Saturday, August 31, 2019

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards Paper Madeline Cates ACC/491 Contemporary Auditing 1 November 7, 2012 Thomas A. House Auditing is extremely important to our businesses, our state and federal government, investors, banks, and our overall economy. Without auditing there would be plenty of room for mistakes. Boynton & Johnson (2006) define auditing as the following, â€Å"A systematic process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence regarding assertions about economic actions and events to ascertain the degree of correspondence between those assertions and established criteria and communicating the results to interested users† (p. ). To break it down auditing follows a certain process of steps using financial statements and tax returns to evaluate an organization in an unbiased way. Once this is done a written report is made by the auditors to give the organization the credibility they deserve. This credibility is passed on to interested users such as; banks, stockh olders, and management. The purpose of this paper is to explain the nature and functions of auditing, and relate them to an organization in which we are familiar. The organization is which I am familiar with is Chili’s Bar and Grill where I have been an employee for over 4 years.Chili’s is owned by Brinker Nation, which is publically traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EAT. Brinker Nation is audited by independent auditing committee with no relation to the company, they follow the standard of the NYSE as well as the Securities and Exchange (SEC). The Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) are a set of standards that public accountants are required to use. All together there are 10 different GAAS that are used to establish the quality of performance and the overall objectives to be achieved in a financial statement audit. Boynton & Johnson, 2006) The Generally Accepted Accounting Standards apply to financial, operational, and compliance audits. Typically a CPA preforms a financial audit by evaluating a firm’s financial position to see if they are using GAAP. The results are then distributed to the general public. A compliance audit focuses on whether or not a firm is following rules and government regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that requires duel-purpose auditing and compliance audits.Operational audits focus on activities in relation to objectives. This is also known as a management audit. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) affect publically traded companies. The PCAOB is a private sector that was created by the SOX Act of 2002. Basically the PCAOB oversees auditors of publically traded companies to protect investors, creditors, and the general public. According to Boynton & Johnson (2006), the PCAOB was given authority in 5 major areas including, 1.Registering public accounting firms that audit the financial statements of public companies. 2. Setti ng quality control standards for peer review of auditors of public companies and conducting inspections of registered public accounting firms. 3. Setting auditing standards for audits of public companies. 4. Setting independence and ethics rules for auditors of public companies. 5. Performing other duties or functions to promote high professional standards ? for public company audits, and enforce compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.With the help of the SEC, PCAOB, SOX Act, and GAAS we can ensure investors and creditors that publically traded organizations are presenting honest, fair, and straightforward financial information. Auditing is vital to the growth of our businesses, our local and federal government, and our economy as a whole. Resources Boynton, W. C. , & Johnson, R. N. (2006). Modern auditing: Assurance services and the integrity of financial reporting. (8th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Louwers, T. , Ramsay, R. , Sinason, D. , & Stawser, J. R.. (2007). Auditing a nd assurance services. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Criticisms of Plato’s Theory of the Forms Essay

