. Each of the assembly units has a separate supplier of raw materials needed to manufacture the product. Internal value chain in the assembly liners exists among them. The organisation also possesses a channel value chain which is formed on the basis of design, location and price such as the product varies from a mini to Rolls Royce. As per the target market, market segmentation is done and accordingly the product ranges are priced and designed differently as per the value chain criteria. The pricing strategy differs from location to location where BMW is focussing at. Like the price for the products in related to automobile industry in Asian market is cheaper than UK or US. BMW Success Factor There are various factors responsible for BMW success. These include Product quality, Product cost and experience. Firstly, the product quality is important to be maintained as per the customer satisfaction point of view. The excellence of a product helps in identifying the brand of a product. For a company like BMW, it is important to maintain its quality for further success. Secondly, the product cost is always high but its quality of the products gets balanced it in front of its competitors and justifies the reason for the price to be high. The third success factor is Experience for BMW in the automobile industry. Its presence in the industry for so many years has helped in establishing its brand image for its products together with the advanced supply chain which helps in delivering of the right product at right time. Hereby its said by Radinger, 1996 that the BMW s channel value chain of price, location and design is the backbone of consumer value chain. Its brand image, technology, business model, its sustainability in this competitive world and lastly its CEO are responsible for its own success. Future Challenges that may have an impact on BMW are: Decrease in economies of scale Technology may become stagnant. Consumers taste and preference might change During the firms maturity stage, there might be increase in rivalry leading to price wars too Ups and downs of Currency rate will have impact on the prices of products sold in different countries. High fuel prices and increment in the cost of raw materials. BMW possesses the strategies like Product development, Market penetration; Restructuring, Market development and liquation that will help BMW readdress profits for organizational future. Conclusion A company like BMW had to face lot of problems in the 1990s as there were so many competitors in the Automobile industry and also due to the fact of global recession. After all this hassel, there came a good part in its company which proved to be a turning point for the company as the new CEO started a strategy of internal growth through market and product development in the year 2002. Due to the failure to grow market share, the group adopted a strategy of organic growth in its early 2000s.This resulted in the launch of a large number of models with varied price and class ranges leading to further market development. This strategy of internal growth and product development also brought them to a conclusion of launching a new model every 3 months from 2003 through to 2005 and this plan was implemented which gave consumers choice from Mini to Rolls Royce.. The two biggest market the company targeted on were US and Asia in order to find buyers of their top and high range models and lef t over the European market for its lower cost and lower range models as the buyers didnt include people with high budget in order to buy a car as they preferred mainly basic car model. BMW is in the maturity stage as of industry life cycle. Although its growth is stagnant, its products like 1,3,5,7 series were standardized due to its huge market share and brand identity. Despite high barriers to entry in the maturity stage, BMW asset was a relatively high market share and status as a manufacturing excellence. The company acquired the image of manufacturer of an Ultimate driving machine as they worked upon their weakness and landed up innovating new ways in order to distinguish itself with its competitors. This resulted in crossing over the turnover of Lexus, the US biggest automobile maker in 2004 and BMW then become world biggest automobile company.

Themes Shown In A Country Doctor English Literature Essay

Themes Shown In A Country Doctor English Literature Essay A Country Doctor is a narration in which the main character, Franz (the country doctor), faces a number challenges and frustrations some of which are beyond his control. In the whole tale, Franzs Kafka is troubled by proceedings that are beyond his control. The surreal unfolding of the story by Kafka gives it a nightmarish eminence that is manifested at the commencement when two horses crawl out of the pigsty (Corder 26). The story A Country Doctor puts across a number of themes. The first defy that the doctor faces is that he has to attend to a patient so as to obtain transport for the reason that his personal horse died the preceding night. As the story unfolds, no one is eager to let him use his horse for such a trip and this makes him think very much. By saying distracted and tormented, I kicked my foot against the cracked door of the pig sty (Corder 29) Franz informs us that the doctor felt frustrated and betrayed by the society he is committed to serve, a society which should be willing to give him a helping hand. The second challenge the doctor is faced with is to surmount the stern weather. The doctor arrives to the patients farm after traveling through a storm of snow to attend him. As a result of the stern winter conditions, the doctors horse dies. As the story nears the conclusion, consequently the doctor doesnt arrive at his destination after having been dragged all the way through the snowy desert. The third challenge the doctor faces is that of urgent journey that he has to make across the country to respond to a call to see a very sick man several miles away. His efforts are frustrated because he has no means of travel. He does not know how to travel although he has a very suitable carriage for the journey, he is dressed up warmly for the weather, and he has his medicine bag. He has no horse to pull his carriage. He has sent his girl savant to try to borrow a horse from the village but she comes back empty handed because no one wants to expose his horse to such bad weather conditions as are prevailing at that time (Corder 22). The grooms issue posses the fourth challenge to the doctor. The doctor finds if difficult to deal with the groom. He is in a dilemma of whether to attend to his ailing patient or protecting Rosa, his house help, from the ill intentioned groom. Throughout the story he is tormented by thoughts of Rosa being exposed to danger after deciding to save his patient. Franzs story is a nightmare because the doctor differs from the other normal doctors in the bona fide world. Against the pragmatic society prospect, the story doesnt present anything of a country doctor. After briefly examining his patient the doctor comes to a conclusion that the patient has feigned illness so as to get communitys attention. A nightmare is an experience or event that is intensely distressing and may cause fear (Mifflin) hence the classification of Franz Kafkas A Country Doctor as one. This is proved when he kicks the pigsty and admits that he doesnt know what to do to get to his patient. The doctor fantasizes horses with long legs crawl out of pigsty. This is a clear diverge from the real world where the same may be vied as abstract. A major theme realized and brought out clearly in the story is placing blame on other people. The doctor place blame on others for his inadequacies. He blames his lack of a horse for inability to get to his patient. After getting to the patients home, he is brazed out by the genuineness of the patients illness but still blames the patient for lack of confidence besides believing that he is feigning illness. The doctors failure to get a horse from the neighbors can be owing to his poor liaison with them, but he insists that they are showing no gratitude and not ready to counter his good deeds to them. He places culpability for his reduced performance in his service to a predecessor who is robbing him off his line of work. The theme of fantasy is also brought out clearly in the story. The unanticipated emergence of the groom manifests this. It is like a leprechaun tale. The sudden grabbing and leaving of teeth marks on Rosas cheek gives rise to the question of whether the groom is a vampire. He also breaks down the entrance of the doctors quarters as the doctor is being carried away by the horses over which he has no command of. The horses too behave as you wouldnt expect, stopping on their own when they get to the house of the ailing man; waits for the doctor and then takes him away again, when he escapes from the bed of the sick man. There is also the size of the worms in the lesion at the side of the ailing man. These are themes that are seen as fantasy. There is also the place where the doctor is stripped naked and thrown into bed with the sick man. This is a flight of the imagination because it cannot come about in the daily practice of a doctors life. Lastly, the theme that is also explored in the story is opportunism. Opportunism is the actions of someone who takes every opportunity to gain an advantage and is willing to behave in unfair way (Mangat 889). The groom in the story appears with two horses at the time when the doctor is in dire need for one to enable him travel to his patients home. He grabs the chance to have Rosa for himself by allowing the doctor to use his horses for the journey. The doctor loves and takes is concerned about Rosa; nevertheless he has no option but to leave her in the hands of the cruel groom in substitute for the two horses. The doctor leaves for the patients farm signifying that the journey is unavoidable. The groom realizes this opportunity when the doctor says or Ill give up the journey, no matter how urgent it is, (Corder 33).

