Technology helps firms maintain data flow, track processes and maintain employee records. Technology makes it possible for firms to operate efficiently and effectively with minimal manpower and helps to reduce operating costs. Because of its ability to minimize errors and reduce human interventions, technology delivers instant financial reports with accuracy and reliability. Even though findings from the study revealed that the use of technology has a positive influence in financial reporting, system breakdown leads to data loss which has the propensity to hinder stakeholders from receiving timely financial reports. Moreover, findings reveal that audit firms are exposed to information security risk such as virus attacks and hacking of the system.The old way of financial reporting had changed completely in some parts of the world while in other parts it is gradually changing. But how technology is affecting financial reporting processes all over the world and in Liberia specifically. The aim of this thesis is to investigate and analyze the transformation technology has caused to the financial reporting processes. The research question that guided the study was: How has technology influenced financial reporting processes of two international auditing firms in Liberia?In this study, qualitative method and interpretive research approached were used which enable us to gain deeper insights to the research purpose and address our research questions. The primary data was generated from purposive sampling of six semi-structured interviews from preparers of financial reports ranging from managers to senior associate. These participants were used due to their experiences working with technology which enable us to gain an understanding of how technology has transformed financial reporting processes. Financial reporting and technology are widely researched, but in the context of Liberia there is scare literature of how technology has influenced financial reporting in audit firms. Therefore, this study focuses on the preparers of the financial reports of the two international audit firms in Liberia.The aim of this thesis is to investigate and analyze the transformation technology has caused to the financial reporting processes and to investigate how preparers are trained to keep up with the pace of technology. As such, our theoretical framework used was based on the various technology used globally, efficiency and effectiveness, competence and skills, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), ABC model, financial reporting characteristics and financial reporting qualities.The findings further suggest that technology affects the security of confidential information and quality of the financial information. First and foremost, technology affects a firm’s ability to communicate with stakeholders. In modern business environment, it is necessary for management to communicate to stakeholders quickly and clearly without hindrance.The contributions of this study cannot be overemphasized. The study contributed knowledge on the use of technology in financial reporting. The study serves as a guide to local audit firms, universities and government to include or improve the financial reporting process of institutions

The critical care unit (CCU) is a unit where different health care professionals work together to care for the patient efficiently. A lot of studies in the past have shown that good communication and transfer of information from one health care professional to the other is an essential aspect in the transfer of a patients care. Most of these studies are concentrated on the reporter or informant. Lapses in communication and information transfer could result in unnecessary suffering both for the patient and for the health care worker. There are very few studies on how well the recipient of the information or report understands or comprehends the information passed. The aim of this study was to illuminate the critical care nurses (CCN) experiences of receiving report of patients transferred from other units. A qualitative design was chosen and five CCNs in a particular CCU were interviewed. The analysis was done using the content analysis method. The analysis resulted in four main categories which are: The patient’s situation-a determinant factor, the work environment, communication deficit creates uncertainty and structure enhances report and ten subcategories. The findings showed that CCNs' experience a feeling of uncertainty as a result of lapses in communication and their work environment and its attendant distractions has a great influence on the quality of the report they receive. To ensure a good quality of care that promotes patient’s safety and job satisfaction, it would be necessary to address the factors that hinder effective communication during handover in nurses' education programs and clinical practices.

