The Cold War Era Has Been Characterised By Internal And...

The post-Cold War era has been characterised by internal and deep-seated conflicts (Bercovitch 2011:2). Most of the violent conflicts that have arisen in these past decades come from intractable roots, as the conflictive patterns have become part of the social system (Notter and Diamond 1996:2). They stand out by a prolonged – and often violent – struggle by local groups, who are in the need of security, ethnic recognition, equality, access to political institutions or economic participation, among others (Azar 1991:93). In this situation, mediation is a widespread technique for dealing with conflicts. Its main aim is to facilitate the resolution of conflicts, being non-coercive and non-binding. As mediation works with the approval of the parties, it does not involve conflicts with sovereignty, as international intervention does (Greig and Diehl 2012:41). Furthermore, mediation is generally a relevant pillar of a more comprehensive process of peaceful and conflict management (Bercovitch 2011:5). In the case of international peace processes in situations of violent conflict, the mediation technique usually involves the intervention of an outsider. A third-party enters the process to control some aspects, though the ultimate decision remains with the involved parties (Bercovitch and Gartner 2009:5). Mediation methods have spread all around the globe, taking place in a variety of countries with particular cultural, political, economical and social environments (Faget

Analysis of Cervantes Techniques in His Literary Works Essay

It goes without saying, that as readers most of us look forward to the conclusion of novels, sometimes choosing to ignore details that we find negligible to the advancement of the plot. However Cervantes seems to ignore this trait, constantly interrupting his stories at critical moments. This technique not only builds suspense and tension, but also helps prove a point about the readers; they are not just passive audience members, but rather participants in this sometimes convoluted story. While some critics have scrutinized Cervantes for having placed tales that seem almost â€Å"out of place,† it is clear that these tales do in fact incorporate some of the larger themes that Cervantes tries to emphasize throughout the novel, one being that†¦show more content†¦Similarly, Grisà ³stomo has never met the Marcela he talks about, yet is still willing to kill himself when she supposedly rejects him. In the end, both Don Quixote and Grisà ³stomo end up risking their lives for these women, adding to Cervantes’ idea that women are the demise of men, driving them to insanity. Similarly to the story of Grisà ³stomo and Marcela, the â€Å"Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity,† seems to also convey this idea that women cause men distress, leading to their demise. In the â€Å"Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity,† Anselmo decides to test just how loyal his wife, Camila, is. Anselmo decides that the only way to really know whether Camila is faithful or not is to put her to a test of great temptation. Anselmo therefore demands that his friend Lotario attempt to seduce Camila. At first Camila resists the temptations, however as time goes on, both give in, and both betray Anselmo. Just as the other women in the novel, Camila is able to drive Anselmo insane and eventually lead to his downfall. Interestingly enough, just like Marcela and Dulcinea, Anselmo seems to create this image of Camila that is almost made up, and because of that he is led to h is downfall when Camila does end up cheating on him. Cervantes again in this story seems to portray this idea that women do lead men to do crazy things, for just as Quixote is led to go out and fight for Dulcinea, Anselmo is lead to test his wife’s loyalty even though she neverShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Ambiguity in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown1587 Words   |  7 PagesThe Ambiguity in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†      Ã‚  Ã‚     The literary critics agree that there is considerable ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† This essay intends to illustrate the previous statement and to analyze the cause of this ambiguity.    Henry James in Hawthorne, when discussing â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† comments on how imaginative it is, then mentions how allegorical Hawthorne is, and how allegory should be expressed clearly:    I frankly confess that I haveRead More Ambiguity in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay1743 Words   |  7 PagesThe glare of contemporary reality immobillized his imagination. He required shadows and half-light, and he sought a nervous equilibrium in ambiguity. . . . Where traditional allegory was secured in certitude, however, Hawthorne’s allegorical proceedings yield only restlessness and doubt. The stable system of correspondences that tied allegory’s images and ideas together was lodged squarely upon the religious orthodoxy that Hawthorne rejected. In his belated version of the sacramental world, the linksRead More The Theme of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay2278 Words   |  10 Pagessorts, because he repeatedly confuses the issues by shying sway from them, because he often talks of his fiction in terms of misty legends and faded blooms, because, in short, he seems frequently to disclaim his own vital interests, we must take care not to lose from sight tho se aspects of his work that are most essential to his vision. . . . (2)    This indefinete approach toward situations in his writings makes Hawthorne very ambiguous. Henry James in Hawthorne says that the reader has to fumble

Audit and Assurance Bio Sustainable Feeds