Truth and Hypocrisy in Animal Farm and The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers fc

Truth and Hypocrisy In Animal Farm and The Scarlet Letter   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lies are often distorted into truth by those in power, who eventually become hypocrites as they continue to delude for selfish gain. In the process of this distortion, they will do everything possible to conceal and maintain their hunger for dominance and deference. This theme of truth ( or lack thereof ) and ultimate hypocrisy is skillfully shown through Napoleon in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and Reverend Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most notable characteristics shared by Napoleon and Reverend Dimmesdale is their ability to skillfully twist lies into the truth. In Animal Farm, Napoleon is relentless in his deception of the other animals. According to Graham Greene ( Bloom, 1996, 21), he is a â€Å"consummate powermonger† who can skillfully undermine any idea that isn’t his own. The first signs of his dishonesty are shown when he hoards the milk and apples, with a message to the others that â€Å" It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.† ( Orwell, 52 ) From there, the lies only increase in frequency and size. It’s easy to compare this to the deceptive nature of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter. The young minister veils his sin from his Puritanical community by â€Å"cultivating an image that is far from the real truth.† ( Johnson, 14) From the revelation of Hester’s scarlet letter to that of his own, Dimmesdale conceals his shame by portraying himself as a â€Å"miracle of holiness†. ( Hawthorne, 139) Thus, both Napoleon and the minister share the negative attribute of fraudulence throughout their respective novels.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another notable comparison between the two novels is that both Napoleon and Dimmesdale lie for ambition. This is distinctly observable in Animal Farm, where the pigs take the immediate initiative to establish themselves as the leaders. Napoleon is instantly placed as a head, being the only Berkshire boar on the farm that has â€Å" a reputation for getting his own way.† ( Orwell, 35 ) From the moment the animals beat Jones out of the farm, it’s obvious that Napoleon is shrewdly planning to fill the farmer’s position. He envisions plans that will benefit only himself, yet â€Å"make him appear to be working for everyone’s advantage.† ( Allen, 37 ) Thus, he will rise in the animals’ eyes as a caring and considerate leader. This is exemplified by his

Conflict Essay -- Character Analysis, Chuck, Li-Young Lee

Chuck and Li-Young Lee have no idea who the hell they are. Both are similar characters from two different books by two different authors; but they are looking for the same thing: identity and what space they occupy? Chuck identifies with the New York scene and type of people living there, but does not have a space or identity of his own just as Lee is confused about who he is and must dive into meta-poetics to find his space and identity. Both are lost in a haze of confusion, and must look very hard both within themselves, as well as friends, family, heritage, and the history surrounding their lives. This paper will examine the historical and ethnic conflicts of the characters and how they come to reconcile their space and identity in a foreign land dealing with these issues. Some of these issues stem from misrepresented information and initial prejudice while others rise from a lack of personal information, and building upon ones past and history and their personal perception of the mselves occupying a space. In the beginning of the text Chuck identifies with his New York â€Å"identity† as well as being a â€Å"renaissance man† rather than having a named identity (Naqvi, 1). He does notice forced identities that he is not part of or had been part of before; â€Å"We'd become Japs, Jews, Niggers. We weren't before† (Naqvi, 1). Chuck notices these identities and space being made; he feels something of forced inclusion into a space that had not been there before. Not apparent at first, Chuck has a severed connection with his heritage, when thinking of what food to eat, â€Å"eating home food, comfort food, alone made me shudder† (Naqvi, 32) He cannot even bring himself to eat the food he grew up on. This is further reinforced in that he does not cont... .... But he wants to accept the American identity as well, but â€Å"its sensual, salient nowness, punctuating the void from which such hunger springs and to which it proceeds† (Lee, 84). Through his acceptance of his East Asian identity his soul is â€Å"cleaved so that the soul might be restored.† His soul is split, but by his own doing, he must accept his hyphenated identity, embrace it, and accept it. Though both characters come to find their identity and space, historical and ethnic struggles haunt and follow them along the way. Neither characters are accepted in the American culture, and have to identify with others in their position. This causes much heartache and a sudden shock to the character. But with persistence, these characters find their identity; though not what they might have expected or originally wanted, they became part of something that would accept them.

Audit – Solutions for Chapter 2

* Solutions for Chapter 2 * Corporate Governance Review Questions: 2-1. Corporate governance is defined as: â€Å"a process by which the owners and creditors of an organization exert control and require accountability for the resources entrusted to the organization. The owners (stockholders) elect a board of directors to provide oversight of the organization’s activities and accountability back to its stakeholders. † The key players in corporate governance are the stockholders (owners), board of directors, audit committees, management, regulatory bodies, and both internal and external auditors. -2. In the past decade, all parties failed to a certain extent. For detailed analysis, see exhibit 2. 2 in the chapter and repeated here: Corporate Governance Responsibilities and Failures Party | Overview of Responsibilities| Overview of Corporate Governance Failures| Stockholders| Broad Role: Provide effective oversight through election of Board process, approve major initiativ es, buy or sell stock. | Focused on short-term prices; failed to perform long-term growth analysis; abdicated all responsibilities to management as long as stock price increased. Board of Directors| Broad Role: the major representative of stockholders to ensure that the organization is run according to the organization charter and there is proper accountability. Specific activities include: * Selecting management. * Reviewing management performance and determining compensation. * Declaring dividends * Approving major changes, e. g. mergers * Approving corporate strategy * Overseeing accountability activities. | * Inadequate oversight of management. * Approval of management compensation plans, particularly stock options that rovided perverse incentives, including incentives to manage earnings. * Non-independent, often dominated by management. * Did not spend sufficient time or have sufficient expertise to perform duties. * Continually re-priced stock options when market price decline d. | Management| Broad Role: Operations and Accountability. Managing the organization effectively and provide accurate and timely accountability to shareholders and other stakeholders. Specific activities include: * Formulating strategy and risk appetite. * Implementing effective internal controls. * Developing financial reports. Developing other reports to meet public, stakeholder, and regulatory requirements. | * Earnings management to meet analyst expectations. * Fraudulent financial reporting. * Pushing accounting concepts to achieve reporting objective. * Viewed accounting as a tool, not a framework for accurate reporting. | Audit Committees of the Board of Directors| Broad Role: Provide oversight of the internal and external audit function and the process of preparing the annual accuracy financial statements and public reports on internal control. Specific activities include: * Selecting the external audit firm. Approving any non-audit work performed by audit firm. * Selecting and/or approving the appointment of the Chief Audit Executive (Internal Auditor), * Reviewing and approving the scope and budget of the internal audit function. * Discussing audit findings with internal auditor and external auditor and advising the Board (and management) on specific actions that should be taken. | * Similar to Board members – did not have expertise or time to provide effective oversight of audit functions. * Were not viewed by auditors as the ‘audit client’. Rather the power to hire and fire the auditors often rested with management. Self-Regulatory Organizations: AICPA, FASB| Broad Role: Setting accounting and auditing standards dictating underlying financial reporting and auditing concepts. Set the expectations of audit quality and accounting quality. Specific roles include: * Establishing accounting principles * Establishing auditing standards * Interpreting previously issued standards * Implementing quality control processes to ensure audit quality. * Educating members on audit and accounting requirements. | * AICPA: Peer reviews did not take a public perspective; rather than looked at standards that were developed and reinforced internally. AICPA: Leadership transposed the organization for a public organization to a â€Å"trade association† that looked for revenue enhancement opportunities for its members. * AICPA: Did not actively involve third parties in standard setting. * FASB: Became more