Why Intelligence Agencies And Analysts Exist - 1468 Words

One of the four primary reasons why intelligence agencies and analysts exist is to support the policy process, which consequently impacts national security decisions. As a result, intelligence community analysts and decision makers must maintain a relationship with policy makers. However, there is an ongoing debate within the intelligence community, academic institutions, and the public regarding the distant and proximate models of this relationship. In an effort to determine the best possible relationship model between intelligence analysts and policy makers, the roots of both the distant and proximate models will be discussed; then, a stance will be taken on what the preferred model should be and supported based off the evidence†¦show more content†¦Additionally, the distant relationship model enables analysts to work on a problem set of their choice as long as it is within the bounds set by their intelligence manager. While enabling analysts to have such freedoms is perceived as a positive it can also be a negative. Intelligence analysts own agenda can take the forefront while their consumers needs lose the necessary precedence. Also as a result of being too distant from the policy maker, the needs of the policy maker may not be known; therefore, intelligence may not be produced on a problem set of interest to the policy world. According to Johnson and Wirtz, the second school of thought, the proximate model, receives its origins from Robert Gates, former Director of Central Intelligence and Secretary Of Defense. In the mid-1980s Robert Gates, while serving as the Deputy Director for Analysis at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), spearheaded the notion of actionable intelligence, when he became upset with the agency s analysts, who blatantly disregarded request to fulfill policy makers’ needs. Gates argued that by producing actionable intelligence, intelligence analysts must remain cognizant of policy maker needs, resulting in a more relevant finished intelligence product. Thus, the proximate relationship model between intelligence analysts and policy makers was formed. As is the case with any model, the

College Students and Sub-culture - 1064 Words

Sub-cultures are something everyone is a part of in any society they live in. Everyone lives in some kind of culture; everyone has an ethnic background, a social standing, possible political, moral, and religious views and each of these items submits that person into multiple sub-groups within their culture. I, myself, am a part of numerous sub-cultures. Starting with the largest I am a human being; I live and function as a human and not as an animal or plant. This seems a little farfetched to apply as a sub-culture but it is a proven fact that even some animal groups have communities and cultures of their own. Also, there are even some humans who choose to live an animalistic lifestyle. In addition, I am Caucasian or white†¦show more content†¦With this being said that means that I am also part of a popular sub-culture within American Universities. Although, U.S. News reported in 2012 that Communication Studies was not among the top five most popular majors at Troy University. According to these statistics students whose choses major is Communication Studies make up less than 7% of the student population (U.S. News). So although I can identify with many in this sub-culture within America I cannot relate with nearly as many people of this sub-culture at Troy University. I can still create relationships with college st udents in general despite my major. There are not many nonverbal factors to analyze for this sub-culture but there are quite a few verbal factors. College students have a language of their own. They know the struggles of class schedules, club meetings, registration, living on a dime, and buying books dirt cheap. This verbal code often disconnects college students from people similar to their age due to the fact that much of the subjects to be spoken about are quite different. This is not to say that college students cannot communicate with non-college students but they often find it easier to relate to those who understand their lingo, joys, struggles, and more. The societal class that college attendees belong to has always had the stigma of being the â€Å"haves† of society. In recent years; however, many who attend college come fromShow MoreRelatedThe Culture Of The American Society903 Words   |  4 Pageshere are many cultures here in America. Every day there is a possibility for a new culture to form and expands the diversity. Since, culture is huge in America it is divided into different categories. Coming from culture there are subcultures. Sub-cultures are groups that share in the overall culture of society but also maintain a distinctive set of values, norm, and lifestyle and even a distinctive language. There are also countercultures. Counterculture is groups whose values, interest, beliefRead MoreSports Media And Body Image1235 Words   |  5 PagesESPN: Entertainment and Sports Media Exposure and Body-Image Distortion in College Women by Kimberly L. Bissell and Peiqin Zhou examines how media promotes an idealization of thinness in college-age women. The study by Bissell and Zhou takes place at a southern college university in the United States, and compares and contrasts the entertainment industry and sports media on disordered eating and body dissatisfaction in college-age women. The article explains that there have been inconclusive and contradictoryRead MoreCan Cultural Change Be Simple?1651 Words   |  7 PagesOften times organization cultures undergo major changes. Usually these changes are to put into place new and improved organization cultures. Change is inevitable on the individual, group, and organization level. 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Establishment Of The Environmental Protection Agency