Question: Discuss about the Audit and Assurance for Bio Sustainable Feeds. Answer: Introduction: The research contains details discussion about the Bio-sustainable Feeds (BSF) ltd which is listed under Australian Stock Exchange. The report also contains a description of various activities taken place in with its product description. It also contains the investment carried out during the year by BSF. The research contains various steps that need to taken before doing audit of the BSF and also rules applied for the process. The report also discusses and explains whether the firm should accept the role of doing auditing if we take Inherent Risk (IR), Credit Risk (CR) and Detection Risk (DR) (Ahmed Haji and Anifowose 2016). Further audit program should include general coverage plus the specific items mentioned above. The research also includes the concern that the auditor should also include full set of journal entries of the Research Development transaction from 2013-2016 also explain the CSIRO is allowed as said. Please remember to check the Research and Development costs which a re given between expense and capital. Then the triple-bottom line should be General Parallel File System requires being discussed. BSF Ltd. administration attested in an outline that the patent qualities were predicated on BSF Ltd. having elite control over the microscopic organisms based sustains innovation. Overview Bio- Sustainable Feeds Ltd is an Australian bioresearch company, which is listed in ASX- Australian Stock Exchange who is involved with Sustainable Aqua Culture feeds since twenty years. BSF is a plant that has its business operation in fish feeds. The company is involved in manufacturing canola, soya-bean, sunflower, corn, etc., meals that costs around 360 million AUD. The company has incurred loss of 120 million AUD due to quality degradation of its fish varieties such as salmon, tuna etc. Moreover, CBC (2016) has noticed that, the plant-based fish food should resolve the quality issue. Steps before Conducting an Audit and its Application to BSF Ltd Before accepting to perform an audit and deciding to apply it in BSF Ltd several necessary steps are needed to be considered (Jafari and Payani 2013). IFACS code of ethics stated that before accepting new audit clients, a professional accountant in public needs to determine whether acceptance could generate some threats to compliance with elementary principles (CBC 2016). Possible threats to integrity can be generated from questionable issues related to the client. This indicates before accepting to perform an audit, an investigation should be conducted on BSF ltd, its owners and business conducts for analyzing if there are any questions on the integrity of the potential client that generates unacceptable risk. Such investigation is generally performed as consumer due diligence process those are conducted for complying with regulations of anti-money laundering (Lothe 2013). After accepting to conduct audit for BSF Ltd, the auditor needs to consider the suitability of particular engagement it has been asked to perform. More specifically, there can be ethical risks that indicate conduction of audit should not be accepted, especially whether there are any objectivity risks (Sarker et al. 2016). Potential risks should be checked that might arise such as if the members of audit firm holds shares in BSF Ltd or has any family relationship. Such threats need to be discovered and it might signify that the client should be turned down as safeguards can decrease the threats to an acceptance level (Jafari and Payani 2013). Certain ethical matters should be checked before accepting an audit for BSF Ltd. It should be checked whether any interest conflict or confidentiality issues might take place and if this happens, whether suitable safeguards can be maintained (Rust et al. 2011). Additionally, BSF Ltds competence for performing the potential work needs to be analyzed, particularly if the company has a business operation in a specialized industry or the firm has a complex structure. Practical aspects namely the resources required to perform the work, the completion deadline and logistics such as locations and geographical spread should be taken into consideration as well (Bisogno 2016). Before accepting to conduct any audit procedure, an auditor should acquire an agreement from management, which it acknowledges, and realizes its responsibility: For creation of financial statements based on the suitable financial reporting framework For internal controls that will enable generation of financial statements, those are devoid of material misstatement, whether because of error or fraud. For facilitating the auditor with access to all the necessary information for conducting audit process IFACs code clarifies that the audit acceptance decisions should not be treated as one-off matter (Jafari and Payani 2013). The code also signifies that a professional accountant in public is recommended to constantly review the acceptance decisions for recurring engagement of clients (Hess 2014). Changes in any circumstances that is either the auditor or the client might signify that an engagement ceases to remain professionally or ethically acceptable or generates an increased level of risk exposure. For this reason, client regular assistance is vital and needs to be totally documented. Auditing Program for BSF Ltd The audit program is intended to offer guidance to auditors on the steps involved in the audit of a company. The audit needs to be conducted by people who have adequate training, competence in auditing and experience (Letia and Groza 2013). Audit program for BSF Ltd should include obtaining pertinent financial information such as: Monthly financial reports Quarterly financial reports Charts of accounts listing Quarterly reports based on CARL system Annual fiscal trial balance reports Internal control and compliance procedures including the documents and internal control