Discussion of the artist statement and critique.

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.

Trinity Christian School is a Christian parent controlled school which was established in 1980 with eleven students and one teacher. The current enrolment of the school is some six hundred and forty students. In 1991 the Trinity Christian School Vision Statement was written. This 'Vision Statement' gives an outline of the direction Trinity Christian School should be heading. It also gives a brief outline of the purpose for the school's existence. At the present time Trinity Christian School is beginning to expand into a school of some seven hundred and eighty students and is also undergoing a process of whole school review. It is therefore a significant time in which to study how the Trinity Christian School Vision Statement is being implemented within the school, particularly, within the Secondary section of the school. The focus of this study is to observe what if any, a selection of secondary teachers at Trinity Christian School are including in the classroom which would reflect the Trinity Christian School Vision Statement. In particular, to look for the inclusion of a Christian perspective as is defined in the Vision statement'. To undertake this study a naturalistic inquiry methodology was selected in which a range of field study techniques were adopted, especially from the field of ethnography. A range of data was collected from the following sources: curriculum statements; the Christian perspectives outline; teaching programs; lesson observations; teacher interviews; student interviews; student workbooks; and teaching resources. From the data collected for this study there is much evidence to demonstrate the teachers' inclusion of the Christian perspective in the classroom at Trinity Christian School. The manner in which this is included varies between cases, much as the teaching style of each individual teacher varies. Teachers' Inclusion Of The Christian Perspective In The Classroom How the Christian perspective is included also varies according to the subject and the unit being taught. For instance, to include a Christian perspective in the teaching of the Theories of Creation and Evolution' in Science is of course going to be far easier than in the teaching of 'Products and Factors' in Mathematics. A key implication for Trinity Christian School, is that the consistency of the documentation could be improved. If this was done, then a greater inclusion of the Christian perspective in the classroom could be provided to challenge the students more than at present. This could be achieved if the Christian perspective were incorporated in many more aspects of the classroom than was observed in this study. In this way the students would have modelled to them the Christian way to live in many more of the situations which arise in the classroom.

This paper reports on pilot work on the expression of Information Structure in Vietnamese and argues that Focus in Vietnamese is exclusively expressed prosodically: there are no specific focus markers, and the language uses phonology to express intonational emphasis in similar ways to languages like English or German. The exploratory data indicates that (i) focus is prosodically expressed while word order remains constant, (ii) listeners show good recoverability of the intended focus structure, and (iii) that there is a trading relationship between several phonetic parameters (duration, f0, amplitude) involved to signal prosodic (acoustic) emphasis.

Background To succeed all companies need to formulate practical guidelines for why, how and where they are doing business. Examples of these guidelines include the stated mission, vision, the identity, and overall goals. Companies formulate the mission, vision, goals and strategies in line with their organizational culture. Therefore successfully managing culture and its underlying assumptions, morals and beliefs, is the basis for the prosperity of a company. The organizational culture can be summarized and communicated through core value statements. At its best these can be communicated to employees and serve as a constant reminder, a reinforcement of the most important aspects of the company´s culture. Purpose This thesis analyzes how the company Fagerhult Group implements and communicates their organizational culture and how their written core values represent the way the company do business. The Case The authors have investigated the company Fagerhult Group and their process of implementing and communicating their culture and stated core values. The authors have specifically focused on how this was carried out in the Polish office. The company entered Poland in 2007 as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), hence it provides a clear and practical example on how the company´s implementation process looks like. Method The authors have conducted a single case study, using a qualitative research method approach, where mainly semi-structured telephone interviews have been used for collecting information. Conclusion Fagerhult Group has successfully implemented the true culture, characterized by customer focus, quality, respect and empowerment, into the Polish office. This was done through face-to-face communication and situation-based training. These methods have proven to be highly effective when implementing culture, values and other important messages, since it provides the employees with a practical example on how to act and behave according to the Fagerhult way. However, the written core values; respect, responsibility and enterprise, mainly communicated through annual reports and company web page are found to not be entirely cohesive with the true organizational culture. Therefore these have not had any practical penetrating power and have been poorly communicated to the employees.