Plato’s theory of forms, also called his theory of ideas, states that there is another world, separate from the material world that we live in called the â€Å"eternal world of forms†. This world, to Plato, is more real than the one we live in. His theory is shown in his Allegory of the Cave (from The Republic, Book VII), where the prisoners only live in what they think is a real world, but really it is a shadow of reality. According to Plato, to the prisoners in the allegory and to humanity in the material world â€Å"truth would be literally nothing but shadows† and he believes us to be as ignorant as the people in the cave. Plato followed the belief that in order for something to be real it has to be permanent, and as everything in the world we live in is constantly changing, he assumed there must be something else. In his eternal world of forms, there is an ideal form of every object there is in this world. Plato answers the question â€Å"what is beauty?â⠂¬  by discovering the essence of true beauty. The reason one recognises something has being beautiful is because we have an innate knowledge of something that is beauty, i.e. we know of the form of true beauty in the eternal world of forms, and everything we see compares to that. Something is only beautiful if it shares characteristics with the form of beauty in the other world. The most important form is the form of the good, portrayed by the sun in the allegory of the cave. Aristotle was Plato’s main critic and was once a pupil of Plato. Aristotle and many other philosophers who came after Plato criticised Plato’s view that these ideal forms had an independent existence. Many people believe that there must be something to which we compare all objects and something that makes something what it is and not something else. But that doesn’t mean that it exists separate from our bodies. Plato does not prove, or even try and prove that these perfect forms are self-evident. It is Plato’s disability to prove this that causes people to criticise his theory. As Aristotle was one of his pupils, he does not totally reject Plato’s theory but argues that it may not be the only logical reason towards how something is classified. Another criticism made by Aristotle. Linked to the previous one is that Aristotle does not believe that there can be an ideal form of Disease, or  Dirt, or anything bad. If these things are unwanted then how can there be a perfect form of these? A perfect form of disease would be one that does not harm anybody, and doesn’t cause death or suffering. Some concepts fit Plato’s system in better ways than others. For example, mathematical concepts are easier for us to understand than others. How are we to know what the ideal dog is like? Is it tall, short, fat, or skinny? The perfect form of a circle fits into his theory as we know what a perfect circle would be like. It is hard to believe that there is a perfect form of a piece of paper, or a plastic bag. But, as can be seen, this criticism is again not totally dismissing Plato’s theory but is finding loopholes in it. Another problem with his theory, which is again related to the last, is how far the ideal form relates? Plato does not make it clear whether the perfect form in the other world is very specific or whether it isn’t. If we take for example a dog; is the form in the eternal world of forms just an ideal animal, or an ideal dog? Perhaps it goes further to the breed of dog, or even whether it is male or female. As Plato doesn’t elucidate this, we could go on and on until we have a form of every animal, so a shortsighted, over-weight, female dog. This means that the forms are no longer universal and therefore end up having no meaning. If both Aristotle and Plato were aiming to reach the highest from of the good then they should both agree on how to reach it. Plato claims that the highest form of the good is like the sun, â€Å"seen only with an effort†, and is the one thing that makes other things the way they are as it is â€Å"the universal author of all things†¦and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual†. Goodness is something that cannot be defined, when asked, different people have different ideas about what is good, or right and wrong, whereas if everybody was asked to point to the sun they all would. This disproves his theory as not everybody has a true understanding of the Form of the Good. Plato fails to set out his theory clearly and allow the reader to realise it is a theory. Nowhere in his dialogues does he state that he is describing a theory of forms, and so people may have misunderstood his writing s and he  may not have meant it to be a theory at all. He has elements of his theory in many different dialogues and is inconsistent. In Book I of the Metaphysics Aristotle claims that Plato had a â€Å"system† to the effect that â€Å"the many sensibles which have the same name exist by participating in the corresponding Forms.† This quote from Aristotle’s work suggests that Plato did have a theory of forms but this is not believed by all people. None of these criticisms totally disallow Plato’s theory but argue against it and suggest other possibilities. Although there are many critics of Plato there are also many people who follow him, and even in this day and age Plato’s ideas are understood and followed and he has ended up being one of the most influential philosophers although his Theory of Forms is slightly over the top and hard to understand. To a certain extent these criticisms are valid, but in other ways they are not. In my opinion they are valid as far as criticisms are concerned but are not valid if they are meant to oppose Plato’s theory. In my view they are invalid to go up against Plato’s theory of forms because they do not supply us with any other options but simply point out the flaws of his arguments. For example, Aristotle’s criticism that these ideal forms do not have to exist independently from this material world is valid. But he does not give us a reason why it is impossible for them to be self-evident or explain to us how they could exist in this world. This causes the criticisms to be less valid in my view as there is no significant reason for Plato’s theory to be untrue. Likewise with the second criticism about how there cannot be an ideal form of dirt. I believe there can be. Just as good things can have ideal forms, bad things also must have something to which we compare them. The form would produce a definition of disease and there is no reason why this cannot exist. When Plato talks about something ideal, he does not mean it is ideal in the context we want it and need it, but just that it is the form to which we will compare things and it is the perfect form of a bad thing. Although people criticise Plato’s because it is hard to believe that there is an  ideal form of some things that aren’t mathematical concepts, it doesn’t mean they are not true just because we don’t understand it. I therefore, do not think that this criticism is valid, as I do not see a reason why it cannot be true. One criticism I do think is valid is that Plato does not make it clear about whether the ideal form is of a certain animal, a species or breed. But, Plato may not have thought it necessary to make this clear to us as he may have thought it obvious. This, however, is really giving Plato the benefit of the doubt, and so I think this is a valid criticism. Even if Plato and Aristotle were both aiming for the same thing, in my view it does not mean they have to do it in the same way. Aristotle did believe many of the things Plato taught him, but just expanded his ideas a bit more. I do not believe this to be a valid criticism as there are always many ways to reach an end and not everybody has to follow the same path to reach their goal. Plato criticises his own theory a few times but eventually reaches answers to the things he criticised. This can either cause other people’s criticisms to be more valid or less valid depending on the way you look at it. Often, when people criticise their own work before somebody else does, it lowers the value of the criticism as it shows Plato already knew people would criticise him for that. On the other hand, it makes me think that there is reason to criticise if he himself criticises his theory. This causes later criticisms of his theory to be more valid. There are many reasons for the criticisms to be valid, and many why they are not. I personally think that most of them are not valid and if even nowadays many people believe Plato’s theory then there must be some truth in it. Bibliography *Foundation for the Study of Religion – Libby Ahluwalia *Plato – R.M.Hare *Philosophy: an Introduction – Mel Thompson *Encarta – Plato