rule-oriented in response to (a) complex economic transactions; and (b) an auditing profession that was more oriented to pushing the rules rather than enforcing concepts. * FASB: Pressure from Congress to develop rules that enhanced economic growth, e. g. allowing organizations to not expense stock options. Other Self-Regulatory Organizations, e. g. NYSE, NASD| Broad Role: Ensuring the efficiency of the financial markets including oversight of trading and oversight of companies that are allowed to trade on the exchange. S pecific activities include: * Establishing listing requirements – including accounting requirements, governance requirements, etc. * Overseeing trading activities,| * Pushed for improvements for better corporate governance procedures by its members, but failed to implement those same procedures for its governing board, management, and trading specialists. Regulatory Agencies: the SEC| Broad Role: Ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and fairness of public reporting of financial and other information for public companies. Specific activities include: * Reviewing all mandatory filings with the SEC, * Interacting with the FASB in setting accounting standards, * Specifying independence standards required of auditors that report on public financial statements, * Identify corporate frauds, investigate causes, and suggest remedial actions. * Identified problems but was never granted sufficient resources by Congress or the Administration to deal with the issues. | External Auditors| Broa d Role: Performing audits of company financial statements to ensure that the statements are free of material misstatements including misstatements that may be due to fraud. Specific activities include: * Audits of public company financial statements, * Audits of non-public company financial statements, * Other accounting related work such as tax or consulting. | * Pushed accounting concepts to the limit to help organizations achieve earnings objectives. Promoted personnel based on ability to sell â€Å"non-audit products†. * Replaced direct tests of accounting balances with a greater use of inquiries, risk analysis, and analytics. * Failed to uncover basic frauds in cases such as WorldCom and HealthSouth because fundamental audit procedures were not performed. | Internal Auditors| Broad Role: Perform audits of companies for compliance with company policies and laws, audits to evaluate the efficiency of operations, and audits to determine the accuracy of financial reporting pr ocesses.Specific activities include: * Reporting results and analyses to management, (including operational management), and audit committees, * Evaluating internal controls. | * Focused efforts on ‘operational audits’ and assumed that financial auditing was addressed sufficiently by the external audit function. * Reported primarily to management with little effective reporting to the audit committee. * In some instances (HealthSouth, WorldCom) did not have access to the corporate financial accounts. | 2-3.The board of directors is often at the top of the list when it comes to responsibility for corporate governance failures. Some of the problems with the board of directors included: * Inadequate oversight of management. * Approval of management compensation plans, particularly stock options that provided perverse incentives, including incentives to manage earnings. * Non-independent, often dominated by management. * Did not spend sufficient time or have sufficient expe rtise to perform duties. * Continually re-priced stock options when market price declined. 2-4.Some of the ways the auditing profession was responsible were: * Too concerned about creating â€Å"revenue enhancement† opportunities for the firm, and less concerned about their core services or talents * Were willing to â€Å"push† accounting standards to the limit to help clients achieve earnings goals * Began to use more audit â€Å"shortcuts† such as inquiry and analytical procedures instead of direct testing of account balance. * Relied on management representations instead of testing management representations. * Were too often ‘advocates’ of management rather than protectors of users. 2-5.Cookie jar reserves are essentially liabilities or contra-assets that companies have overestimated in previous years to use when times are tougher to smooth earnings. The rationale is that the funds are then used to â€Å"smooth† earnings in the years when earnings need a boost. â€Å"Smooth† earnings typically are looked upon more favorably by the stock market. An example of a cookie jar reserve would be over-estimating an allowance account, such as allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance account is then written down (and into the income statement) in a bad year. The result is to increase earnings in the subsequent year. 2-6.Users should expect auditors to have the expertise, independence, and professional skepticism to render an unbiased and justified opinion on the financial statements. Auditors are expected to gather sufficient applicable evidence to render an independent opinion on the financial statements. 2-7. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was designed to â€Å"clean-up† corporate America, especially in the realms of financial reporting. The overall intent was to encourage better corporate governance; to make the audit committee the auditor’s client; encourage the independence and oversight of the board, a nd improve the independence of the external audit profession.There were certainly many factors that led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but the failures at Enron and WorldCom will probably be pointed to in the future as the major factors that led to the act being passed when it was. The Congress intended to develop a new reporting process that would provide just cause for the public to again trust financial statements and the audit processes leading up to the audit opinion. 2-8. The PCAOB is mandated by Congress to set standards for audits of public companies and perform quality control inspections of CPA firms that audit public companies.In order to carry out these responsibilities, the PCAOB requires all firms that audit U. S. listed (public) companies to register with it. It performs annual inspections on all audit firms that audit more than 100 public companies each year. It performs less frequent inspections, usually once every three years, for audit firms that audit less than 100 c ompanies annually. The PCAOB issues Inspection Reports for each inspection that is performed. The first part describes problems they encountered in their reviews of audits and that part is made public.The second part describes problems that the firms have with their quality control process. The second part is not issued publicly unless the firms fail to address the problems pointed out within a reasonable time frame – usually no more than a year. 2-9. Management has always been responsible for fairness, completeness, and accuracy of financial statements, but the Sarbanes-Oxley Act goes a step further by requiring the CEO and CFO to certify the accuracy of financial statements with criminal penalties as a punishment for materially misstated statements.The CEO and CFO must make public their certifications and assume responsibility for the fairness of the financial presentations. It thereby encourages organizations to improve their financial reporting functions. 2-10. Whistle bl owing enables violations of a company’s ethical code to be reported to appropriate levels in an organization, including the audit committee. Because of its presence, potential violators know that there is a real possibility and simple avenue by which inappropriate actions may be revealed.As such, it contains a preventive component that is indirectly helpful to the audit committee in fulfilling its corporate governance role. 2-11. There are a number of provisions that are designed to increase auditor independence. First, Rule 201 of the Act prohibits any registered public accounting firm from providing many non-audit services to their public audit clients. Second, the audit committee became the â€Å"client† instead of management, and only the audit committee can hire and fire auditors. Third, audit partners are required to rotate every five years.Finally, the auditors are expected to follow fundamental principles of independence that have been enacted by the SEC (more details in Chapter 3). 2-12. Management is responsible for issued financial statements. Although other parties may be sued for what is contained in the statements, management is ultimately responsible. Ownership is important because it establishes responsibility and accountability. Management must set up and monitor financial reporting systems that help it meet its reporting obligations. It cannot delegate this responsibility to the auditors. 2-13.An audit committee is a subcommittee of the board of directors that is composed of independent, outside directors. The audit committee has oversight responsibility (on behalf of the full board of directors and its stockholders) for the outside reporting of the company (including annual financial statements); risk monitoring and control processes; and both internal and external audit functions. 2-14. An outside director is not a member of management, legal counsel, a major vendor, outside service provider, former employee, or others who may have a personal relationship with management that might impair their objectivity or independence.The audit committee is responsible for assessing the independence of the external auditor and engage only auditors it believes are independent. Auditors are now hired and fired by audit committee members, not management. The intent is to make auditor accountability more congruent with stockholder and third-party needs. 