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<p><strong>Background </strong></p><p>To succeed all companies need to formulate practical guidelines for why, how and where they are doing business. Examples of these guidelines include the stated mission, vision, the identity, and overall goals. Companies formulate the mission, vision, goals and strategies in line with their organizational culture. Therefore successfully managing culture and its underlying assumptions, morals and beliefs, is the basis for the prosperity of a company. The organizational culture can be summarized and communicated through core value statements. At its best these can be communicated to employees and serve as a constant reminder, a reinforcement of the most important aspects of the company´s culture.</p><p><strong>Purpose </strong></p><p>This thesis analyzes how the company Fagerhult Group implements and communicates their organizational culture and how their written core values represent the way the company do business. <strong> </strong></p><p><strong>The Case</strong></p><p>The authors have investigated the company Fagerhult Group and their process of implementing and communicating their culture and stated core values. The authors have specifically focused on how this was carried out in the Polish office. The company entered Poland in 2007 as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), hence it provides a clear and practical example on how the company´s implementation process looks like.</p><p><strong>Method </strong></p><p>The authors have conducted a single case study, using a qualitative research method approach, where mainly semi-structured telephone interviews have been used for collecting information.</p><p><strong>Conclusion </strong></p><p>Fagerhult Group has successfully implemented the true culture, characterized by customer focus, quality, respect and empowerment, into the Polish office. This was done through face-to-face communication and situation-based training. These methods have proven to be highly effective when implementing culture, values and other important messages, since it provides the employees with a practical example on how to act and behave according to the Fagerhult way. However, the written core values; respect, responsibility and enterprise, mainly communicated through annual reports and company web page are found to not be entirely cohesive with the true organizational culture. Therefore these have not had any practical penetrating power and have been poorly communicated to the employees.</p><p> </p>

Η εργασία χωρίζεται σε τέσσερα κεφάλαια. Το πρώτο κεφάλαιο είναι η εισαγωγή και κάποιες πληροφορίες για τις εταιρείες των οποίων θα κάνουμε την ανάλυση των οικονομικών καταστάσεων. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο αναφέρεται η μεθοδολογία που ακολουθήθηκε που για την εκπόνηση της εργασίας. Δηλαδή ο τρόπος που έγινε η δουλειά. Ακόμη γίνεται αναφορά στους αριθμοδείκτες που θα χρησιμοποιηθούν. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται η ανάλυση των οικονομικών καταστάσεων και, προφανώς, η εξαγωγή συμπερασμάτων βάσει των αποτελεσμάτων των αριθμοδεικτών. Τέλος, κάνουμε μία συνολική σύγκριση των υπό μελέτη εταιρειών, σύμφωνα με τα δεδομένα του τρίτου κεφαλαίου, βγάζοντας ένα γενικό συμπέρασμα. / --

Le SVA est utilisé pour évaluer la crédibilité d'un témoignage, surtout dans des cas d'abus sexuels. Les buts de cette étude étaient d'en évaluer l'efficacité et de vérifier si les effets observés étaient dus à l'intention de tromper ou à la source du souvenir (interne vs externe). 34 participantes racontèrent 2 événements ou 2 rêves (1 réel et 1 inventé) après 2 jours ou plus de préparation. Seize des 19 critères du SVA furent évalués. Les récits réels contenaient plus d'incohérences et moins de détails inusités que les récits inventés. Aucun autre critère du SVA ne fut efficace. Les effets étaient causés exclusivement par l'intention de tromper. Les résultats indiquent qu'en contexte de variabilité et préparation réaliste, le SVA perd son efficacité.

My work explores the gray area and the shifting border between "us" and "other." It investigates the helplessness and the submissiveness on both sides of this spectrum and one's passivity that makes the "pain of others" inevitable. Moreover, it examines the individual and collective experiences of guilt and complicity in relation to world events. I am interested in the selective and repressed memories of individuals and nations, the reluctance to look and the ability to forget.