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Discuss the physiological determinants of Endurance Performance Essay

Discuss the physiological determinants of Endurance Performance - Essay Example An understanding of these determinants and the manner in which they can be influenced is particularly useful in the field of sports, where better endurance performance is the difference between success and failure in competitive activities that place a demand on the endurance capacity of an individual (Coyle, 1999). According to Bouchard et al, 2000, the ability to cope with the demands made during a performance of endurance activity is influenced by many determinants. These determinants are physique, body composition, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), biochemical factors, nutritional status, thermoregulation, sub-maximal exercise tolerance and efficiency, social factors and psychological traits. Furthermore there is realization that each of these determinants is in reality a host of several factors instead of being a single characteristic (Bouchard et al, 2000). This paper restricts itself to the evaluation of maximal oxygen consumption, lactate threshold, exercise economy and thermoregulation as these factors constitute the physiological determinants of endurance performance. Such a view is supported by Tanaka and Seals, 2008, who give maximal oxygen consumption, lactate threshold and exercise economy as the main physiological determinants of endurance performance and Coyle 1999, who contends that thermoregulation is a physiological determinant of endurance performance, due to the intense and prolonged oxidative metabolism that is characteristic of an endurance performance. For the performance of physical activity the body requires energy. In performance sports the physical activity involves aerobic energy production means, where oxygen is a key component. In other words oxygen is used up during physical activity and for sustained physical activity at high intensity higher levels of oxygen requirement and utilization there is a high demand for oxygen. The greater the levels of oxygen that are taken up the more are the energy that is

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Discussion Questions 1&2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion Questions 1 - Assignment Example Organizational behavior can be used to develop groups or teams in the workplace. Teamwork in the 21st century has become extremely important due to the fact that individualism is no longer a desired trait in the business world. OB can also help managers deal with diversity in the workplace. Diversity can help improve the problem solving abilities of organizations. Managers can use organizational behavior to implement change management techniques in order to adapt the business to the needs of the marketplace. If a manager has problems such as stress in the workplace managers can use organizational behavior in order to solve these types of problems. Managers can also use organizational behavior to implement innovation in the workplace. Power and politics are two topics associated with organizational behavior that managers must use in their dealings with stakeholder groups. For example a manager might negotiate labor agreements with unions or suppliers. The use of expert power can help managers control the behavior of others based on knowledge, experience, and judgment (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn, 2003, p.313). How are organizations similar to living things? Just like the cells in a body make up a living organism the group of people that work in a business make up the organization. Organizations have many similarities with living organisms. The most common organizational setup is the corporation.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Ted Talk Reflection Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ted Talk Reflection Report - Essay Example I must say that the research process turned out to be quiet easy for me in the sense that I had to write about my father’s professional success and how he used the social media, which was in a very nascent stage in his times, to promote and expand his business. Yet, I was required to maintain a measure of detachment while culling out the traits that highlighted my father’s professional success, and to seek a theory of success that imbibed those characteristics and traits. I used a colorful and simple visual selection to make my paper more interesting, thought provoking and self explanatory. The objective of my essay is to bring to fore the essential human qualities, which when combined with the technical possibilities, give way to success and fulfillment. The management gurus and motivational speakers do not happen to be the only custodians of timeless qualities and abilities that promote human happiness. Families and communities also have been the traditional sources of ethics and excellence, which if approached and analyzed in a theoretical framework, can work wonders for the world. The Action Plan from the Doc Spec made the things for me less unwieldy, structured and organized. I must say that I don’t have much experience with essay writing in English. So the Doc Spec facilitated a manageable framework within which I was able to research and brainstorm the topic selected by me. To put it simply, it considerably curtailed the wastage of time, efforts and resources. It allowed me to construct and then build on the topic in a systematic and methodical manner Going through the papers drafted by others allowed me a clear and concise perspective as to what I was expected to do and how I should go about doing it. I more than often focused on the format and style of others to shape and organize my work. It also extended to me a fair idea as to what sources I need to research and how to access those sources. Besides it

