Environmental effects of oil spills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environmental effects of oil spills - Essay Example ics (1997), an oil spill is â€Å"oil, discharged accidentally or intentionally, that floats on the surface of water bodies as a discrete mass and is carried by the wind, currents and tides. Oil spills can be partially controlled by chemical dispersion, combustion, mechanical containment and absorption. They have destructive effects on coastal ecosystems† (par. 1). The ecological crisis brought about by oil spills displaces a global equilibrium pattern based on the dwindling supply of marine resources. As an environmentally ethical dilemma, oil spills need to be closely evaluated and addressed to take drastic actions to restore balance and prevent further damage to the marine ecosystem. According to Oracle ThinkQuest, oil spills are actually classified into two groups: accidental and from operations (n.d., par. 1). Accidental oil spills are generally caused by collusions, fires and explosions, hull failures, and groundings (ibid.). On the other hand, oil spills from operations â€Å"occur when ships are carrying out routine operations at ports or oil terminals, but the majority of such spills are small, with 93% of them producing a spillage of less than 7 tonnes† (Oracle, n.d., par. 3). As indicated, two specific activities are encompassed within the scope of oil spills from operations, to wit: â€Å"loading/discharging: commonest cause of oil spillages (either during routine operations or resulting from accidents), with 3070 occurring between 1974-1999; and bunkering: the least common operational oil loss with only 566 occurring between 1974-1999† (ibid.). Whatever the causes are, the fact remains that the oil spilled in bodies of water pose dangers to marine life and to the environment. The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF) is â€Å"a not-for-profit organization established on behalf of the worlds ship owners to promote an effective response to marine spills of oil, chemicals and other hazardous substances† (ITOPF: About, 2010, par.