assessment should be prepared for the issues faced by the company and the underlying eligible expenditure recording should be conducted (CBC 2016) The system of revenue and details of expenses and its correctness as per AS 9 should be examined (Kosseva and Kent 2013). For auditing, the issues present in the company and to offer appropriate recommendations following documents needs to be collected from BSF Ltd: Conformation certificate of bank balance Interest paid/received certificate during the financial year in the occasion of all term loans and fixed deposits with the closing balance Confirmation of balance from all the debtors/creditors Quantitative inventory details Audit program should also include reviewing the pertinent financial information for any exceptional or unusual items based on the field. In case of BSF Ltd, the reason for collapse of high value piscavorian fish and its reasons for which it could not thrive. Moreover, reasons for increasing growing times and generation of smaller amount of mature fish should be revealed through the audit program (Jans et al. 2014). Reviewing previous auditors reports and its findings should be evaluated based on the ways in which fields finances are conducted, the audit firm that conducted the last audit, the time when last audit was conducted and was the audit adequate. Moreover, the whether the recommendations from the last audit were properly implemented or not also needs to be analyzed (Furnham and Gunter 2015). Internal control of BSF Ltd should be evaluated that will include reviewing the companys perceived internal control strengths and if there are any weaknesses that needs further audit testing. Moreover, a copy of National Staff Personnel Policy Manual and Field Accounting Policy Manual should be gathered if available (Jafari and Payani 2013). The audit program should find out the reasons for increasing diversion of low-value fish into the production. Recommendations based on decreasing the risk of malnutrition for the poor should be provided in the auditing process. The audit process should determine the level of cash held by the company and reveal whether the cash held by the company is adequate (Kogan et al. 2014). Role of audit firm in doing Audit by (IR), (CR) and (DR) Before discussing the further, it is to identify, the role of the auditing firm in accepting BSG ltd. Audit Risk is also known as Residual Risk, it is the risk that an auditor will issue an unappropriated statement because of auditor failing in identifying material misstatement due to fraudulent or by mistake(Davis and Hay 2012). This risk deals in Inherent Risk (IR), Credit Risk (CR) and Detection Risk (DR). Audit risk will be calculated as (AR = IR * CR * DR). Inherent Risk means risk which occurs form the error or omission financial statement occurred due to failing of the control like transaction which involves circumstances that has high degree of the judgement. A credit risk is the risk of default on an obligation that may emerge from a borrower neglecting to make required installments. In the main resort, the danger is that of the moneylender and incorporates lost chief and premium, disturbance to money streams, and expanded accumulation costs (Desai et al. 2013). Detection Ri sk is the chance that an evaluator won't discover material errors identifying with a declaration in an element's monetary explanations through substantive tests and investigation. Therefore, the calculated auditors risk (AR) is 3.6 %. For engaging the firm in auditing the firm should engage in the following g issues: Inquisitive of administration and others to pick up a comprehension of the association itself, its operations, monetary reporting, and known extortion or mistake (Bedford et al.2014). Doing logical methods on future or sudden changes in record adjusts or classes of exchanges. Examine documentation giving record adjusts or classes of exchanges. Viewing the stock tally, records receivable and different records with outsider were evaluated. Toward the finish of the review, the evaluator may likewise offer target guidance for enhancing budgetary reporting and inward controls to expand an organization's execution and effectiveness (Ellis 2014). So finally it is included that if the company is fulfilling the above mentioned criteria the firms audit is liable to the 3.6% of the risk. It is critical for an organization's administration to see precisely what a review is and what a review does and does not do. The inspector's duty is to express an autonomous, target supposition on the monetary proclamations of an organization. This assessment is given as per inspecting benchmarks that require the examiners to arrange certain methodology and report on the aftereffects of the review, while considering the representations, affirmations and obligation of administration for the money related articulations (Furnham and Gunter 2015). Discuss the issues of the auditor The company has engaged in various rebates and by investing in CSIRO of Australia for having full settlement in the business an auditor should look into the following guidelines: An inspector directing a review as per GAAS is responsible for getting sensible certification that the money related articulations overall are free from material misquote, whether brought about by extortion or mistake (Birkey et al. 2016). As depicted in area 200, the overall Objectives of the Independent Au-editorial manager and the Conduct of an Audit as per Generally Accepted Au-dating Standards were analyzed. The potential impacts of inalienable restrictions are especially noteworthy on account of misquote coming about because of fraud.2 The danger of not distinguishing a material error coming about because of extortion is higher than the danger of not recognizing one coming about because of mistake (Gaber and Lusk 2015). This is on account of extortion may include