Zoe Brown Mrs. Helms English III Honors 7 November 2014 Establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental disasters during the 1960s in the United States had significant impacts on both the human and sea life populations. During the New York weather inversion of 1965, over 80 people died from the man-made smog over the four day period. In the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969, over 3,700 sea birds were killed, along with countless other forms of marine life. The nuclear reactor meltdown in Idaho in 1961 was the only United States incident by that time that resulted in immediate fatalities, in which three operators were killed (â€Å"Learn the Issues†). Cleveland, Ohio’s Cuyahoga River sustained 13 reported fires, resulting in†¦show more content†¦On April 22nd, 1970, the American public gathered in the streets to celebrate clean air, water, and land. Congressmen in Washington D.C. halted their activities to be their constituents; however, the Nixon administration was laboring at what would become the capstone of environmental policy, the EPA. While Earth Day was the launch of environmentalism in the modern sense, individuals had been combating natural resource degradation for centuries. In 1849, Henry David Thoreau published a compilation of lectures, Walden, that would become the standard by which all subsequent nature writings are judged. John Muir, father of the American preservationist movement, cofounded the Sierra Club, which preserved California wild lands. Both Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt worked during their tenure as presidents to save the National Park System (â€Å"Environmentalism†). After World War II, the United States’ birthrate skyrocketed, and people found themselves living on the edge of parks and nature. The public began to question whether the government was working to preserve untouched land for future generations. When Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, the era of environmentalism was born. This movement  "demanded the state not only preserve the Earth, but act to regulate and punish those who polluted it† (Farrah). The work on the pesticide poisoning of man sparked a powerful public

Auditing Report On BC Learning Company †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Auditing Report On BC Learning Company. Answer: Introduction The ASA701 Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditors Report, was developed by the IAASB, that required the auditor to comment on important matters in the financial report, on the basis of the going concern assumption. It specifies the duties of the auditor with emphasis on the importance of making relevant disclosures with conducting the process of audit. This standard is applicable to the audit of the financial statements of all the companies that are listed(Abbott, et al., 2016). The auditor can comment on the key matters on his own will, or on the direction of the management, but in all cases the auditor needs to follow the same. It is mostly applicable to those financial statements that are audit for the financial period ending December 15, 2016. Since 2004, t has one of the biggest changes that have occurred in the standards of auditing. There were many reasons behind the development of the standard however the most important was the global crisis that the worl d faced after the downfall of the ABC Learning centre and the contribution of the auditor in the same. It was very clear from that case that the auditors failed to do their duties properly, they failed to take a stand that had affected the overall company and also led to a global upheaval. This standards helps the auditor in getting an insight into the overall effectiveness of the financial statements by considering the key matters and make an opinion on the same(Brannen, 2016). These standards have been made to help the auditor in having a proper say into the matter, It has also helped the investors as now they can rely on the reports and take important decisions that affect their investing policies. The major reason that led to the development of these standards was the downfall of the ABC Learning centre and details about the same has been given below under. The overall effect of the auditors report into the matter and what stand they need to take in similar situations is explain ed here under. Downfall of the ABC Learning Centre Founded in 1988, the ABC Learning centre was one of the biggest learning institutions in Australia. The company started with single day care units, grew up to as much as 20 child care centers and had a big loyal customer base that preferred the company for their educational needs. In 2001, the company was listed on the stock exchange and the overall market capitalization was $2.5 billion by 2007. The after tax profit that the company had reported was A$143.1 million. The overall revenue of the company was A$1.7 billion. But after that there were many changes that happened and the company suffered a huge setback, as much as that it was finally liquidated. The company was earning huge loses and had taken a lot of debt, and all that led to the delisting of the company and finally led to its liquidation. The major parties that were affected by the same were the investors who had invested their money in the company, and the delisting of the company caused them huge losses. The share price of the company fell from A$8.62, to as low as A$0.54. Thus this reflected that the overall loss of the company in continuing as a going concern affected the investors terribly. There were so many factors that had caused these downfall like the business model was not very efficient, the overall accounting policies were also regressive, the company had incurred huge capital expenditures, the acquisition policies were inefficient, low advantage levels, all this factors in combination led to the downfall of the company. It affected the overall growth of the company(Burke Clark, 2016). After the downfall a lot of analysis