Thomas S. Konrad analyzes the management control design and reveals critical success factors of strategically oriented public-private partnerships for development between international governmental actors and the private sector. He builds a sound basis for the identification of a research gap and the derivation of research questions. The results generate sufficient evidence to answer these questions and therefore to close the identified research gap. Finally, he excelled in the discussion of the results by making a contribution of theory and by providing substantive recommendations to practitioners equally well.

Focusing on the tangible, cash flow operations that make business work

In business, there are pie-in-the-sky valuation standards like share prices and stock options that have alternately led executives to untold riches and to federal prisons. and then there is cold hard cash–the dollars and cents that pay the bills, keep the tax man at bay, and ensure a company’s ongoing survival. Rob Reider and Peter Heyler redirect corporate attention to core, cash management operation in Managing Cash Flow: An Operational Focus.

The authors’ comprehensive guide focuses on how a corporation can enhance its overall cash position on an ongoing basis. Reider and Heyler identify business functions that too often become ends in themselves–accounts receivable, inventory, administration–and remind readers of a company’s primary goals:

• Customer service
• Cash conversion
• Making money
• Survival

Managing Cash Flow: An Operational Focus offers a host of procedures and techniques for applying a cash-flow criterion to all business functions, keeping companies focused on the proverbial bottom line.

Nothing happens in business without measurable, tangible, absolute cash. Rob Reider and Peter Heyler offer a must-have, common-sense guide for keeping companies in the black.

This volume of Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics focuses on latest results from research in Banking and Finance, Accounting and Corporate Governance, Growth and Development, along with a focus on the Energy sector. The first part on Accounting and Corporate Governance features articles on environmental accounting, audit quality, financial information, and adoption of governance principles. The Banking and Finance part looks at risk-behavior in banks, credit ratings during subprime crisis, stakeholder management, and stock market crises. The book focuses then on the energy sector and analyzes macroeconomic impacts of electricity generation, risk dimensions in wind energy, the latest EU energy reforms, and discusses prediction models.

The topic of reputational crisis in the banking sector has received increasing attention from academics and practitioners. This book presents expert contributions that cover three main aspects: first, an extensive review of the literature on reputational risk in the banking sector aimed to identify the relationships between causes, effects, stakeholders, and key qualitative-quantitative variables involved during the reputational crisis of a bank; second, devising a conceptual framework for management of reputational crisis in banking, and finally, testing this framework with the results of an empirical analysis carried out by observing key variables of some known cases of reputational crisis relating to international banks and proposing case studies regarding the dynamic process of reputation management.

This book presents the authors' recent field experiences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in different regions of India. It also demonstrates how social auditing and stakeholder mapping help analyze the impact that particular individuals or groups may have on the functioning of any company in an area. CSR is a rapidly growing area of research and activity, especially in developing countries like India. An increasing number of companies are realizing their own social responsibility, given that they work within societal networks. As a result, any initiation or expansion activity they carry out in society impacts the communities around them. Given the newness of the field, the work on CSR in India is still in the initial stages. Most importantly, there is a need to highlight issues concerning CSR activities using sound methodologies and scientific data. A database comprising qualitative and quantitative approaches collected by tracking CSR activities is invaluable. Further the scientific data is vital to fully understand CSR, and in turn helps in designing appropriate and effective interventions for improving community members' quality of life. Accordingly, the stakeholders associated with CSR need to have a sound knowledge of how to conduct studies related to baseline data generation, community needs assessments, community profiling, stakeholder mapping, social impact assessments, monitoring and evaluation, as well as the social auditing of CSR projects and other related issues. This book aptly covers these issues and offers supporting empirical evidences from the field.