refined and painstakingly sorted out plans intended to cover it, for example, phony, planned inability to record exchanges, or deliberate deceptions being made to the reviewer. Moreover, the danger of the evaluator not identifying a material coming about because of administration misrepresentation is more noteworthy than for worker extortion since administration is habitually in a position to specifically or in a roundabout way manipulates bookkeeping records, present fake money related data, or supersede control techniques intended to avoid comparable cheats by different representatives. While getting sensible affirmation, the evaluator is in charge of keeping up proficient incredulity all through the review, considering the potential for administration supersede of controls, and perceiving the way that review techniques that are powerful to detect blunder may not be successful in distinguishing extortion (Gray et al. 2013). The prerequisites in this area are intended to help the inspector in recognizing and surveying the dangers of material misquote because of misrepresentation and in planning techniques to distinguish such error. While acquiring sensible certification, the inspector is in char ge of keeping up proficient suspicion all through the review, considering the potential for administration supersede of controls, and perceiving the way that review techniques that are compelling for distinguishing mistake may not be powerful in identifying extortion. The prerequisites in this area are intended to help the evaluator in distinguishing and surveying the dangers of material misquote because of misrepresentation and in outlining methodology to recognize such error (Kend et al. 2014). Oversight by those accused of administration incorporates considering the potential for supersede of controls or other improper impact over the monetary reporting procedure, for example, endeavors by administration to oversee income keeping in mind the end goal to impact the impression of money related explanation clients with respect to the element's execution and benefit. Elements of Costs to Be Identified with Research and Development Activities the following: The expenses of materials (whether from the undertaking's typical stock or gained extraordinarily for innovative work exercises) and hardware or offices that are obtained or built for innovative work exercises and that have elective future uses (in innovative work ventures or something else) should be promoted as substantial resources when procured or developed (Louwers et al. 2013). Pay rates - compensation, and other related expenses of faculty occupied with innovative work exercises should be incorporated into innovative work costs. Intangibles acquired from others - The expenses of intangibles that are acquired from others for use in innovative work exercises and that have elective future uses (in innovative work ventures or something else) should be promoted and amortized as impalpable resources (Messier 2016). Contract administrations - The expenses of administrations performed by others regarding the innovative work exercises of an undertaking, including innovative work directed by others for sake of the venture, should be incorporated into innovative work costs. All innovative work costs incorporated by this Statement should be charged to cost when brought about. Social Responsibility and Environment Friendliness Audit of BSF Ltd The CSR auditing procedure for BSF Ltd requires to consider the major points that will evaluate whether the company is maintaining the position of being socially responsible and environment friendly (Jafari and Payani 2013). To evaluate whether the corporate social responsibility statements provided by the company is accurate or not the flowing aspects are to be highlighted in the CSR auditing is necessary that includes whether BSF Ltd has: Efficient stakeholder management Effective corporate leadership Increased priority for CSR at a broad level Regulation at the domestic as well as international level Active involvement of strong coordination among the business of the government, civil society and NGOs CSR auditing should analyze whether the BSF Ltd fulfils the responsibility to offer quality goods through incurring expenditure on alternative aquaculture feed from the research done till date (Jafari and Payani 2013). It should be evaluated whether the company through such expenditure fulfills the responsibility to offer good quality affordable fish products to its consumers. In order to conduct the quality audit written documents that reports evaluation of consumer relations with the company within 12 months before the audit needs to be checked CSR audit will also focus on checking the transparency of BSF Ltds information regarding expenses incurred in maintaining quality of its fish products along with price and specification of all its products (Pei and Pei 2012). As per the CSR de of conduct, the company has to remain explicit to its consumers regarding the description, price and specifications of all its fish products. To check whether the company fulfils its social responsibilities or not certain evidence needs to be collected that will include: A telephonic survey with its consumers, particularly the poor consumer segment those suffer from malnutrition, gathering information regarding the fact that whether the fish products are offered to them in appropriate standards (Rust et al. 2011). Moreover, several documentation regarding the organizations quality management reporting success rate in addressing the quality standards and certain measures should be identified to deal with the shortfalls. Several steps should be followed by the auditor in conducting environmental audit of BSF Ltd mentioned under: Situation analysis should be conducted that will reveal the reasons for violating the companys corporate social responsibilities, for