Auditing a project proposal is a critical aspect of project management. The auditing process allows for identifying the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed plan, as well as validating “whether the project teams are utilizing the appropriate project management processes” (Hossain, 2010, p. 29). The project proposal on the construction of the Adelaide Metro Railway road is well-organized in terms of the delivery of the information concerning the planning and execution. The project’s goals of updating the metro network of Adelaide are relevant to the requirements of the fast-growing city. The rationale for the project implementation is provided in a logical manner and properly supported by evidence. Also, the audited project proposal is presented in detail, with every aspect of the process being articulated and justified. All phases necessary for the process initiation and successful project completion are addressed and explained. The graphs, tables, and other means of visual presentation make the proposal appealing and comprehensive. This aspect of the proposal organization contributes to the clarity of the goals pursued. Overall, the organization of the project allows for formulating clear project goals and making an informed decision as per its feasibility.
Planning
The planning stage of any project is the core of the overall process since it identifies the scope of actions with respect to their potential contribution to the goal achievement. Although the perspectives to project management and planning vary depending on the type of project and the manager’s approach, planning remains an important issue when designing a project (Andersen, 2016). The interests of numerous stakeholders involved in the project are clearly stated, which contributes to the validation of the project’s necessity. The reconstruction and improvement of the metropolitan transportation net influence the performance of multiple organizations and individuals who use this transportation network on a daily basis. Therefore, the engagement of the community and key stakeholders is crucial for project planning. The establishment of relations with key stakeholders is demonstrated via stakeholder identification and prioritization matrix and alternative breaks project stakeholder matrix. Nonetheless, planning must involve the articulation of the responsibilities and tasks that are planned to be performed by the staff members (Kerzner, 2017). However, the staffing aspect is not addressed; the project team and their responsibilities are only described in the project meeting minutes.
Execution
The process of project execution is key to project success. It is important to attract necessary means and organize the project process in a way that would allow for achieving planned goals. Since the planning phase of the Adelaide Metro Rail Project is adequately presented, the execution phase is expected to be effective under the conditions of strict alignment to the plan. However, there are several drawbacks that might diminish the flawless execution of the project.
The specific project execution considerations are predetermined by the type of project. Transportation network reconstruction has particular features that need to be incorporated into the scope of project management. Traffic management is one of the biggest concerns when implementing a project related to transportation means (Alshalalfah et al.,2018). However, the Adelaide Metro Rail project proposal does not explicitly address this important aspect. General considerations as per the mitigation of possible challenges are introduced, but no specific measures concerning traffic difficulties associated with the reconstruction actions are explained. Therefore, the execution of the project might be incomplete due to the insufficient integration of challenging factors. “Travel forecast models” might be helpful in projecting the influence of traffic on the execution of the project (Alshalalfah et al.,2018, p. 84). At the same time, the project execution of the audited proposal identifies all the main steps that are required to complete the project.
Also, for a successful implementation of the planned processes, adequate addressing of crucial resources is needed. According to Kerzner (2017, p. 718), “managing time, cost, and performance trade-offs should emphasize the systems approach to management by recognizing that even the smallest change in a project or system could easily affect all of the organization’s systems.” However, the analyzed project proposal lacks the appropriate articulation of these issues. Trade-offs analysis must have been utilized to facilitate the execution process. The inclusion of trade-offs into the project management process will allow for achieving agility and efficiency (Conforto et al., 2016). Thus, the current project proposal for reconstructing Adelaide Metro needs improvement in the execution phase planning.
Schedule
In terms of scheduling, the project proposal is limited to a vague yearly description of the planned actions against the timeframe. However, to ensure that the project life cycle is justifiable by time and cost realistic considerations, specific tools must have been used.
One such tool is the Gantt bar chart that allows for graphic representation of small- and large-scale actions against the proposed time limits (Kerzner, 2017). The scheduling of controlling procedures of project quality is another vital aspect of project management and planning (Marier-Bienvenue, Pellerin, and Cassivi, 2017). Consequently, the Adelaide Metro project lacks detailed scheduling and requires proper utilization of scheduling tools to ensure the timeframe and the life cycle of the project.
Budget
The financial side of any project requires a thorough budget estimation in order to foresee the expenses required to lead the project to a successful closing point. The Adelaide Metro project does not explicitly define the budget for the planned processes. It only briefly addresses the planned actions aimed at attracting sponsors within the stakeholder engagement initiative. However, contemporary project management requires detailed budget planning to estimate and regulate the expenses for the implementation of every step in the project life cycle (Lee et al., 2019). Indeed, the budget is “the strategic planning of the company translated into numbers” (Soares, Magalhaes, and Mendes, 2020, p. 856). The tools that might have been used to project budget presentation are the investment budget management that would allow for identifying the costs of planned actions and the ways of financing them.
Feasibility
The overall feasibility of the project allows for identifying the risks and the resources for addressing them. The feasibility study might have been used to interpret the scale of efficiency of the project plan. Also, a SWOT analysis should have been used to foresee possible threats and opportunities, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the project (Andersen, 2016). Such an analysis allows for facilitating preparedness to the challenges and using the opportunities and strengths to succeed at project goals achievement in a timely manner. The evaluation presented in the proposal only provides the analysis of the meeting with the help of the plus-delta tool. However, it is important to expand the interpretation of the feasibility of the project as a whole with the help of SWOT analysis. In such a manner, the project managers will be able to forecast the possible challenges and difficulties and use available resources to mitigate them.
References
Alshalalfah, B. et al. (2018) ‘Traffic management of mega infrastructure construction projects: success story and lessons learned from the Riyadh metro project’, International Journal of Transport Development and Integration, 2(1), pp. 84-97.
Andersen, E.S. (2016) ‘Do project managers have different perspectives on project management?.’, International Journal of Project Management, 34(1), pp. 58-65.
Conforto, E.C. et al. (2016) ‘The agility construct on project management theory, International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), pp. 660-674.
Hossain, S. (2010) ‘From project audit to performance audit: evolution of performance auditing in Australia’, IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, 9(3), pp. 20-46.
Kerzner, H. (2017) Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. 10th and. John Wiley & Sons.
Lee, C.K. et al. (2019) ‘Status and Barriers impeding utilization of project management tools: epidemic for tripartite construction parties in Malaysia’, KnE Social Sciences, pp. 289-312.
Marier-Bienvenue, T., Pellerin, R. and Cassivi, L. (2017) ‘Project planning and control in social and solidarity economy organizations: a literature review’, Procedia Computer Science, 121, pp. 692-698.
Soares, C.A.P., Magalhaes, M.A. and Mendes, J.R. (2020) Investment capital budget method oriented to project management. Global Scientific Journals, 8(3), pp. 855-870.
The modern world is characterized by the era of advanced information technology. Computer technology in the contemporary world has become essentially sophisticated, creating a need for every organization and various government departments to embrace computerized information systems in a bid to enhance their operations and processes. With such developments and progress, the reliability of computerized data and the systems that process, maintain and report these data have increasingly become a major concern hence putting the need for an audit. Information Technology (IT) auditors normally evaluate the reliability of computer-generated data which support financial statements and also analyze the specific programs and their eventual outcome. In addition, the IT auditors have a role to scrutinize the sufficiency of controls in information systems and the related operational activities to ensure system success.
Information Technology (IT) Audit which has become essential in many organizations can be said to be the “process that involves the collection and evaluation of data, facts, and information to establish whether a computer system has been designed to maintain data integrity, safeguard assets, allow organizational goals to be achieved effectively and uses resources more efficiently”. In IT, and specifically auditing, data integrity is used to refer to the state of correctness and completeness of the information, data, and other relevant facts as well as their validity by the norms specified either by the organization or relevant auditing body. In most cases to realize success with the IT auditing, one needs a functional and an effective IT system that “should lead the organization into achieving its set objectives, and at the same time any efficient IT system should use minimum resources to achieve the required objectives.” When carrying out their work, IT auditors should be concerned in understanding the individual behaviors of the users of the IS and the mode of making decisions in a bid to ensure or ascertain that the system in use is effective.
Carrying out an IT Audit
Many organizations continue to experience difficulties, especially ones requiring decision-making while carrying out an IT audit. When this confusion persists, it always affects the audit approach system adopted. Therefore, to carry out the audit, three key steps in decision-making are necessary, which are: evaluation of decision; decision on the timing of audit procedure, and decision on the application system selection. Evaluation decision has been regarded as the most difficult one for IT auditors and in many cases to be successful, the decision needs to be made at the end of the preliminary review phase, at the end of substantive testing phase, compliance testing phase, and lastly at the review phase. Throughout this process, the system should satisfactorily safeguard assets, maintain data integrity and achieve system efficiency and effectiveness.
The role of Information Technology Audit
IT control and audit have become very critical in many organizations especially in situations that involve the integrity of information systems (IS) and the “reporting of organizational finances to avoid and hopefully prevent future financial fiascos.” Basically, IT audits reports have provided adequate and appropriate controls for the organization. Furthermore, there are various types of IT audits each of which is undertaken to fulfill the organizational set objectives.
Why Information Technology Audit Annoys
In the contemporary world, there are many stories related to computer-related errors, thefts, burglaries, fires, and sabotage. However, much effort has been directed to reduce the occurrences of these but it has been inadequate. The organizations with weak computer security and lack of internal controls are the ones that have been seriously affected by these vices. In addition, Senft and Gallegos state that, “the advancements in network environments technologies have resulted in bringing to the forefront issues of security and privacy” which have become central in information technology.