Health information technology has been widely accepted as having the potential to decrease the prevalence of adverse events and improve workflows and communication between healthcare workers. However, the emergence of health technologies has introduced a new type of medical error. Technology-induced errors are a type of medical error that can result from the use of health information technology in all stages of the health information systems life cycle. The purpose of this study is to identify what types of technology-induced errors are present in the key health information technology vendors in the United States, determine if there are any similarities and differences in technology-induced errors present among the key health information technology vendors in the United States, and determine what methods are utilized, if any, by the key vendors of health information technologies to address and/or resolve reported technology-induced errors. This study found that the most commonly reported technology-induced errors are those related to unexpected system behaviours, either through their direct use or through the communication between systems. It was also found that there is a large difference in the number of adverse events being reported by the key health information technology vendors. Just three vendors represent 85% of the adverse events included in this study. Finally, this study found that there are vendors who are posting responses to reported technology-induced errors and these vendors are most commonly following up with software updates and notifications of safety incidents. This study highlights the importance of analyzing adverse event reports in order to understand the types of technology-induced errors that are present in health information technology. / Graduate

Thesis advisor: Ina V.S. Mullis / As an extension of the effort devoted to updating the questionnaires for TIMSS and PIRLS 2011, this dissertation explored a new reporting strategy for contextual questionnaire data. The study investigated the feasibility of constructing "global indicators" from a large number of diverse background variables, which could provide policy makers and practitioners with meaningful information on effective learning environments. Four broad constructs of effective learning environments were derived from the TIMSS and PIRLS Contextual Frameworks for 2011. These were: 1) effective school environments for learning to read, 2) effective home environments for learning to read, 3) effective classroom environments for learning mathematics, and 4) students' motivation to learn mathematics. Using the TIMSS and PIRLS 2011 Frameworks, the conceptual definitions of the constructs were formulated as constructs maps. Next, relevant questionnaire items were identified that addressed each aspect of the construct maps, capitalizing on the full range of background information in the TIMSS 2007 and PIRLS 2006 International Databases. The questionnaire items were used to create sets of variables for scaling, and subsequent to principal component analysis to confirm scale unidimensionality, the variables were combined into 1-Parameter IRT (Rasch) scales. The idea of conveying the meaning of the broad contextual scales through item mapping was explored, as well as reporting country-by-country results on the global scales. The scaling was successful and it was concluded that contextual information could be reported more globally in future cycles of TIMSS and PIRLS. However, the study also demonstrated that it is extremely complicated to choose background constructs at the right level of aggregation for both analysis and reporting. It is difficult to develop scales that summarize data for educational policy makers without loss of vital information. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

A research report submitted In partial fulfilment of the Degree: Master of Commerce School of Accountancy 2015 / Using an exploratory interpretive research approach and IFRS 13 as a case study, this thesis investigates the factors which affect the decision to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards. Detailed interviews with a sample of some of South Africa’s preparers’ of financial information and audit managers are used to gain an understanding of what factors influence companies, other than those in the financial services sector, to adopt early IFRS 13. The research findings are particularly significant as very little interpretive research has been performed on financial reporting from a South African perspective. In addition, the research performed to date has primarily considered the adoption of IFRS as a whole rather than a particular standard within IFRS. In addition, the fact that IFRS 13 has only recently been released offers an invaluable opportunity to study how current international accounting developments are being internalised by South African corporates. Through the interview process it was determined that the majority of the interviewees did not elect to early adopt IFRS 13. As a result, the rationale of the decision to not early adopt IFRS 13 was discussed and explored. It was found that technical constraints - such as the need to provide staff training and the requirement to provide additional accounting disclosure – discouraged the early adoption of the standard. Factors such as the effect of adoption on earnings, decisions made by competitors as well as the relevance of the standard to business operations were also considered as part of this decision. Overall, the interviewees showed a logic of resistance towards the standard and the standard setters which is manifested, not by misapplication of the standard, but by dismissing its ability to provide more useful information to users of financial statements and delaying its adoption.

