Forensic Accountants as Fraud Buggers Case Study

Forensic Accountants as Fraud Buggers - Case Study Example A forensic accountant must be equipped with investigative skills. These skills are important in gathering, evaluating and analyzing accounting data and audited information from business organizations (Ramaswamy, 2010). It is through these skills that a forensic accountant will be able to determine possible discrepancies and loopholes within audited accounting data and information (Carnes & Gierlasinski, 2001; DiGabriele, 2008). The effectiveness of a forensic accountant is measured by the ability to apply investigative skills to interpret accounting information and financial evidence to back misappropriation of resources within a business organization or company (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Fraudsters within companies and business organizations often devise methods of embezzlement or fraud that are hard to detect. It is in this regard that a forensic accountant must have effective investigative skills to detect accounting problems which would not be determined by ordina ry auditing and accounting approaches (Bawaneh, 2011). Investigative skills also allow a forensic accountant to adhere to the ethics and regulations that govern investigations of criminal cases. Computing or technical skills are required for an effective forensic accountant. This is due to the fact that contemporary companies and business environments have adopted and implemented information technology methods in accounting and finance (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008).... This is due to the fact that contemporary companies and business environments have adopted and implemented information technology methods in accounting and finance (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Through computing skills, a forensic accountant is able to retrieve, analyzed and report financial evidence in electronic formats (Topping, 2008). More importantly a forensic accountant must be able to apply computer software and applications and other computer assisted tools to detect fraud or embezzlement of resources within companies (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Modern business organizations are characterized by what is referred to as white collar crime in which technology is used to defraud or embezzle resources and hide evidence. It is in this sense that computing skills of a forensic accountant become significant (Carnes & Gierlasinski, 2001). Litigation skills area also required for effective forensic accountants. These skills are significant in the role of a forensic accountant as an arbitrator or mediator in legal accounting problems. These skills are also important because they enable forensic accountants to be effective experts and credible consultants who could be used by companies to detect and report fraud or embezzlement of resources. Through litigation skills, forensic accountants are able to evaluate damages and losses and find ways of resolving disputes among the disputants (Topping, 2008). Other important skills of a forensic accountant include analytical and forensic skills. Effective forensic accountants must have analytical skills that will empower them to determine the importance of the gathered financial evidence in reporting fraud (DiGabriele, 2008). Through analytical skills, forensic accountants analyze and professionally

