O objetivo principal desse estudo é explicar a extensão em que os padrões de mapeamento cerebral acompanham os padrões comportamentais de julgamentos de auditores e contadores, quando da avaliação de evidências para decisões de continuidade operacional. Para isso, foi adaptado o protocolo comportamental do Asare (1989), bem como foi utilizado o método desenvolvido pelo laboratório EINA, para coleta de dados por meio de eletroencefalograma (EEG) e elaboração do mapeamento cognitivo cerebral. Adicionalmente, visando o enriquecimento da discussão científica acerca da contabilidade, destacam-se as hipóteses formuladas por Basu e Waymire (2006), Dickhaut (2009) e Dickhaut et al. (2010), utilizando bases biológicas (cerebrais) para predizer a evolução das normas contábeis. O planejamento dessa pesquisa exploratória contemplou a investigação do relacionamento entre a teoria de atualização de crenças (HOGARTH; EINHORN, 1992) e as bases neurocientíficas, para uma amostra composta por 25 indivíduos (12 auditores e 13 contadores). Como resultado, auditores e contadores apresentaram julgamentos similares, quanto à continuidade operacional da companhia, sobretudo ao demonstrarem maior sensibilidade aos blocos de evidências negativas (HOGARTH; EINHORN, 1992). Apesar dos julgamentos similares, os resultados apresentaram padrões de processamento cerebral divergentes entre os grupos, ensejando que raciocínios distintos foram utilizados para chegar às estimativas de continuidade. Durante o processo decisório, os auditores apresentaram padrões de processamento cerebral homogêneos, enquanto os contadores evidenciaram a ocorrência de conflitos e maior esforço cognitivo (ROCHA; ROCHA, 2011). Para os dois grupos, observa-se a ocorrência de maximização (minimização) dos julgamentos em áreas cerebrais associadas à identificação das necessidades e motivações atreladas ao relacionamento do indivíduo com o seu grupo social. Essa premissa foi reforçada pela inexistência de diferenças significativas entre os mapas de regressão de auditores e contadores, levando à interpretação dos achados dos grupos como um comportamento cerebral homogêneo (DICKHAUT et al., 2010; ROCHA; ROCHA, 2011; SINGER, 2009). / The main purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which auditors and accountants\' brain mapping patterns follow the behavioral patterns in the sequential assessment of evidences when making judgments about going concern opinion. The behavioral protocol used by Asare (1989) was adapted and the method developed by EINA laboratory was used for data collection (electroencephalogram - EEG) and construction of the cognitive brain mapping. In addition, the hypotheses formulated by Basu & Waymire (2006), Dickhaut (2009) and Dickhaut et al. (2010) were retrieved to enrich the scientific accounting discussion, using biological (brain) basis to predict the accounting standards evolution. This exploratory research was designed to investigate the relationship between belief-adjustment theory (HOGARTH; EINHORN, 1992) and the underpinnings of neurosciences used to test the behavioral and physiological hypotheses. The sample consisted of 25 participants (12 auditors and 13 accountants). Findings showed that auditors and accountants had similar going concern judgments, especially because they were more sensitive to negative evidences (HOGARTH; EINHORN, 1992). Notwithstanding similar judgments, results showed distinct patterns of brain processing indicating different reasoning to estimate the going concern probability. During the decision process, auditors had homogeneous patterns of brain processing, while patterns from accountants indicated the occurrence of conflicts and greater cognitive effort (ROCHA; ROCHA, 2011). Furthermore, findings showed maximization (minimization) of judgments in brain areas associated with the identification of needs and motivations linked to the individual\'s relationship with the related social group. This assumption was reinforced by the absence of significant differences between the regression brain maps of auditors and accountants, showing homogeneous brain behavior (DICKHAUT et al., 2010; ROCHA; ROCHA, 2011; SINGER, 2009).