Um grande desafio das companhias hoje é como comunicar, em um formato conciso, informações valiosas de investimentos a todos os seus potenciais usuários, por meio de canais de comunicação ou plataformas. Isso porque, nos últimos anos, os relatórios corporativos têm sofrido constantes mudanças. Ademais, questiona-se se o Relato Integrado apresenta condições de atender a essa demanda. Ainda, trata-se de uma ideia recente, com vistas a melhorar a qualidade das informações divulgadas pelas empresas e trazer ao mercado uma visão de longo prazo quanto à sustentabilidade das empresas. Assim, neste trabalho, propôs-se a analisar, à luz da teoria da Sinalização, o impacto da divulgação do Relato Integrado na acurácia dos analistas de mercado, os quais são os principais responsáveis por munir os investidores com informações relevantes à sua tomada de decisão. Para tal, utilizou-se uma amostra de 80 empresas: 40 que divulgam o Relato Integrado e 40 semelhantes em tamanho, setor de atuação e país, mas que não publicam referido relato. O período analisado compreendeu três anos antes da adoção (2008, 2009 e 2010) e três anos depois (2012, 2013 e 2014). Para obter os dados, utilizou-se a base de dados da Thomson ONE Analytics®. O teste se baseou no modelo de efeitos fixos com dummies temporais, que se mostrou mais adequado, conforme proposta e disposição dos dados. Pelos resultados obtidos com o teste, identificouse que o Relato Integrado tem impacto estatisticamente significante na acurácia consensual do analista de mercado, mas de forma negativa. Embora isso ateste os resultados de estudos anteriores referentes a informações de cunho não financeiro - de que o analista de mercado não está interessado em tais informações - ao observar as dummies temporais, os resultados apontam uma melhora do aprendizado do analista de mercado, pelo aumento de sua acurácia, após a divulgação. Ao demonstrar significância estatística, após a adoção do relato, as dummies temporais revelam que, na amostra geral, houve melhora na previsibilidade do analista de mercado, apesar de ser maior nas empresas que não o divulgam. Desse modo, os resultados contribuem para aferir a relevância da divulgação do Relato Integrado. Ademais, demonstrar que, apesar das pesquisas anteriores concluírem que, isoladamente, a informação de cunho não financeiro pode não ser relevante ao analista de mercado. Isso porque, ao utilizar o pensamento integrado, pela divulgação do Relato Integrado, essa demonstrou relevância na curva de aprendizado, por meio da melhora da acurácia consensual do analista de mercado ao longo do tempo. / Nowadays, companies face the challenge to communicate valuable investment information to all their potential users, in a concise way, through communication channels or platforms. Moreover, there are doubts whether the Integrated Reporting had conditions to fulfill this demand or not. In addition, this is a recent idea, aiming to enhance the quality of information disclosed by companies, and bring their sustainability to the market in the long term. Therefore, in this work, we proposed to analyse the impact of the Integrated Reporting disclosure on the market analysts\' accuracy, responsible for providing the investors with crucial information for their decision taking, under the Signaling theory. For this, we used a sample of 80 companies: 40 that disclosure the Integrated Reporting, and 40 similar in size, acting department and country, but that do not disclosure such document. The studied period involved three years before the adoption (2008, 2009 and 2010), and three years after it (2012, 2013 and 2014). To obtain data, we used the Thomson ONE Analytics® database. The test was based on the fixed effects model with temporal dummies, the most adequate one according to data proposal and disposition. In accordance with the test results, we identified that the Integrated Reporting has a statistically significant impact on the consensual accuracy of the market analyst, but in a negative way. Although this certifies previous studies results concerning non-financial information - that is, the Market analyst is not interested in such information - when observing the temporal dummies, the results showed an enhancement in this analyst´s learning. Through the increase in his accuracy after disclosure. When demonstrating statistical significance after the adoption, the temporal dummies revealed that in the general sample there has been an improvement in the market analyst predictability, although higher than in companies that do not disclosure the document. Thus, the results contribute to attesting the relevance of the disclosure of the Integrated Reporting. Furthermore, demonstrates that, despite previous studies showing that in isolation, nonfinancial information may not be relevant to the market analyst. This happens because using integrated thinking through the disclosure of the Integrated Reporting has demonstrated relevance in the learning curve, by improving the consensus of the market analyst over time.

Este trabalho tenta identificar a emergência de um modelo de reportagem radiofônica possível. A malha discursiva mostra a constituição de um produto jornalístico de rádio que chamo de peça radiofônica reportagem. De um lado, representa a posse dos preceitos do jornalismo, sobretudo o interpretativo e, de outro, reúne as possibilidades sonoras do rádio, a ponto de torná-lo um meio de expressão. Para chegar a isso, dividi o trabalho em cinco capítulos, em que se desenvolve: uma linha histórica da reportagem no rádio brasileiro (1); as bases teóricas, em forma de revisão bibliográfica, sobre a notícia e a reportagem, para desembocar na reportagem para o rádio (2); a formulação de uma constituição própria de reportagem para o rádio, a peça radiofônica reportagem, acompanhada de um modelo de análise a ser aplicado (3); a aplicação da análise em duas reportagens de emissoras que tratam de notícia o tempo todo (4); e a aplicação da mesma em três reportagens que representam um formato do gênero peça radiofônica reportagem (5). Uma linha do tempo, apoiada em estudos e documentos da história do rádio brasileiro, demonstra atraso em alguns importantes momentos da chegada de novas tecnologias para o meio, retardando sua aplicação e o desenvolvimento de uma linguagem forte e segura. Mostro que os brasileiros que estabeleceram o rádio e seus meios de produção não eram super-heróis cheios de grandes ideias, como a história oficial nos faz ver. Ao contrário, eram improvisadores, desconhecedores da tecnologia e da linguagem. Confirmavam, nos anos 20 e 30 do século XX, que ao brasileiro bastava a cópia do que vinha de fora e a solução de problemas na base do improviso. A parte dedicada à Teoria do Jornalismo inicia-se com uma discussão sobre gênero e formato e seus significados para diferentes teóricos. Faço isso antes de caminhar pelos conceitos de notícia e reportagem. Na revisão bibliográfica sobre a reportagem no rádio, baseio-me em literatura especializada para chegar à minha concepção de peça radiofônica reportagem, esta apoiada em conceitos de silêncio, sons e ruídos, música e palavra subjetiva, sobretudo narração impressionista por parte do repórter. Demonstro a necessidade e a possibilidade de que a peça radiofônica reportagem seja aplicada em nossas emissoras e equipes de jornalismo no rádio. Este estudo define um modelo aberto de análise de reportagens, aplicado subjetivamente em 5 reportagens: \"Médicos faltam em unidades de pronto atendimento\", de Priscila Moraes, para a Rádio CBN; \"Empresas não se adaptam a expor impostos em nota fiscal\", de Michele Trombelli, para a rádio BandNews FM; \"Made in Bajo Flores\", do argentino Lalo Recanatini; \"Wet\", do britânico radicado no Brasil Gibby Zobel para a BBC; e \"N.N.\", da canadense radicada na Colômbia Nadja Drost para a Radio Ambulante. Este trabalho tenta apontar, com justificativas acadêmicas e práticas, a possibilidade tornar o jornalismo falado - e, no caso que apresento, sonorizado para o rádio - mais criativo, vivo, atualizado em forma e conteúdo, conectado com nosso tempo. / This research aims at trying to identify the appearance of a possible model of radio reporting. The discursive mesh shows the constitution of a radio journalistic product that I call radio reporting piece. On one side, it represents the possession of journalistic principles, chiefly the interpretative one. On the other side, it gathers the sound possibilities of the radio to the extent of turning it into a means of expression. To reach these notions, I divided the work in five chapters, in which a historical line of the Brazilian radio reporting is developed; the theoretical basis of news and report, which was meant to reach the radio reporting in the form of bibliographic review, the formulation of the radio reporting own structure: the radio reporting piece, followed by a model of analysis to be applied; application of the analysis to 3 reports that represent a format to the genre of the radio reporting piece. The timeline, based on studies and documents of the history of Brazilian radio, in some important moments shows a delay in the arrival of new technologies to the radio, postponing the application and slowing down the development of a strong and safe language. I demonstrate that the Brazilians who established the radio and its means of production were not super-heroes full of great ideas as the official history attempts to make us regard so. Otherwise, they were improvisers, unknowledgeable about the technology and the language, confirming that, in the 1920s and 1930s, it was enough to get the copy of what came from abroad and the solution of problems in the basis of improvisation. I aim at undermining the current discourse that considers the Brazilian history and the radio history side by side. The part that is dedicated to the Theory of Journalism begins with a discussion on genre and format and its meanings to different theorists, before considering the concepts of news and reporting. In the bibliographical review of what has been written about radio reporting, I base myself on the specialized literature to get to my conception of radio reporting piece, supported by concepts of silence; objectivity; sounds and din; music and subjective word, mainly impressionist narration of the reporter. While ending the defense of the pertinence of the radio reporting piece, I demonstrate the necessity and the possibilities of this model of the radio reporting piece to be applied to our stations and the radio staff groups. The study defines an open model of report analysis, applied subjectively to 5 reports: \"Lack of doctors at units of urgent care\", by Priscila Moraes, from Radio CBN; \"Enterprises do not adapt to expose taxes at invoice\", by Michele Trombelli, from BandNews FM; \"Made in Bajo Flores\", by the Argentinian Lalo Recanatini; \"Wet\", by the British rooted in Brazil Gibby Zobel to the BBC; and \"N.N.\", by the Canadian rooted in Colombia Nadja Drost, from Radio Ambulante. This research attempts to point out, with the academic and practical justification, the possibility of turning the spoken journalism - and in this case I present it, resounded to the radio - more creative, alive, updated on form and content, connected to our time.

Mike Arce is the owner of a 30-hectare farm in an agricultural area on the coast north of Lima, Peru. He must find a solution to the liquidity problem that arose at the end of 2016 and determine if he has adequate accounting information to make his decision. Students are challenged to review information from an accounting and financial perspective. In the resolution of the case, international rules concerning information to be submitted via financial statements must be considered, especially taking into account the rules concerning agriculture, property/plant and equipment and inventories. This case lends itself to analysis and projection of financial statements and to seeking alternative solutions.