instance, the reasons for which the company is offering inferior quality fish products for the poor consumer segment. This analysis also considers evaluation of review provided by shareholders, users of the companys products and community regarding the company (Lothe 2013). Based on the evaluation of the companys ranking in CSR compliance, various alternatives regarding investment in fish products quality maintain ace, increasing the fish production and offering products with reasonable prices to the poor segments should be provided to the company. CSR action plan should be prepared describing the ways in which the social responsibility maintenance procedures for the company (Rust et al. 2011). Audit of Patent Values Predicted on BSF Ltd BSF Ltd mentioned in its prospectus that the patent values were forecasted on the company maintaining exclusive control over the bacteria-based feed technology. The auditing procedure will focus on analyzing whether such statement provided by BSF Ltd is fair and true. As per the auditing standards, the reliability of any statement provided by the company needs to be evaluated. Based on the accounting standard, the reliability and relevance of the companys statement needs to be evaluated (Sarens 2013). Reliability of the statement can be ensured dependent on the evidence gathered and the research circumstances under which BSF Ltd provided such statement. Accuracy and completeness of the information is evaluated by analyzing whether the information on maintaining control on bacteria feed technology is adequately precise and detailed. This can be done through testing the effectiveness of such technology in increasing fish breeding and its quality (Tennant and Kruger 2013). Inspection on documents maintained by BSF Ltd on maintenance of the control on such technology will be audited for testing the accuracy of the statement. Inspection will involve evaluating the documents maintained by the company regarding efficiency of the technology, either internal or external that is maintained in the form of paper, in electronic form or by physically monitoring the efficiency of the technology in improving fish production quality (Rust et al. 2011). Inquiry can be another form of auditing the statement provided by the company. Such auditing procedure includes gaining information from the knowledgeable people involved within the field of bacteria-based technology development and inspection. Inquires can be done in the form of formal written inquires as well as through informal oral inquires (Rust et al. 2011). Through evaluating responses of the inquiry, it can be confirmed that the statement provided by the company is true and fair. This is because of the reason that from the auditing process it is revealed the company has incurred certain development costs to bring the technology in the market that is producing fish with high food value (Moroney et al. 2014). Conclusion: The procedure that is used to pull in intrigued prospects to the business. It was gathered that five out of ten prospects who come into place of business wind up purchasing from the business. It can expand the quantity of individuals rolling in from ten to 15. The profit and build benefits by 50 percent. Enhancing the capacity to offer and change over intrigued prospects into paying clients is a standout amongst the most imperative things you can do. What's more, there is no substitution for progressing deals preparing, either of the each individual who addresses clients, either live or on the telephone. Take a gander at each key result territory in your business procedure and look for approaches to enhance a tiny bit in every range (Zamboni and Litschig 2013). A little change in every key zone can prompt a huge change in general deals results. The amount of individual who deals in every client is the one who gains. By expanding the recurrence of procurement by ten percent, it deals and expands benefits by the same rate. The sum that is needed to pay and obtain each paying client. It should be consistently looking for inventive approaches to enhance the publicizing and advancement with the goal that it costs less to purchase every client. This can effect and expand benefits of the business significantly. The clients who come as consequence are considered as referral from the fulfilled clients. Creating one or more demonstrated referral frameworks for the business can ordinarily affect the deals and business will profit. Largely any organization can raise the costs by 5 or 10 percent without encountering any business sector resistance. In the event that items and administrations are of good quality and kin are amicable and supportive, a little increment in general costs won't push clients away. The main thing that can be done to build benefits is to enhance the variables that eventually decide the level of gainfulness. When enhancement of these 10 variables abou t business will expand benefits and influence the primary concern. Reference List Ahmed Haji, A. and Anifowose, M., 2016. Audit Committee and Integrated Reporting Practice: Does Internal Assurance Matter?.Managerial Auditing Journal,31(8/9). Bedford, J.L., Childs, P.J., Hansen, V.N., Mosleh-Shirazi, M.A., Verhaegen, F. and Warrington, A.P., 2014. Commissioning and quality assurance of the Pinnacle3 radiotherapy treatment planning system for external beam photons.The British journal of radiology. Birkey, R.N., Michelon, G., Patten, D.M. and Sankara, J., 2016, July. Does assurance on CSR reporting enhance environmental reputation? An examination in the US context. InAccounting Forum. Elsevier. Bisogno, M., 2016. Auditing Principles. Technology and Science, 8(2), p. 89. CBC. 2016. Shift to plant-based fish feed could hurt health, environment, CBCNews Technology Science, (23 Mar/16), Retrieved on 11Jul/16 from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/aquaculture-feed-1.3262922 Christensen, B.E., Glover, S.M. and Wood, D.A., 2012. Extreme estimation uncertainty in fair value estimates: Implications for audit assurance.Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory,31(1), pp.127-146. Davis, M. and Hay, D., 2012. An analysis of submissions on proposed regulations for audit and assurance in New Zealand.Australian Accounting Review,22(3), pp.303-316. Desai, M., Desai, S., Sullivan, A.K., Mohabeer, M., Mercey, D., Kingston, M.A., Thng, C., McCormack, S., Gill, O.N., Nardone, A. and McOwan, A., 2013. Audit of HIV testing frequency and behavioural interventions for men who have sex with men: policy and practice in sexual health clinics in England.Sexually transmitted infections, pp.sextrans-2012. Ellis, R., 2014. Quality Assurance for University Teaching. Furnham, A. and Gunter, B., 2015.Corporate Assessment (Routledge Revivals): Auditing a Company's Personality. London: Routledge. Gaber, M. and Lusk, E.J., 2015. Account Screening: Rationalizing The Extendedprocedures Decision in The Audit Context.EXCEL International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies,5(9), pp.1-20. Gray, N.A., Mahadevan, K., Campbell, V.K., Noble, E.P. and Anstey, C.M., 2013. Data quality of the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry: a pilot audit.Nephrology,18(10), pp.665-670. Hess, D.W., 2014. The Framework for CSR Assessment, Measurement, and Reporting. InChristian Ethics and Corporate Culture, 6(7), pp. 177-192. Jafari, A. and Payani, N., 2013. A systematic approach for knowledge auditing.African Journal of Business Management,7(32), p.3159. Jans, M., Alles, M.G. and Vasarhelyi, M.A., 2014. A field study on the use of process mining of event logs as an analytical procedure in auditing.The Accounting Review,89(5), pp.1751-1773. Kend, M., Houghton, K.A. Jubb, C. 2014, "Competition Issues in the Market for Audit and Assurance Services: Are the Concerns Justified?: Competition Issues for Audit and Assurance Services",Australian Accounting Review,vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 313-320. Kogan, A., Alles, M.G., Vasarhelyi, M.A. and Wu, J., 2014. Design and evaluation of a continuous data level auditing system.Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory,33(4), pp.221-245. Kosseva, M.R. and Kent, C.A., 2013. Modeling, Monitoring, and Process Control for Intelligent Bioprocessing of Food Industry Wastes and Wastewater.Food Industry Wastes: Assessment and Recuperation of Commodities, 7(4), p.191. Letia, I.A. and Groza, A., 2013. Compliance checking of integrated business processes.Data Knowledge Engineering,8(7), pp.1-18. Lothe, R. 2013. Fish feed-research may help reduce world hunger, ScienceNordic, 17 Mar/13, Retrieved on 11, Jul/16 from: 20 https://sciencenordic.com/fish-feed-research-may-help-reduce-world-hunger. Louwers, T.J., Ramsay, R.J., Sinason, D.H., Strawser, J.R. and Thibodeau, J.C., 2013.Auditing and assurance services. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Messier Jr, W., 2016.Auditing assurance services: A systematic approach. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Moroney, R., Campbell, F., Hamilton, J. and Warren, V., 2014.Auditing: A Practical Approach. Wiley Global Education. Pei, Z.B. and Pei, J.L., 2012. Study of Risk Control of Whole Process Tracking Audit on Construction Projects in Coal Mining Areas.Coal Technology,18(4), pp.56-57. Rust, M., Barrows, F., Hardy, R., Lazur, A.,Naughten, K. and Silverstein, J. 2011. The Future of Aquafeeds, NOAA/USDA Alternative Feeds Initiative, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS F/SPO-124, Retrieved on 11 Jul/16 from:https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/docs/feeds/the_future_of_aquafeeds_final.pdf. Sarens, G., Christopher, J. and Zaman, M., 2013. A study of the informal interactions between audit committees and internal auditors in Australia.Australian Accounting Review,23(4), pp.307-329. Sarker, P.K., Kapuscinski, A.R., Lanois, A.J., Livesey, E.D., Bernhard, K.P. and Coley, M.L. 2016. Towards Sustainable Aquafeeds: Complete Substitution of Fish Oil with Marine Microalga Schizochytrium sp. Improves Growth and Fatty Acid Deposition in Juvenile Nile Tilapia (Oreochromisniloticus). PLOS ONE, 2016; 11(6), Retrieved on 11, Jul/16 from: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0156684. Tennant, M. and Kruger, E., 2013. A national audit of Australian dental practice distribution: do all Australians get a fair deal?.International dental journal,63(4), pp.177-182. Zamboni, Y. and Litschig, S., 2013. Audit risk and rent extraction: Evidence from a randomized evaluation in Brazil.Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

Culture Aspect in Safety Management Systems

Question: Describe about the Culture for Aspect in Safety Management Systems. Answer: Introduction to safety culture In the organizational context, culture simply means the normal way of doing things around. It includes the employees values, beliefs, practices and their attitude. Every successful organization has standard methods used by its employees in the realization of the organizational goals. These methods become normal over time making them the organizations culture. Safety on the other hand is a state of feeling whereby potential causes of harm to employees or products are maintained at acceptable levels. It is worth noting that these potential causes cannot be completely removed. Although from the two definitions safety culture would simply mean normal way of doing things in a manner that reduces the risks of injuries, there is no generally accepted meaning. The term first gained prominence when it was used in the report of Chernobyl nuclear accident[1]. Since then different industry professionals and academia have come up with different meanings. According to the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, it