Of great concern in IT, the audit has been the unethical role played by the auditors, for example, some sensitive data and information for the client that is supposed to be kept secret and confidential have been intentionally or ‘erroneously’ been disclosed by the auditors and this has caused great damages to the client involved. From this, most IT auditors have participated in breaching and violating the confidentiality of their clients. The auditor’s duties require the exercise of uncertainty to a high degree. The client-supplied information needs to be thoroughly checked and verified, whereby audit procedures, tests, and sampling techniques should aim at finding errors and their possible causes. With this huge role to undertake, most IT auditors’ bypass these, and the impacts have been detrimental to the clients.
The legal duty and requirement for the auditor to report and disclose opinions to external parties erodes client secrecy and privacy. This has the potential danger of exposing the sensitive information of the client to underserved parties or sources and may result in permanent damages to the client. Furthermore, IT auditors have largely not benefited from the legal privileges and in many cases, they are forced to provide documents and other materials or appear as witnesses in response to the lawful complaint. In such scenarios when giving evidence the auditors have no right to behave as client advocates and the disclosures that they make become compulsory violations of client confidences. In other selected cases some IT auditors’ have participated in ‘selling’ and divulging IT secrets from the audit of one company to another which normally gives exposes the company secrets to competitors. [13] Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) which are the laws and other ethical issues when performing an audit and aims to ensure the protection of patient health-care information in the electronic form have had an impact on the work of IT auditors’. This legal requirement has largely influenced and sometimes conflicted with the auditors’ work. Many IT auditors’ work has been ‘paralyzed’ by the legal ‘potholes’ and confusion posed by this Act especially by the company policy and the objectives of the audit work.
Conclusion
IT auditing has become a necessary and important duty in many organizations. Despite the positive work it continues to perform, the exercise has resulted in many malpractices that have been done by the auditors. This has in turn affected clients concerned negatively. The legal policy on the other hand has continued to be inadequate and limited in addressing the various ethical issues raised.
Bibliography
Hoffman, Michael. The ethics of accounting and finance: trust, responsibility and control. CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996.
IT Monograph Series. Information Technology Audit, N.d. Web.
Northcutt, Stephen. IT ethics handbook: right and wrong for IT professionals. MA: Elsevier, 2004.
Pathak, Jagdish. Information technology auditing: an evolving agenda. NY: Springer, 2005.
Senft, Sandra and Gallegos, Fredrick. Information Technology Control and Audit. PA: CRC Press, 2008.
Shim, Jae. Information systems and technology for the non-information systems executive: an integrated resource management guide for the 21st century. PA: CRC Press, 2000.
Conducting a security audit in an enterprise is an essential aspect, considering that “every enterprise faces a multitude of risks”, many of which are related to information systems (Dunn, Cherrington, & Hollander, 2004).
Huffman Trucking is a US based, privately held logistical company operating since 1936. The company’s information system connects the company’s intranet to public. The present report is identification and the assessment of the organization’s information security.
Security Vulnerabilities
The results of the analysis revealed that the highest risks are associated with those threats which impact and probability are the most. Such results are largely based on some of the characteristics of the network in the organization, namely the topology of the network, the absence of data protection means, and the physical security represented through the identification of people allowed to physically access to IT infrastructure components, such as servers and routers (Drumheller, 2010).
Threats and Risks to Security:
Correspondence interception.
Loss or deletion of information
Unauthorized access to software, databases, and servers.
Intrusion into servers and databases
System failure of servers
Recommendations (Internal Risks)
The purpose of the RCC is to increase internal security through enabling centralized management of “authorization for resources distributed throughout the enterprise (Ferraiolo, Ahn, R.Chandramouli, & Gavrila, 2003).
The reliance on passwords as means of authorization is a weak form of protection, as they can “quickly get into the wrong hands and provide unauthorized access to the system” (Dunn, et al., 2004, p. 453). Other forms of protection that can be considered might include biometric scanners or smart cards and tokens.
Limiting external risks of intrusion and protection of information can be achieved through intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPs). Such solution can be used in addition to firewalls to provide a complex protection from external threats.
Recommendations (External Risks)
Targeting interception vulnerability, including emails, and/or any other means for information exchange between the intranet and internet, encryption should be considered within the security plan of the enterprise. Encryption protects data transmitted from and to the system.
RAID method of data protection should be extended throughout the whole enterprise, adding other means that provide strategic recovery plans for the organization (Beekman & Beekman, 2010).
Network security can be improved by using firewall systems or a high performance router.
VPN devices should be configured using strong encryption methods such as IPsec/IKE.
Conclusion
The analysis reveals that Huffman Trucking has several security vulnerabilities. The recommendations can fix the risks and threats.
References
Beekman, G., & Beekman, B. (2010). Tomorrow’s technology and you (Introductory, 9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Drumheller, R. (2010). Conducting an Information Security Gap Analysis. Faulkner Information Services. Web.
Dunn, C. L., Cherrington, J. O., & Hollander, A. S. (2004). Enterprise information systems: a pattern-based approach: McGraw- Hill/Irwin.
Ferraiolo, D. F., Ahn, G.-J., R.Chandramouli, & Gavrila, S. I. (2003). The Role Control Center: Features and Case Studies. Association for Computing Machinery. Web.
This paper focuses on the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It looks at the facility audit and feasibility/design analysis of the stadium. The Melbourne cricket Ground (MCG) is arguably one of the greatest assets in Australia. It is the most fashionable stadium and it is a usually very busy venue.
It is used to host international cricket, Australian football, dinners and other key events in its arena . The MCG usually has a very busy calendar throughout the year with approximately more that 80 days of sporting activities mainly cricket and football. The venue registers more than three million visitors every year.
The management of MCG is a subordinate of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC). The club has more and more opened up the roles of MCG from being purely entertainment to a global tourist attraction centre.
Nevertheless, the major point of focus in the management of the MCG is event days. The MCC ensures that the ever increasing public demand is met by the provision of state-of-the-art facilities.
Nature of the MCG Melbourne Cricket Ground
The MCG has great spectator facilities. It has a total capacity of 100,018 and this encompasses 95,000 seats and roughly 5000 spaces in standing rooms. Expansion of the stadium in anticipation of the 2006 Commonwealth games has led to the MCG being one of the most developed stadia in the world.
The Northern stand stands out as compared to the Great southern one. It has transparent walls through which patrons can see nice scenery as they enter the stadium.
The patrons are able to see the beautifully built stadium with colourful decorations and the magnificent atria installed with escalators for taking them to upper parts of the stadium.
The amenities and finishes are magnificent all through the stadium. The toilet facilities and seats are well build to serve the customers well. The gender ratio of toilets has improved over time. Initially, there were more toilets for men than for ladies.
In the seating area of the stadium, plastic bucket seats are bolted on wider plats. This reduces human traffic jam in the stadium. The seats are positioned in such a way that there is no obstruction throughout the game.
The new structure was designed in such a way that the stands are closer to the arena. This makes it more interesting for the spectators as they are nearer to the action. Additionally, the seats are bigger than before the 2002 to 2006 renovation and quite a good percentage of them are sheltered.
To meet the demands of the ever increasing population, the sizes of the dining rooms have also nearly been doubled. There are big accommodation rooms for accommodating up to 500 guests. This enhances tenant sporting activities. There are large new changing rooms that are used by the football and cricket players.
These, together with the coaches’ rooms ensure that the players’ facilities meet the required standards. There is as well an extensive underground car parking space that has two parking spaces for each table in the stadium.
This is a great facility for the patrons especially now that there is an increase in ownership of cars across the world. The aesthetic landscape and opened up access road also provides good scenery to the patrons and other visitors.
The aesthetic value and lighting in the seating area of the stadium has also been improved by a beautiful blend of metal and glass as the roofing materials.
In accordance to the Equal Opportunity Act 1995, the MCC created the following special facilities for the physically challenged individuals; special parking, a stadium access entrance, seating facilities in the great southern stand, the Ponsford stand, the Olympic stand and the MCC members’ reserve.
Special toilets has also been built in the Ponsford stand wing, the Olympic stand wing, the MCC members reserve and corporate suites, food outlets.
For purposes of alerting people in the stadium in case of an emergency, there are several sirens installed in strategic places in the ground. The sirens are controlled from a central point in the stadium. They are operated by pushing on two red buttons at the same time.
The availability of an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) system ensures that the sirens are operated even when there is power failure.
The MCG arena is made of natural turf; that is, it is made of natural grass; couch and rye. Sand soil is used in the arena because it has better drainage characteristics and as well better load-bearing capacity.
The MCG arena is quite big with a total area of approximately 20,000 square metres. This ground has got capacity for 96 sprinklers and has got 1% gradient. Yarra Park is a significant natural phenomenon in the history of Australian sports.
After the establishment of the MCG, the park provided parking services for horses when people visited the MCG. It later became a parking place for motor cars .
The MCG has got state-of-the-art catering services. There are quite a number of dining rooms, cafes, food courts, bars and outlets for takeaway food. All these are at the disposal of the members and guests in the ground’s reserve. The cafes are categorized in terms of levels.
At level one there is an example of the Hugh Trumble Café where Bistro-style meals can be found. At level 2 there is like the Percy Beames Bar and Terrace Café where light snacks are offered.
The traditional carvery is also available in the Long room which is also an example of a level 2 café. Examples of level 3 and 4 cafes include the Frank Grey Smith bar and midfielders bar respectively .
Design & construction of the MCG
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is located on the junction between inner-city Melbourne suburbs of Richmond and East Melbourne. It is roughly 2.5 kilometers from Melbourne CBD. The MCG is situated in Yarra Park, bordered by Brunton Avenue, Jolimont Street and Jolimont Terrace .
The MCG management is keen on keeping in mind the needs of the society at large while designing and making improvements on the facility and its environs. The main environmental concerns here are water and energy management.
The management of the ground in collaboration with the local governments is committed to the implementation of the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD). This is geared towards ensuring constant water supply not only to the members but also the society at large.
