Nicole Tate Essays - Nicaragua, Republics, , Term Papers

Nicole Tate 11-04-98 World History (H) Essay "To pull together is to avoid being pulled apart." This once famous quote being said by Bob Allisat proves that if countries aren't interdependent upon each other than we will no longer be able to help each other and will not reek the benefits of what other countries give each other. I have three area of analysis for why Nicaragua is interdependent, one, foreign aid from other countries, two, disaster relief help and three imports and exports. The following essay shall discuss how Nicaragua is interdependent. Onto my first area of analysis, Nicaragua is interdependent through foreign aid from other countries. For example, in the 1980's Nicaragua's debt problems increased and prices of oil began to rise as well as Nicaragua's situation was worsened by a huge conflict dealing with military weapons. By 1994, their debt has increased to 11.7 billion, at this point in time Nicaragua had the highest debt in the world. Nicaragua was able to pull through this crisis from foreign aid from Mexico, Russia. Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, Argentina, and the Czech Republic. Because of these countries helping Nicaragua it has been able to pull through to a better economic state. As we saw, Nicaragua was interdependent from receiving foreign aid from various countries. Secondly, Nicaragua is interdependent through disaster relief. At this point in time Nicaragua is not undergoing just one but two natural disasters, Hurricane Mitch and volcano Cerro Negro, which erupted on Tuesday and consisted of 2,000 dead. Nicaragua's other disaster is Hurricane Mitch. Hurricane Mitch was described by CNN as "400,000 people now seeking shelter after losing their homes, health officials are watching for further outbreaks of Cholera, following sporadic reports of the disease." As of right now 9,000 are dead and no actual death toll will be known because of the small villages that can't be gotten to. The way Nicaragua is interdependent in these situations is that they are relying on the United States, France, Italy as well as several others for humanitarian aid immediately. In this example we see again that Nicaragua is interdependent by receiving disaster relief. Finally Nicaragua is interdependent because of imports and exports. Nicaragua imports food, agricultural needs, and medicines for their people. Nicaragua exports gold, silver, copper, and several others. In this case Nicaragua is interdependent because it gives countries items they need and Nicaragua gets items in which they need. This system always reminds me of that old saying you scratch my back and I will scratch yours. In essence, Nicaragua is interdependent for the above areas of analysis, which were foreign aid from other countries, disaster relief, and last but not least imports and exports. Surely if every country remains interdependent then we, as the world, will never pull apart as Bill Altsat stated.

o brother essays

o brother essays Have you heard of LivePerson? What do they do? Here's an illustration: Lessay you're an online storeowner, and you check your logs and notice that a lot of your customers check pages but don't buy. You figure that the reason they're not buying is because they're not sure of their purchase. As the store in online, they can't talk to a clerk and have questions answered like they can at Best Buy, so they leave your site to check out some other site, or buy the item offline. You could always put a ask us a question form up which takes the users' questions and emails them to you. This is good, but its often too slow for a casual peruser who is long gone from the site before you even see the question, much less answer it. A few years ago, someone realized that if you had an instant way to get and respond to these questions, you might be able to give a bit more of that in-store feel to the online purchasing experience, and increase your sales rate. Chat is instantaneous. A user can click on a button and ask questions and get responses immediately. With the instant resolution to their question, they are more likely to buy than those that don't talk to a person before their purchase. According to Land's End, they have over 5 times the sales rate with people that ask questions with their chat system than those who do not. To that end, LivePerson and several others pioneered this process. The system works by placing a button on every page of the storeowner's website (using templates, this is even easier). After the button is placed, a user will be able to look at the image and see if a customer service representative is available or not. If available, the user can click on the button and have a window pop up, allowing the store owner and user to communicate. This really only requires a basic chat server and some Javascript or Java know-how. A few years ago, there were as many as 40 companies that doing thi ...