2-15. The primary point of this question is for students to understand that the audit committee’s role is one of oversight rather than direct responsibility. For example, management is responsible for the fairness of the financial statements.Auditors are responsible for their audit and independent assessment of financial reporting. The audit committee is not designed to replace the responsibility of either of these functions. The audit committee’s oversight processes are to see that the management processes for financial reporting are adequate and the audito r’s carry out their responsibilities in an independent and competent manner. 2-16. The audit committee has the ability to hire and fire both the internal auditor and the external auditor.However, in the case of the internal audit function, the audit committee has the ability to hire and fire the head of internal audit as well as set the audit plan and budget. The audit committee does not control regulatory auditors, but should meet with regulatory auditors to understand the scope of their work and to discuss audit findings with them. 2-17. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act applies only to public companies. Therefore, the Act does not require non-public companies to have audit committees. That is not to say that it does not happen or is not a good idea, however.Most stakeholders want an independent party to ensure that their interests are being considered. The AICPA recommends audit committees for smaller public companies. 2-18. The external auditor should discuss any controversial accou nting choices with the audit committee and must communicate all significant adjustments made to the financial statements during the course of the audit. In addition, the processes used in making judgments and estimates as well as any disagreements with management should be communicated.Other items that need to be communicated include: * All adjustments that were not made during the course of the audit, * Difficulties in conducting the audit, * The auditor’s assessment of the accounting principles used and overall fairness of the financial presentation, * The client’s consultation with other auditors, * Any consultation with management before accepting the audit engagement, * Significant deficiencies in internal control. 2-19. The audit committee needs to ensure that the auditor is independent with respect to the annual audit.In order to ensure that independence, the audit committee must consider all other services that might be performed by the external auditor and app rove any such services, in advance. If the audit committee approves the services, they are in essence saying that the provision of the services will not impair the auditor’s independence. 2-20. Good governance is important to the external auditor for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to the following. Good governance * usually leads to better corporate performance, reflects a commitment to a high level of ethics, integrity, and sets a strong tone for the organization’s activities, * requires a commitment to financial reporting competencies and to good internal controls, * reduces the risk that the company will have materially misstated financial statements. If a client does not have good governance, there are greater risks associated with the client. For example, their poor performance may lead to financial failure and lack of payment of the audit fee.Or their poor governance may lead to improprieties in financial reporting, which puts the auditor at risk in terms of litigation (if the improprieties go undetected by the auditor). 2-21. The auditor might utilize the following procedures in determining the actual level of governance in an organization: * observe the functioning of the audit committee by participating in the meetings, noting the quality of the audit committee questions and responses, * interactions with management regarding issues related to the audit, e. g. * providing requested information on a timely basis, quality of financial personnel in making judgments, * accounting choices that tend to ‘push the limits’ towards aggressiveness or creating additional reported net income, * the quality of internal controls within the organization. * review the minutes of the board of directors meetings to determine that they are consistent with good governance, * review internal audit reports and especially determine the actions taken by management concerning the internal auditor’s findings and recommendations , * review the compensation plan for top management, review management expense reimbursements to determine (a) completeness of documentation, (b) appropriateness of requested reimbursement, and (c) extent of such requests. * review management’s statements to the financial press to determine if they are consistent with the company’s operations. 2-22. Good corporate governance is correlated with increased corporate performance as measured by return on equity, or return on capital. Generally, good corporate governance reduces audit risk as it is less likely that the organization will suffer from problems of management integrity, or would have an environment that might allow or permit fraud.Less audit risk implies that the amount of work to render an opinion on the financial statements would also be less than that required for a company with poorer corporate governance. 2-23. The three categories of audit standards are general standards, fieldwork standards, and reporting standards. General standards cover the characteristics of the auditor – technical training and proficiency, independence, and due professional care. Fieldwork standards provide guidance concerning planning and performing the audit.Reporting standards cover the essential elements of the auditor’s communication, including the opinion, the criteria against which the assertions were tested, and an explanation of the basis for the attestor’s opinion. 2-24. Due professional care is the expectation that an audit will be conducted with the skill and care of a professional. The standard of due professional care plays a role in litigation against auditors. Plaintiffs will try to show that the auditor did not do what a reasonably prudent auditor would have done.To evaluate the standard, a third-party also decides whether someone with similar skills in a similar situation would have acted in the same way. 2-25. There are three important dimensions identified in Exhibit 2. 5 : * Scope of Information on which assurance is provided, * Nature of Organizations on which assurance is provided, * Domicile of Company being audited. These three dimensions influence the identification of applicable auditing standards as follows: * A U. S. public company filing annual reports follows PCAOB standards. A U. S. non-public company issuing financial statements, follows AICPA standards, * A foreign company filing financial statements in a different country follows International Standards or the standards of that country, * U. S. companies reporting on other than financial information follows AICPA Attestation or Assurance Standards. 2-26. For the most part, the standards issued by the IAASB are quite similar to that of the two U. S. based audit standard setters. They differ in the following major ways: The auditor must assess the appropriateness of the accounting framework against which the audit opinion will be given (U. S. standards require only that the auditor commu nicate if the accounting is not consistent with U. S. GAAP. ) * IAASB utilizes a concept of Professional Skepticism rather than independence. * The IAASB utilizes a concept of ‘reasonable assurance’ compared with the U. S. evidence on sufficiency of audit evidence and due professional care, * The IAASB standards include both audit standards and assurance standards. 2-27.The IAASB Audit Standards are quite consistent with that of the PCAOB as well as that of the AICPA. Most of the concepts are the same, but are stated differently. They are very similar in the following ways: * Requirement of independence, * Gathering and evaluation of sufficient evidence, * Documentation of audit work, * Audit designed to minimize audit risk, * Due professional care vs. reasonable assurance, * Nature of the audit report The AICPA and the IAASB have announced a plan to work towards convergence of existing and future standards. The PCAOB has not yet announced a plan for convergence. 2-28.A n audit engagement applies to the development of an opinion on an organization’s financial statements. It is planned that the financial statements will be used by third parties who do not have direct access to client data. The audit engagement is a form of ‘positive assurance’ in which an opinion must be rendered. An assurance engagement differs from an audit in a number of important dimensions: * It can apply to almost any assertion that management wants to make as long as there is agreed-upon criteria by which to test management’s assertion. It is preferable that the criteria are generally accepted. An assurance engagement generally requires a third party (although assurance can also be provided to the audit client), but it is an identified third-party as opposed to a potential user of financial statements, * Assurance can be given on individual items of a company’s financial statements, rather than the full set of statements. 