The Yarra Park improvement is one of the major concerns of the management. The Park had deteriorated so much due to droughts. The MCC has embarked on an ambitious plan to improve the Park as part of its commitment to the implementation of WSUD.
This involves the development of non-potable water supply in the park and improvement of the trees, grass and soil conditions.
In 2006, the MCG underwent 60% renovation in three years. This work was done by a five architectural firms led by Populous, others were Daryl Jackson Architects, Hassell, Cox Architects, and TS&E. The stadium was to be designed to meet international standards; at the same time not losing its historical traditions.
Populous Architects while redesigning, fashioned three major access and meeting positions in the stadium to grant the stakeholders their own special privileges. The stakeholders are pulled from the following associations; AFL, Cricket, Rugby League and soccer .
The new renovated stadium has the following elements; seven new bars and restaurants with a seating capacity of 5,000 people. It was designed in a way that of the 5,000 seats 3,800 would view the pitch from where there were seated .
Ownership/Management of the MCG
MCG trust has vested administration mandate to the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) that is headed by the president Paul Sheehan. MCC main mandate is to make the MCG a leading sport centre in Australia.
The MCC have had the mandate to manage the stadium from September 23rd 1853 to 2042. It enjoys the service of 150 fulltime employees and around 1,000 more are used on every event’s day.
Strategy and Structure of the MCG
The main tenants of MCG are Australian Football and the cricket association. Other tenants are the soccer and rugby associations, and concerts, although their use of the venue depends on the absence of a cricket or AFL event.
Organizational structure/staffing/human resources
The management of the MCG is done through seven departments that report to the executive officer of the club. These departments are discussed below:
Member and Customer Service department
Its core mandate is to provide services to the club members, clubs’ 11 sporting sections, club functions, MCC cricket, special interest groups, and other stakeholders. The MCC communication team is the one mandated for publications, media liaison, and publicity, among many other roles, is a member of this department.
Event department
It is at the centre of planning and execution of all major activities in the MCG. It coordinates with event managers for a successful event day. It also cooperates with Ticketek, on the sale of tickets. Ticketek provides its own staff when selling tickets.
Facilities department
It is mandated with the general maintenance of the stadium and its surroundings. Some of the functions include turf management, repairs and maintenance, security and cleaning among other tasks.
Finance and Information Systems
It is concerned with all monetary and accounting tasks in the MCC foundation and the MCG trust and National Sport Museum.
Commercial Operations
It is involved in marketing and renting out of all MCC suites and dining rooms. Some of the other tasks include managing contracts, sponsorship, sourcing money-making opportunities, and providing club’s brand guidelines.
Heritage and Tourism
It is responsible for operating National Sports Museum, MCC Museum, and Library and MCG tours. It also manages the collections from the museums, the library, stadium, and public art.
People and Culture department
This department is involved in the enrollment of members, performance management, and growth, employee benefits, and remuneration, employee affairs and health and security management.
Marketing and Quality at MCG
Commercial Operations, is involved in marketing and selling of all MCC suites and dining rooms as the great number of members who pay subscription fees. Some of its other tasks are but not limited to; managing contracts, sponsorship, sourcing money-making opportunities, and providing club’s brand guidelines.
Quality Service Systems
The MCC is dedicated to offering quality services. It initially managed its clients using a customer-care platform based on Linux. This system had shortcomings when it came to customer satisfaction. Therefore, the club had to improve the system by adding the Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
This ensured streamlined service delivery to clients and proper management of member services. The system as well laid ground for alignment with the present requirements as well as for future growth.
The MCC targeted to get closer to the customers, develop their profile and make improvements where necessary by observing their likes and dislikes.
This would ensure that best services are delivered to the customers by the management. The CRM was settled on as the best system by the management after studying the systems applied in other clubs across the world.
It is a system developed by Microsoft. The management also got into partnership with Avanade, a technological services provider. This company is in charge of management of the computer and other technological systems at MCG.
The Commercial Operations does all marketing communications, advertisement, and is involved in marketing and renting out of all MCC suites and dining rooms.
The MCC public relations team works in the Member and Customer Services (MACS) department. It’s in charge of all the interactions between MCC and the outside world.
Some of the tasks or roles include realizing all publications, doing media liaison during event times, publicizing events, updating, and maintaining the MCC website. Others include promoting MCC through email campaigns and providing in-house communication.
MCG is one of the most active sport grounds in the world. The venue hire fee only related to the venue access.
It does not cover other services like equipment for production (sound, lighting, broadcasting etc.), labor, security services, and any catering expenses as well as cleaning. These venue services are offered at the guests request and thus their pricing can be availed on request.
The management of the advertisement on the ground and scoreboard are under the control of the Stadia Management. The media plays a major role in this. Advertisement of the events and other commercial activities that are involved at the MCG go hand in hand.
Print media, radio and Television help advertise the corporate suites that are availed in the grounds as well as the tourism services that are available in Yarra Park, MCG museum and the National sports museum. The online services are also crucial especially in reaching out to the rest of the world.
The commercial Operations team offers assistance and services on merchandising and licensing. The media has to seek an okay from the MCC before taking any films or photos while in the venue. This has to be done at least a fortnight before the day for the shooting and photo taking.
MCG commercial fees vary depending on the following venue hire, cost-recovery, and commercial licensing. The venue has a set fee for hire. The Promotions Factory (TPF) is the official licensing and merchandising partner of the MCG.
The MCC has contracted the services of Ticketeck Company for selling tickets for attendance of all events at the MCG. The MCG has a total capacity of 100, 018, that include 95,000 seats and 5,000 standing spaces. Ticketek allows for pre-paid services.
The patrons who pre-pay have their seats reserved to give them assurance of attendance of the event. Seats that are not pre-paid for are usually sold at the public gates to spectators who could be coming to the event on the very day there is an event.
According to Ticketek, on some special events, all seats are sold prior to the event.
Information systems and market responsiveness have been improved by the adoption of the CRM system. The partnership with Avanade technologies assisted in the development of a system that was in agreement with the objectives of MCC.
It ensured proper marketing, profiling of customers, and easier information accessibility. This was a better system because it provided information based on user/customer analysis. This makes it easier for the MCC to assess the customer needs and promptly respond to the ever changing market requirements.
Programming at the MCG
The MCG is a hub of many of activities. The various events require thorough programming to ensure there is no clash during the calendar of the year. There is usually a calendar for activities annually. The calendar includes event days and non-event days.
During the event days is when the ground registers the highest number of visitors. The sport activities that are scheduled in the ground include the Australian football, cricket, baseball, golf, squash and many other field events.
The MCG thus receives several customers in any given year. Arrangement and running of events is a prerogative of the Events Department. This department works hand-in-hand with promoters at all stages of delivering an event. It acts as a link to the rest of the departments .
Apart from the resident members like the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Melbourne Football Club, there are the visiting clubs that sometimes hire the stadium for their activities. Schools and colleges also use the stadium for holding their competitions.
The highest number of visitors is the spectators. They can be considered as the passive customers. Apart from being spectators, some customers are tourists who visit the museums in the MCG. Most of the spectators and tourists visit the grounds as individuals unlike the active customers who come as teams.
The MCG has quite a big space for accommodating its customers. Apart from the MCG, the other venues under MCC management are; the Albert Ground, Swinburne Avenue bowls and Croquet complex. Management of these venues and the general built environment is under the Facilities Department.
The quality, number and sizes of these venues ensure there is sufficient space for the various activities. However, with the increasing trend of the number of visitors and activities, the management is apprehensive of the need for more expansion.
Plans are under way to achieve this. The MCC has invested 55 million USD in the renovation program since 2010 and the project earmarked to end this year; 2013.
The staff in charge of the each department in the MCC has been entrenched in the philosophy of each and every one being the face of MCC. Thus, everyone is required to conduct their duties as per the expectations of the club including observance of equity and social justice in the stadium.
The programming of the activities in the MCG puts into consideration the various activities required to take place in the various venues. It has to ensure there are the non-event days when tourism activities can take place.
Logistics at the MCG
The MCG is the largest stadium in Australia. It is the tenth largest in the world. The improvements on the stadium in preparation for the commonwealth events in 2006 enabled it to host quite a huge number of people as already discussed in this paper.
The anticipation of more customers in the future has made the MCC come up with innovative strategies for improving the quality of services as well as the capacity of the MCG and other venues under its management. Since 2010, it has embarked on renovation project of all the facilities in the stadium as mentioned earlier.
The MCC liaises with several other companies for supply and procurement of goods and services. For instance, the technology services are rendered through the Avanade technology company.
It also solicits the extension services of the City West Water Engineers in the provision of contingency measures during highly attended matches and other events. This is discussed later in this paper.
Procurement of goods and services within the MCG is under the Procurement/Tendering coordinator. He is in charge of organizing the allocation of tenders and contracts, and management of facilities.
The MCC has an E-tendering website that provides an easier way of carrying out the tendering processes. This makes the process very efficient and transparent.
The MCC acknowledges the importance of media in the dissemination of information to the stakeholders. When no event is going on in the stadium, the media has to seek the approval of club’s personnel in charge of communication to gain entry into the grounds or to carry out an interview.
On event days, media accesses the venue using approved media pass obtained from the promoters of the event. Requests for filming are acted upon by the communications department. The MCG has well established media services for hosting quite a range of media workforce.
The central point for media activities is found on level 3 at the Ron Casey Media Centre. The grounds have provisions for written press, a state of the art press conference room, eight radio commentary booths, photographers work room and a TV studio.
This greatly enhances the advertisement and marketing of the activities that go on at the stadium and its environs.