Personal skills development( study skills and book review) Essay

Personal skills development( study skills and book review) - Essay Example Some of the effective study skills that I learnt from different resources and also applied to my learning process include note taking, time management, active listening, revision planning, preparing answers for the exams etc. Almost every day, I encounter such situations where I find the implication of these techniques within my study premises and apply the appropriate technique to handle the situation in more effective manner. For instance, today I have to write to complete the weekly assignment that is to write an essay upon any topic of my own interest. The guidelines provided by Barret et al (2008, p169) help me a lot in completing this task. The researchers explain basic steps of essay writing and I follow these steps. After deciding the main topic, I analyzed its title and main thesis and then proceed towards collecting material for the essay. During the reading, I take noted and plan the structure of my essay. After writing the essay, I proofread and edit it to assure it is perfect structure wise and deliver my intended tone. In this way, I use a study technique and succeed to write a well organize essay following simple and helpful steps of essay writing. The day was very busy and I was feeling too much tired and pressurized because there is little time left to appear in the exams and there are lot of things to do. At this point, I use my time management skills that I learnt from the reading of Marks-Beal (2009, p45). At first, I listed out the tasks that I have to complete before the exams and then arranged these tasks according to first priority. After that I made the plan to start working on these tasks one by one. There were some writing projects and I have also to read certain books and other material to prepare for answering exams questions. I started with the reading and keep on taking notes that later help me during the writing work. There were too many things to do in short time and I started feeling

Health Care Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Health Care Ethics - Essay Example However, in today's world, where the scientific world has come of age in its standing vis--vis disease care and prevention, subsidiary issues have emerged that are considered to be of prime importance in the realm of health care. The changes in society and life all around the world have brought about considerable changes in the lifestyles of people. Similarly, the profession of health care has seen its development through the ages, and many additional factors like ethical, legal and professional concerns need to be understood better. The learning outcomes associated with this course are crucially linked to the integral understand of clinical issues and practice. This paper in turn shall go a long way in reestablishing the norms that were to be established by the goals for this course. Understand the domain of every prong individually is of vital importance: As was mentioned earlier, knowledge of legal issues to the cause of clinical practice has now become imperative. Though universal laws for humanitarianism and morality remain constant for humans, yet there are certain legal implications that are different for certain countries and even states within countries. It must be understood by a practitioner, that the legal clauses are not a matter of burden, but actually a facilitating and binding factor that ensures that the provision of health care would be unequivocal and just for all. The current face of health care is largely a product of the advancement made during and after the World Wars. However, despite the magnitude and quality of work that was done at that time, the obvious constraint due to the war was that a systematic procedure for providing health care cannot be established. Much has changed since then, and the corporate face of the organizations in the changing world has brought about a new shape to the domain of clinical practice. With the inception of concepts like quality and the ISO standards, what the world of today has realized, is that documentation, for any system of work, is not only essential, but is a must. Though the importance and significance of the three major issues has been established, yet appropriate working with these concerns in minds is still easier said than done. For a new practitioner, it is extremely important to properly identify with the issues. The ethical and legal concerns are very similar to the medical ones in their dynamics. For one, the first thing that needs to be done with a disease is appropriate identification with respect to the symptoms. Only a sound knowledge of the traits of a disease and its patterns can help identity for the practitioner as to what is to be done with it. Similarly, with legal and ethical concerns, the first step is to identify any anomaly in the normal proceedings that are likely to produce a problematic response. This is probably the most important element of the assignment, which helps the participant in preparation for the future challenges. This is one factor alone that differentiates the follower from the leader. The fact of the matter is, that many people in all professions tend to believe what is taught and practiced in front of them. They do not have the ability, urge and background to question - which is the most important feature in the development of science. Henceforth, the most credible feature of this assignment is that it would help in the preparation of analytical insight of the healthcare

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth Essay