Functionalist Perspective on Social Problems

Functionalist Perspective on Social Problems When in a society people agree that there exists a condition that threatens the quality of their lives and their most cherished values, and they also agree that something should be done to remedy it, sociologists say that society has defined that state of affairs as a social problem. Sociologists ask questions about how the problem effects the collectivity rather than the individual aspects of a problem. The main sociological approaches to the study of social problems are the functionalist and conflict perspectives. Functionalism aims at analysing the social and cultural phenomenon in terms of the functions they perform. From this perspective, the main reason for the existence of social problems is that societies are always changing and the failure to adapt successfully to change leads to social problems. Functionalist analysis was prominent in the work of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer, two of the founding fathers of this discipline and was further developed and refined by Emile Durkheim and more recently by Talcott Parsons. Durkheim is the most important sociological forerunner of modern day functionalism. His description of organic solidarity focussed on the interdependence of roles and lack of self-sufficiency that held people together. According to the functionalist perspective, each part of society is interconnected and contributes to society performing as a whole. If all goes well, the diverse parts of society produce order, equilibrium and performance. If all does not go well, then the different parts of society must adapt themselves to re-establish a new balance, equilibrium and performance. For example, during a financial recession and consequent high rates of unemployment and inflation, state spending on social programs is reduced or eliminated, Schools offer fewer educational programmes and families spend less, so a new social order, steadfastness and productivity occurs. The conflict perspective, which originated primarily out of Karl Marxs writings on class conflicts, presents a picture of society in a different light from the functionalist perspective. While the functionalist perspective focuses on the positive aspects of society that contribute to its stability, the conflict perspective focuses on the antagonistic, disharmonized and ever-changing nature of society. Conflict theorists challenge the existing state of affairs, strenghten social change (even when this means social revolution) and believe affluent and authoritarian people force social order on the destitute and the weak. Capitalism, the economic system which dominates the world today, is based on private ownership of the means of production (manufacturing industry, the raw materials and resources needed for industry and even the seeds necessary for food production) and exploitation of the labour of the working-class. The working-class, with no land or substantial inherited wealth, have no means of supporting themselves and are forced to sell their labour to survive. Capitalists buy this labour power, then get their money back and make profits by selling necessities and other products to the working-class and other classes in society. Critics of the conflict perspective point to its exceedingly negative outlook of society. The theory ultimately accredits charitable efforts, benevolence, democracy, civil rights, and other positive aspects of society to capitalistic motives meant to control the masses, and not to fundamental interests in sustaining society and social order. For generations before the establishment of a welfare state, most poor people who did not earn a living somehow managed to cope. Relying on family and, if necessary, on local charities, they pooled together the resources necessary to maintain a dwelling and prevent starvation. The term Poverty has many definitions and it is often defined as a state of deprivation relative to those standards of living enjoyed by others within the same society e.g. income or consumption poverty, social preclusion, lack of basic needs and relative hardship. The extensive sociological literature on poverty overlaps with that on race, ethnicity, subcultures, the underclass and stratification. The study of poverty is central to any examinations of social inequality, including an analysis of who is destitute and the reasons for their poverty. Although the poor have often been blamed for their poverty, which is seen as the consequence of some form of personal inadequacy such as idleness, most studies attribute the existence of poverty in terms of the social and economic structures of industrialised societies. The Functionalist belief on poverty is based on the assumption that poverty serves a constructive use for society since functionalism is interested in large scale fundamental justifications of social life. Therefore, poverty is studied on a macro level on the basis of the benefits it provides to society as a whole, rather than for the persons who are in poverty. The most influential writer on this aspect is Herbert J. Gans (1971) who suggests that poverty benefits the rich and powerful, who have a statutory interest in preserving poverty. According to Gans, poverty ensures there is always someone in society who needs to perform physically dangerous, temporary, undignified and underpaid work for low wages, which is ultimately better than destitution. Furthermore, without the underpaid in society, many enterprises would be unable to operate as they rely upon under paid workers to ensure their dividend and success. The very existence of poverty provides the rest of society with benchmark against which society can measure itself. In Britain, Peter Townsend played a leading role between 1950, and 1970s in making the public aware of the continuing existence of poverty. According to Townsend individuals, families and groups can be said to be in poverty when they lack the means to obtain the types of food, participate in the activities and have basic living conditions and facilities which are recognized, or at least widely sanctioned or approved, in the societies to which they belong. Their resources are so seriously below those required by the average person or family that they are, in effect, excluded from everyday living ways, customs and activities. In Poverty in the United Kingdom Townsend claims that the existence of class division is the major factor causing poverty; but he also acknowledges that poverty is related to lifestyles. From a conflict perspective, poverty is imposed, reflecting unequal power among social groups, and it will continue to be imposed until those harmed by it manage to force a change. Conflict theory argues that the explanations offered by functionalism theory is part of what sustains poverty, as they conceal its true origins and encourage the poor to accept social arrangements rather than organize to combat them. Marxism attributes poverty to the existence of class divisions in society. Poverty helps to