Auditing Is The Accumulation And Evaluation Of Evidence Accounting Essay

Auditing Is The Accumulation And Evaluation Of Evidence Accounting Essay Auditing is the accumulation and evaluation of evidence about information to determine and report on the degree of correspondence between the information and established criteria. Auditing should be done by a competent, independent party and communicate the results to interested users. (Elder, and others, 2007, p .4) The purpose of audit is to enable the auditor to express an opinion whether the financial statements present a true and fair view in accordance with the identified financial reporting framework, and will enhance the credibility of financial statements. Audits can improve a companys efficiency and profitability by helping the management better understand their own work and financial system. The management, as well as the shareholders, suppliers and financers, is assured that the risks in the organization are well-studied, and effective systems are in place to handle them. Furthermore, audit can identify areas in an organizations financial structure that need improvement, and how to implement the proper changes and adjustments. It uncovers inaccuracies and discrepancies within an organizations records, which may be indications of weak financial organization or even internal fraud, and reduce the risks. (Auditing, n.d.) At present corporate scandals and fraud continues to be a pervasive problem and is very common across the world. However these scandals and fraud are so massive that every time many people especially employees of the company lose their jobs and investors are bearing from major losses in these incidents. Corporate fraud is any fraud committed against a business and is used to include many different wrongs that may occur within a business. Corporate fraud takes many forms, including insider trading, embezzlement, false billing schemes, securities fraud and forgery, Asset misappropriation fraud, Business opportunity fraud, Employment fraud, Short and long firm fraud, Employee fraud etc. Among the most dangerous forms of corporate fraud is known as long firm fraud, which occurs when a business is founded on legitimate grounds, and then lead by certain unethical individuals toward a purpose of defrauding over a long time. (Corporate fraud, n.d.) It is difficult to expect such scandals prior to the exposure as these involve complex methods for misusing funds, overstating revenues, understating expenses, etc. According to studies conducted in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia (2010) states that corporate fraud increased in the previous 12 months and economic conditions have w orsened. The studies also found that the dollar amount lost to fraud also had increased as well. The study conducted by Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE, 2009) estimated that fraud cost U.S organizations 7 percent of annual revenues, or $ 994 billion in losses based on 2008 gross domestic product. Although financial statement fraud less frequent, however it typically involved more than $ 2 million. Simultaneously, in the United Kingdom KPMGs Fraud Barometer found  £1.3 billion of fraud in 2009. National head of forensic Gary Gill (2010) states that 2009 Australia KPMGs Fraud Barometer found million in major fraud cases. And they highlighted that although the number of cases remain same compared to first to second half of 2009, the value or cost of the fraud doubled. This could weaken investors and shareholders confidence. In order to prevent or reduce from corporate fraud auditors do have a duty to detect errors and fraud hence auditors need to ensure that the financial statements are presented in true and fair view in accordance with the identified financial reporting framework. This research will assist the auditors to find out what they can be done or what would be their responsibility to reduce the massive corporate fraud which, is rapidly spreading around the world. Auditors obtain a reasonable assurance that financial statements are free of material misstatement caused by error or fraud. One of the challenges faced by the auditor in detecting fraud is the independence of the auditor. Some companies management will not allow the auditor to act with integrity and exercise objectivity and professional skepticism. The other challenge faced by the auditor is that the management does not provide sufficient information to detect the fraud. The auditors would not get enough supporting documents to prove that whether the transactions are correctly recorded. Maintaining public trust is also one of the challenges that auditors would face, hence the public has raised the question as to whether audit functions can be trusted, after financial statement fraud committed by big companies such as Enron, Tyco, and World.com. In order to prevent such problems from occurring, this research has been conducted in order to help auditors to enhance audit quality, preve nt and detect potential fraud before it is too late. Brief description of project objectives. (i.e. scope of proposal, constructs used, limitations and significance) Andrew Marshal (2009) said that when it comes to corporate fraud, nowhere is safe, hence there are fraud scandals occurring everywhere in the world. CPA Journal (2008) estimated that a typical organization loses 5 percent of its annual revenues to fraud, or about $ 4,500 per employee each year. Furthermore the CPA Journal (2008) states that most frauds involve a lack of adequate internal controls (opportunity), the need to maintain an expensive lifestyle or pressure to meet goals (incentive), and the perpetrators lack of awareness that their actions are wrong (self-rationalization) or simple lack of integrity. However, investors expect auditors to give them absolute assurance for detecting material misstatement due to fraud. The majority of investors want from an audit absolute assurance the financial statements are free of all types of material misstatement. The main objective or the aim of this research will be on how and what are the methods that auditors can contribute to minimiz e material misstatements from financial statements and reduce corporate fraud. The other objective of this research is to identify the difficulties in detecting corporate fraud and how to enhance audit quality. Besides that this research will evaluate the gaps in internal controls and how auditors can come out with a financial statement without any biasness. Scope of the Study The scope of this study will concentrate on auditors and their responsibilities towards the public. In addition it will focus on fraud awareness, fraud risk and the corporate governance in the organization. Furthermore this study will focus on the abilities and the knowledge which auditors should have to accomplish their obligations. Limitations of the Study The limitations of this research will be the difficulty in collecting primary data; hence this research will be conducted with face-to-face structured interviews and a survey questionnaire. The time limit for the interview may not be enough based on the availability of the participants, therefore interview has to be scheduled for the availability of participants. Significant of the Study This research will facilitate the auditors to maintain public trust and will enhance audit quality. By enhancing audit quality auditors can reduce the corporate fraud and make the companies trustworthy. When audit quality is enhanced auditors will be more responsible in detecting and preventing fraud. And auditors will perform their work more carefully as a result the companies will not experience financial trouble or difficulties. This research will gather information about how corporate frauds can be reduced and auditors as a key people who needs this information to be applied in the corporate world to reduce corporate fraud. Brief description of the models/theories/concepts that will be used in this proposal. (i.e. consumer behaviourism model, CSF and etc.) This project does not require any concepts, theories or models to be used in the process of doing it. E Academic research being carried out and other information, techniques being learnt. (i.e. literature what are the names of books you are going to read / data sets you are going to use) The books that this research will use are Audit and Assurance Books, Internal and External Auditing books. Magazines, online articles and journals which are related to corporate fraud and auditors will be used. Journals include such as Audit disaster futures: antidotes for the expectation gap by Fran M. Wolf, James A. Tackett and Gregory A. Claypool. And CPA journals such as Auditors responsibilities with respect to fraud: a possible shift. In addition this research will use the Audit firms reports such as KPMG. Other relevant sources include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AJ03S20091120 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1717856320100317 http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/2009/Nov/20/Corporate_accounting_fraud_increasing_around_the_world.html http://www.kpmg.com/AU/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Press-Releases/Pages/Press-release-fraud-doubles-16-Feb-10.aspx http://www.irs.gov/compliance/enforcement/article/0,,id=213768,00.html http://www.anonymousemployee.com/csssite/sidelinks/corporate_fraud.php http://www.procurement.travel/news.php?cid=corporate-fraud-rises-employees-layoffs-economy.Mar-10.31 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=868441show=html Brief description of the materials/methodologies needed by the proposal. (i.e. data collection methods, sampling, sample size and target group etc.) The data for this research is intended to be covered from Malaysia. Primary data will be collected from listed companies and Audit firms of Malaysia. Data will be collected with the help of questionnaires and interviews. Face-to-face structured interviews will be carried out. The interview will be kept short to respect the time constrains of the participants, hence would not be exceeding 30 minutes. Where clarification is required, further follow-up interviews can be carried out over telephone or e-mail where necessary. A total of 150 questionnaires would be prepared and distributed to the employees of listed companies of Malaysia and Certified Public Accountants (CPA) of Malaysia. The questionnaire would also be distributed to the shareholders for the listed companies of Malaysia and other employees who are working in financial institutions as well. The questionnaires would be more closed ended structured while there would be some open ended questions included as well. Most of the secondary data will be taken from online journals, Emerald, other websites and Athens database. G Brief description of the evaluation and analysis proposed for this project. (i.e. project deliverables and hypothesis, correlation test etc) Hypothesis of the Research This research would benefit the Audit firms, public and private limited companies and shareholders and stakeholders of the public companies. This research not only benefits to Audit firms, public and private companies, but for the public as a whole. The hypothesis testing would show the effect and the changes of audit quality. This hypothesis testing would be the relationship between internal auditors and the external auditors, being independent between the internal auditors would assist the external auditors to work independently and detect fraud and prevent them re-occurring. In addition this research would expect that there is a relationship between internal control and the audit quality and relationship between audit ethics and audit procedures that the external auditors carried out. Deliverables The end result of this research would provide empirical information to all auditors and the top management of the company. Especially this information would facilitate the directors to come out with reliable financial statement to its users. This research will provide theoretical information to all the directors and to the management of the company in order to prevent the financial statements from misstatement and fraud. This information helps the company from losing billions of dollars per year from corporate fraud and will safeguard the shareholders interest and the stake holders of the company. H. Illustration of how this project will benefit the future employability Relevance to Industry All the accounting and financial industries will benefit from this research. As an audit firm this research will help both enhancing the audit quality and will facilitate the new methods to detect fraud and will encourage new audit firms to perform the audit with due care. Auditing is one of the challenging works which assist the auditors to use their knowledge and experience and at the same time the new auditors will learn and gain experience in the audit field and would learn new methods on detecting frauds. This research would benefit all the corporations to minimize their corporate fraud cost. Significance to Modules This research is directly related to Audit and Assurance, Forensic Accounting. And also somehow this research is related to corporate governance as well.