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth - Essay Example the individual with a vision to excel with the ultimate goal of being instrumental in the future progress of one’s nation, education is the best alternative. The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. Traditionally, Americans have viewed education as a means of social advancement. By providing equal educational opportunity to all, schooling could serve as a progressive force for eliminating poverty and promoting economic equality. The study conducted by Alliance (2007) point out that dropouts are a drain on the economies of each state and the nation. Lower local, state, and national tax revenues are perhaps the most obvious consequence of higher dropout rates; even when dropouts are employed, they earn significantly lower wages than graduates. State and local economies suffer further when they have less-educated populaces, as they find it more difficult to attract new business investment. Simultaneously, these entities must spend more on social programs when their populations have lower educational levels. Dropouts represent a tremendous waste of human potential and productivity, and reduce the nation’s ability t o compete in an increasingly global economy. For the individual with a vision to excel with the ultimate goal of being instrumental in the future progress of one’s nation, education is the best alternative. For the society, higher educations provides lower rate of unemployment, more tax revenues, lesser reliance on governmental support. In addition, those who acquired college education were found to smoke less, are more health conscious, and are less likely to commit crimes. Education, per se, provides innumerable benefits for the individuals as well as for the society. There is a responsibility to ensure that every student who is granted the right to be educated would not only value and cherish the lessons learned; but more so, to share what they have learned in terms of making each and everyone aware of the importance that

Automated Accounting Information Systems Accounting Essay

Automated Accounting Information Systems Accounting Essay 2.1 Computer Auditing 2.1.1 The introduction of automated Accounting Information Systems In earlier times, when all accounting information was processed and recorded in financial statements manually, it was relatively easier for the auditor to observe the audit trail as all evidence was produced in a manual/physical format. At that time, Information Systems (IS) were only a small integrated part of the accounting system which only automated minor parts of the accounting process, such as payroll processing. Figure 2.1, as suggested by Arnold and Sutton (2001), illustrates the evolution of the relationship between accounting and information systems throughout the last four decades. AccountingFigure 2.1 Evolution of AIS Information SystemsTIME LINE 1970s Information Systems Accounting AIS 00 Information Systems Accounting 2010s Over time, accounting and information systems started to integrate as more accounting tasks were becoming automated. In fact, Arnold and Sutton (2001) state that the fundamental underlying driver of evolution is simply that accounting no longer drives the information system; rather the information system drives accounting. As depicted in Figure 2.1, Information Systems have nowadays become an integral part of many companies. The Accounting Information System (AIS) is a small part of the whole Information System of an organisation, and as organisations continue to increase their reliance on computer technology to process, record and report financial information, auditors will undoubtedly have to rely on new information technology techniques in the conduct of their audits (Hunton, Bryant and Bagranoff, 2004). Through the evolution of AISs, the traditional audit evidence was being replaced by electronic evidence (Rezaee and Reinstein, 1998). The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in Auditing Procedures Study The Information Technology Age: Evidential Matter (1997) defines electronic evidence as information transmitted, processed, maintained, or accessed by electronic means and used by an auditor to evaluate financial statement assertions. The concept of electronic evidence created new challenges to the modern auditor as the traditional audit trail could no longer be observed (Bierstaker, et al., 2001). This required auditors to consider the use of computer audit techniques in order to be able to carry out audit tests on electronic evidence (Mancuso, 1997). The use of such new techniques will eventually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the audit as auditors will be free from carrying out many traditional routine audit tasks and instead the auditor can foc us more on higher level tasks, such as understanding the clients business risk (Rezaee, Elam and Sharbatoghlie, 2001). 2.1.2 Auditing Around to Auditing With the Computer With the introduction of computer technology, auditors did not have the extensive knowledge to use computers to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit. Initially, auditors regarded the computer as a black box and audit around the computer (Watne and Turney, 2002). This consists in the auditor observing inputs into the system and the relative outputs and checking for mutual consistency (Hall, 2004). When using this method no attempt is made to establish and evaluate existence of controls. Auditing around the computer is only relevant when automated systems applications are relatively simple and straightforward (supported with up-to date documentation on how the system works); and when the audit trail is easy to observe (Cerullo and Cerullo, 2003). The increased reliance on computers for accounting by organisations created the need for auditors to understand and assess the controls that were in place in computer systems (Watne and Turney, 2002). Ignoring such computer