This volume is devoted to management accounting approaches for analyzing business benefits and costs of climate change. It discusses future directions on carbon accounting, performance measurement and reporting as well as links between climate accounting and business processes, product and service development, supply chain innovation, economic successes and stakeholder relations.Companies are increasingly called on to contribute to combatting climate change and also face the challenges presented by climate-change related costs, risks and benefits. Risks can result from unpredictable weather conditions and government regulations, such as the EU emission trading system and new building codes. Climate change also offers numerous opportunities, such as energy efficiency innovations and carbon neutral products and production.Good management requires that carbon emissions are tracked and climate-related costs, risks and benefits are identified, measured and assessed. As such, research addressing corporate accounting frameworks and tools is of increasing importance when it comes to managing these carbon and climate-related issues.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of corporate social responsibility and its development in Africa. It provides in-depth studies on 11 sub-Saharan countries, demonstrating that corporate social responsibility is forming and going through different stages of metamorphosis in the continent. Though corporate and individual attitudes towards sustainability in Africa still leave a lot to be desired, this book showcases how things are rapidly changing for the better in this regard. It demonstrates and provides evidence for the fact that corporate social responsibility contributes significantly to the way sub-Saharan African economies are being transformed, with service sectors expanding, commercial activities diversifying and industrial bases growing through the initiatives of small, medium and large organizations and innovators supported by widespread higher-education program rollouts. The book highlights how progressive and wide-ranging CSR approaches have emerged, and how much they differ from the obsolete approaches of the past, which promulgated negative stereotypes, marginalized communities and positioned them as victims or beneficiaries of development.

Featured in Volume 19 are articles on a call for future research on management accounting service quality; budget ratcheting and performance; effect of trust-in-superior and trustfulness on budgetary slack; relationship between purposes of budget use and budgetary slack; selection bias and endogeneity issues on the relationship between IT and firm performance; strategic budgeting in public schools; using a management accounting perspective to evaluate the production of future accounting professionals; the links between management control approaches and performance measurement systems; and, antecedents and consequences of cost.

This study investigated the following aspects of the 100 most entrepreneurial firms more widely known as the fastest growing firms in Australia. Firstly, the study analysed the association between intellectual capital disclosure types (narrative, visual, and numerical) on company-sponsored websites, using content analysis, and the corporate growth aspect of reputation of these firms over a three-year period from 2005 to 2007. Secondly, the study investigated the perceptions of directors about the value relevance of intellectual capital resource items in enhancing corporate reputation. Thirdly, the study identified motivations behind the extent of intellectual capital resource items disclosure on company-sponsored websites when the director perception survey was inconsistent with such disclosures.

The tools, guidelines, and procedures that IS auditors need

Auditing Information Systems, Second Edition, explains clearly how to audit the controls and security over all types of information systems environments. The concepts and techniques in the book enable auditors, information security professionals, managers, and audit committee members of every knowledge and skill level to truly understand whether or not their computing systems are safe. The book provides a detailed examination of contemporary auditing issues such as:

• Information systems audit approach (physical, logical, environmental security)
• Security certifications such as SAS 70, TruSecure, SysTrust, and WebTrust
• Computer forensics
• E-Commerce and Internet security (including encryption and cryptography)
• Information privacy laws and regulations
• Information systems project management controls
• New technologies and future risks

Auditing Information Systems, Second Edition gives auditing professionals the tools they need to get their job done right. It is a must-have reference for any auditor’s library.

Proven strategy for reducing production and operating costs while increasing profits As the growth of the Internet shifts power to consumers, the pressure on companies to keep prices low will continue to mount. Increasingly corporations are relying on "margin management" and supply chain management as a means of keeping prices low while raising profits. Activity-based costing and management (ABC/M) data is key to succeeding in both these critical management strategies. This book explains how executives can effectively use the information furnished by cutting-edge ABC/M systems. The author, an acknowledged expert in the field, clearly defines the ABC/M system and explains how to use the information it provides for best results. He provides a rational framework for understanding the fifteen key defining characteristics of ABC/M and arms readers with an ABC/M Readiness Assessment test along with extremely user-friendly exhibits.