2-29. Assurance enga gements are designed to provide ‘positive assurance’, i. e. the item being attested to is either properly presented, or is not properly presented. For example, one of the Big 4 firms provides assurance to the audience that the votes are properly maintained and counted for the Emmy Awards.A ‘limited assurance engagement’ does not contemplate a full audit or assurance engagement such that sufficient information (evidence) is gathered to warrant a positive statement about whether the item being assured is, or is not, properly presented. Rather, based on a more limited amount of work, the auditor either states that ‘nothing came to his or her attention – based on the limited procedures – that indicates something is not fairly presented’. This is often referred to as ‘negative assurance’. An even more limited assurance engagement is one in which the accountant expresses ‘no assurance’ whatsoever on the item be ing reported. -30. * Auditing Standards apply to the auditor’s task of developing and then communicating an opinion on financial statements and, where applicable, independent opinions on the quality of an organization’s internal control over financial statements to the board, management, and outside third parties. * Assurance Standards apply the auditor’s task of developing and communicating an opinion on financial information outside of the normal financial statements, or on non-financial information to management, the board, and outside third-parties.Assurance services are engagements in which a practitioner expresses a conclusion designed to enhance the degree of confidence of the intended users about the outcome of the evaluation or measurement of a subject matter against criteria. * Attestation Standards is a term used by the AICPA to describe assurance services that involve gathering evidence regarding specific assertions and communicating an opinion on th e fairness of the presentation to a third party. Compilation and Review Standards refer to AICPA Standards that apply only to non-public companies where the board or a user has requested some assurance on the fairness of presentation of financial statements. These are referred to as negative assurance standards because the auditor does not gather enough evidence to support a statement as to whether the financial statements are fairly presented. 2-31. Independence means objectivity and freedom from bias. The auditor can favor neither the client nor the third party in evaluating the fairness of the financial statements The auditor must be independent in fact and in appearance.Independence in fact means the auditor is unbiased and objective. An auditor could be independent in fact if he or she owned a few shares of common stock in an audit client, but might not appear independent to a third party. Independence in appearance means that a third party with knowledge of the auditor’ s relationship with the client would consider the auditor to be independent. Professional skepticism, as used in the standards promulgated by the IAASB, has a broader meaning in that it refers to all of the factors that would affect an auditor’s ability to exercise proper skepticism in an audit engagement.The factors to be considered vary from those associated with the individual, such as objectivity, to those associated with the structure of the firm. These are similar to the independence standards that emphasize both audit firm relationships to the client as well as objectivity. However, the IAASB emphasis on professional skepticism goes a bit further: an auditor could be objective, but not necessarily exercise professional skepticism, i. e. being open to potential explanations of events that are not consistent with the auditor’s prior experiences. Professional skepticism appears to be a broader term than independence. 2-32.PCAOB – sets audit standards for the audits of all public companies that are registered with the SEC AICPA * sets audit standards for audits of non-public companies * sets attestation standards for areas other than public company reports on internal control sets standards for assurance services that are less in scope than an audit, such as reviews and compilations IAASB – sets standards for financial statement audits on an international basis. Right now, the international standards are being increasingly accepted by all political jurisdictions, but particularly in Europe and many developing countries. Harmonization with U.S. will continue to be an objective. GAO – sets the standards for financial audits of governmental entities within the U. S. and certain other organizations that receive Federal financial assistance. Goes beyond financial statement audits and also provides standards related to program audits for economy and efficiency of operations. IASB – sets standards for the professional prac tice of internal auditing around the world. Incorporates other standards by reference where applicable. 2-33. General Standards: The audit and attestation standards both require adequate technical training, expertise, and knowledge.They also both require independence and due professional care. The attestation standards differ in that they explicitly require links between assertions and reasonable criteria and a reasonably consistent estimation process; the audit standards implicitly assume this link. Fieldwork Standards: The audit and attestation standards both require planning and sufficient evidence. The audit standards go a step further in requiring an understanding of the entity and its environment. Reporting Standards: The reporting standards are completely different. Each reflects the underlying purpose of the engagement, i. . , the audit is designed to test whether the financials adhere to GAAP, whereas the attestation is designed to test a broader and more diverse set of ass ertions. 2-34. An audit program follows good corporate governance in the following way: Good governance is critical to the development of sound controls in an organization. The stronger the controls, the less risk that the financial statements will be misstated. The development of audit programs follow the standards in determining that sufficient evidence is gathered in order to evaluate the assertions being addressed in the audit engagement.Further, the gathering and evaluation of that evidence must be done by auditors who are independent of the client – in both fact and in appearance. Finally, the work must be carried out by auditors that understand the standards and exercise due professional care in the conduct of the audit engagement. 2-35. The major planning steps are: * Meeting with the audit client * Developing an understanding of the client’s business and industry * Develop an understanding of the client’s financial reporting processes and controls * Dev elop an understanding of materiality Develop a preliminary audit program that identifies the audit objectives defined in chapter 1. 2-36. Materiality is defined as the â€Å"magnitude of an omission or misstatement of accounting information that, in light of surrounding circumstances, makes it probable that the judgement of a reasonable person relying on the information would have been changed or influenced by the omission or misstatement. † Materiality guidelines usually involve applying percentages to some base, such as total assets, total revenue, or pretax income and consideration of qualitative factors such as the impact on important trends or ratios.The base should be a â€Å"stable† account however, making total assets a better choice than pretax income. 2-37. The auditor would take a sample of all additions to PP&E and verify the cost through reference to vendor invoices to determine that cost is accurately recorded and that title has passed to the company. If the company was considered high risk, the auditor might choose to physically verify the existence of the asset. Multiple Choice Questions: 2-38. d. 2-39. d. this is part of the profession’s problem, but not a cause of the failure. 2-40. a. 2-41. d. 2-42. a. 2-43. . 2-44. d. 2-45. b. 2-46. a. 2-47. f. Discussion and Research Questions: 2-48. a. The auditor might use the following approaches to determine whether a corporate code of ethics is actually followed: * observe corporate behavior in tests performed during the audit, e. g. approaches the company takes to purchasing goods, promoting personnel, and so forth, * observe criteria for promoting personnel; for example does performance always take on greater importance than how things are done, * observe corporate plans to communicate the importance of ethical behavior, e. g. ebcasts, emails, and so forth to communicate the importance of ethics, * review activity on the client’s whistleblowing website, or a summary of wh istleblowing activities reported by the internal auditor, * read a sample of self-evaluations by corporate officers, the board, and the audit committee and compare with the auditor’s observations of behavior, * examine sales transactions made during the end of quarters to determine if the sales reflect ‘performance goals’ as opposed to the company’s code of ethics. b. Are auditors equipped to make subjective judgments?This should be a great discussion question because many young people are attracted to the accounting profession because there are rules and relative certainty as to how things are done. However, as the profession is evolving, more judgments are required in both auditing and accounting. Audit personnel need to be equipped to make judgments on whether the company’s governance structure operates as intended and whether there are deficiencies in internal control when it does not operate effectively. The profession believes that auditors ca n make such judgments. . Assessing the competence of the audit committee can occur in a number of ways. Fortunately, the most persuasive evidence comes from the auditor’s direct interaction with the audit committee on a regular basis. The auditor can determine the nature of questions asked, the depth of understanding shared among audit committee members, and the depth of