controls would hinder the ability of the auditor to assess the effectiveness and robustness of the clients internal controls. Auditors could no longer audit around the computer, but instead a new approach, auditing through the computer, was being used. Hall (2004) defines auditing through the computer as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the ability to trace transaction paths from input to output through all parts of the system-manual and automated. The flow of data must be verified as it moves through the system, and the contents of machine readable files must be examined. Internal controls are tested as they operate on the data. The black box is gone. The auditing through the computer approach is suitable for testing controls in complex Information Technology (IT) systems (as suggested in SAS No. 94 The Effect of Information Technology on the Auditors Consideration of Internal Control in a Financial Statement Audit). The motive behind auditing through the computer is to be able to understand and assess the robustness and operating effectiveness of the computer controls within a system. According to Cerullo and Cerullo (2003), this approach is based on the assumption that if controls are adequately developed into the system, then errors are unlikely to slip by undetected, and thus outputs from the system can reasonably be accepted as reliable. Moreover, Hall (2004) suggests that the current trend is towards auditing with the computer, that is, instead of being treated as a black box, the computer is actually used as a tool to access, review and extract files and data from the clients AIS. This approach helps auditors to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit as the computers speed and reliability can be used to review large volumes of data. However, the last two approaches highlight the need for auditors to have an extensive knowledge of computers in order to be able to assess the integrity of the clients computer system or to use the computer as a tool to carry out the audit. 2.1.3 Objective of an Audit in an IT Environment Nonetheless, whether an audit is carried out in an IT environment or not, the objective of the audit remains the same, that is, as expressed by International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in ISA 200 Overall Objectives of the Independent Auditor and the conduct of an audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing: To obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, thereby enabling the auditor to express an opinion on whether the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with an applicable financial reporting framework The auditor must be able to obtain sufficient and appropriate evidence in order to reduce audit risk to an acceptable low level. In doing so, the auditor would be in a position to express an opinion whether the financial statements prepared by the client give a true and fair view. It is thus fundamental for the auditor to assess the clients IT environment and plan adequately (with the support of standards and guidelines) on whether the use of Computer-Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) will be required to gather sufficient appropriate evidence during the audit. 2.1.4 Audit of Public Interest Entities CAATs are commonly used when auditing clients which carry-out all their operations online, such as Online Gaming companies, and when auditing large clients which rely on large and complex IT systems. Examples of the latter could be listed companies, financial institutions and insurance companies, all of which fall under the definition of Public Interest Entities (PIEs). The definition of PIEs varies across countries, but the core element is always the same. In fact, the revised 8th Directive provides with a core definition of PIEs, but it also permits the designation of other entities as PIEs by member states as they deem adequate (based on meeting a number of criteria). The definition is as follows: Entities governed by the law of a Member State whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market of any Member Stateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, credit institutions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and insurance undertakingsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Member States may also designate other entities as public interest entities, for instance entities that are of significant public relevance because of the nature of their business, their size or the number of their employees. In light of the definition set out by the revised 8th Directive, examples of Maltese PIEs are listed companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, large not for profit entities, and some publicly owned entities; all having a wide range of stakeholders. Due to the public stake in the performance of PIEs, the auditors role and responsibilities in giving an opinion on the financial statements of such entities becomes more important. In fact, the majority of PIEs in Malta are audited by the Big Four audit firms as these firms have the extensive knowledge and resources to carry-out audits of PIEs efficiently and effectively. Big Four Audit firms use CAATs to improve audit efficiency as it allows auditors to perform previous manual routine tasks quickly and efficiently (Zhao et al. 2004). Furthermore, Big Four Audit firms can use CAATs to improve audit effectiveness as more information can be obtained on controls within AISs of the client, and in certain cases 100 percent of the population can be tested (Braun and Davis, 2003). 