maintain the domination of the bourgeoisie. In the 19th century the recognized explanation of poverty came from Malthuss Essay on Population (1798). Malthus affirmed that population grows faster than production. Increasing poverty is therefore unavoidable; any increase in the standard of living of the poorest classes simply leads to an increase in births or decrease in death rates and the population again presses on food supply. Marx held the Malthusian theory in great disdain. Under capitalism, production grows very rapidly because of continual innovation and the surplus population a group of unemployed living in poverty is not the result of natural population increase, but of the dislocation of workers by labour-saving machinery. The surplus population could all work if the length of the working day were reduced. But employers dont want this, for various reasons. Marxists believe that the capitalist society is constucted by the economy, and this structure needs to be completely reconfigured to be able to eliminate poverty. This would include a revolutionary eradication of capitalism because eventually the situation will progress to a small minority of the bourgeoisie (ruling class) and a pool of cheap labour. Marxists illustrated this by suggesting that institutions in the superstructure, such as the media, abuse of the proletariat, keeping them poor. A fragileness to the Marxists point of view is that it fails to explain why some groups are more inclined to poverty than others, e.g. women and the disabled. According to Marxists, the welfare system is an instrument of the state, which helps to maintain absolute lack of balance of prosperity that see some people living in privation with little possibility of ever really escaping from it. Absolute poverty, also known as subsistence poverty, is the idea that it is possible to create an absolute minimum standard of living required for physical health, this is often called the poverty line. This concept is used in Drewnowski and Scotts level of living index where nutrition is defined in terms of calories and protein, shelter in terms of quality of dwelling and degrees of overcrowding, and health in terms of infant mortality and the quality of available medical facilities. Some sociologists attempt to include measures of education, security, leisure and recreation as basic cultural needs to be added to the notion of subsistence. The theory of relative poverty has mainly replaced that of absolute poverty in sociological research. Relative poverty is measured in terms of judgements by members of a particular society of what is considered as a reasonable and acceptable standard of living. This definition of poverty suggests that the poor in any given society are, in part, defined by their opposite, the rich. A society has a distinctive set of cultural values, and any definition of poverty must include the choices and interests that individuals have in their society. Researchers have linked poverty to several key issues of child welfare. Children from families in poverty experience more emotional and behaviour problems than children from middle and upper class families. Although all children go to school, the background of some puts them academically behind their peers from the beginning. Impoverished students are far more likely to enter school a disadvantaged because they have not had experiences that promote literacy and reading readiness. More than one billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day. In total, 2.7 billion struggle to survive on less than two dollars per day. Poverty in the developing world, however, goes far beyond income poverty. This entails having to walk more than one mile everyday to collect water and firewood; it means suffering diseases that were annihilated from rich countries decades ago. Every year eleven million children (mostly under the age of five) die from malnutrition and more than six million from completely preventable causes like malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. A total of 114 million children do not get access to a basic education and 584 million women are illiterate. Social protection systems in Europe are among the most highly developed in the world but still, 16% of Europes population amounting to 79 million people live below the poverty line (set at 60% of their countrys median income) with one European in ten living in a household where nobody has an employment. Children, are more exposed to poverty with 19% amounting to 19 million children living under the threat of poverty. For this reason the European Union has proclaimed 2010 as the European Year For Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion with four main objectives: The fundamental right of persons experiencing poverty and social exclusion to live in dignity and to take an active part in society; Foster commitment by all public and private actors to combat poverty and social exclusion; Encourage cohesion; Promote commitment and practical action of the EU and its Member States to combat poverty and social exclusion, and involve all levels of authority in the pursuit of that aim. Malta does not live in a vacuum and new forms of poverty brought about by social progress as a result of new lifestyles have been very actual. A large number of families are living through difficult times, with children being the innocent victims of their parents and guardians, the authorities or the community at large. Problems created by gambling, usury, alcohol, drug abuse and mental health. The report by the National Family Commission states that relative poverty exits not just financially but also in cases of stigmatised illness, domestic violence and cases where a husband chooses not to work so that he can default on paying maintenance to wife and dependants. More and more international efforts have been organized in recent decades to address the problems of the poorest among us. However, while the world has certainly seen an overall improvement in rates of poverty and poverty-related issues, success has been uneven and hampered by serious setbacks. One devastating disease, such as AIDS, can obliterate the economy of a low-income country and one violent conflict can crush any human development advances that might have been achieved. Can we envisage a society without absolute poverty and relative poverty? In a society without absolute poverty everyone that could work would be employed, there would be little crime, just a great place to live. In a society without relative poverty people would all have the same wealth and there would be no competition to be better then anyone else. This type of society is only possible in the imagination. Poverty survives because it is useful to our society. Societys dirty work could still be carried out without poverty by paying the dirty workers decent wages. If the poor were more affluent they would make less willing clients for upper-class philanthropy. Poverty will only be eliminated when the poor can obtain enough power to make a change in todays society.