The MCG has a perfect queue and human flow traffic control system. There are spacious entry points into the stadium ensuring there is no jam at all. The seats are fixed on wide plats and are well spaced so as to reduce jam within the stadium.
Queue management systems are used at the catering and bar services. There are specific pathways created so as to have people access the services in an orderly manner.
Serious contingency planning had to be put in place during events that attract large crowds. Events like the Commonwealth games that were held in Melbourne city in 2006 required proper planning on the usage of the resources.
The engineers used the InfoWorks CS to predict the hydraulic behaviour of the sewer system when subjected to different usage patterns due to the highly attended events. Some of the events attract as many as more than 100,000 people.
The City West Water Engineers employed InfoWorks CS for contingency planning. The planning department relayed information to the operations, requiring them to respond promptly to any case of increase in demand.
During contingency planning, the MCC sought extension services of the City West Water planning group. The group used InfoWorks in developing the contingency plan.
Since Melbourne’s main sewer had capacity to take flows from more than 100,000 people, the focus was on developing the contingency plan rather than improving the system.
The team had to do tests to get a range of information concerning the behavior of the sewer hydraulic system; the peak conditions involving how and when the pumps fail.
This would assist the team in coming up with a model that would be used to come up with a contingency plan in case of sewer system failure. The model had to be prepared early in advance so as to be able to implement it immediately .
Pipes were calibrated and configured so as to record the peak flows and the critical stages in the pump functioning; especially during outages. The engineers had to know specifically the flow characteristics from the MCG.
It is definitely dynamic and there are no clear statistics recorded anywhere; not even in the design manual of the sewer. The data had to be gotten from flow monitoring during major events like the 2005 Australian Football league finals.
The three main concerns of collecting the information were; to get estimates of peak flows, time for pump station to overflow, and positioning of manholes for waste disposal from make-shift toilets. By-passes were also created and as well standby pumps.
By-passes would come in handy in case of blockage along the main sewer line. Standby pumps were meant to be used in case of a pump failure due to the overloading during peak times.
The MCG has got an elaborate security detail. The security officers are well equipped to manage security issues in the stadium. There are surveillance cameras to monitor any suspicious occurrences in the stadium.
MCC collaborates with St. John Ambulance to provide First Aid services in the stadium. First Aid can be located anywhere in the stadium by consulting with the event staff or security guards.
The first aid team makes all required records to all the people it attends to and can always make an arrangement when further medication is needed.
Conclusion
The audit of the great facilities of the Melbourne Cricket Ground has been done to a great detail. The paper has also highlighted some of the ongoing improvements on the facility as well as the future plans concerning the various aspects of the management of the stadium.
The details of the various activities that go on in the MCG have been looked at. It has been established that the stadium does not only host sport events.
In conclusion, the MCG is a well managed sports facility, with customer requirements well taken care of. The management of the MCG has, however, to keep strategizing on how to improve the systems given the ever increasing number of customers.
Bibliography
Dunstan, K & Ingpen, R 2004, The tapestry story : celebrating 150 years of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Lothian Books, South Melbourne, Vic.
Levenspiel, G, Chen (Firm), L & Heritage, C 2006, Architecture at the MCG : the historyof building the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Lovell Chen Architects, Melbourne.
Ponsford, M 2003, Home ground : reflections of the Melbourne Cricket Ground 2001-2002, Hardie Grant Books, South Yarra., Victoria.
Royal Australian Institute of Parks and Recreation. Victorian Region. 1987, Sportsground management : proceedings of a seminar conducted by the Victorian Region of the Institute, June 24, 1987, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Copyrigh Printing, Mitcham [Vic.].
The process of project controlling is a complicated system of various actions which requires a lot of experience and efforts. There are three main types of control systems: cybernetic, go/no-go, and post control. The most typical form is cybernetic control. Its core element is the ability to operate automatically. There is a subtype of cybernetic control system called a negative feedback loop. This system’s function is to decrease inconsistencies with the standard. Go/no-go control is performed using testing which shows coherence with the particular demands.
Project management employs this control most frequently as it can be applied at all stages of the project. Go/no-go control is helpful as many features of project implementation demand that the specific requirements should be fulfilled. This type of control meets some challenges as it is not always easy to identify which aspects are necessary for the project. Pest control is performed after the project’s completion. While this type of control may seem unnecessary and unproductive, it is not so. Employing post control allows to avoid further mistakes and increases the probability of future projects’ success. Pest control is employed via a special document that comprises four parts: (1) the project goals, (2) milestones and budgets, (3) final report of the outcomes, and (4) propositions for project enhancement. A control system should answer the question about the project’s faults and the ways of overcoming them.
To control change, the following measures should be taken:
project documents should contain an explanation of how applications for change will be presented and accomplished;
after the project’s approval, any changes need to be included in a change order which will contain a description of the suggested alterations and a risk analysis description;
those who introduce a change have to discuss it with the project manager before formulating it;
a change needs to be confirmed in written form by the customer’s and the company’s representatives;
when a change has been confirmed, it should be included in the project plan.
Project Audit and Risk Analysis
The audit is a comprehensive inspection of the project management and its components. The primary audit should be performed at the initial stages of the project. The earlier an obstacle is found out, the simpler it is to overcome it. Early audits concentrate on the technical side of the project to ascertain that the core technical issues have been fixed or are in the process of being resolved. Audits done after the initial project’s phase are not so important for the project but are valuable to the parent firm. With the development of the project, technical problems become less significant, giving way to correspondence to budget and schedule. At the final project stage, the greatest attention is paid to management issues. Post-project audits have three basic goals. First of all, a post-project audit frequently is an obligation as the customer requested for it in the contract. Secondly, such audit is an essential element of the post-project report which is the core source of managerial response to the parent organization. Thirdly, a post-project audit allows calculating the expenditures of the project. Therefore, there is no perfect timing for auditing since it has various purposes at every project stage, and each of these objectives is important.
The purpose of risk analysis is to assess the probable results of a policy and the likelihood of their happening. Most frequently, risk analysis is performed to correlate two or more plans or strategies.
Project Termination: Types and Reasons
There are several varieties of project termination, namely addition, extinction, integration, and starvation. Termination by extinction may occur either because the project has reached its aims or because it has failed. Also, extinction may be caused by the outside environment changes. Termination by addition happens when a project proves to be successful, and the parent firm makes the project it’s a formal part. Termination by integration is the most frequently employed method of finishing an advantageous project. The personnel, property, and operations of the project are divided among the constituent parts of the parent firm. The project output is assigned to the customers’ or the parent organization’s operating system. Termination by starvation is not a termination but rather a deprivation of budget. Such termination takes place when nobody wants to admit the project’s failure. Eliminating the budget leads to a gradual cessation of the project.
The four basic reasons for project termination are:
insignificance of the project organization;
inadequate encouragement from senior management;
a wrong choice of a project manager;
insufficient planning.
The problem of Control of Change
Control of change presents a major difficulty for project managers as it may lead to altering the whole project. For instance, if a senior officer is dissatisfied with some detail in the final product, he/she may cause a complete redesign of the product. Such a decision abrogates the previously accepted design, plan, and funds, which presents a huge challenge to the project manager. Therefore, dealing with change is the biggest trouble admitted by project managers.
Agile methodology is one of the most unique methodologies used by organizations to undertake a project. The agile principles are based on organizing processes into smaller, self-organized, autonomous, and team-based sprints. Any organization is required to undertake an audit of its financial statements. Internal audit teams are required to perform regular audits within the organizations. In recent times, digitization has revolutionized the way conventional activities are undertaken within an organization. A prominent concept that has come with the digitization of organizational processes is the induction of agile methodologies in Auditing.
Objectives of Agile Auditing
Agile Auditing builds upon the fundamentals of the agile approach by allowing internal audit teams to focus on the needs of stakeholders. Furthermore, it helps increase the speed of audit cycles, improve the scope of the audit, and create efficiency in the audit process (Mkoba & Marnewick, 2020). The main objective of agile Auditing is to create a system of continuous audits that is timely and involves all the stakeholders. The collaboration and interaction between the various stakeholders, processes, and tools are important in Auditing.
It is important to understand that organizations have to deal with market disruptions and a dynamic business environment. As a result, internal audit teams are usually unable to predict the changing nature of organizations. Another objective of agile Auditing is the integration of software tools and proper documentation. Agile auditing methods, therefore, allow internal Auditing to be undertaken continuously without the need to define requirements explicitly. The flexibility of the agile principles makes the audits respond to changes easily. As a result, the audits undertaken provide credible and reliable audit results.
Difference between Agile Auditing and Typical Agile SDLC
The agile audit approach is adapted from software engineering principles. One of the most popular software development life cycle (SDLC) methodologies include the waterfall and agile approaches. The waterfall is traditional and uses step by step flow of activities. On the other hand, agile SDLC methodology is based on short sprints which adjust to changes in the requirements of the software. Agile project management includes scrum and Kanban implementations.
The conventional business processes typically follow the traditional business process (TBP) model. The TBP model follows a sequential flow whereby the business process execution is planned, and it follows a given set of steps. One of the business processes that have made use of TBP is Auditing. The internal auditors can examine the organization’s financial books through a detailed and sequential audit plan. However, the main challenge with this approach is that the audit reports are always late and could not keep up with the dynamics of business management (Subramanian et al., 2018). Typical agile SDLC is characterized by the building of a prototype before the final product is launched. Agile audits are also designed to come up with custom audit reports to ensure that interdependent tasks are achieved, but at the same time, risks are mitigated.
The software engineering organizations using agile principles realized that there was a tremendous impact on the output of the process when agile methodologies were used as opposed to linear and sequential traditional methods. As a result, this approach was adopted in the design, running, and management of conventional organizational tasks, including Auditing. Adoption of agile principles is based on the fact that Auditing requires the delivery of results within an environment where the scope is constantly changing. The deliverables of each audit keep changing, and the stakeholders are continuously shifting.