2.2 Computer Assisted Auditing Techniques (CAATs) 2.2.1 Standards and Guidelines Due to the aforementioned increased reliance on IT systems by clients, new auditing standards and guidelines were needed to provide support and guidance to auditors. With relevance to this study, there are three important standards/guidelines that provide guidance to auditors when carrying-out an audit within an IT environment. SAS No. 94 The Effect of Information Technology on the Auditors Consideration of Internal Control in a Financial Statement Audit provides appropriate guidance to auditors on how to adequately understand and assess the computer controls within an organisation. SAS No. 94 goes on to clarify what the auditor should know in order to be able to understand the automated and manual procedures an entity uses to prepare its financial statements and related disclosures (Yang and Guan, 2004). Furthermore, this auditing standard emphasises on the need to use Computer-Assisted Auditing Techniques (CAATs) to test automated controls, especially in complex IT environments (Cerullo and Cerullo, 2003). ISACA Guideline No. 3 Use Of Computer-Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) provide guidelines to auditors on how CAATs can be effectively applied, specifically by providing detailed steps in planning the use of CAATs; performing the work; documenting and reporting. Another standard, SAS No. 99 [should I refer to ISA 240 instead?] Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit provides guidance to auditors on how to identify risks of material misstatements whether due to error or fraud. SAS No. 99 also recognises the importance of CAATs in the consideration of fraud, as this standard suggests that in cases where the client relies heavily on computer systems, the auditor should make use of CAATs to detect patterns of fraud. Furthermore, this audit standard highlights the importance of identifying the possibility of management override of controls. 2.2.2 Application of CAATs in Financial Auditing During a study carried out in Sweden by Temesgen (2005) on the Determinants for effective application of software in CAATs it was found that the most used type of CAATs by the big four audit firms in Sweden are CAATs used for simplification of monotonous tasks, such as Microsoft Office and other off-the shelf audit software packages. On the other hand, this study identified that the most effective CAATs such as Test Data, Integrated Test Facility, Parallel Simulation and other experts systems, which would have been more effective in observing electronic audit trails, are less utilised. CAATs can aid the auditor in performing various audit procedures especially when adopting the audit through the computer and audit with the computer approaches. Depending on the requirements of the audit, the auditor can choose to use CAATs to perform specific audit tasks such as drawing a sample, comparing balances between accounting periods, reviewing transactions for fraudulent patterns, testing applications controls, and performing tests of detail. 2.2.2.1 Sampling and Tests of Detail When using CAATs the auditor has the ability to test large volumes of transactions, more than he would have had he done the same process manually. This is one of the advantages of using CAATs. Using the computers speed, reliability, accuracy and robustness the auditor can perform repetitive tasks efficiently and effectively. Additionally, CAATs can also be used to draw samples representing the population and to carry out tests of detail, such as recalculation of discounts on invoices or recalculation of overtime allowances 2.2.2.2 Analytical Procedures ISA 520 Analytical Procedures defines analytical procedures as evaluations of financial information through analysis of plausible relationships among both financial and non-financial data. Furthermore, according to Wilson and Colbert (1991), analytical procedures involve drawing conclusions based on expected amounts calculated by the auditor. In performing such procedures, CAATs can be useful especially when reviewing complex data. These automated techniques are set to compare figures between accounting periods and possibly identify inconsistencies. 2.2.2.3 Test of General and Application Controls CAATs can also aid in testing general and application controls. As required in the audit through the computer approach, such computer aided techniques are used to assess the reliability of internal controls within computerised systems (Watne and Turney, 2002). For this to be successful the auditor must first understand how the clients system works, and then various CAATs can be applied to test the operating effectiveness of the clients system controls. 2.2.2.4 Fraud Detection Recent fraud scandals such as the cases of Enron and Worldcom, increased the importance given to performing audit procedures with the objective to identify fraudulent activities. As organisations use computer technology to process information, weak computerised internal controls or the lack thereof would increase the risk of fraud occurring through computer assisted means (Coderre, 2000). In fact, SAS No. 99 Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit proposes the use of CAATs for identifying fraudulent transactions and management override of controls. Digital Analysis is one type of CAAT with the specific purpose to identify fraudulent transactions (Hall 2004). This approach is used to identify inconsistencies in digits based on statistical properties through the use of Benfords Law. Additionally, according to Coderre (2000), as auditors develop a more systematic knowledge of fraudulent patterns within organisation, they can create a fraud profile which identifies the main fraud areas and patterns. This could then function as a template and be used when auditing different organisations. 2.3 Types of Computer Assisted Auditing Techniques CAATs are often divided into two categories, that is, CAATs used by the auditor to review and extract data (auditing with the computer); and CAATs used for testing the controls within computerised AISs of clients (auditing through the computer). 