was done by the investors in which they found that the overall business model was very inefficient and was hard to decipher. The overall operations of the company were very opaque and all that led to the downfall of the company and affected its overall growth. Had the accounts of the company audited properly, it would have brought these matters in the front hand and w ould have saved the investors from such losses(Guragai, et al., 2017). Thus the auditors were also responsible equally for such kind of actions. Proper auditing would have helped in identifying the loopholes and would have saved the auditors. Reasons for the downfall The most important accounting issues that were visible in the overall scenario were the need of the auditor to identify the key matters of audit and report on the same. There was a huge flaw in the intangible assets of the company that went unnoticed and was also not recognized by the stock exchange in which the company was listed. Most of the intangible assets on the companys balance sheet were very hard to identify and value like the derivatives, goodwill and certain other biological assets. The company practiced regression acquisition policies and that led to acquisition of these assets rather than following easy one(Jones, 2017). The problem was not only in the functioning of the company but the auditors who were appointed also failed to do their task properly and that affected the overall company and had led to a global crisis. Pitcher Partners Brisbane Firm, was appointed as the auditor of the company in 2003. The auditors were hugely influenced by the management of the company and gave an unqualified audit report ignoring these matters that ultimately affected the going concern policy of the company. The dint recognize the facts that most of payments and the revenues that the company Is showing is mostly from loss making units and also the fact was hidden that these institutions were merely El Dorado. The auditors supported the claim of the company and that led to accumulation of millions of worth intangible assets that were not accounted for and were not calculated properly. As per many experts it was a deviation from the standard process of auditing and also was very unethical. The auditors were equally responsible for their actions along with the management. There failed to follow the code of ethics and the standard laws and were equally responsible for the same. Effect of the downfall When the new auditors earnest and young took over from the previous auditor, they recognized all these loopholes in the management of the company and asked the management to make specific changes so that the true and fair view of the business was reflected. However the management refused to do the same because that would have caused them a lot of issues. This made the auditors probe deeper into the matter and they saw that there was a lot of inconsistency between the actual scenario and the previous auditor report. This led to a deadlock between the two auditors, as both were stuck to their opinion, one was in favor of the company and one was against it. The new auditors were able to provide a clear picture of the management of the company that was very different from the stand of the previous auditor. As for the previous auditor they were of the view that the main work of the auditor is to check the authenticity of the books of account till they are assured. In cases when they feel that need more details, then the auditor will probe more in the matter(Knechel Salterio, 2016). This was the stand of the previous auditor. Because of this deadlock, a third party was appointed to solve the same. However even the third auditor was not able to reach to a conclusion and provide proper conclusion to this story. It was not successful in proving any of the auditors wrong. This raised a very important issue on the responsibilities of the auditor and the matters on which they need to make an opinion. The investors place their trust on the audit reports to make important decisions hence it is very important that the auditors provide reports that are free from all kind of errors. The reports must show case the true and fair view of the business operations. Learnings from the downfall The main points that were concluded from these reports were that there was an existing audit gap between the demand of the investors and the responsibilities of the auditor. The main point that was ascertained beforehand was that the auditor needed to check the accounts and in case he finds anything fishy than he needs to probe further. There are standards that have been developed to help the auditors but we see in recent times that there have been many issues. Like we see in the case of the ABC Learning company, that there can be divergent audit opinions, and the auditors can prove that none of them are wrong(Lefkowitz, 2017). So the main issue is that whom the investors rely on that will help them in taking effective decisions. This has led to the emergence of the new standard of auditing to prescribe proper rules for the auditor and which they must follow. Features of the ASA 701 The standard encompasses the requirement of the auditors to comments on various key matters of governance and give their opinion on the same. This standard is applicable to all the listed companies as the stakeholders take various financial decisions on the basis of these reports. The auditors possess the right to decide and comment on the key audit matters. They identify the same in consultation with those charged in governance and thereby express their opinion on the key issues that require special attention. They usually focus on the issues which are more likely to entail risks like the accruals, revenues, cost booking and taxes etc. All these issues include some kind of auditor judgement, management estimates and judgements and other specific events affecting the financials(Sonu, et al., 2017). The auditors describes and explains