Essay --

The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, is well written and a must read for teenagers across America. This novel mainly focuses on the treatment of women and the friendship of women in Afghanistan, and is relatable to many women, mainly in the Middle East. The book takes the reader through the tough lives of two women, Mariam and Laila. These two women have grown up in different environments and were treated very differently from each other. This book shows the unity and strength of two women who stand against their abusive husband and every obstacle they come face to face with. The book starts off in a poor village where Mariam lives with her mother, Nana. Her father, Jalil, is a very wealthy man from Herat who visits her once a week. Since Mariam was born, her mother has always called her names. Nana constantly told her she was a worthless bastard because her father had an affair with his servant, who was Nana at the time. After Nana found out she was pregnant, Jalil and his three wives kicked her out, as it would hurt their reputation. Since Mariam is a girl, no one saw any value in her. Mariam soon learns the truth after she sneaks off to her father’s house to meet him despite her mother’s wishes. At her father’s house she is told to go home as her father is away on a business trip. Mariam refuses to leave and is forced to sleep outside, poorly treated. In the morning, she goes to the yard and sees Jalil’s face in the window, shocked to understand her mother was right all along. When Mariam returns home to apologize to Nana, she finds her dead body hanging. After her mother’s death, Jalil and his three wives force fifteen year old Mariam to marry forty-five year old shoemaker, Rasheed. Years passed in their ma... ... much as its men. He was a teacher before the war so he taught Laila at home as well. Although Laila was educated and Mariam was not, the respect they both had for each other was equal. This novel has a very powerful message for men and women. One gender should not dominate over the other. Equality is important for stability in every relationship and every country. The importance of women should be recognized and this novel briefly shows the power of unity and strength. Men and woman both have different roles, and both should equally have their share in society. The novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a must read for everyone across the country and share the message. Many women in different countries do not have value and are living life in misery. Women’s rights are worth fighting for and Khaled Hosseini did a marvelous job with displaying this story to the readers.

Explain the Concept of Ideals in Plato’s Writings Essay

â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living† according to Plato. He argued that we should always pursue knowledge and ask questions to do this. A key part of Plato’s philosophy is epistemology – his theory of how we know things. His concept of Ideals, also known as Forms, is Plato’s explanation of how true knowledge can be sought. Plato understood that there are concepts that we can all recognise in various things, for example the concept of beauty. We all recognise beauty in art, nature, people, or music, and we all understand the idea when we hear the word used. Although we can all recognise beauty, our opinions of what classes as beautiful are widely varied and subjective. The conclusions Plato drew from this is that beauty must exist, otherwise we would not know it at all. This is the Perfect Form of Beauty. However, we must have only partial knowledge of it or we would not have subjective opinions. Forms are absolute versions of concepts and ideas. They are perfect ideas of everything and therefore they do not change – perfect things cannot change for the better and would not change for the worse. They are also eternal as to begin or to stop existing is a change. They cannot live in this world as it is constantly changing and forms are unchangeable, so they can only exist in the Realm of the Forms. The form of Beauty is absolute and true; it is not an opinion but an idea or concept, therefore no-one can know the real meaning of Beauty as it cannot exist in this world and it is eternal. We will never know forms fully as we are imperfect. Forms give us knowledge and allow us to have some understanding of the truth. Although, we know that we do not know them fully as we can form our own opinions on things, e.g. what is beautiful and what is not. Forms are in the Realm of the Forms, we can recognise them as this is where our soul originates from, however because they come from there and not from where we are, we do not know them fully. Also as they are perfect we cannot understand them fully. In the Realm of the Forms there are Ideals of everything we have a concept of such as Beauty, Justice, Truth, and the Form of the Good. The Form of the Good is the highest of the forms and is the foundation and essence of everything. The Form of The Good represents Plato’s idea of goodness and is what you should most want. For Plato this was eudaimonia, living a good and fulfilled life. All other forms such as beauty, justice or truth are part of eudaimonia and so part of Good. The Form of the Good is therefore the most important Form as it gives us full and true knowledge of what we should pursue. It is our ultimate goal and the source of all truth and goodness. In this way, it has influenced the development of the Christian idea of God. Plato uses the Cave Allegory to present his ideas about Forms. He does this by using symbolism, by representing the Forms as objects outside of the cave. He then represents the Form of the Good as the sun; the sun shines light onto the objects outside, allowing us to see them. The light represents knowledge and the objects represent Forms – the Sun shows us the Forms and gives us knowledge. The prisoner’s journey illustrates Plato’s concept of Ideals or Forms – they provide truth but must be pursued individually and by looking away from things that keep us ignorant.