The True Gentlemen of Great Expectations Essay -- Great Expectations

The True Gentlemen of Great Expectations In Victorian society, a gentleman was brought up from birth, molded and manipulated to act, dress, talk, and live as true gentility. Upon reaching adulthood, these gentlemen were expected to conduct themselves as society dictated. What happens, however, when a man of lower social stature wishes to become a gentleman, and suddenly finds himself in a position to do so? He now has the financial standing, but lacks the social etiquette that a "true" gentleman possesses. Whom can he turn to for a role model and guidance? This is exactly the situation Pip is faced with in the novel Great Expectations. When he first arrives in London, aspiring to be a gentleman, Matthew Pocket, Wemmick, and Herbert Pocket provide the best examples of true gentlemen.    Matthew Pocket displays the qualities of a gentleman as a hardworking tutor and a patient husband. Although he does not posses a great deal of wealth, Mr. Pocket houses well-to-do pupils, such as Startop and Drummle, and conducts himself in a gentlemanly manner. His passion for learning and knowledge is fervent, but his perseverance in Pip's education is even greater. Pip comments that, "...he was always so zealous and honorable in fulfilling his compact with me that he made me zealous and honorable in fulfilling my compact with him."(196). Although Pip learned to be hardworking in the forge, Matthew Pocket teaches him to work for the sake of others. Matthew's married life is quite a different story. His wife is so eccentric, adleheadded, and uneducated that he constantly lifts himself up by his hair. His patience with his wife, day in and day out, is extraordinary. For example, Mrs. Pocket doesn't greet Pip with ... ...n loyal.    In order to be able to live as a gentleman, Pip learns from the examples set by Matthew Pocket, Wemmick, and Herbert Pocket. Each contributes his own qualities to shed a different light on how a gentleman conducts himself. All contribute to help Pip become what he is at the end of the book, a true gentleman at last.    Works Cited and Consulted:    Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Ed. Edgar Rosenberg. New York: Norton, 1999.    French, A.L   " Imprisonment: The Case of Great Expectations." Discussions of Charles Dickens, 82-92.   William R. Clark, ed.   Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1961.    Russell, Frazier.   " 'When I Was A Child'- An Introduction to Great Expectations."   Yahoo Homepage, 1. Penguin Reading Guides, 7 Nov. 2000.     <www.penguinputnam.com/academic/classics/rguides/dickens/frame.html>.   