Change is a crucial and inescapable process for many organisations. It remains a constant challenge for managers and many change management initiatives fail. Burns and Stalker's seminal text on managing change, The Management of Innovation, has often been used as a basis for research in mainstream management journals and has been represented as an important theory in popular and long-established management textbooks. The issues raised in that book are still being grappled with by academics and practitioners today. Miriam Green provides a critical analysis of the mainstream construction of knowledge on change management through an examination of representations of that text. The main thesis of her book is that this literature, though valuable, does not provide a full picture. Its objectivist approach ignores the role of other factors raised in the original study. These factors include the effects of power, politics, resistance and employee influence on the outcomes of managerial change strategies and on other organisational processes, with important consequences for the understanding of change initiatives by both academics and practitioners. This is part of an ongoing debate in management studies and more widely in the social sciences about theoretical approaches and research methods. The originality of this book lies in its in-depth comparison of an entire monograph on organisations facing technological and commercial change, with an equally in-depth analysis of the ways this work has been represented and used as a basis for teaching and research. It highlights the limitations of the exclusive use of one approach to explain the complications arising from organisational change. It challenges the scientific justification offered for that approach and supports arguments for more inclusive and sustainable scholarship, of greater relevance to academics, managers and other organisational stakeholders.

A complete and definitive guide to auditing the security of IT systems for managers, CIOs, controllers, and auditors

This up-to-date resource provides all the tools you need to perform practical security audits on the entire spectrum of a company’s IT platforms–from the mainframe to the individual PC–as well as the networks that connect them to each other and to the global marketplace. Auditing and Security: AS/400, NT, Unix, Networks, and Disaster Recovery Plans is the first book on IT security written specifically for the auditor, detailing what controls are necessary to ensure a secure system regardless of the specific hardware, software, or architecture a company runs. The author uses helpful checklists and diagrams and a practical, rather than theoretical, method to understanding and auditing a company’s IT security systems and their requirements. This comprehensive volume covers the full range of issues relating to security audits, including:

• Hardware and software
• Operating systems
• Network connections
• The cooperation of logical and physical security systems
• Disaster recovery planning

How can you start a culture of feedback that improves your organization?
Turn to page 27.

Want to know the most important word to an auditor?
Turn to page 65.

Do you train people to interrupt you? Want to stop?
Turn to page 106.

What is the single biggest opportunity to improve your audit?
Turn to page 172.

Want to hear about the funnier side of auditing?
Turn to the "You Know You Are an Auditor When..." Appendix on page 227.

Praise for "Auditing Leadership: The Professional and Leadership Skills You Need"

"From networking to e-mail, from team-building to selling yourself, Brian shows how to create a well-organized and effective working life. Although aimed at auditors, the countless ideas put forth in this book can be used by individuals in every field to grow and become more successful in their chosen careers. In fact, one particular assertion summed up the entire thesis for me: 'success is a mind-set, not a finish line.' Kush offers a multitude of unique and creative suggestions for establishing that mind-set."
--Joe Hoyle, Associate Professor of Accounting, University of Richmond, and cofounder, www.CPAreviewforFREE.com

""Auditing Leadership" is a must-read for new graduates and a solid resource for seasoned professionals. Brian Kush has taken a wide range of best practice advice and distilled it into a fantastic handbook for the auditing profession."
--Andrew Prather, CPA, Shareholder, Clark Nuber PS

"Brian's book takes you beyond the technical skills of auditing to help you become both a professional and a leader. The scope of topics covered is impressive, from e-mail communications to accountability to planning your future. The book includes sound, actionable advice that will benefit auditors at all stages of their careers, from staff to partner."
--Louise M. Peabody, CPA, Member, Watkins Meegan, LLC

The authoritative, practical guide to internal control after COSO (Committee on Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission)

Beyond COSO unravels the complexities of the COSO Report while providing clear-cut guidelines on how to implement the various internal controls it mandates. Just as important, it builds on the COSO framework to provide a more rigorous system that corporate executives and directors can use to transform the internal control function into a valuable strategic tool for leveraging corporate strengths and improving performance.