is a combination of perceptions, values, norms, attitudes, and behavioral patterns within an organization concerned with the reduction of the employees exposure to risky and hazardous conditions. Work related injuries have brought enourmous costs to different organisations. There has therefore been efforts by different industry players to reduce workplace risks. For instance the government has formulated laws and many companies have come up with health and safety policies for their employees. While all these efforts are important they cannot assure safety. There is need for companies to establish a safety culture where employees are well trained to understand the hazards and risks involved in their work and continuously strive to identify and overcome them[2]. Advantages of a positive safety culture in an organization Positive safety culture has many benefits to both the organization and its employees. The management and the workforce interact freely in trying to identify and mitigating risks. This is because they all feel responsible for safety[3]. They include: Low employee turnover. Employee turnover is the rate at which employees leave their current employment. Positive safety culture gives employees a sense of security in the workplace therefore no need of finding another employment. Increased productivity. Positive safety culture encourages employees to be responsible for safety. Employees feel free to discuss safety issues with management. This makes them feel valued and further motivates the m to increase their productivity. It also reduces absenteeism due to injuries which lead to reduced working time. Reduced incident rates. Incidences of injuries to employees and general public are costly to organizations in many ways. The organization incurs legal fees, increased insurance premium, medical expenses and the costs of compensation. As Knapfel puts it For every dollar invested towards safety and risk management saves approximately $3 in claims and overheads according to industry experts. Improved public image. Strong safety culture reduces incidents of injuries to the employees and the general public. In the aviation industry, customers like the companies with lower injury incidents. It also brings an image of valued and protected employees. Customers generally like dealing with organizations that value their employees. Key elements of a positive safety culture. There is no single safety culture model that fits into all organizations because it changes over time[4]. But a strong effective safety culture posses the following hallmarks. Visible management commitment and involvement. Senior management should show commitment by providing motivation, leadership and necessary resources to employees[5]. Management should also constantly review their areas of responsibility and ensure due processes are observed. High level communication of the safety culture. Clear ways of communication between different levels of the organization should be adopted. Communication can be through informal conversations, emails, toolbox talks, posters, health and safety policy statements or any other clear method the organization choose to adopt[6]. Commitment to safety being equal to commitment to productivity. More commitment should be shown towards safety just as productivity. This is because as already discussed, safety of the employees and the public greatly influence the productivity of an organization. Stability of the workforce. A stable and mature workforce is an indicator of positive safety culture. Employees tend to stay longer where they feel they are safe. Regular health and safety trainings and awareness programs. Employees should be made aware of the risks they face as a result of the organizations operations[7]. Regular training on health and safety matters will help raise their awareness. Different risks come up every day. Regular effective trainings will therefore help them cope with any event. Existence and compliance with formal health and safety policies and procedures. Written procedures should be helpful in reducing risks. They should therefore be complied with and audited regularly to identify any lapses and for continual improvement. Personal responsibility and accountability to safety. Everyone within the organization should feel responsible for their safety and that of other employees[8]. They should also be accountable for their safety actions. However, just culture where human errors are understood should also exist. Involvement and motivation of the workforce. The employees should be involved in the formulation of safety procedures. Feedback should be taken from employees regarding the existing ones and necessary action taken. Employees should be motivated in order to feel proud of working in the organization Organizational learning. The organization should show willingness to adapt by using accident history as a learning experience. Reported incidents should be acted upon to help prevent future reoccurrence. Challenges faced in the development of a safety culture Implementation of a positive safety culture within an organization may face several challenges both internal and external. They include: Uncommitted management. Management may continually make decisions that appear to put productivity and cost above safety. Some managers fail to see the many indirect benefits a safety culture brings to an organization therefore will only concentrate on productivity [9]. Insufficient resources. Many small organizations dont have enough resources to promote safety culture. Implementation of safety practices requires significant resources for training and awareness. Due to their limited resources they give priority to productivity. Rapidly changing workforce. In this era of globalization and increased competition, organizations regularly poach experienced employees from their competitors. The cost of training