items included in the audit committee agenda. Many audit committees have self-assessment of their activities using criteria developed by CPA firms, or by the National Association of Corporate Directors.The auditor should also review the minutes of the audit committee meetings and determine the amount of time spent on important issues. An external auditor should be very reluctant to accept an audit engagement where the audit committee is perceived to be weak. There are a number of reasons including: * The lack of good governance most likely influences the organization’s culture and is correlated with a lack of commitment to good internal control. * The auditor has less protection from the group that is designed to assist the auditor in achieving independence. The company may be less likely to be fully forthcoming in discussions with the auditor regarding activities that the auditor might question. d. Internal auditing is an integral part of good corporate governance. It contributes to corporate governance in three distinct ways: * It assists the audit committee in its oversight role by performing requested audits and reporting to the audit committee, * It assists senior management in assessing the continuing quality of its oversight over internal control throughout the organization, * It assists operational management by providing feedback on the quality of its operations and controls. -49. a. Corporate governance is defined as: â€Å"a process by which the owners and creditors of an organization exert control and require accountability for the resources entrusted to the organiza tion. The owners (stockholders) elect a board of directors to provide oversight of the organization’s activities and its accountability to stakeholders. † The key players in corporate governance are the stockholders (owners), board of directors, audit committees, management, regulatory bodies, and auditors (both internal and external). b.In the past decade especially, all parties failed to a certain extent. For detailed analysis, see exhibit 2. 2 in the chapter and reproduced below: Corporate Governance Responsibilities and Failures Party | Overview of Responsibilities| Overview of Corporate Governance Failures| Stockholders| Broad Role: Provide effective oversight through election of Board process, approve major initiatives, buy or sell stock. | Focused on short-term prices; failed to perform long-term growth analysis; abdicated all responsibilities to management as long as stock price increased. Board of Directors| Broad Role: the major representative of stockholders to ensure that the organization is run according to the organization charter and there is proper accountability. Specific activities include: * Selecting management. * Reviewing management performance and determining compensation. * Declaring dividends * Approving major changes, e. g. mergers * Approving corporate strategy * Overseeing accountability activities. | * Inadequate oversight of management. * Approval of management compensation plans, particularly stock options that provided perverse incentives, including incentives to manage earnings. Non-independent, often dominated by management. * Did not spend sufficient time or have sufficient expertise to perform duties. * Continually re-priced stock options when market price declined. | Management| Broad Role: Operations and Accountability. Managing the organization effectively and provide accurate and timely accountability to shareholders and other stakeholders. Specific activities include: * Formulating strategy and risk appetit e. * Implementing effective internal controls. * Developing financial reports. * Developing other reports to meet public, stakeholder, and regulatory requirements. * Earnings management to meet analyst expectations. * Fraudulent financial reporting. * Pushing accounting concepts to achieve reporting objective. * Viewed accounting as a tool, not a framework for accurate reporting. | Audit Committees of the Board of Directors| Broad Role: Provide oversight of the internal and external audit function and the process of preparing the annual accuracy financial statements and public reports on internal control. Specific activities include: * Selecting the external audit firm. * Approving any non-audit work performed by audit firm. Selecting and/or approving the appointment of the Chief Audit Executive (Internal Auditor), * Reviewing and approving the scope and budget of the internal audit function. * Discussing audit findings with internal auditor and external auditor and advising the Boa rd (and management) on specific actions that should be taken. | * Similar to Board members – did not have expertise or time to provide effective oversight of audit functions. * Were not viewed by auditors as the ‘audit client’. Rather the power to hire and fire the auditors often rested with management. Self-Regulatory Organizations: AICPA, FASB| Broad Role: Setting accounting and auditing standards dictating underlying financial reporting and auditing concepts. Set the expectations of audit quality and accounting quality. Specific roles include: * Establishing accounting principles * Establishing auditing standards * Interpreting previously issued standards * Implementing quality control processes to ensure audit quality. * Educating members on audit and accounting requirements. | * AICPA: Peer reviews did not take a public perspective; rather than looked at standards that were developed and reinforced internally. AICPA: Leadership transposed the organization fo r a public organization to a â€Å"trade association† that looked for revenue enhancement opportunities for its members. * AICPA: Did not actively involve third parties in standard setting. * FASB: Became more rule-oriented in response to (a) complex economic transactions; and (b) an auditing profession that was more oriented to pushing the rules rather than enforcing concepts. * FASB: Pressure from Congress to develop rules that enhanced economic growth, e. g. allowing organizations to not expense stock options. Other Self-Regulatory Organizations, e. g. NYSE, NASD| Broad Role: Ensuring the efficiency of the financial markets including oversight of trading and oversight of companies that are allowed to trade on the exchange. Specific activities include: * Establishing listing requirements – including accounting requirements, governance requirements, etc. * Overseeing trading activities,| * Pushed for improvements for better corporate governance procedures by its membe rs, but failed to implement those same procedures for its governing board, management, and trading specialists. Regulatory Agencies: the SEC| Broad Role: Ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and fairness of public reporting of financial and other information for public companies. Specific activities include: * Reviewing all mandatory filings with the SEC, * Interacting with the FASB in setting accounting standards, * Specifying independence standards required of auditors that report on public financial statements, * Identify corporate frauds, investigate causes, and suggest remedial actions. | * Identified problems but was never granted sufficient resources by Congress or the Administration to deal with the issues. External Auditors| Broad Role: Performing audits of company financial statements to ensure that the statements are free of material misstatements including misstatements that may be due to fraud. Specific activities include: * Audits of public company financial statements, * Audits of non-public company financial statements, * Other accounting related work such as tax or consulting. | * Pushed accounting concepts to the limit to help organizations achieve earnings objectives. * Promoted personnel based on ability to sell â€Å"non-audit products†. Replaced direct tests of accounting balances with a greater use of inquiries, risk analysis, and analytics. * Failed to uncover basic frauds in cases such as WorldCom and HealthSouth because fundamental audit procedures were not performed. | Internal Auditors| Broad Role: Perform audits of companies for compliance with company policies and laws, audits to evaluate the efficiency of operations, and audits to determine the accuracy of financial reporting processes. Specific activities include: *Reporting results and analyses to management, (including operational management), and audit committees, * Evaluating internal controls. | * Focused efforts on ‘operational audits’ and assumed that fina ncial auditing was addressed sufficiently by the external audit function. * Reported primarily to management with little effective reporting to the audit committee. * In some instances (HealthSouth, WorldCom) did not have access to the corporate financial accounts. | c. There is an inverse relationship between corporate governance and risk to the auditor i. e. he better the quality of corporate governance, the lower the risk to the auditor. This relationship occurs because lower levels of corporate governance implies two things for the auditor: * There is more likelihood that the organization will have misstatements in its financial statements because the commitment to a strong organizational structure and oversight is missing, * There is greater risk to the auditor because the governance structure is not designed to prevent/detect such misstatements, and will likely not be as forthcoming when the auditor questions potential problems. -50. Element of Poor Corporate Governance| Audit Activity to Determine if Governance is actually Poor| Risk Implication of Poor Governance| The company is in the financial services sector and has a large number of consumer loans, including mortgages, outstanding. | This is not necessarily poor governance. However, the auditor needs