Um grande desafio das companhias hoje é como comunicar, em um formato conciso, informações valiosas de investimentos a todos os seus potenciais usuários, por meio de canais de comunicação ou plataformas. Isso porque, nos últimos anos, os relatórios corporativos têm sofrido constantes mudanças. Ademais, questiona-se se o Relato Integrado apresenta condições de atender a essa demanda. Ainda, trata-se de uma ideia recente, com vistas a melhorar a qualidade das informações divulgadas pelas empresas e trazer ao mercado uma visão de longo prazo quanto à sustentabilidade das empresas. Assim, neste trabalho, propôs-se a analisar, à luz da teoria da Sinalização, o impacto da divulgação do Relato Integrado na acurácia dos analistas de mercado, os quais são os principais responsáveis por munir os investidores com informações relevantes à sua tomada de decisão. Para tal, utilizou-se uma amostra de 80 empresas: 40 que divulgam o Relato Integrado e 40 semelhantes em tamanho, setor de atuação e país, mas que não publicam referido relato. O período analisado compreendeu três anos antes da adoção (2008, 2009 e 2010) e três anos depois (2012, 2013 e 2014). Para obter os dados, utilizou-se a base de dados da Thomson ONE Analytics®. O teste se baseou no modelo de efeitos fixos com dummies temporais, que se mostrou mais adequado, conforme proposta e disposição dos dados. Pelos resultados obtidos com o teste, identificouse que o Relato Integrado tem impacto estatisticamente significante na acurácia consensual do analista de mercado, mas de forma negativa. Embora isso ateste os resultados de estudos anteriores referentes a informações de cunho não financeiro - de que o analista de mercado não está interessado em tais informações - ao observar as dummies temporais, os resultados apontam uma melhora do aprendizado do analista de mercado, pelo aumento de sua acurácia, após a divulgação. Ao demonstrar significância estatística, após a adoção do relato, as dummies temporais revelam que, na amostra geral, houve melhora na previsibilidade do analista de mercado, apesar de ser maior nas empresas que não o divulgam. Desse modo, os resultados contribuem para aferir a relevância da divulgação do Relato Integrado. Ademais, demonstrar que, apesar das pesquisas anteriores concluírem que, isoladamente, a informação de cunho não financeiro pode não ser relevante ao analista de mercado. Isso porque, ao utilizar o pensamento integrado, pela divulgação do Relato Integrado, essa demonstrou relevância na curva de aprendizado, por meio da melhora da acurácia consensual do analista de mercado ao longo do tempo. / Nowadays, companies face the challenge to communicate valuable investment information to all their potential users, in a concise way, through communication channels or platforms. Moreover, there are doubts whether the Integrated Reporting had conditions to fulfill this demand or not. In addition, this is a recent idea, aiming to enhance the quality of information disclosed by companies, and bring their sustainability to the market in the long term. Therefore, in this work, we proposed to analyse the impact of the Integrated Reporting disclosure on the market analysts\' accuracy, responsible for providing the investors with crucial information for their decision taking, under the Signaling theory. For this, we used a sample of 80 companies: 40 that disclosure the Integrated Reporting, and 40 similar in size, acting department and country, but that do not disclosure such document. The studied period involved three years before the adoption (2008, 2009 and 2010), and three years after it (2012, 2013 and 2014). To obtain data, we used the Thomson ONE Analytics® database. The test was based on the fixed effects model with temporal dummies, the most adequate one according to data proposal and disposition. In accordance with the test results, we identified that the Integrated Reporting has a statistically significant impact on the consensual accuracy of the market analyst, but in a negative way. Although this certifies previous studies results concerning non-financial information - that is, the Market analyst is not interested in such information - when observing the temporal dummies, the results showed an enhancement in this analyst´s learning. Through the increase in his accuracy after disclosure. When demonstrating statistical significance after the adoption, the temporal dummies revealed that in the general sample there has been an improvement in the market analyst predictability, although higher than in companies that do not disclosure the document. Thus, the results contribute to attesting the relevance of the disclosure of the Integrated Reporting. Furthermore, demonstrates that, despite previous studies showing that in isolation, nonfinancial information may not be relevant to the market analyst. This happens because using integrated thinking through the disclosure of the Integrated Reporting has demonstrated relevance in the learning curve, by improving the consensus of the market analyst over time.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries / Department: Statistics.