Monday, August 26, 2019

Observational Studty Survey Research Statistics Project

Observational Studty Survey Research - Statistics Project Example However, more research or more information should be provided in this area of study in an effort to come up with preventive and control measures in addition to improvement and development programs on smoking cessation and anxiety disorders. Despite the fact that smoking has been identified as one of the leading health hazards, more that 21% of the population of United States still continue with the habit of smoking. High smoking prevalence rates have been observed among people with psychiatric disorders such as anxiety. Despite this realization, researches on the correlation between smoking and anxiety continue to receive less attention among researchers in comparison to other psychiatric conditions commonly witnessed with tobacco intake. This paper with the use of already existing literature, critically examines the correlation between anxiety and tobacco and nicotine dependence/use. To achieve this, the paper is based on a survey conducted by students from Pierce College and CSUN. Following the limitations on the extent of the researches carried out on the same issue, the paper had to include other reviews in addition to the survey and borrowed information from already conducted studies (Billings and Moss, 1998). The data on the correlation between smoking and anxiety has proved to be inconsistent depending on the smoking stage of the subject being investigated. Some of the evidences from different researches are in support of the notion that anxiety increases the smoking initiation risks. This includes a research conducted by Patton on adolescents which indicates that anxiety symptoms predicted and initiated smoking experiments among peers which in the long run increased the chances of such teenagers growing up to be daily smokers (Billings and Moss, 1998). There are several factors that have been observed to influence the relationship

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Positive emotional intentions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Positive emotional intentions - Essay Example They can also improve motivation that supports community actions. Finally, positive emotions boost interpersonal judgment and positive emotional contagion that can help improve social relationship management skills. Society will benefit from encouraging and spreading positive emotions. Positive emotions may not resolve all social problems, but it is a good source of positive social changes. Positive Emotional Intentions Produce Constructive Outcomes in Society A happy man tends to be a better citizen and human being, and so feeling positive is good for society too. Nezlek and Kuppens (2008) and McMurran (2011) supported the connection between positive emotions and positive social outcomes. Emotions, such as love, hope, humor, and joy, can directly affect people’s positive perceptions, attitudes, and actions (McMurran, 2011, p.629). Emotions, after all, are bodily changes, and biology, aside from environmental factors, shapes human behaviors (McMurran, 2011, p.629). This essay explores the outcomes of positive emotional intentions for individuals and the society in general. Emotional intentions refer to emotions and their target goals. Positive emotional intentions produce constructive outcomes in society, particularly lower crime rate, higher participation in community-building activities, and stronger social relationships. ... Nezlek and Kuppens (2008) studied two emotion regulation strategies, reappraisal and suppression, and how these strategies influence other dimensions of psychological functioning. Reappraisal refers to changing how an experience is perceived, so that its emotional effects are managed (Nezlek & Kuppens, 2008, p.562). Suppression happens when people stop the expression of certain feelings (Nezlek & Kuppens, 2008, p.563). Nezlek and Kuppens (2008) used survey research to answer their research questions, and 153 undergraduate students participated. Findings showed that reappraisal can lead to better psychological adjustment and affective experiences than suppression (Nezlek & Kuppens, 2008, p.574). The implication of their findings is that people who cannot regulate their emotions can have psychological problems, which can result to possible criminological attitudes. For example, Jim is an employee who has a verbally abusive employer, Alex. If Jim does not regulate his emotions, his supp ressed anger can lead to low self-esteem, and soon, he will feel so mad that he will engage in risk-taking behaviors, such as doing drugs and drinking alcohol. Afterwards, one time, he is so drunk that he kills his boss. This may be a hypothetical scenario but not impossible. Positive emotional intentions can help people regulate bad feelings and result to greater control over potentially criminal actions. Furthermore, positive emotional intentions can include the production of moral emotions. McMurran (2011) described moral emotions as â€Å"secondary emotions† that help people choose â€Å"good† over â€Å"bad† decisions (p.631). She hypothesized that moral emotions impact moral cognition, which in turn result to moral behaviors (McMurran, 2011, p.632). Moral emotions can reduce crime

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Developing a Perfomance Appraisal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Developing a Perfomance Appraisal System - Essay Example Federal and state laws have added to the complexity and difficulty of appraisal plans. Criteria for compliance with equal employment opportunity laws are stringent. Management needs to design and operate its appraisal systems carefully in order to comply with these laws. A generation ago, appraisal programs tended to emphasize employee traits, deficiencies, and abilities, but modern appraisal philosophy emphasizes present performance and future goals. Modern philosophy also stresses employee participation in mutually setting goals with the supervisor and knowledge of results. Thus the hallmarks of modern appraisal philosophy are as follows: 2. Focus on goals or objectives - as the discussion of MBO shows, employees need to have a clear idea of what they are supposed to be doing and the priorities among their tasks; as the saying goes," If you know where you want to go, you are more likely to get there." 3. Mutual goal setting within supervisor and employee - this is the belief the people will work harder for goals or objectives that they have participated in setting. Among their desires are perform a worthwhile task, share in a group effort, share in setting their objectives, share in the rewards of their efforts and continue personal growth. The (Theory Y) assumption is that people want to satisfy some of their needs through work and that they will do if management will provide them with a supportive environment. 4. Clarification of behavioral expectations - this is often done via a behavioral anchored rating scale (BARS), which provides the employee and the manager with concrete examples of various levels of behaviors. Brief descriptions of outstanding, very good, acceptable, below average and unacceptable behaviors are specified for each major dimension of a job, thuis cueing the employee in advance regarding the organization's expectations. BARS helps reduce manager's tendency to focus on attitudes, personality, and nquirks of an employee and shift emphasis toward productive behaviors. 5. Extensive Feedback Systems - employees can fine-tune their performance better if they know how they are doing in the eyes of the organization. Most organizational appraisal systems requires supervisors to assess employees on various aspects of their productivity, behavior, and or personal traits. Examples of these three dimensions include quality of work and quantity of output, attendance and initiative and general attitude. Many appraisal systems also point toward both historical performance and the individual's potential for growth and advancement. The actual forms and procedures used for assessing this information vary widely. Some organizations ask supervisors to write essays describing the employee's performance; others recommend that they accumulate a record of incidents both positive and negative; mant firms use various types of graphic rating scales that grade employees on A-B-C-D-E or 1-2-3-4-5 systems. Regardless of the system used, the assessment is then communicated to the employee through the appraisal interview. This is a session

Friday, August 23, 2019

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 16

Interview - Essay Example I an interview , I listed some questions that I interested to know the answers , I talked to my sister on Face Time because they are at home in my country, the interview was conducted on 12 Feb to 14 Feb 2015 , it took 3 days, each day we spent almost one hour and a half. We felt comfortable and interested while asking and answering the questions. When asked Mashel (my sister) about what her favorite plant is and why, she said that Nigeria Sativa is her favorite plant. My sister’s name is Mashel, she is a student in Taiba university in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She is studying food sciences, she is in her second year of university .she decided to study this major because she is interested in knowing the food components, food installation, and how healthy food is prepared. My mother is a housewife, she has four daughters and one son and she is interested in cooking new and different dishes for the family. Unfortunately, she could not complete her bachelors because of her children. She did not have enough time to take care of her children. She spends most of her time to take care of her children and house. When asked about the plant mostly used for medicinal purposes in my family, she said that Nigeria Sativa considers one of the most important plants use for medicine in our family. She added that Nigeria Sativa is grasses grow at annual vegetarian in the Mediterranean region. Also, it grows in Africa, Asia, and Arabian Peninsula. Nigeria Sativa is short stature plant; belong to fennel and anise family. When asked her whether she had used Nigeria Sativa for medicine, she said, â€Å"actually Nigeria Sativa considers as a key for all diseases, usually in the morning I take Nigeria Sativa with glass of orange juice, of with seven dates, that helps me to be move active, and reduces Nervous tension. In addition, sometimes helps when I have trouble sleeping in the night, it helps to relax