to determine the amount of risk that is inherent in the current loan portfolio and whether the risk could have been managed through better risk management by the organization. The lack of good risk management by the organization increases the risk that the financial statements will be misstated because of the difficulty of estimating the allowance for loan losses. The auditor will have to focus increased efforts on estimating loan losses, including a comparison of how the company is doing in relation to the other companies in the financial sector. | The CEO and CFO’s compensation is based on three components: (a) base salary, (b) bonus based on growth in assets and profits, and (c) significant s tock options. This is a rather common compensation package and, by itself, is not necessarily poor corporate governance. However, in combination with other things, the use of ‘significant stock options’ may create an incentive for management to potentially manage reported earnings in order to boost the price of the company’s stock. The auditor can determine if it is poor corporate governance by determining the extent that other safeguards are in place to protect the company. In combination with other things, the use of ‘significant stock options’ may create an incentive for management to potentially manage reported earnings in order to boost the price of the company’s stock. The auditor should carefully examine if the company’s reported earnings and stock price differs broadly from companies in the same sector. If that is the case, there is a possibility of earnings manipulation and the auditor should investigate to see if such manipula tion is occurring. The audit committee meets semi-annually. It is chaired by a retired CFO who knows the company well because she had served as the CFO of a division of the firm before retirement. The other two members are local community members – one is the President of the Chamber of Commerce and the other is a retired executive from a successful local manufacturing firm. | There is a strong indicator of poor corporate governance.If the audit committee meets only twice a year, it is unlikely that it is devoting appropriate amounts of time to its oversight function, including reports from both internal and external audit. There is another problem in that the chair of the audit committee was previously employed by the company and would not meet the definition of an independent director. Finally, the problems with the other two members is that there is no indication that either of them have sufficient financial expertise. This is an example of poor governance because (1) it s ignals that the organization has not made a commitment to independent oversight by the audit committee, (2) the lack of financial expertise means that the auditor does not have someone independent that they can discuss controversial accounting or audit issues that arise during the course of the audit. If there is a disagreement with management, the audit committee does not have the expertise to make independent judgments on whether the auditor or management has the appropriate view of he accounting or audit issues. | The company has an internal auditor who reports directly to the CFO, and makes an annual report to the audit committee. | The good news is that the organization has an internal audit activity. | The bad news is that a staff of one isn’t necessarily as large or as diverse as it needs to be to cover the major risks of the organization. The external auditor will be more limited in determining the extent that his or her work can rely on the internal auditor. The CEO is a dominating personality – not unusual in this environment. He has been on the job for 6 months and has decreed that he is streamlining the organization to reduce costs and centralize authority (most of it in him). | A dominant CEO is not especially unusual, but the centralization of power in the CEO is a risk that many aspects of governance, as well as internal control could be overridden. The auditor should look at policy manuals, as well as interview other members of management and the board – especially the audit committee. The centralization of power in the CEO is a risk that many aspects of governance, as well as internal control could be overridden. This increases the amount of audit risk. | The Company has a loan committee. It meets quarterly to approve, on an ex-post basis all loans that are over $300 million (top 5% for this institution). | The auditor should observe the minutes of the loan committee to verify its meetings. The auditor should also intervie w the chairman of the loan committee to understand both its policies and its attitude towards controls and risk. There are a couple of elements in this statement that carries great risk to the audit and to the organization. First, the loan committee only meets quarterly. Economic conditions change more rapidly than once a quarter, and thus the review is not timely. Second, the only loans reviewed are (a) large loans that (b) have already been made. Thus, the loan committee does not act as a control or a check on management or the organization. The risk is that many more loans than would be expected could be delinquent, and need to be written down. The previous auditor has resigned because of a dispute regarding the accounting treatment and fair value assessment of some of the loans. | The auditor should contact the previous auditor to obtain an understanding as to the factors that led the previous auditor to either resign or be fired. The auditor is also concerned with who led the c harge to get rid of the auditor. | This is a very high risk indicator. The auditor would look extremely bad if the previous auditor resigned over a valuation issue and the new auditor failed to adequately address the same issue.Second, this is a risk factor because the organization shows that it is willing to get rid of auditors with whom they do not agree. This is a problem of auditor independence and coincides with the above identification of the weakness of the audit committee. This action confirms a generally poor quality of corporate governance. | 2-51. a. External auditors are supposed to perform audits of financial statements to ensure that the statements are free of material misstatements. They work for each of the parties to a certain extent and since they are independent, they will not favor any party over the other.The auditors are an independent and objective attestor that evaluates the quality of financial reporting and conveys an opinion to all parties involved in corp orate governance. b. Some of the ways the accounting profession was responsible were: * Were too concerned about creating â€Å"revenue enhancement† opportunities, and less concerned about their core services or talents * Were willing to â€Å"push† accounting standards to the limit to help clients achieve earnings goals * Began to use more audit â€Å"shortcuts† such as inquiry and analytical procedures instead of direct testing of account balance. Relied on management representations instead of testing management representations. c. The term â€Å"public watchdog† implies that auditors will look over the business world and stop bad things from happening. In terms of financial statements, Arthur Levitt said, â€Å"We rely on auditors to put something like the good housekeeping seal of approval on the information investors receive. † The term â€Å"public watchdog† places a great deal of responsibility on the shoulders of auditors to protect the public’s interests. 2-52. b&c. Cookie jar reserves are essentially funds that companies have â€Å"stashed away† to use when times get tough. The rationale is that the reserves are then used to â€Å"smooth† earnings in the years when earnings needs a boost. â€Å"Smooth† earnings typically are looked upon more favorably by the stock market. An example of a cookie jar reserve would be over-estimating an allowance account, such as allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance account is then written down (and into the income statement) in a bad year.Auditors may have allowed cookie jar reserves because they are known to smooth earnings, and smooth earnings are rewarded by the market. On the flip side, fluctuating earnings are penalized, and present more risk to the company of bankruptcy or other problems. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act addressed the issue by creating an oversight body, the PCAOB, but also addressed the issue in other ways. For example, Congr ess felt that creating more effective Boards would decrease the use of earnings management. Allowing improper revenue recognition is one thing that auditors may have done in their unwillingness to say â€Å"no† to clients.For example, companies shipped out goods to customers at the end of the year for deep discounts and allowed returns at the beginning of the next year. This practice is known as channel stuffing. Since the goods had a great chance of being returned, it would be improper to recognize all as revenue. Again, auditors were unwilling to say â€Å"no† to clients. Greed is probably the reason here. If companies claim more revenue, their stock would grow in the short-term, making management richer, and making management more willing to give pay raises to their auditors.With the establishment of stronger audit committees and certification of financial statements in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, this kind of accounting trickery will certainly decrease. Creative accoun ting for M&A included the use of the â€Å"pooling† method of accounting. Pooling allowed acquiring companies to value existing assets at historical costs and did not require the recognition of goodwill for the acquisition. Because true costs (values) were not shown on the financial statements, management was often encouraged to bid up prices for acquisitions with the result that many of them were not economic.The creative accounting also shielded the income statement from charges that would have otherwise hit income including: goodwill amortization, depreciation, and depletion expenses. Greed, the same reasons as the revenue recognition issue, was most likely the motivation for this creative accounting. Discussion between an educated audit committee and auditor plus certification of financial statements required by Sarbanes-Oxley will certainly address this issue. Assisting management to meet earnings.Too often, auditors confused ‘financial engineering’ with val ue-adding. In other words, auditors often sought to add value to their clients by finding ways to push accounting to achieve earnings objectives sought by management. These earnings objectives then played a major role in escalating stock prices – all desired because of the heavy emphasis of management compensation on stock options. Incentives were misaligned. Most of management compensation came in the form of stock options.Better audit committees, increased auditor responsibility, identification of users as the client of the auditor, and management certification of statements will address the issue via requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. 