2.3.1 Reviewing and Extracting Data Files Compared with the techniques used for testing controls within AISs, CAATs used for reviewing and extracting data may require relatively less computer knowledge to use. Auditors may use these techniques to review and extract transaction and standing data in order to use it to perform substantive tests or test of controls. Two types of CAATs generally falling in this category are the Data File Interrogation and Embedded Audit Module techniques. 2.3.1.1 Data File Interrogation Data File Interrogation is about using the computer as a tool to review large volumes of data (Auditnet, 2003). With the use of computer software, the auditor can use the computers speed and reliability to perform tasks such as searching for missing or duplicate transactions; and comparing the contents of two files and printing a report containing the results with exceptions and/or record matches. Data File Interrogation can also be used to extract representative samples of data from the population to be used at a later stage in the audit. 2.3.1.2 Embedded Audit Module (EAM) As the name suggests, an Embedded Audit Module is a programmed module embedded in the clients computer system to review and capture data based on predetermined criteria set-out by the auditor (Auditnet, 2003). Transactions are examined as they are inputted in the system. The objective of the EAM is to capture those transactions which fall under the parameters set-out by the auditor. These transactions are then copied and stored in an audit log file for subsequent review from the auditor. The transactions which are captured by the EAM can then be used by the auditor to perform substantive tests. One the advantages of using Embedded Audit Modules is that it provides the auditor with data which is captured throughout the audit period and thus reduce the time and amount of work the auditor must do to identify transactions to be used for substantive testing at a later stage. On the other hand, one major limitation of EAM is that it cannot be easily added to the clients system once it is operational and thus this technique is more useful when the clients system is still in the design stage (Auditnet, 2003). 2.3.2 Testing Controls within Accounting Information Systems In contrast to the first category of techniques discussed above, there are CAATs which the auditor uses to audit through the computer. According to Braun and Davis (2003) these CAATs are used by auditors to examine the internal logic of the application. This means that the objective of such techniques is to assess the integrity and operational effectiveness of the controls within the clients computerised system. Three techniques are commonly used in the audit through the computer approach and these are Test Data, Integrated Test Facility (ITF), and Parallel Simulation. 2.3.2.1 Test Data When using the Test Data method, the auditor conducts testing of the clients system by inputting simulated test transactions into the system. The facility to design the test data gives the auditor the ability to decide what to and not to test. These test transactions are processed by the system and then the auditor compares the processed results with expected output. Any differences between the processed results and the expected results by the auditor could indicate a logic or control problem within the clients system (Braun and Davis, 2003). On the other hand, if no exceptions occur between the processed results and the expected results, then the auditor can reasonably assume that the systems controls operate effectively under normal circumstances. As suggested by Watne and Turney (2002), the objective of performing substantive testing with test data is to determine the accuracy of that computer processing for which a test record is submitted. Furthermore, test data can also be used to test the error detection capabilities of the system and to test the accuracy of reports produced by such system. The test data approach is commonly used by auditors as it requires limited computer knowledge and it is relatively easier to use when compared to other CAATs. Additionally it provides the auditor with an understanding of how the system operates (Auditnet, 2003). On the other hand, when creating the test data transactions the auditor may not be allowing for specific circumstances that may occur when the system is live and may lead the auditor making wrong assumptions on the integrity of the clients system controls. 2.3.2.2 Integrated Test Facility (ITF) Watne and Turney (2002) define Integrated Test Facility as a technique whereby the auditor creates simulated transactions, intermixes the transactions with a clients actual transactions, waits for the processing of the intermixed transactions, and then analyses the processing of the simulated transactions. Figure 2.2, as depicted by Auditnet in its Monograph Series Principles of Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (2003), illustrates the in-built testing facility/module which can be used for audit testing. The process is the same as that for the test data approach. The difference between the two methods is that in the test data approach the auditor uses a copy of the clients system to input the test transactions. On the other hand, when using the ITF method, the auditor actually inputs the test transactions in the clients system when running live under normal circumstances. As depicted in Figure 2.2, the system then processes the clients actual data intermixed with the auditors test data. Output is then separated again into client output and test output. The test output is compared with the auditors expected results and any deviations from the expected results are highlighted. Thus, this provides the auditor with a more accurate observation of controls within the system. Figure 2.2 Integrated Test Facility The advantages that ITF has on test data are that it allows the auditor to make unscheduled regular testing on the system when its live, and it provides live evidence on the operation effectiveness and integrity of the clients system. However, when using this method, auditors should give particular attention to identifying and removing the test transactions from the clients records once the audit testing is complete as this may hinder the integrity of the clients system. 