Agile Team Structure
A typical internal audit team is characterized by a hierarchical structure where roles are defined by specialization and division of labor. The members of the team play the roles of tax professionals, audit staff, managers, and audit partners. The internal Auditing is done by this team, and the allocation of roles is based on the skills of the team member. Typical agile project management seeks to break down project objectives into smaller tasks that are delivered iteratively to increase productivity. The deliverables of a project being implemented using agile methodologies usually change, and as a result, such projects need to have agile teams. An agile audit team is made up of auditors who can collaborate to provide reports within short sprints. The structure of such a team is therefore defined by the fact that agile audits are characterized by short bursts of collaboration and planning.
As a result of the nature of the execution of agile audits, the structure of an agile audit team is a flat hierarchy (Newmark et al., 2018). The team is structured horizontally to eliminate middle levels of management. This means that the main auditors actively collaborate with the other stakeholders during an audit sprint without layers of management. It is efficient to run small teams because they are flexible and provide higher productivity. Using the Scrum approach, the audit team is a small cross-functional team that works on short-term auditing projects. The teams are self-governing, and it is their mandate to determine the scope and deliverables. On the other hand, using the Kanban approach is almost similar to scrum, with the only difference being that the team manager determines the scope based on Kanban principles.
Challenges DBS Group Audit Faced in Implementing Agile Auditing
The main challenge of auditing a business entity is the lack of clear scope, which inhibits the ability to elaborate a relevant long-term audit plan. The auditing regulatory bodies made it a requirement for The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) Limited Audit Group to increase the scope, sample size, and frequency of audits undertaken by the firm (Foo & Bhattacharya, 2017). Therefore, the group undertook digitization that included the use of computer-assisted audit techniques (CAATs), which enabled the undertaking of continuous and automated mandatory audits. The key challenge to the automation effort is that organizational change usually faces objections (Appelbaum, 2017). Nevertheless, its introduction made it possible for the group to eliminate manual steps such as manual data extraction.
Although the automation of processes improves the output of the audit group, there was still an issue with the efficiency of their processes. There was also the challenge of the inflexibility of the scope definition in their scope-bound approach. As a result, it would be hard to come up with conclusions due to the many layers of communication, planning, and management. In 2017, agile principles were integrated into internal audits after running a successful test pilot for the same in 2016 (Foo & Bhattacharya, 2017). DBS opted for an organization-wide scale implementation of agile principles.
The full adoption of agile Auditing at DBS faced several challenges during the transition. Continuous audits and indulging of more stakeholders were seen as policing and monitoring of the financial statements, which could expose them. However, after some time, the stakeholders were able to see the ability of the Group Audit function to predict risks and avert them using agile methodologies. Stakeholders increased their expectations of the Group Audit function. This risked their chance of failure and shutdown in case of a mistake. To avoid this, the audit team integrated the use of digital technology to analyze big data and increase the speed of predicting risk.
Primary Benefits of Agile Auditing
The adoption of agile Auditing at DBS was influenced both internally and externally. There was a need to continuously provide audits with increased sample size, frequency, and scope internally (Betti & Sarens, 2020). Externally, the business environment for big banks in Asia was on a changing course, and DBS had to act fast to deal with the dynamic nature of its environment (Foo & Bhattacharya, 2017). The audits undertaken were supposed to act as a line of defense for the company by predicting risks proactively (Appelbaum et al., 2017). The audit reports were supposed to expose any risks in interaction and engagement with certain transactions, and the bank audit team was expected to provide sufficient prediction of the risks.
The ability to predict risks was achieved by integrating data analytics and machine learning models to work through the huge amounts of data being extracted from the bank’s financial statements and those in the market. The adoption of the digital disruption was successful as a result of the integration of agile Auditing (Appelbaum et al., 2017). Therefore, the main benefit of the adoption of automation and agile methodologies was the opportunity for the bank to predict risks at higher speeds (Betti & Sarens, 2020). Furthermore, it allowed the undertaking of audits where the scope was hard to define over the long term.
The lines of defense for the DBS Bank Group were defined by business management as the first line, corporate oversight functions as the second line, and group audit as the third line. As the third line of defense, the Group Audit function provides adequate and reliable risk management procedures for the bank. After the DBS Group audit had changed their perception of the stakeholders as a reliable division instead of policing agency, their value proposition changed completely (Foo & Bhattacharya, 2017). They adopted the Audit Mobility Initiative, which was meant to improve productivity and enhance efficiency. This helped to reduce the resources required to undertake the increased number of audits.
Impact of Agile Auditing on DBS Group Audit and Its Objectives
DBS Bank Group has been an organization that has experienced exponential growth over the years. Flexibility to adapt to changes in the dynamic markets is an important attribute in the success of such businesses. As a result, such organizations need to endeavor to enhance the efficiency of running the business processes such as Auditing. The main objective of DBS Bank Group is to ensure the strategic and operation goal of effective control of risks of their business processes (Foo & Bhattacharya, 2017). This is achieved through an adaptive methodology capable of dealing with the changing nature of the business environment. Agile Auditing was the much-needed change that allowed the organization to be able to predict risks proactively. This is important as it allows the bank to remain in control of the ongoing changes.
The adoption of agile Auditing changed the whole structure of the DBS Group Audit function. The methodology allowed the bank to spend less time on the planning audits that were already spiraling out of control. Therefore, the results and findings of the audits are generated and shared early enough to initiate remedies in the event of risks predicted in the audit report. Furthermore, in a bid to run processes efficiently, agile Auditing has enabled the bank to increase customer engagement and confidence in the process (Subramanian et al., 2018). The audit sprints facilitate constant interactions with stakeholders, including customers.
An important fact is that instead of focusing on the long-term evaluation of results, the agile approach allows constant review of the financial standing of the business. There has also been the integration of digitized systems, which have revolutionized data processing and analysis with the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (Dickey et al., 2019). This clearly shows that DBS Bank has remained true to its objective of responding to change through the adoption of agile Auditing.
Drawbacks of Agile Auditing
The successful adoption of agile Auditing provides the ability to help solve common audit challenges. Similar to software development, agile Auditing faces the typical drawbacks of agile principles (Nafchi & Gandomani, 2016). The first drawback is the lack of focus on a final delivery as the scope of the requirements keeps changing. The audit teams have the freedom and independence to determine deliverables at each sprint. However, as a result of a lack of general scope and deliverables, the teams at times tend to be easily sidetracked.
Another drawback of the agile approach is that long-term projects are bound to suffer from constant incremental delivery. The agile principle is designed on quick turnaround times with a deliverable at the end of each sprint. This can go on without checks and balances, leading to problems with changed objectives in long-term projects. Although this can be beneficial, as seen by DBS Group Audit, where they integrated risk prediction as part of their deliverables, at times, this could be problematic (Foo & Bhattacharya, 2017). In case the audit team is inexperienced, they might tend to run the risk of scope creep. Such an occurrence could risk an out-of-control demand for resources not anticipated. Agile audit teams need to find ways to measure progress to avoid frustration and scope creep.
The last drawback to the agile approach is the risk of losing the ability to maintain collaboration between teams. Agile audit teams come up with their deliverables, and in case there is poor communication between the teams, collaboration could be lost. There is a high demand for commitment in terms of meetings, stakeholder engagement, and change management in agile Auditing (Mkoba & Marnewick, 2020). As a result, a little deviation could lead to chaotic management and integration of the different sprints. It is important to improve communication between the various audit teams.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The adoption of agile Auditing has revolutionized the running and management of internal Auditing within organizations. Based on the case study of DBS Group Audit, it is apparent that agile Auditing is based on the objective of providing fast turnarounds. Furthermore, it allows the structuring of audits to feature short-term scopes of the financial statements of an organization. The structure of the agile team is based on the scope of the audit sprint. There are numerous benefits of implementing agile Auditing, including the ability to predict risks proactively. The main drawback of agile Auditing is the lack of long-term strategy. As a result, it is recommended that a hybrid approach is designed to integrate a traditional approach mechanism that provides a line of implementation. However, the actual implementation will be agile sprints that are guided by the main long-term objective. Furthermore, it is also recommended that the DBS audit group undertakes proper training of the internal audit team. This will advance communication and collaboration amongst themselves and the stakeholders, thus improving the outcome of the agile audits.
References
Appelbaum, S. H., Calla, R., Desautels, D., & Hasan, L. (2017). The challenges of organizational agility (part 1). Industrial and Commercial Training. Web.
Betti, N., & Sarens, G. (2020). Understanding the internal audit function in a digitalized business environment. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change. Web.
Dickey, G., Blanke, S., & Seaton, L. (2019). Machine learning in auditing: Current and future applications. The CPA Journal, 89(6), 16-21.
Foo, S. L., & Bhattacharya, L. (2017). Agile auditing at DBS: Embracing the future. Singapore Management University.
Mkoba, E., & Marnewick, C. (2020). Conceptual Framework for Auditing Agile Projects. IEEE Access, 8, 126460-126476. Web.
Nafchi, M. Z., & Gandomani, T. J. (2016). Agile Assessment Methods and Approaches. In Emerging Innovations in Agile Software Development (pp. 165-174). IGI Global. Web.
Newmark, R. I., Dickey, G., & Wilcox, W. E. (2018). Agility in audit: Could scrum improve the audit process? Current Issues in Auditing, 12(1), 18-28.
Subramanian, A., Krishnamachariar, P. K., Gupta, M., & Sharman, R. (2018). Auditing an agile development operations ecosystem. International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management (IJRCM), 7(4), 90-110. Web.