Evaluating the Research Process Essay

In this week’s paper, I choose a peer-reviewed research article which explained the research process and what can be assumed from the study based on these particular questions given: How is the literature review used in this research; What are ethical considerations for data collection; What is the data telling us in terms of statistical analysis; Are the findings statistically significant; Do the conclusions match the results of the study; Do the conclusions answer the research questions in the definition of the problem; Are the conclusions appropriate; and Do I have enough information to make a decision on the effectiveness of the study and if so, is it effective? To explain the research process, there are a number of steps which has to be applied. The first step would be to identify the research problem coming up with questions that are important and reasonable for the study. Second, a research proposal should be composed including an introductory, a literature review, a re search design and method, a data analysis with protection of an individual’s topic, and a timeline. Third, a pilot study should be managed in order to expand and carry out data collection methods and alternate techniques. Fourth, coordinate a major research. Fifth, arrange an outline. The sole purpose of this study and the goals intended are to compare how effective structured Community Health Workers provide home visits, with the use of an intervention developed through-out a community established participatory research offering quality assistance through the WIC or the Women Infants and Children’s department visitations. These purpose for these visits are to prevent the growth of overweight and obesity during the infant stages through their primary years. A literature review is used to summarize the study, review it, and then determine what the outcome will be. The literature review is used in this research as a summary which explains how the study was substantial in  identifying the link between childhood obesity, serious health issues, psychological, behavioral, social consequences, and adverse physical. It also reports the importance of the mother’s obesity level and the mother body mass index (BMI). The researcher’s recruitment process included Hispanic pregnant women participants as their ethical considerations for the data collection. The participants and their data were kept confidential due to the fact that they were pregnant and being recruited during their third month of pregnancies by the WIC clinic. The individuals conducting the research recruit in a private room and they are enrolled in the study in the privacy of their own homes during the prenatal home visits. During this process written informed consents are signed and obtained for themselves as well as their newborns to participate in the study. These individuals are randomly selected into the control group up to their first prenatal visit is complete. This allows the data collector to stay blinded to the studies assignments. The fact that the data collector is blinded to the identity of the group participants, for each group provided there is an ethical consideration. In terms of statistical analysis, the data provides a table which informs the research group about the timeframe, what instruments were being used, the ecological level, the purpose of the measurements, the variables, and when and how it was collected. However, since the research is incomplete, and continues, the results are inconclusive. This research is conducted over the first three years of and infant’s life. Unfortunately, due to the continuance of the research, there are no significant statistical findings and there is no research study to draw a conclusion just yet. The projected conclusions are appropriate for this study, but there is a lack of information due to the fact that the study continues to go on. The study is designed to prevent childhood obesity because preventing obesity in infants and young children is a promising approach to reversing the childhood and adult obesity epidemic (reifsnider, mccormick, culen, szalacha, moramarco, moramarco, diaz & reyna, 2013). Being obese as a child has the tendency to be persistent while growing into the adult stages of life and have a greater chance at increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The eating habits, exercises, and sleeping habits are all established while in the youth stages. These are methods that continue to effect quality of life, obes ity, and health for the duration of a child’s life. At this point and  time, I do not feel that there is enough information to make a decision on the effectiveness of the study because the study is incomplete. This study continues to recruit participants and has an estimated completion date of December 2016(reifsnider, mccormick, culen, szalacha, moramarco, moramarco, diaz & reyna, 2013). The research investigation has an extensive and broad span appropriate and potentially for the instantaneous spread across the WIC departments. They plan to reveal the results of how effective an ordinary population method would be in prohibiting obesity throughout the first 2 years of life as well as the involvements endurance from ages 2 to 3. This can be easily implemented and modified for many locations and various localities and will supply verification for strategy revisions to impact health throughout life (reifsnider, mccormick, culen, szalacha, moramarco, moramarco, diaz & reyna, 2013). References: reifsnider, E., mccormick, D. P., culen, K. W., szalacha, L., moramarco, M. W., moramarco, M. W., diaz, A., & reyna, L. (2013, 09 24). A randomized controlled trial to prevent childhood obesity through early childhood feeding and parenting guidance: rationale and design of study. Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-13-880.pdf

“Nanotechnology-implications and future” Essay

‘Nanotechnology’ is actually a fairly new idea .Nanotechnology is engineering, science, and technology which is conducted on nanoscale .It is the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale.It is applicable in all the fields of science such as Biology, Materials science ,Physics and Engineering . Nanoscience involves the ability to examine and to control individual atoms and molecules .Scientists currently match the future implications of nanotechnology.Nanoscience or Nanotechnology is able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications. On the other hand , it raises many problems as any new technology including concerns about toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials ,and their effects on global economies . Nanorobotics center on self-sufficient machines which operate at nanoscale . There are hopes for applying nanorobotics in medicine ,yet it may not be easy to do such things because of drawbacks of such devices .Scientists on the moment have actually found that some of nanoparticles on which they are working can go through human skin .This could permanently damage our skin cells , causing cancer. If we are using nanoscience in everyday life in future , then it could affect the environment very much , so we don’t have that much advanced facilities to stop nanoparticles from going through them .Nanotechnology can make our life luxurious , but we may even lose an identity as humanity .