the replacements of the poached workforce on safety matters may seem too costly to the organization. Resistance to change by the employees[10]. Health and safety management is an ever changing topic as new risks arise every day. Creation of a strong and sustainable safety culture is therefore a continuous process. If any employee is not committed then the program may fail. Lack of employees motivation. Employees who do not feel appreciated as a result of the management over focusing on productivity lose motivation. Unmotivated employees fail to embrace the safety culture. Assessing safety culture As already seen, safety culture is very important in that in greatly determines the success of any organization through risk management. Safety culture assessment therefore involves the establishment of the current level of safety culture within an organization and formulating ways of making improvements. Information is acquired through the use of questionnaires, interviews, charts and surveys. Questions used in the assessment should be a combination of both positive and negative and should avoid biased. A repeat of safety culture assessment should only be conducted once action has been taken regarding findings of the previous one[11]. Safety culture models Several models of safety culture have been developed over the years. However the major ones are: Accident causation models. It illustrates that continuous breach successive system defenses eventually cause accident. Such breaches may not be discovered at the time but can eventually be triggered by other factors to cause an accident. Safety triad models. It focuses on the resulting interaction between individuals perceptions, behavior and the general safety culture environment. Component models. It involves in-depth explanation of the various components of a safety culture. Safety culture maturity models. Describes the movement through various stages of safety culture as opposed to its components. It concentrates more on the development of the safety culture which occurs over time. Integrating safety culture into management systems. There are a number of management systems focusing on workplace safety. Integrating all these systems reduces duplication as most of them share the same implementation process. Some of the safety management systems include: OHSAS 18001:2007-Occupational Health and Safety Management. It is an international standard that was developed to provide a framework through which organizations health and safety systems could be verified. Over the last few years it has been integrated with the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems and ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems. It uses PDCA to enable organizations establish, implement and maintain their occupational health and safety policies. This involves planning by establishing the required processes and objectives, doing by implementing the system, checking by monitoring and evaluating against the requirements and acting to continually improve it. Advantages of an effective OHSAS management system Reduce costs and liabilities thereby increasing profits. Increases levels of trust between management and employees. Creates a platform for continuous improvement. Provides a clear approach in dealing with health and safety issues within the organization. AS/NZS 4801:2001 It was prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee SF-001, Occupational Health and Safety Management to supersede both AS 4801:2000, Occupational health and safety management systems and NZS 4801(Int):1999, Occupational health and safety management systems. It combines the best elements of both systemss being used in Australia and New Zealand. ISO 45001 This is a new standard that is expected out in October 2016. The standard uses BS 18001 as a blueprint and is expected to be aligned with the Quality Management Systems and the Environmental Management Systems. This is an attempt to integrate the 3 systems. Maintenance and improvement of safety culture. Safety culture is an ongoing process that should never strop[12]. The following are ways in which it can be improved: Obtaining of the top managements commitment. Make the top management understand the importance of a safety culture within the organization because they are the ones responsible for availing funds. Continuous assessment of the existing culture. The existing culture should be regularly assessed and the findings communicated. This will ensure continuous improvement. Improve communication mechanisms. Communication is vital for the success of any program within the organization. Encourage two- way open communication whereby employees input is also sought in the development of a safety system. Create a common understanding of safety goals. Everyone needs to understand their role in the achievement of the safety culture and work towards it. Top management needs to provide leadership in working toward the attainment of the goals. From the discussion, culture is thus an essential element of any safety management system. It plays an important role in the success of an organization and it can actually be measured using different assessment criteria[13]. An organization may adopt a safety management system which may only serve to assure the public of its commitment to adhere to health and safety requirements. However, the internal employees may find it too technical due to the processes involved like documentation. Safety procedures therefore need to be engraved into their daily activities until it become normal and translates into a culture within the organization. Safety culture develops over time and it may take long before employees view it as a norm. Safety culture cannot also be uniform across all organizations. Some organizations are too large while others are small. Some sub cultures may develop within the bigger organizations.