each of the critical key audit matters and explains the reasons and effect on the financials and profits along with the relevant supportings and due research and study of the company. They also report certain specific circumstances which cannot be included in the auditors report in the absence of complete information. The auditor should prepare a consolidated file for the audit evidences pertaining to the key audit matters and must preserve the same for the relevant period of time as per the standard. Effect of the ASA 701 on the ABC crisis Since these audit standards were not effective at that point of time, it played negatively from the stakeholders and decision makers point of view whereas it worked positively for the management and the auditors. If the standard would have been developed, the auditors would not have been at fault and they had to comment on the key matters that were material(DeZoort Harrison, 2016). Since this did not existed the firm Pitcher Partner simply stated that they would go with the opinion which is already framed on the financials and that the application of any particular standard is based on the professional judgement and understanding of the case. Hence, two different auditors can have two varied views on the financials at two different point of time. However, the introduction of this standard has embarked the responsibility on the auditor to check the financials for reasonable assurance and in case they find any discrepancy, they need to probe further into the details(Raiborn, et al., 2 016). This was the major loophole in the standard which the auditors made use of. If this was applicable then, the auditors could have reported on the revenues being reported for the sick units and the recording of intangibles in the books. This is the main reason for the introduction of this standard due to downfall of ABC learning centre so that the decision makers can take their decisions based on the key matters. Apart from this, it puts more responsibility on the auditor to report correct things and with evidences and they just cant do away with this requirement. They need to comment effectively for analytical study and the management needs to support and make available all the necessary data points to the auditors in this regard. Conclusion From all the above discussion on the standards, analysis and the points to be taken care off, we have come to the conclusion that audit report is of utmost importance to the users of the financial statements, be it external or internal users, shareholders or government and thus the auditor should report all the key financial issues along with highlighting all the major risks and must do their work effectively and efficiently. In the case of ABC learning centre, the shareholders had to face huge losses because they made their decision to invest based on the audit report describing the entity to grow having larger revenues and that the company was a going concern. But in reality, it was just the opposite. The company was facing losses in spite of increase in revenues, because of which liabilities were increasing. These losses came as a shock to the shareholders. This again earmarks the relevance and criticality of the preparation of the financial statements by the company as those who are dependent on it like banks, financial institutions, government, shareholders, creditors, etc. must be able to take benefit out of it(Lefkowitz, 2017). This has been one of the marquee audit changes since 2004 in the field of auditing and will surely help both the auditors and the stakeholder in taking responsibility and decisions respectively and thus will help in removing the loophole that existed earlier. Recommendations It is thus recommended from the shareholders point of view to get the right and correct information with regards to the company at the right time since they are the one who will be investing in the company and all their money would be at stake Thus it will be recommended for the auditors to follow the standards that have been set and to take necessary steps that will help in the overall analysis of the company and provide the correct snapshot. It is also recommended that the law framing bodies must keep a timely check on the actions of the auditor and in case they indulge in any malfunctions they must be penalised. This is important for an all round global development and health References Abbott, L., Daugherty, B., Parker, S. Peters, G., 2016. INTERNAL AUDIT QUALITY AND FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY: THE JOINT IMPORTANCE OF INDEPENDENCE AND COMPETENCE. Journal of Accounting Research, 54(1), pp. 3-40. Brannen, J., 2016. Mixing Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Research. NY: Ashgate Publishing. Burke, J. Clark, C., 2016. The business case for integrated reporting: Insights from leading practitioners, regulators, and academics. Business Horizons, 59(3), pp. 273-283. DeZoort, F. Harrison, P., 2016. Understanding Auditors sense of Responsibility for detecting fraud within organization. Journal of Business Ethics, pp. 1-18. Guragai, B., Hunt, N., Neri, M. Taylor, E., 2017. Accounting Information Systems and Ethics Research: Review, Synthesis, and the Future. Journal of Information Systems: Summer 2017, 31(2), pp. 65-81. Jones, P., 2017. Statistical Sampling and Risk Analysis in Auditing. NY: Routledge. Knechel, W. Salterio, S., 2016. Auditing:Assurance and Risk. fourth ed. New York: Routledge. Lefkowitz, J., 2017. Ethics and Values in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Second Edition. second ed. NY: Routledge. Raiborn, C., Butler, J. Martin, K., 2016. The internal audit function: A prerequisite for Good Governance. Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, 28(2), pp. 10-21. Sonu, C., Ahn, H. Choi, A., 2017. Audit fee pressure and audit risk: evidence from the financial crisis of 2008. Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting Economics , 24(1-2), pp. 127-144.