Submitted by Rosangela Silva (rosangela.silva3@unioeste.br) on 2018-02-22T14:58:29Z No. of bitstreams: 2 FERNANDA MARCIA KUMM.pdf: 3512713 bytes, checksum: d4d6dfa7f0af4c78aedb828260997b7f (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-22T14:58:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 FERNANDA MARCIA KUMM.pdf: 3512713 bytes, checksum: d4d6dfa7f0af4c78aedb828260997b7f (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-01 / This research aims to analyze how the auditing procedure applicability contributes for the sustainability practices disclosure from the annual management plan of the agrobusiness’ cooperatives which are affiliated to Frimesa’s center, from 2011 to 2015. On defining the terms the following categories were approached: Annual Management Reports; Economic Area; Environmental Area; Social Area and Auditing System. The paper, which presents qualitative approach, is described as documental, bibliographic, investigatory and explanatory. The disclosure theory was taken as a standard concerning the sustainability disclosure report theory, once that its importance is related to its theoretical, empirical and social contributions. The Atlas.ti software was used for the thematic content analysis, through which we could explore the data reports management from 2011 to 2015, which are available in the official cooperative website. With the software we could also present, on a data diagram, the relation between the sustainability practices from the management reports, and the strategy mentioned in the cooperatives executive management messages background. In order to fulfill our goal we made a description of the aspects that are part of the annual cooperatives management report structure; we also made a rating, out of the indicators disclosure levels, regarding the presentation of the required information in the Global Reporting Initiative 4 – GRI4; and an evaluation of the main activities report considering the GRI application levels as an audit approach. The results revealed that all of the associated cooperatives in the analysis presented a higher disclosure level in the report concerning the economic area, mainly C. Vale, that had a Total Disclosure Degree – 66,66% of TDD. This result shows, in this area, that this cooperative includes satisfactory information to sponsor the stakeholders’ decision making. As for the social and environmental areas, the obtained results, through the indicators verification, shows us that the contextualized and passed on aspects and the release in these areas need to be improved, because the greater the amount of disclosure information the greater the TDD results. Therefore, there is information preponderance deemed as positive because the cooperatives emphasize the positives facts and events occured. / Esta pesquisa objetivou analisar como a aplicabilidade dos procedimentos de auditoria contribui para a disclosure das ações e práticas de sustentabilidade comunicadas nos relatórios de gestão anual das cooperativas agroindustriais filiadas à central Frimesa, período de 2011 a 2015. Na definição dos constructos, relacionaram-se as categorias: Relatórios de Gestão Anual, Dimensão Econômica, Dimensão Ambiental, Dimensão Social e Instrumento de Auditoria. A pesquisa, de abordagem qualitativa, classificou-se como documental, bibliográfica, exploratória e descritiva. Para a sua realização, seguiu-se a linha da teoria da evidenciação, notadamente no que tange à teoria da evidenciação do relatório sustentável, haja vista que sua relevância está relacionada às suas contribuições teóricas, empíricas e sociais. Empregou-se a análise de conteúdo temática, com auxílio do software Atlas.ti., por meio do qual foi possível explorar os dados dos relatórios de gestão disponíveis no website oficial das cooperativas, referentes ao período de 2011 a 2015. O software também possibilitou apresentar, em um diagrama de códigos, a relação entre as práticas sustentáveis extraídas dos relatórios de gestão e a estratégia mencionada no contexto das mensagens comunicadas pela Diretoria Executiva das cooperativas. Para a concretização desta pesquisa, se procedeu à descrição dos aspectos que compõem a estrutura dos relatórios de gestão anual das cooperativas; à classificação, nas dimensões da sustentabilidade, do grau de evidenciação dos indicadores quanto à apresentação das informações requeridas no Global Reporting Initiative 4 – GRI4; e à avaliação das ações evidenciadas nos relatórios considerando os níveis de aplicação do GRI4 como abordagem de auditoria. Os resultados revelaram que as cinco cooperativas participantes da análise apresentaram um grau de evidenciação maior no relato dos aspectos que compõem a dimensão econômica, com destaque para a C. Vale, que obteve um Grau de Evidenciação Total – GET de 66,66%. Esse resultado indica que, nessa dimensão, essa cooperativa contempla informações suficientes para subsidiar as tomadas de decisões dos stakeholders. Quanto às dimensões ambiental e social, os resultados obtidos na apuração dos indicadores mostram que os aspectos contextualizados e comunicados nessas dimensões precisam ser ampliados, pois quanto maior for a quantidade de informações divulgadas, maior será o resultado do GET. Conclui-se que há um predomínio de informações consideradas positivas, pois as cooperativas enfatizam fatos e eventos já ocorridos que foram positivos.

