Abstract not available

This thesis has two (2) broad objectives. The first objective is to test the impact of audit committee and internal audit (IA) function characteristics on IA contribution to the financial statement audit. The second objective is to investigate whether a negative association exists between IA contribution to the financial statement audit and audit fees. The study is conducted in a Malaysian context and focuses on the perspectives of internal auditors. There are a number of motivations for the study. In particular, previous studies have not addressed the need for a better understanding of how corporate governance mechanisms such as audit committee and IA unit attributes may affect IA contribution to the financial statement audit. Also, the results of prior studies on the link between IA contribution to the financial statement audit and audit fees are mixed and inconclusive. Furthermore, there is limited empirical evidence in this area from emerging economy countries, with relatively less developed capital markets such as Malaysia. The underlying theme throughout this thesis is that corporate governance mechanisms i.e., audit committee and IA characteristics have the potential to affect the efficiency of the IA unit thus leading to greater contribution of IA to financial statement audits. Specifically, the thesis argues that certain characteristics of audit committees such as the independence of audit committee members from the management, audit committee members' experience and knowledge in accounting, auditing and finance and their level of interactions with the chief internal auditor have the potential to increase the contribution of IA work to financial statement audits. Likewise, it is also postulated that characteristics of the IA function such as their size and prior experience of their staff in auditing are likely to improve the level of efficiency and hence, encourage greater contribution of IA to the external audit work. Finally, due to the saturation of the audit services market coupled with significant competition among public accounting firms, it is also predicted that the contribution of IA work is increasingly viewed as a potential means of improving external audit efficiency (i.e. by reducing time and effort), leading to lower audit fees. Seven (7) hypotheses are tested in this study based on Malaysian data during 2003. Data collection adopted a multi approach with three (3) key sources of data: a questionnaires survey, in-depth interviews and publicly available data from annual reports. The data collection process involved a mail survey addressed to the chief internal auditors of companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) Main Board. Five-hundred and two questionnaires (502) were mailed and a total of 101 (20.03%) responses were returned, of which 76 (17.9%) were useable. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 chief internal auditors selected from various industries which were also listed on the KLSE Main Board. Finally, publicly available data from annual reports were utilized. The study makes a number of contributions. First, it provides empirical evidence on the impact of audit committee characteristics on IA contribution to financial statement audits. In particular, the study supports a positive relationship between IA contribution to the financial statement audit and three (3) dimensions of audit committee characteristics namely the proportion of independent audit committee members, the extent of audit committee members' experience and knowledge in auditing, accounting and finance, and the frequency of meetings between the chief internal auditor and the audit committee. This suggests that a high proportion of independent audit committee members with experience and knowledge in accounting, auditing and finance is able to enhance the efficacy of the IA function and thus, encourages external auditors to rely more on the IA function. The results support the earlier predictions that more frequent meetings conducted between audit committees and the chief internal auditor leads to higher extent of IA contribution to the financial statement audit. Further, findings of this study also provides support for the positive relationship between the characteristics of the IA function, namely the size of the IA function and the proportion of staff with prior experience in auditing and IA contribution to the financial statement audit. The results suggest that internal auditors contribute more to the financial statement audit when the size of the IA function is larger and when the proportion of IA staff with prior experience in auditing is higher. Finally, the second model tests for a negative relationship between IA contribution to the financial statement audit and audit fees. However, the results did not yield a significant relationship between these two variables. Further clarifications for this result were derived from the interviews with the chief internal auditors. Specifically, it appears that any saving in time and effort due to the contribution of IA to financial statement audits may possibly be used by external auditors to expand their investigations into other more complex areas that require greater attention from them. Other findings from the interviews also suggest that audit committees play an important role as communication facilitators between the IA staff and management, especially by providing a candid forum for IA staff to express their opinions as well as supporting IA staff's recommendations based on their findings during audit investigations. Further, the leadership role of the audit committee also tends to assist the internal auditors to better communicate with management and to ensure that management will act upon the internal auditor's recommendations. In conclusion, the findings may have some implications for regulators and others concerned with establishing guidelines and listing rules pertaining to audit committee effectiveness especially in developing countries. Furthermore, this study also contributes to the literature on how an IA unit's resourcing has implications for IA contribution to the financial statement audit. While the current professional standards (i.e., ISA 610, SAS 65, and AUS 604) view IA as a substitute for external audit, such professional standards also require external auditors to evaluate the quality of IA unit before relying on the work of IA or accept the contribution of IA to the financial statement audit. As such, this study provides evidence on the potential impact that audit committees and IA units may have on such contribution of IA to the financial statement audit.