Brand Sense/Marketing: McDonald’s Hamburgers Essay

Figure 1 This figure illustrates how McDonald’s hamburger is presented to the public. The picture looks so appealing enough to make people crave to taste how it is like when combining the fresh and nutritious ingredients together. The picture alone tells that the food is very delicious by its look, that it produces enchanting smell; and when a person touches it, its soft and thick bread would be enough to satisfy his craving. Analyzing the ads in view of the senses presented in the diagram gives the brand manager the criteria in assessing how effective the ads is in arousing the interest and craving of the people towards the product. In the same way, this also guides him/her to determine a particular sensory activity he would employ in a particular product. Figure 2 Using the twelve components in the ‘Smash your Brand’ philosophy of Martin Lindstrom, McDonald’s hamburgers communicate the true personality of the company. This principle applies the idea of uniqueness that makes the product relevant to its customers. This uniqueness is applied in various components as discussed by Lindstrom. The M shape icon and the McDonald’s mascot that represent it appear so customer friendly while the combination of yellow and white and a little red gives relaxing mood. Actually the name McDonald is an American folksong that creates an image as ‘plain folk. ’ In my opinion, McDonald’s will survive smashing because it communicates goodwill and friendly customer service in many aspects of services. ‘Smash your Brand’ as another device through which a marketing scheme is being conceptualized, is holistic in approach. For a marketing plan, using this approach is quite mind-numbing and tedious because in the first place this particular approach is done by the organization as a whole to impose a change in the company. Once the initiative is from the upper level, marketing department will also follow and will create a plan based on the set corporate goals. Perhaps, what could be done is basically orchestrating what the company is and what the company does. This is what it means by â€Å"communicating a heart. † Thus, this diagram will become effective only when the company has the message and identity to tell the public. Figure 3 McDonald’s hamburger is authentic because of its drive to perfect its product by making it real in terms of quality represented by the product’s color, simplicity of the images, richness in ingredients, and values explained in text (McDonald’s). Perhaps this authenticity testing is utilized or suggested by Lindstrom because it aims to measure the impact of the ads to the intended audience. As an emotional testing, its authenticity will help to enhance the customers’ motivation to patronage the product. The device is helpful I guess in order to strengthen the impact of the advertisement. Figure 4 To realize that a product meets another level of customer’s satisfaction is a good indication that the ad as well as the product is really tempting and alluring. In case of McDonald’s hamburgers as shown in an internet ad, the food is really tempting by its look; however, it becomes more enticing because the nutrition content will satisfy ‘my’ body. The level of understanding regarding the benefit of the product will heighten the interest of the person to buy the product. The emotional profile therefore provides another avenue in the advertisement that will make it more effective and convincing. Application Lindstrom provides novel idea in making marketing truly relevant to the needs of the people. These diagrams and models are useful therefore in conceptualizing and figuring out marketing strategies and action that will be appealing enough to cultivate interest to a lot of people amidst many competitions. What brand managers understand is that marketing does not rely solely on advertisement. It involves concerted actions and effort that aim to promote and to sell the product. The primary end of the effort is to increase the sales. Lindstrom conceptualized those models, which for him will facilitate the planning stage of the brand managers. However, the models require a lot of work analysis and sometimes limit the creativity because it tends to bind the strategies on the models. What most marketing managers or brand managers are doing is looking through some ways that will make their product unique from the rest; they do not limit any possibility. Regarding this, it is important to realize that branding is different from marketing. Branding is â€Å"about performance†¦ is a tool for delivering your business objectives: a means to an end, not an end in itself† (Barlow & Stewart, p. 17). It is therefore aims to bring the customer close to the product and not the product to the customer; the latter is the marketing job. Branding and marketing require two different courses of actions. Secondly, the brand manager must conceptualize what could provide solution to the customers’ needs and problems. That is the key towards identifying effective branding strategies. The best way to do this is conducting researches that will identify those needs. The brand must in the first place dwell within the hearts and minds of the clients. Third, after the courses of action have been finalized, use Lindstrom’s models to analyze the weaknesses and strengths of the strategies. With this suggestion, planning will become systematic and that Lindstrom will become useful. Reference Barlow, J. & Stewart, P. (2004). Branded Customer Service. USA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Lindstrom, M. (2005). Brand Sense: How to Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Smell, Sight & Sound. USA: Kogan Page Publishers. McDonald’s. http://cep. mcdonalds. com/qualityfood/.