2.3.2.3 Parallel Simulation Similar to the Test Data approach and ITF, parallel simulation is used to test the integrity and operating effectiveness of the clients application (Hunton, Bryant and Bagranoff, 2004). Figure 2.3 illustrates the process in using parallel simulation as depicted by Auditnet (2003). Watne and Turney (2002) define parallel simulation as the construction of a processing system for an accounting application and the processing of actual data through both the clients program and the auditors program. In simpler terms, the auditor designs an application which simulates the clients application. The simulated application should contain the appropriate controls that the auditor is expected to find in the clients application. Actual data (transactions occurring from the normal day-to-day running of the clients business) is then inputted in both the clients and simulation applications. The auditor then compares the output produced by the simulated application with that produced by the clients application. Figure 2.3 Parallel Simulation Assuming that the simulation application contains all the appropriate controls, then output from the simulation application should match with output from the clients application. If there are differences between the outputs produced by the two systems, then the auditor may infer that the input, processing and output controls within the clients application are not operating effectively. As the ITF technique, parallel simulation enables the auditor to test the clients system under normal operations. Furthermore it enables the auditor to use live data in testing controls unlike with the Test Data approach and ITF where test transactions are used. On the other hand, this technique requires extensive computer knowledge to be able to design a simulation application. Additionally, the cost for developing the simulation application can be relatively high (Watne and Turney, 2002) As discussed in this chapter, CAATs provide means of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit. However, as correctly stated by Brazina and Leauby (2004) CAATs are not a substitute for auditor judgement. It is crucial for auditors to use guidelines (such as ISACA Guideline No. 3) in order to plan the use of such techniques during the audit as lack of planning will eventually hinder the benefits derived from the use of CAATs. Particular considerations should also be given to the IT knowledge and experience of the audit team; the access available to the clients computer systems; and the impracticability of performing manual tests when auditing complex automated systems.

Subversive Power of the Theater Revealed in Hamlet an Othello :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

Subversive Power of the Theater Revealed in Hamlet and Othello      Ã‚   Theatrical performance is vital not only to the presentation of Hamlet and Othello, but it is vital to each of the play's respective stories. Several key characters control, manipulate, or script a theatrical performance of their own. Through subtle suggestion and explicit or implicit storytelling, Shakespeare's use of theatrical performance within his own plays underscores the subversive power of the theater. It is no secret that Shakespeare embeds within many of his plays subtle suggestions which were subversive to the thoughts and attitudes at the time. Through the construction of the play within a play, Hamlet subverts the notion of kingship. In the play, without even speaking himself, Hamlet constructs a particular version of reality so chilling that Claudius leaves the theater. While this is obviously due to the startling similarity that Claudius sees between the play and his own life, the subtle idea implied is the idea that royalty can be simplified to nothing more than acting. If the roles of the king and queen can be played so well that Claudius leaves the room, seeing the striking similarity between the play and his life, then there is no reason why kingship itself cannot be acted. This subversively delegitimizes the power of the throne. Moreover, it is only in the scenes related to the mousetrap that Hamlet shows signs of leadership. He says to the players, "Follow him, friends . We'll hear a play tomorrow . . . You could for a need / study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines / which I would set down and insert in't, could you / not?" (Shakespeare II.2:546-553). He is directing the action, asking the ability of the players and telling them exactly what they should do. The fact that Hamlet, the man who would be king, is a leader only in a performance subverts the idea of leadership being something firmly ingrained within the soul of a human being. Instead, it is replaced with the notion that kingship is not something that can be passed down from generation to generation, but something that can be acted, as if it could be turned on and off at will. The nobles and leaders of a country, then, are not inherently born with power because of their familial origin, but they have the same basis of human experience as the common man, an idea which would've been utterly rejected in Shakespeare's time.