M.Com. (Computer Auditing) / In the wake of the economic catastrophes and corporate disgraces such as Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat, and other corporations at the turn of the 21st Century, the United States Senate adopted the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency Act, which became known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (hereafter the SOX Act). The concluding bill, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, was accepted and approved by the United States Senate on July 25, 2002. The primary motive of the SOX Act is to safeguard shareholders of public corporations by improving, cultivating and ultimately ensuring the reliability and accuracy of corporate disclosure of financial and non-financial information. More than a decade later, many corporations have enhanced their compliance capabilities and competencies, having learned from prior experience and/or earlier SOX fiascos. The envisioned benefits of the SOX Act were to provide the charter and contextual information needed to implement, monitor and review operational and financial processes, reinforce internal controls, and enhance corporate financial reporting. Since the SOX Act forces corporations to conform and comply, the question is; whether SOX compliance can essentially benefit the company’s everyday business as it affects virtually every line of work with the unequivocal purpose of reinstating public confidence in the disclosures included in annual financial statements. The study focuses on how to approach the rudimentary SOX compliance checklist and possibly transform it into an actual value added service for stakeholders and furthermore, how to leverage off the knowledge garnered through complying with the SOX Act – ultimately creating a more effective and resourceful corporation in all financial spheres. By aligning the SOX compliance process with the actual improvement of internal controls, financial processes and ultimately financial reporting, an unprejudiced ambition to identify and manage “real world” risks can be achieved. Ultimately, to comply with the SOX Act might not be an option for public corporations; however, being SOX compliant doesn’t have to be without substantial benefit to a corporation, Senior Executive Management and eventually and ultimately the shareholders.

M.Com. (Computer Auditing) / Intranets and related technology, can be used to solve many problems in the local computing environment. But the use of the Intranet and the related technology also raises several control concerns. Because of the increased use of Intranets within the business environment, the internal control related to the Intranet has become an issue that needs to be addressed by management and the auditor. Computerization in the accounting environment has made it virtually impossible to audit around the computer. It is therefore essential that the auditor, and more specifically the computer auditor, should assess the influence of the Intranet on the audit objectives. The objective of this short dissertation is to evaluate the influence of Intranet technology on the audit objectives (within the Intranet's different spheres of application) in terms of the risks posed for the auditor and management. It was also aimed at identifying the security risks in relationship with the audit objectives...

M.Com. (Computer Auditing) / This dissertation aims to explore the entity characteristics associated with the implementation of the board-level stand-alone risk management committee (RMC) in South Africa. We developed a battery of econometric models based on triangulation of corporate governance theories which linked an entity’s decision to set up a separate risk management committee (RMC) in its board structures as a dependent variable and a host of entity-specific factors as independent variables. Data collected from audited annual reports of 181 JSE-listed non-financial entities was analysed using logistics regression estimation procedures. Our results show a strong positive relationship between the likelihood that an entity would establish a separate RMC, on the one hand, and board independence, board size, entity size, and industry type, on the other. Our study fails to find support for the hypothesis that an entity’s characteristics – such as the independence of the board chairman, the use of Big Four audit firms, financial reporting risks, and levels of financial leverage – do influence an entity’s decision to form a separate RMC. Our findings emphasize the role that information asymmetry between executive and non-executive directors, agency cost and potential damage to reputation capital of directors; diversity in background, expertise, and skills of directors; economies of scale in absorbing RMC costs; and industry-specific institutions and norms play in an entity’s decision to form a separate RMC. The implication of our findings is that policy-makers should consider the size and composition of boards and also take cognizance of entity size and industry-specific idiosyncrasies in setting recommended corporate governance practices.