Power and privilege audit means a specific way and style of life, including sufficiently powerful and reliable systems. Certain privileges are directed in a certain way to a wide range of specific objects. Such measures and actions may, to some extent, lead to the solution of a number of different aspects related to beneficiaries. In fact, an accredited person has the rights and opportunities to direct and control events, scenes, and specific phenomena.
The Concept of Institutional Power
As a kindergarten teacher, a lot needs to be explained and made to sink into the mind of the kindergarten pupils and any other interested audience. These methods and strategies are on the basics of power and the privilege issues and inequities that are closely connected to it. At the moment, most institutions impose certain educational information and special data into learners’ and students’ minds. Such measures are performed with the basic and essential aim of changing them and transcending them from being commoners to being great leaders in one way or the other in the future (Erickson & Verge, 2020). Consequently, leadership is all-around, and it does not mean that one has to lead from a high position in public positions in society or even on a political platform. This power entails the ability to state something important or even give an idea about what needs to be done and implemented in practice. In fact, the authentic, true leader is an inspirer, a role model who can lead others. Through this, the concept of power and leadership gets nurtured in such a student hence growing so strong in his life.
With a thorough analysis of the audit of power and privileges concept, the following relevant, important trends are outlined. For example, Erickson and Verge (2020) state that power is an ability or rather the official authority accredited to an individual (p. 3-6). Thus, to be in power is the ability to have the audacity and the authority to make a staunch decision on who will be in a position to access the available resources and who will not. And finally, to be considered powerful is the concept of gaining the full capacity and capability of controlling others that might be your subordinates.
The Privilege Issues and Inequities Involved in Institutions
If one tries to analyze the problems of privileges and vivid inequality, it is necessary to emphasize and highlight the following nuances. First of all, power and privileges are concepts that operate on personal grounds, interpersonal, and cultural setups in a certain way (Van Loon, 2009). Privileges always give the members the audacity and the benefits involved, which are accredited at the expense of the relative target groups. For instance, in the United States, privileges are always granted to persons with several specific features (Van Loon, 2009). Certain attitudes and rules require such people to have a light skin color and a healthy body, soul, and mind. Ideally, these individuals should believe in God according to Christian dogmas and attitudes and be middle-aged heterosexual men. In most cases, privileges are always characteristically invisible to those who have already adopted them. Those within the dominant groups always believe that they have been able to earn their intended “preferences.” Hence, anyone who manages to acquire the various kinds of privileges must have tirelessly worked for it.
Who Is Represented and Who Is Not?
As a rule, in the case of power and privilege audit, many considerations are made on to who the message should be directed and to what levels of understanding one is expected to have. In this case, those who are well represented in the whole process are the employers or the politicians since they are expected to express their sense of authority and control towards their profession. On the contrary, those not represented here are the subordinates expected to respect and follow the guidelines.
Who Has the Access and Who Has Not?
Based on the power and privilege audit concept, a particular person has the right to perform security-related functions that are inaccessible to an “ordinary layman.” Thus, there are those users who will be granted access to various computerized systems (Morrish, 2017). Certain individuals are allowed access to various types of data and information subject to restrictions and prohibitions. For example, representatives of this activity are officials, managers, and management teams. In other words, those who are most trusted and entrusted with many different responsibilities.
Whose Voice is Welcomed or Discouraged?
Actually, there are some restrictions, obstacles, and prohibitions on implementing actions related to the expression of opinions and views. As practice shows, people listen to those individuals to whom a trusting and even in some way friendly attitude has developed. For example, such personalities are real leaders like teachers, lecturers, or tutors (Morrish, 2017). They are endowed with a wide range of powers and responsibilities for the performance of duties. In addition, these individuals have all the tools and means to be appreciated, respected, and listened to every advice and opinion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many different aspects related to audit and authority. For example, these include providing security using various tools such as encryption and database passwords. In particular, this includes limiting the number of employees who have access to various institutional data. Finally, clearly defined responsibilities and roles are the keys to a successful and effective educational process and the internal system of the educational institution itself. These obligations are subject to execution by all managers as well as teachers and politicians endowed with a sense of responsibility and diligence for the assigned tasks.
Van Loon, J. (2019). Chapter 7 a nomad of academia: A thematic autobiography of privilege. In L. Donskis, I. Sabelis, F. Kamsteeg, & H. Wels (Eds.), Academia in crisis: The rise and risk of neoliberal education in Europe (pp. 150-168). Brill.
Multiple public audit bodies are performing in the European Union (EU). However, it is necessary to regulate their work and ensure effective cooperation. For that purpose, the European Group of the Auditor’s Oversight Bodies (EGAOB) was formed. The main goals of this paper are to discuss the role of the EGAOB and identify the European countries with a public oversight body for auditing along with their names.
Overview
The European Group of the Auditor’s Oversight Bodies (EGAOB) was established in 2005 (“Group details – Commission Expert Group,” n.d.). The main purpose of the group is to assist the European Commission in statutory audit matters. In addition, it coordinates different public systems that are aimed to supervise statutory auditors within the EU. Various modifications of the regulations for independent inspection organizations in the EU and throughout the world led to the foundation of the EGAOB. However, the main reasons were the establishment of new audit firms in different countries and the updated 8th Company Law Directive. The new directive obligated the members of the EU to establish public audit systems for the existing auditors (“Guidance on the 8th EU Company Law Directive,” n.d.). Similar systems did perform in some countries, but it was necessary to create them in all Member States. Therefore, a new forum with public oversight organizations was established.
Twenty-seven state representatives made up the EGAOB. The group was headed by the European Commission. However, the “membership of the EGAOB is not open to third countries (USA, Canada, Japan, etc.) but only to EU Member States and EEA countries (Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland)” (“The European Group of Auditors’ Oversight Bodies,” n.d., p. 1). The two main functions of the Commission are to supervise the secretariat and prepare papers for discussion at meetings. Although such meetings do not result in any official decisions (as the members cannot vote), the main points discussed there are taken into account by the Commission when developing working documents. The Commission also exchanges views about the matter with the key market players, auditors, and end-users. There are several main issues on which the EGAOB was focused. First, it aimed at enhancing cooperation among public audit bodies so that they could exchange their professional experiences (“Audit regulation,” n.d.). Second, the group worked on the technical evaluation of public audit bodies of states that were not in the EU. Third, it coordinated international interactions between the members of the union and third countries. Fourth, the group conducted the technical assessment of international auditing standards. It also participated in their development to make them more adoptable for European communities. Subsequently, the group was replaced with a new organization, the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies (“EU to replace audit oversight body with CEAOB,” 2016). However, it has similar functions.
Members
The existing organization is made up of thirty-two members. The current composition chair is Ralf Bose, Chief Executive Director, Germany’s Audit Oversight Body (AOB) (“Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies – Composition,” n.d.). The Vice-Chair is Nathalie DE BASALDÚA Acting Director Investment and Company Reporting, DG FISMA. The following is the list of the EU countries with an auditing oversight body:
Austria – Austrian Auditing Oversight Authority – AAOA
Belgium – Belgian Audit Oversight College (CTR/CSR)
Bulgaria – Commission for public oversight of statutory auditors
Croatia – Coming soon
Cyprus – Cyprus Audit Oversight Board
Czech Republic – Public Audit Oversight Board
Denmark – Danish Business Authority
Estonia – Estonian Auditing Activities Oversight Board
Finland – Finnish Patent and Registration Office – Auditor Oversight Unit
France – Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes – H3C
Hungary – Auditors’ Public Oversight Authority – Ministry for National Economy of Hungary
Ireland – Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA)
Italy – Coming soon
Latvia – Ministry of Finance of Latvia – Commercial Companies Audit Policy and Oversight Unit
Lithuania – Authority of Audit, Accounting, Property Valuation and Insolvency
Luxembourg – Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier – CSSF
Malta – Accountancy Board
Netherlands – The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets – AFM
Poland – Audit Oversight Commission – AOC
Portugal – Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários – CMVM
Romania – The Public Interest Oversight Body of Accounting Profession – CSIPPC
Slovakia – Auditing Oversight Authority – UDVA
Slovenia – Agency for Public Oversight of Auditing – APOA
Spain – Instituto de Contabilidad y Auditoría de Cuentas – ICAC
Sweden – Swedish Inspectorate of Auditors – Revisorsinspektionen
United Kingdom – Financial Reporting Council – FRC
ESMA – European Securities and Markets Authority – ESMA (“Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies – Composition,” n.d.).
Also, there are three European Economic Area representatives:
Iceland – Coming soon
Liechtenstein – Financial market authority (FMA)
Norway – Finanstilsynet (“Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies – Composition,” n.d.).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the EGAOB is an important entity that monitors and controls interactions among public oversight firms within the EU. It also implements the assessment of the performance of such bodies. Therefore, the main objective of the group is to ensure the effective cooperation of oversight systems via technical assistance and promotion of the standards of audit.
References
Audit regulation. (n.d.). Web.
Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies – Composition. (n.d.). Web.
EU to replace audit oversight body with CEAOB. (2016). Web.
Guidance on the 8th EU Company Law Directive. (n.d.). Web.
Group details – Commission Expert Group. (n.d.). Web.
The European Group of Auditors’ Oversight Bodies. (n.d.). Web.
A lot of attention has recently been given to fraud committed by business management and auditing. A lot of light has been shed on the ability of these public accounting firms on whether they are able to discover and report fraud. Fraudulent activities are available in large organizations not only in America, but also in the whole world. This necessitated the need for review and revision of the procedures that these firms use to detect fraud in present and future financial audit statements.
Rollins and Lanza stated: “To meet this need and to serve as the cornerstone of its anti-fraud program, the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issued Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, which supersedes SAS No 82 (which has the same title)” (56).