Bibliography: leaves 94-98

"Malaysian department stores under-performed', preliminary desk research says. "Department stores need to monitor the consumers and use merchandising as a competitive tool", practitioners and academicians advise. Within this parameter, the thesis examined the relationship between consumers, department stores and retail merchandising. First, the author explored the impact of the changing market on this `universal provider' and underlined how the latter had coped (successfully/unsuccessfully) with these changes through its merchandising activities. Second, she investigated on the multifaceted dimensions of retail merchandising and established a framework for strategic merchandise decisions. Third, she tested this framework in the Malaysian market. Given that the key to effective merchandising depends heavily on defining and understanding the target clients, to test the above construct, a consumer survey was undertaken. Likewise, since fashionable items made up the bulk of department stores' merchandise, the research instrument was constructed towards uncovering the shoppers' attitudes towards fashion. The gathered responses were then subjected to factor and cluster analysis. The former technique was used to identify the fashion lifestyle orientations. On the other hand, the latter method was used to classify the `cases'. Through these techniques, five fashion lifestyles orientation were uncovered and seven types of customers with fashion lifestyle orientations ranging from as few as two to as many as five factors were underlined. Further analysis established that local department stores should concentrate on three clusters, which made up 77 per cent of the total market. A broad overview shows that although they are department store shoppers, they shopped in other store types as well and engaged in extensive cross shopping. Moreover, when making purchases, their main trade-off was `quality' and `price'. Although they generally did not seek the cheapest price, there were on several occasions that quality was compromised for a `better' price. This behaviour was mostly evidenced in the cluster that made up of many Chinese. Another significant discovery was, wide assortment, an attribute most notable in department store retailing, was not distinctively important to these target markets. At the end of the investigation, a strategic merchandise mix - set of merchandise that meet the needs and expectations of these three clusters, was offered. It is only through this attainment (a strategic merchandise mix) that local department stores can realise their true potential.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-341). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-246).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawai'i, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 390-417).

Univ. Hamburg, Diss., 2008.

The dissertation reports the results of an ethnographic investigation of urban Malay associate choice in the town of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, West Malaysia. Field data were collected using standard anthropological techniques of participant observation, interviewing, the collection of activity schedules, and genealogies. The geographical, historical, and demographic context of the town is described. Malay urbanism is rather similar to the urbanism of Indonesian middle cities in that it is characterized by an involutional or static character in which few new social forms are produced or created. It is possible to account for the involutional character of Malay urbanism by reference to the factors of land and neighbourhood as they interact with factors arising from the occupational structure of the town. Urban life is characterized by two contrasting ideologies. The ideology of work forms the basis of the system of urban stratification; by emphasizing the motif of pride this ideology makes it difficult for urbanites to form associations across categories. In contrast, the ideology of association emphasizes the motif of humility and stresses the qualities of reciprocity and balance between individuals. Neither ideology can be said to govern urban life. Rather, Malay urbanism is a synthesis of considerations arising from both systems mediated by the choices of individual urbanites. Through an analysis of the use of time and associate choice it is demonstrated that although constraints of occupation account for certain regularities in the data, other factors are also significant. The analysis of a number of cases indicates that the relationship between the urbanite and the urban local group is a particularly significant factor influencing his choices. This is further supported by the analysis of a number of "special time" events which most frequently take place among members of the local groups and often emphasize solidarity among the members. The analysis of data from several areas of the town indicates the importance of land ownership as a factor defining membership in the local group. The local group is occupationally heterogeneous and considerations arising from the ideology of stratification make the possibility of dissolution potentially high. It is the joint interest in land which forms the basis for associations transcending these divisive tendencies. When, however, urbanites lose control over their land, the neighbourhood and the local group dissolve and urbanites search elsewhere for a part of the town where they can settle and create ties with a new set of neighbours, joining a new local group. Rather than creating new social forms to meet the changed conditions of the neighbourhood, they recreate the patterns to which they are accustomed in another part of the town. As a result of this, the pattern of urbanism remains unchanged and continues to have an involutional or static character. These findings challenge the conclusion of Provencher that Malay urbanism is a recreation and intensification of rural patterns. It is found that although the form and expression of reciprocity may be similar in town and village, in the village reciprocity is sustained by the recognition of similarities, whereas in the city it-is sustained by the recognition of differences. While Malay urbanism is different from rural life, it is also distinguished from the dynamic urbanism associated with European towns in their early stages in which the creation of new forms of social organization was the rule. It is the factors of land and neighbourhood which account for the transitional, involutional character of Malay urbanism. The dissertation epilogue describes an application of the thesis to a specific problem in national development policy planning. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate