The basic premise of risk-based auditing is that more (fewer) audit resources should be allocated to accounts that are more (less) likely to be misstated. However, financial reporting managers can exploit such allocations by intentionally misstating balances that are less likely to draw auditor attention. If auditors do not recognize this strategic implication of risk-based auditing, undetected misstatements among ostensibly low-risk accounts could be much more common than traditional risk assessment procedures suggest. The purpose of this study is to examine whether prompting auditors to form beliefs about managers’ expectations of, and responses to, audit strategies can enhance auditors’ sensitivity to the strategic risk of fraud among accounts typically considered low-risk. Using a multi-account audit game, I find that auditors do not naturally attune to strategic risks but instead tend to focus resources on “highrisk” accounts. However, when auditors are prompted to reason strategically, they utilize more resources and devote that increase almost entirely to “low-risk” accounts. I also find that, although increasing available resources does result in an overall increase in the amount of utilized resources, the relative effect of the strategic prompt is robust to the level of available audit resources. / text

The pricing of total liquidity risk is studied in the cross-section of stock returns. The study suggests that there is a positive relation between total volatility of liquidity and expected returns. Our measure of liquidity is based on Amihud (2002) and its volatility is measured using daily data. Furthermore, we document that total volatility of liquidity is priced in the presence of systematic liquidity risk: the covariance of stock returns with aggregate liquidity, the covariance of stock liquidity with aggregate liquidity, and the covariance of stock liquidity with the market return. The separate pricing of total volatility of liquidity indicates that idiosyncratic liquidity risk is important in the cross section of returns. This result is puzzling in light of Acharya and Pedersen (2005) who develop a model in which only systematic liquidity risk affects returns. The positive correlation between the volatility of liquidity and expected returns suggests that risk averse investors require a risk premium for holding stocks that have high variation in liquidity. Higher variation in liquidity implies that a stock may become illiquid with higher probability at a time when it is traded. This is important for investors who face an immediate liquidity need and are not able to wait for periods of high liquidity to sell.

This thesis involves a comprehensive review of the personality, psychiatric, and genetic risk factors for alcoholism and drug abuse. Based on this review, it is hypothesised that specific risk factors cluster together to represent separate vulnerability pathways to substance abuse and that differential susceptibility to the pharmacological effects of drugs of abuse (reinforcement and intoxication) mediates the relationship between such risk characteristics and drug-taking behaviour. A series of four studies are presented indicating that groups of individuals characterized by different risk factors for alcoholism are differentially sensitive to the reinforcing properties of alcohol. Non-alcoholic young adult men presumed to be at genetic risk for alcoholism (due to high genetic loading for alcoholism) were shown to be sensitive to the effects of alcohol on resting and stress-induced physiological states hypothesized to reflect activity within a brain reward system involved in the activation of approach and avoidance behaviour. Non-alcoholic young adult males self-reporting a personality profile that has been associated with increased risk for the development of panic disorder also demonstrated idiosyncratic responses to alcohol intoxication in that they appeared particularly sensitive to the. fear-dampening effects of alcohol. Finally, a group of non-alcoholic males were identified as being particularly susceptible to elevated and problematic alcohol and drug use in early adulthood due to a disinhibited/antisocial personality profile. These findings were interpreted as reflecting separate vulnerability pathways to substance use/abuse in which differential sensitivity to drug reinforcement and disinhibited personality are thought to play an important role in determining liability to seek out behavioural reinforcement from drugs of abuse. A second set of studies tested whether these factors are implicated in the maintenance of problematic alcohol and drug consumptio

During the past five years risk management has evolved to such an extent that most companies have developed formal risk management systems whereby their risk identification processes are integrated into their objective setting processes, albeit with different forms of integration. The integration of the risk identification process into the objective setting process is an essential step in the risk management process as it facilitates the identification of those risks that may affect the achievement of business objectives and ensure that plans are developed to mitigate the risks identified. The management of risks is essential to the success of any business whether profit making or non-profit making. This study examines, by way of a case study, the extent to which a specific business unit, within an organisation has integrated its risk identification process into the objective setting process. It then explores the benefits that can be derived from integrating the risk identification process into the objective setting process. In support of the aims of the study the corresponding objectives are to determine the extent to which the unit of study has integrated the risk identification process into the objective setting process, to demonstrate the benefits of integrating the two process as well as recommendations on future research and guidelines on integrating risk identification into objective setting. The study concludes that the integration of the risk identification process into the objective setting process starts by setting business objectives and then followed by identifying those events that can negatively impact the achievement of objectives. The integration of the two processes can happen in practice and that there are benefits to the organisation that can be derived from the integration of the risk identification process into the objective setting process as observed by the study. For future research it is recommended that similar studies involving multiple case studies should be conducted to test the applicability of the integration model to a broader population. Other business units within ABSA, just like the Home Loans Division should use the risk identification integration model to identify business risks they are exposed to, that is, if they are not already doing so, taking into consideration their individual circumstances and business planning processes. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

No description available.

This study addresses safety issues related to organizational change within safety critical operations, focusing on large-scale nuclear technology operations. Failures in safety critical operations can lead to unacceptable consequences for both man and environment. Given this, a decreased safety level due to organizational change is undesirable. It is, however, estimated that about 75 % of all general organizational changes fail to achieve the goals that are set up for the change (Boonstra, 2004). It is thus important to evaluate the safety impact of a proposed organizational change before it can be accepted for implementation. There is, however, a lack of methods for evaluating the safety impact due to organizational change, and there is also a need for developing knowledge in this field.  The dissertation hence concerns safety evaluation of organizational change, with the general aim to develop knowledge in the area of safety evaluation of organizational change, and also to develop a method for safety evaluation of organizational change. In the thesis, a literature review is presented which deals with significant parts of three areas relevant for the above aim: organizational change, decision theory, and safety science. The empirical parts of the study can be divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the identification of the dynamic aspects of organizational change in nuclear technology organizations. This part was performed by collecting and analyzing data from an already implemented organizational change. The data sources were primarily interviews, internal organizational documentation, and one survey. The second part is concerned with the development and application of a method for evaluating the safety impact due to organizational change. This part was performed by departing from an action research framework, and the developed method was applied to two different but related organizational changes in nuclear technology organizations. The results from the second part primarily concerned experiences related to applying the method for safety evaluation. In the light of the answers to the research questions that were set up for the study some important results are presented. One important result is the developed method, validated from an action research perspective. Other important results are the identification of situations that affect the rational decision making process when performing a safety evaluation, and the presentation of some reasons that explains why these situations occur. Other important tentative conclusions, primarily drawn from the literature review of the study, are that there might be an inherent contradiction between common routines for organizational change processes versus risk- and safety analysis, and that there might also be a contradiction between safety culture and the management literature encouragement of risk taking. / I avhandlingen studeras säkerhet i samband med organisationsförändringar inom säkerhetskritiska verksamheter, med särskilt fokus på de kärntekniska verksamheterna kraftproduktion samt lagring av använt kärnbränsle. Brister inom säkerhetskritiska verksamheter kan leda till oacceptabla konsekvenser för både människa och miljö, vilket naturligtvis innebär att en minskad säkerhetsnivå på grund av till exempel en organisationsförändring är oönskad. Undersökningar har dock visat att rent generellt så misslyckas organisationsförändringar i cirka 75 % av fallen med att nå de mål som satts upp för förändringen (Boonstra, 2004). Det är därför viktigt att värdera hur säkerheten påverkas innan den föreslagna organisationsförändringen implementeras. Avhandlingen fokuserar sålunda på säkerhetsvärdering av organisations-förändringar, och har som övergripande syfte att utveckla kunskap inom området säkerhetsvärdering av organisationsförändringar. I avhandlingen redovisas en litteraturgenomgång som spänner över tre för syftet relevanta områden; organisationsförändring, beslutsteori samt säkerhetsvetenskap. De empiriska delarna av arbete kan delas upp i två övergripande moment. Det första momentet avser de dynamiska aspekterna av organisationsförändringar vid kärntekniska organisationer. Denna del genomfördes genom att data samlandes in från en redan genomförd organisationsförändring. Detta gjordes framförallt genom att analysera och sammanställa resultaten från flera intervjuer, en stor mängd dokument samt en enkätundersökning. Det andra momentet avser utveckling och tillämpning av en metod för att genomföra säkerhetsvärdering av organisationsförändring. Denna del tog sin utgångspunkt i aktionsforskning, och den utvecklade metoden tillämpades vid två olika men sammanhängande förändringar vid storskaliga kärntekniska organisationer. Mot bakgrund av svaren på de forskningsfrågor som sattes upp för arbetet redovisas ett antal resultat. Ett resultat avser den utvecklade metoden för säkerhetsvärdering, vilken validerats ur ett aktionsforskningsperspektiv. Andra resultat avser identifiering av situationer som påverkar den rationella beslutsprocessen vid säkerhetsvärderingar, samt redovisning av orsaker som kan förklara varför dessa situationer uppstår. En annan intressant tentativ slutsats som kan dras från arbetet är att det kan finnas en inneboende motsägelse mellan vanliga rutiner for organisationsförändringsprocesser samt risk- och säkerhetsanalyser.

This dissertation provides a review of the relevance of operational risk in the banking industry and attempts to determine whether operational risk management is perceived as a moderating factor on the relationship between critical success factors and competitive advantage in banking industry. A survey was of 399 senior managers of fully licensed banks in Hong Kong. They were asked to indicate the perceived critical success factors, which include operational risk management as one of the variables in the banking industry. In addition, they were also asked to evaluate the relevance of operational risk in their industry and describe their bank's operational risk management practice. / Thesis (DBusinessAdministration)--University of South Australia, 2006.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri--Rolla, 2007. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed February 14, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-45).

Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-44). Also available via Humboldt Digital Scholar.

Thesis (M.P.H.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 2000? / Bibliography: leaves 195-205.