Regulations in SAS 99 improve necessary procedures involved in the elimination of fraud in the accounting profession. The role of the auditor was not affected in the transition from SAS No. 82 to No. 99. It sheds light on the procedures the auditor should follow to detect fraud in financial statements.
The main aim of this essay is to describe key requirements of SAS No. 99, and outline its importance on financial statement audits. Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99, as shall be seen is a crucial regulation that tries to prevent fraud in financial statements by auditors. Some auditors link up with clients in a bid to fraud the company. It is therefore duty of SAS 99 to outline the guidelines necessary to oversee this vice.
Components of SAS No. 99
SAS 99 identifies fraud as a global act that yields a considerable misstatement in statements of finance. Two categories of fraud are discussed: misstatements cropping up from illegal financial coverage (e.g. faking of accounting reports) and misstatements cropping up from embezzlement of assets (e.g. asset stealing or illegal spending).
SAS 99 outlines the triangle of fraud. Normally, three conditions are available when a swindle takes place. First is a pressure that gives a basis to engage in fraud. Then there is a chance for fraud to be downsized. Third, people involved in the swindle have an approach that makes them downsize the fraud. Fraud is serious no matter how less an evil it might seem in some situations.
SAS 99 requires that there be a discussion of fraud involving all group members. This discussion involves professionals and specialists. The topic of discussion revolves around misstatements detected in the client’s financial statements. SAS 99 requires a rise in associate participation, in the scheduling process, and a much stress on professional skepticism.
A new procedure is the completion of introductory analytical steps to discover unanticipated associations on revenues. These associations may show material misstatements because of illegal financial reporting.
The key components are describing fraud, brainstorming, checks on risk in formation, evaluating entity programs and controls, assess the risks and provide guidance with regards to communication about fraud management.
For a STATEMENT AUDIT STANDARD to describe fraud and its characteristics, it entails that fraud is either misstatement arising from corrupt financial report or misstatement arising from misappropriation of assets. These form the fraud triangle; first, there is a pressure that leads to a person committing fraud. Second, there is an opportunity for the perpetuation of fraud. Third, individuals committing fraud rationalize it.
Brainstorming comes in handy to enable the entity to check where the financial statement might be susceptible to material misstatement. The entity achieves this by allowing team members to share their experiences with clients and set the proper tone at the top.
Another element is ensuring that the auditor gathers necessary information concerning risk of material misstatement by making enquiries of management, analyzing the results of procedures, and risks.
It requires the auditor to assess management and create awareness about fraud. In addition, the auditors are to instill knowledge to the management about fraud and the control measures. Moreover, performing internal audit is also necessary.
Statement audit standard ensures that the auditors have a guideline and support on assessment of risks. It gives the auditors a challenge on the procedures to take and synthesize how the risk leads to misstatement of material.
Statement audit standard also provides measures that explain the identified risks of material misstatement. Moreover, it evaluates the outcome of the audit procedures and other observation that affects the assessment. It ensures clear guidance on fraud management and how auditors communicate this vital information.
When documenting this important document the auditor should; give details on brainstorming session, procedures performed in assessment of risk and its results, give the efficiency of the management of the entity. This most of the time leads to unannounced visits by the audits to the entities.
Criticism of SAS 99
More than half of the procedures are recommended rather than necessary. An outstanding example is; it suggests that auditors appear at the client’s end during inventory audit without notifying the client. Practically, auditors inform clients in advance on the location that the audit would be implemented.
This easily provides an opportunity for fraud by the client. Auditors informing a client the location of the audit beforehand are only giving an alert that there would be an audit. It thus makes it easy for clients to cover their tracks where there was fraud. If a client knows that the audit results would reveal discrepancies in the statements of accounts, and then they would do all they can to make the records straight.
SAS 99 has also been criticized for not sealing gaps of expectations. The strategy suggested in the standard enhances expectation on the auditing career. Because of this, auditors have to consider the expectations of SAS 99 as the lowest work level needed to identify fraud. They must be able to protect any choice that does not follow any of the suggested procedures in SAS 99. It is their responsibility to ensure that all procedures are followed in detecting and handling fraud.
Conclusion
Public auditors should follow SAS 99 standards accordingly. This will help in the elimination of fraud, in financial statements. Procedures laid out in SAS No. 99 are crucial for auditors. Auditors use this standard to know the necessary steps they need to take in order to identify fraud in financial statements.
SAS 99 was created to give guidelines. It provides the foundation for malpractice assertions in accounting. They act as a guideline that defines the manner in which they should carry out the auditing process. SAS 99 inflict massive documentation obligations on the auditors than is necessary in SAS 82.
Works Cited
Rollins, Steven and Lanza, Richard. Essential Project Investment Governance and Reporting : Preventing Project Fraud and Ensuring Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance. New York: J. Ross Publishing, 2004. Print.
Provision of healthcare services entails a complex process of information exchange among a large network of specialized persons and institutions. From the very basic view, a general medical practitioner may require a patient to consult a specialized doctor such as a dentist for certain reasons. The dentist may on the other hand require the patient to obtain an x-ray before full diagnosis. It may also be necessary to refer back the patient to the general practitioner for further checkups on conditions which according to the dentist, do not relate to the diagnosis given. This entire process clearly requires accurate information exchange among the different parties involved (Abowd & Myatt, 2000, p. 23).
Accurate information sharing starts from the adoption of universally accepted data recording platforms as well as a common channel or media through which the information is to be shared (Health Data Management System, 2010, p. 3). The purpose of this paper is to present a proposal for the audit of information sharing mechanisms within and among medical institutions as per the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDIS) (CDISC Standards, 2010, p. 2). The Consortium has well developed standards with the ability to be adopted globally for efficient information recording and sharing (Eric, 2004, p.45). The writer works in a health institution where the data management in use was developed to specifically fit to the requirements of the institution with little regard to the need for interaction with external institutions.
Importance of Evaluation, Measurement and Research in Healthcare
Healthcare provision is regarded as one of the core issues in any society. This is mainly because the ability of a population to offer optimal productivity for economic growth and development is a direct function of the health status prevalent in the population (Health Data Management System, 2010, p. 2). The availability of a well functioning and responsive healthcare sector remains one of the most important goals for governments in the modern day. Healthcare management thus becomes the epicenter for the development of quality healthcare services (Davida, Paul, & Mark, n.d, p35) Evaluation involves an in-depth assessment of the issue under consideration usually against some set standards (CDISC Standards, 2010, p. 6). In healthcare evaluation is crucial to determining not only the ability of a system to improve the process of providing healthcare services but also its ability to ensure safety of the patients in the process of use (CDISC Technical Road Map, 2010, p. 2). Evaluation avails the all important feedback required to make relevant decisions regarding the need to improve the system.
Performance indicators are very important in healthcare provision. The indicators enhance the efficiency with which the quality of healthcare is monitored. The indicators formulated must be relevant, reliable and valid. A healthcare system should have both internal and external performance indicators. The internal indicators should be relevant to the professional involved. On the other hand, the external performance indicators should be real and fair. Performance indicators for the evaluation of data standardization within and across institutions are seen in the form of the ability of the system in use in within the different medical institutions to conform to the standards developed by ICSDC (Gerrish, Mawson, 2005, p35).
Measurement on the other hand involves the establishment and use of appropriate units or yardstick in scaling the different aspects of healthcare. Focus here is establishing quantifiable measures usable in a bid to establish the level to which the system has had success (Health Data Management System, 2010, p. 2). The measurement element enables effective evaluation. A wrong understanding of the problem means that the solutions developed at the end will be flawed. It is thus important that measurement technique adopted in measuring the qualitative aspects of healthcare are truly representative of the variables they are intended to represent (Davida, Paul, & Mark n.d, p. 3).
Research in healthcare audit entails the process of finding out in great detail the issues which affect the success of the system or process under scrutiny. It is an enquiry process aimed at bringing out the facts which should be put in proper perspective in the quest to develop an even better healthcare system. Due to the sensitivity of healthcare practice it is paramount that it is based on a strong evidence base. A strong evidence base essentially means judicious, current and relevant evidence which is foul proof concerning healthcare. Developing such accurate and trusted evidence requires the application of accurate scientific research methods in research. Testing of new technologies also have to be done accurately so as to ascertain effects on healthcare delivery as well as fully understand the impact on patients, care givers as well as other health professionals (Øvretveit, & Gustafson, 2003, p38)
Research also aides the development of relevant solutions for the problems identified during evaluation and measurement. The feedback got from the process of evaluation is used as the basis of conducting research. This is because it points out the various areas where viable solutions should be focused (Abowd & Myatt, 2000, p. 23).
Indeed, measuring the wrong item in the wrong manner definitely gives a distorted picture on the problem being faced in managing the healthcare system. Research is thus geared towards developing new general knowledge by handling existing and identifiable problems using unique and targeted solutions (Eun-Jung, Hyung-Jik & Jeon-Woo, 2006, p. 41).
The entire process of evaluation, measurement and research represent the ultimate process of improving provision of health care. Evaluation brings out the areas requiring amendment as well as the intensity in application of resources required to adequately deal with the issues identified. Measurement enhances the ability to develop accurate assessment of the element of healthcare and also develop adequate solutions. Research caps it all by providing relevant ways of improvements to the existing systems resulting in better overall provision of healthcare services (Davida & Mark, n.d, p.3).
Rationale for the Audit
Globally there are evident efforts to enhance the ability of different medical practitioners so as to enhance the level of quality as well as efficiency in medical care. The availability of complete and relevant patient records on demand is important to reducing the frequency of medical errors. The sensitivity of accurate data transfer and sharing within and without the medical institutions cannot be overemphasized.