Both literature and practice have looked at different strategies to diminish healthcare associated costs. As an extension to this stream of research, the present three paper dissertation addresses the issue of reducing elevated healthcare costs using analytics. The first paper looks at extending the benefits of auditing algorithms from mere detection of fraudulent providers to maximizing the deterrence from inappropriate behavior. Using the structure of the physicians' network, a new auditing algorithm is developed. Evaluation of the algorithm is performed using an agent-based simulation and an analytical model. A case study is also included to illustrate the application of the algorithm in the warranty domain. The second paper relies on experimental data to build a personalized medical recommender system geared towards re-enforcing price-sensitive prescription behavior. The study analyzes the impact of time pressure, and procedure cost and prescription prevalence/popularity on the physicians' use of the system's recommendations. The third paper investigates the relationship between patients' compliance and healthcare costs. The study includes a survey of the literature along with a longitudinal analysis of patients' data to determine factors leading to patients' non-compliance, and ways to alleviate it.

Omfattningen av vad som loggas i ett system idag är varierande, de flesta har någon form av loggning av oönskade händelser. Vi inriktar oss på olika metoder för att applicera auditing så det går att spåra hela händelseförlopp. Vi undersöker vilka vitala delar en auditlogg ska innehålla, utifrån SANS policy för auditing. Vi designar och implementerar ett ramverk för auditing och väljer ut en säker digitalsigneringsmetod för loggad data. Slutligen verifierar vi implementation och signeringsmetod. / The extent of what is logged in systems today is varying, most of them have some form of logging of undesired events. We focus on various methods for applying auditing to be able to track an entire sequence of events. We examine vital information an audit log should contain, based SANS policy for auditing. We design and implement a framework for auditing and selects a secure digital signing method for logged data. Finally we verify the implementation and signing method.

M.Comm.

M.Com. (Accounting & Auditing) / External and Internal auditors have to deal with computer systems which are becoming increasingly complex. An auditor's interest in such an environment is primarily an understanding of the controls over the computer system and the risk of error and fraud. When dealing with controls two issues are important. The first deals with the ability to control a complex computer system. Unless the control issues are understood and the impact of various alternatives appreciated it would be impossible to control a computer system. Under such circumstances there is a high risk of error and fraud and the information present in a business could be very unreliable. Secondly the auditor needs to evaluate controls for purposes of his audit. Usually the objective is to assure himself that they adequately safeguard the business assets and prevent or detect errors present in the accounting records of the concern...

D.Litt et Phil. / The establishment of Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) was seen as a way of addressing the continued shortage of skilled professionals in order to ensure a competitive South African economy in the global environment. The SETAs attracted much media attention as a result of poor service delivery primarily attributed to poor corporate governance. Despite the many positive contributions by SETAs, they remain the most criticized entities in post-democratic South Africa. The study entails a description, explanation and assessment of the concepts corporate governance, risk management and compliance in SETAs. The legislative framework that underpins good corporate governance is identified and explained. The roles of the board and its fiduciary duties, and of the audit committee and the roles of executive management are described in order to ensure a clear understanding of each of them and a separation of each from the others. The concepts corporate governance, risk management and compliance are inseparable from the well-being of any organization. The board of an entity is ultimately accountable for the implementation of good corporate governance. Its role can be of value only if it is properly constituted, is functioning effectively and if its role is understood by all parties concerned. The manifestations of poor corporate governance include poor financial management, non-compliance with policies and procedures, lack of capacity building and the lack of a formalized nomination system to identify suitably qualified and experienced board members. By exercising corporate governance in an accountable and transparent manner, the most appropriate developmental policy objectives to sustainably develop a society by mobilizing and applying all available resources in the public and private sectors in the most efficient, efficient and democratic way will be achieved.