2-53. a. Some ways that the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act affects the external audit profession: * The creation of the PCAOB puts a watchful eye on the accounting industry. * Reporting on internal controls is required by the external auditor, adding to their workload but also strengthening their value to organizations and giving them more assurance when giving an audit opinion. Auditors can now feel more comfortable taking issues to the audit committee * Audit partners must rotate off every five years. This will create a difficult transition at every client every five years. * With the cooling off period, audit partners or managers cannot take jobs with clients as easily. b. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act encourages effective internal audit functions for all public companies. The internal audit profession has been active in assisting companies in complying with the internal control provisions of the Act. c. This could be argued either way.On one side, the legislation clearly creates a â€Å"watchdog† of the accounting industry, which decreases the power and prestige as the profession is no longer self-regulated. On the other hand, the Act and recent business press has brought a lot of attention to the accounting industry, which has educated the world about the role of accountants in the economy, and possibly incr eased their power and prestige. Now, there is a general feeling that the public accounting profession has reestablished itself as a watchdog for investors and see the audit committee as their primary client.Overall, the consensus seems to be that the profession has regained a great deal of its prestige. 2-54. a. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act changed responsibilities of management in the following ways: * Requirement that CEO and CFO certify the financial statements and disclosures * Requirement that companies provide a comprehensive report on internal controls over financial reporting * Requirement to describe whether they have implemented a Corporate Code of Conduct, including provisions for whistleblowing, and processes to ensure hat corporate actions are consistent with the Code of Conduct. b. Under The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, management is no longer the â€Å"client. † The auditor reports to the audit committee, who is independent of management. With these changes, the auditor shoul d be able to be â€Å"tougher† on management because the audit committee will be demanding it. However, the auditor still has to work with management to gain access to needed information, as well as understanding management intent as management intent drives some accounting treatments. . The CEO and CFO, as members of management, are ultimately responsible for the financial statements. The chair of the audit committee and the external auditor are then responsible to a certain extent, probably more in the minds of the public than in reality. Finally, the Director of Internal Audit is the least responsible of the group, as they are essentially employees of management and the audit committee. 2-55. a. The audit committee must be comprised of â€Å"outside† independent directors, one of whom must be a financial expert.The audit committee now has the authority to hire and fire the external auditor, and will therefore serve as the auditor’s primary contact, especially for accounting and audit related issues. In addition, the audit committee sets the scope for and hires internal auditors. They must review the work of both parties. b. The audit committee certainly takes on much more responsibility with the new standard. They will now be much more informed about the audit function and financial reporting processes within their company. The auditor must report all significant problems to the audit committee.For auditors, the reporting relationship should reinforce the need to keep the third-party users in mind in dealing with reporting choices. c. The audit committee is basically in a position of mediator, but not problem solver. One member must be a financial expert, but all members must be well versed in the field. This financial knowledge can help the audit committee to understand the disagreement. Ultimately, the auditor has to be able to give a clean audit opinion. If they believe a certain accounting treatment to be wrong, they do not have to give that clean opinion.In this way, neither the audit committee nor management can necessarily solve a dispute. d. The accounting choice is acceptable, and thus, the financial statements are fairly presented in accordance with GAAP. The fact that the auditor believes there is a better treatment should be communicated to important parties as follows: * Management – the communication should be made directly, and the rationale for the auditor’s opinion should be explained to management and documented in the working papers. The working papers should also include the client’s rationale for the chosen accounting treatment. Audit Committee – Both management’s chosen treatment and the auditor’s preferred treatment should be communicated to the audit committee. Preferably the communication would include both verbal communication and written communication. The rationale for accepting management’s accounting treatment should also be communicate d. * Users of the Financial Statement – There is no required communication to the outside users of the financial statements as long as the auditor has concluded that the financial statements are fairly presented in accordance with GAAP. 2-56. . An audit committee is a subcommittee of the board of directors; it is responsible for monitoring audit activities and serves as a surrogate for the interests of shareholders. Audit committees should preferably be composed of outside members of the board, that is, members who do not hold company management positions or are closely associated with management. b. The following information should be discussed with the audit committee: * A summary of the auditor's responsibilities under GAAS. Auditor responsibilities change over time as new standards are issued.The audit committee should always be aware of the nature of the audit function within the organization. * Initial selection or major changes in significant accounting policies that c ould have a material affect on financial statement presentation. The audit committee needs to know how the choice may affect both current reports and future financial reports as well as the rationale for the choice because it is presumed that companies select the accounting principles that best reflect the economic substance of their transactions and are thus changed only when dictated by standard-setting bodies or when the economics of the situation change. The process utilized by management to make significant estimates and other management judgments such as loan loss reserves in banks and savings and loans and insurance reserves in insurance companies. * Significant audit adjustments that may reflect on the stewardship and accountability of management, even if management agreed to make the adjustments. * The auditor's review of and responsibility for other information contained in an annual report (outside of the audited financial statements). * All major accounting disagreements with management, even if such disagreements are eventually resolved to the auditor's satisfaction. The auditor's knowledge of management's consultation with other auditors regarding accounting or auditing issues. * Any significant accounting or auditing issues discussed with management prior to the acceptance of the audit engagement – in particular, any positions taken regarding the proper accounting of controversial areas should be disclosed. * Any difficulties encountered in performing the audit, especially any activities undertaken by management that might be considered an impairment of the audit function. * Internal audit plans and reports and management’s responses to those reports. The extent to which the client has implemented a comprehensive plan of risk assessment and the organization’s plans to mitigate, share, control, or otherwise address those risks. * Any known internal control weaknesses that could significantly affect the financial reporting pro cess. The rationale for this communication is that the board of directors through