The audit targets the element compliance of data exchange within medical circles to the specifications stipulated by the CDISC. The audits are meant to offer insights to areas of deficiency in application of the standard of data recording. Experts argue that a great deal of inefficiencies in the provision of care services is as a result of lack of proper data standardization across medical institutions. To date, it is clear that a sizeable number of care providers, specialized practitioners and pharmaceuticals are yet to adopt a common platform for communication. This being the case, there is a shortage of accurate accessible data regarding patients within and across medical institutions (Bond, 1996, p.23).
By identifying how well the ICDSC standards have been utilized by various relevant parties, this will help develop a clear picture of the extent to which data standardization has been achieved (Bond, 1996, p.25). In addition, this will give insights to the amount of energies which should be employed in ensuring universal standardization and harmonization of data. The decision to audit the element of healthcare arises from the fact that despite the presence of well developed standards, the rate of compliance to these standards is still low.
Best Practice in Healthcare Data Management
When the patient is on the second floor, the operation room is on fourth floor and the ward is on the sixth floor, there is a clear need to have a common channel where information is exchanged between the different professionals involved. Success in accurately diagnosing and treating the patient in such a situation is hinged not only on the abilities of the chain of professionals involved in the entire procedure but also on their ability to share data concerning the patient effectively (Health Data Management System ,2010. P3). In a case where the patient seeks care from multiple institutions, the presence of a standardized data sharing platform is crucial in ensuring that accurate and reliable data exchange occurs to ensure proper understanding of the patient’s history as a platform for administering further treatment procedures (Eun-Jung, Hyung-Jik, & Jeun-Woo, 2007, p. 23).
Proper data management should be based on several principles. First is relative simplicity. This implies that data recorded should be easy to understand for the people concerned. Simplicity is relative due to the fact that it is only achieved as a compromise for completeness (Bond 1996, p. 25). The implication is that for the required information, the data recording should be as simple as possible. It is however important for all the details required to be availed even if this compromises the principle of simplicity.
The second principle is that of ease of implementation. The data sharing platform should be structured in a way which avails information focused on offering solutions or the best information to guide further processes (How to Navigate the New CDISC Standard 2008, p. 3). An example is where records concerning a patients laboratory tests is accompanied by the diagnosis already offered. This guides the practitioner who later receives the patient on where to start with the treatment. In addition there should be an evidence based criteria (Abowd & Myatt, 2000, p. 28). This means that the data shared should be backed up with some relevant basic evidence. The intention here is to give the receiver confidence on the procedures already undertaken and the results gotten. It also delivers some extra information on the measures especially in a case of laboratory results which give the scale of the health condition at hand (Mead n. d., p. 71).
It is true that there are countries or states where legislation covers issues regarding data sharing. This is meant to ensure that [data sharing is done in a safe and coherent manner. Compliance to the statutory and requirements is also an important principle for consideration in the process of developing the data management program. There should be adequate provisions to ensure that all the statutory requirements are fulfilled. This is not only to ensure the legitimacy of the data sharing system but also capture the concerns being addressed by the authorities enforcing the regulations (Mead n. d., p. 71).
It is however important that the recovery and rehabilitation as well as care plan goals are facilitated by the data being exchanged. This means that the data being shared should be geared towards supporting progress in the recovery process for the patients (CDISC Technical Road Map, 2010, p. 4). It should ensure that the information passed is not only accurate but also geared towards helping the concerned parties improve efficiency in extending care services. This principle supersedes any other (How to Navigate the New CDISC Standard, 2008, p. 3).
Data shared within medical organizations should fulfill several criteria. The most important element is coding. Each patient should have a unique code for proper identification. The code should be referred to and used to identify and record all data concerning the patient represented. The coding system should be complete and accurate (Heather & Edward, 2010, p. 9). Completeness implies that it should carry all the relevant base information which identifies the patient in terms of the categories where they fit and then identify them uniquely within their respective categories. Bar coding is touted as the most water tight method but it should be supported by other measures to ensure effectiveness. This ensures that data exchange is accurate. Secondly, the system should offer clear revenues for revenue management (National Health Service Executive, 1996, p. 56). Apart from the exchange of patient records and other related information, the data management system should track revenues and payments made by the patient throughout the system and ensure that accurate reporting is done to the billing departments within the organization. This ensures adequate and effective management of revenues in the organization (White & Gilliam, 2004, par. 2).
The different departments should be interlinked to ensure minimal movement of people from one department to another. Interconnecting the health facility to the external organization is also crucial in the success of a data management. The system should enable the health facility administrators to track and trace products with suppliers. This enables proper application of recall procedures as well as enabling quicker response time to the needs of the patients (Exploring the Hottest Areas of Healthcare, 2010, par. 3). Here a unique identification number is always required. It helps identify products, locations and patients. The data capture methods save time and reduce costs in addition to reducing errors (Bardsley, Spiegel halter, Blunt, 2009, p. 3).
Overall Purpose & Audit Objectives
The overall objective of the audit is to find out how well healthcare organizations have adopted the data management standards stipulated by the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (Cook & Campbell, 1979, p. 233). The results of the audit will facilitate policy makers and other concerned parties in their quest to ensure that data interchange within and without the medical facilities is standardized as a measure to improve the level of efficiency in delivery as well as better management (Cimino, 1998, p.32). This will be done by comparing the data management structure applied in different health facilities and comparing them to the standards under the CDISC (Sweeney & Heaton, 2000, p. 26).
The first Audit objective is to establish the suitability of both syntax as well as semantics of the interchange platform. Syntax refers to the structure while semantics is in reference to the meaning (Heather & Edward, 2010, p. 3). These two elements are crucial to the interoperability of systems as well as unambiguous data transfer. An illustration can be obtained through the following two sentences: “The dog eats red meat” and “The dog eats blue trees”. These two sentences follow identical syntax or structure (Cook & Campbell, 1979, p. 236). This is because they start with an article, then a noun followed by a verb, modifying adjective and a direct object noun. However, their semantics are very different (Sweeney & Heaton, 2000, p. 27). The first sentence makes sense while the second one is senseless despite the similarity in structure (Cimino 1998, p. 32). The second example is “The patient was given pain medication” and “The patient was given medication for pain”. These two sentences do not have similar syntax but depending on the level of the reader’s clinical experience, they may have or may not have similar meaning. Thus syntax alone is not a reliable determinant of semantics hence the need to integrate the two elements in the system.
The second audit objective is to find out the compatibility of the data types in use. Data types are the fundamental building blocks around which semantics of a given piece of data are built (Bardsley, Spiegelhalter & Blunt, 2009, p. 5). Healthcare requires several complex data types to support concepts such as physical quantity and time as well as data types describing coded terms within terminology. Close comparability of data types among organizations largely defines the ability of the organizations to share information (Gruber ,1993, p. 24).
The third objective is interoperability. This refers to the ability of two parties to exchange information. Analysts argue that in most cases the problems in interaction among health facilities are not caused by the systems but rather the difficulty of data exchange. Syntactic operability ensures that data structures for the different systems are compatible (Gruber 1993, p. 24). Afterwards human or semantic interoperability guarantees that the meaning is clearly exchanged among the human beings using the two systems (Exploring the Hottest Areas of Healthcare, 2010, p. 4).
Finally, the objective of the audit is assessing the semantic operability among machines used in the different institutions. It does not imply that all the received data has to be processed after reception in a similar manner but that the all the machines are able to make processing decisions based on the same meaning organization (White & Gilliam 2004, par. 2). Notably, the audit entails a comparison of the standards under ICDS which fulfill the requirements discussed above to a very high degree to the actual systems in use among the healthy institutions.
Action Plan
Goal/Purpose
Objectives
Activities to be Undertaken
Resources Required
Target Date
Evaluation
To Assess and compare Syntax and semantics among different systems in use
Identifying syntax and semantics for each system in use in the different health facilities. Comparing them.
Two Information Technology experts, a whole range of medical practitioners in different fields and one communication experts.
20thMarch 2010
Establish level of compatibility of the different syntax and semantics adopted by the different institutions.
To Establish compatibility of data types between different systems
Establish presence of data types which support concepts of quantity and time for different healthcare institutions
Two information technology experts.
10thApril 2010
Establish the compatibility of the data types applied in the systems in use. Compare the data types with the stipulations of the IDSC standards
To establish Interoperability of the different systems.
Identify the different system platforms in use for the systems in the different institutions.
Information Technology experts
30thApril 2010
Establish the data types in use and their suitability to the information interchange used by the different systems in use.
To assess semantic operability
Identify the semantics used by different systems and people in the medical practice.
Information technology experts. Communication experts
15thMay 2010
Evaluate the relevance of semantics in use to the health sector and compliance to the standards.
Conclusion
The audit process will not only unearth the compliance of the various health facilities to the standards developed under the ICDSC but also give a clearer picture of the disparities existing among the systems in use in different health facilities. The outcome will offer a better understanding of the enormity of the incompatibility problem in the health facility a situation which can present a great hindrance to the delivery of healthcare services to the patients. By evaluating the syntax and semantics and syntax in use for the different systems available, the possibility of making accurate recommendations towards the adoption of common clinical data interface will be enhanced. Again the data types will guide the technical teams responsible for implementing similar systems on the best data sharing platform available for the adoption of a common data interface. The audits outcome will definitely offer unrivaled evidence to the level of interconnectivity possible among the medical institutions.
In developing the proposal the writer was able to obtain unique insights on the need to engage in proper evaluation measurement and Research. The three elements compliment each other but are also an important integral part to the success of any meaningful enquiry process including performing audits. Evaluation is the expansive and in-depth assessment. It is supported by the measurement element by the fact that a suitable yardstick for measurement has to be developed. Research ensures that outcome from evaluation are utilized in the subsequent development of better systems.
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