The first practical guide to complying with COSO Report mandates, Beyond COSO:

• Clearly explains the intricacies of the COSO Report
• Describes proven techniques for complying with COSO requirements
• Provides a detailed account of the internal control oversight process
• Offers expert recommendations on how to carry out internal control responsibilities more efficiently
• Supplies a wealth of ready-to-use internal control documentation

Beyond COSO is an invaluable working resource for internal and external auditors, CFOs, members of audit committees, and corporate directors.

www.wiley.com/accounting

Practical Finance for Property Investment provides readers with an introduction to the most fundamental concepts, principles, analytical methods, and tools useful for making investing and financing decisions regarding income-producing property. The book begins by considering how to value income-producing property by forecasting a property's cash flows and estimating appropriate discount rates. It then discusses how both debt and private equity are used as methods to finance a property's acquisition. The book provides a thorough discussion of the taxation of property income as well as how investors can quantify the risks to investing in property. The book concludes with important considerations for investors when their investment thesis does not come to fruition. Practical Finance for Property Investment offers a unique and novel pedagogy by pairing each book chapter with an in-depth real-world case study, which forces readers to confront the occasional tensions between finance theory and property investment practice. The book is designed for investors and students interested in learning what finance theory implies about property investment. Readers and Instructors can access electronic resources, including the spreadsheets used in the textbook, at the book's website: www.routledge.com/9780367333041.

Marketing and implementing large-volume orders and major projects calls for specific types of expertise. This textbook deals with all of the management tasks involved: order management, inquiry evaluation and proposal preparation, pricing and revenue planning, order financing and financial engineering, contract management, negotiation management, project management, and finally project cooperation. Adopting a cross-sector perspective, it examines both traditional manufacturing industries and business-to-business services. All contributions are presented in an accessible style, making the book well-suited as both a managerial textbook and valuable practical guide.

Auditing has been a subject of some controversy, and there have been repeated attempts at reforming its practice globally. This comprehensive companion surveys the state of the discipline, including emerging and cutting-edge trends. It covers the most important and controversial issues, including auditing ethics, auditor independence, social and environmental accounting as well as the future of the field. This handbook is vital reading for legislators, regulators, professionals, commentators, students and researchers involved with auditing and accounting. The collection will also prove an ideal starting place for researchers from other fields looking to break into this vital subject.

Montgomery's Auditing is the definitive handbook on auditing, and this Continuing Professional Education version is a professional edition of the successful subscription reference, providing a condensed, yet complete overview of auditing for the professional as well as the senior level student. The strategies contained help to strengthen the auditor's skills in the profession's core service-audits conducted in accordance with GAAS of financial statements prepared in conformity with GAAP.

Provides a range of up-to-date case studies to help students understand the real world practice of risk management in organisations Includes an overview situating the subject of risk management in the wider context of corporate governance, aiding student understanding The case studies on Tesco and Birmingham City Council are radically updated to reflect recent controversies, whilst a case study on cyber risk is added for the new edition

Das vorliegende Repetitorium ruft Ihnen kurz und prägnant die wirklich prüfungsrelevanten Stoffinhalte für Ihre Bilanzbuchhalter-Abschlussprüfung wieder ins Gedächtnis. Anhand einer Vielzahl didaktisch aufbereiteter Fallbeispiele aus originalen Prüfungsaufgaben arbeiten Sie sich direkt in das bevorstehende Prüfungsniveau ein. Neben angehenden Bilanzbuchhaltern profitieren auch Bachelor-Studierende der Betriebswirtschaft von diesem Werk. Zugleich unterstützt es Lehrende bei der Vorbereitung und Gestaltung des Unterrichts. Die 6. Auflage wurde gründlich überarbeitet, korrigiert und aktualisiert. 

Accounting skills are increasingly important in many walks of life. In education, these skills are becoming vital beyond business, accounting and economics students; in work, accounting is no longer an outsourced specialism across all sectors. This concise book provides readers with a primer on accounting which focuses on its uses for managers. Beginning with the basics of financial accounting, the main part of the book focuses on the more applicable role and use of management accounting. Topics covered include budgeting, break-even analysis, performance measurement, and investment appraisal. Features to aid understanding include worked activities; discussion points and numerical example with answers. With additional online resources for further study, this unique and focused text will be welcomed by all those looking to develop an employable competency in accounting and finance.

Bringing creativity and innovation into all professions and types of auditing today, this book meets the needs of auditing practices in the future. Recent criticisms of auditing practices by financial regulators, the traditional 'expectation gaps' between auditors and auditees and the continuing advances in technology make it even more important today to motivate creativity and innovation in the professions of auditors, be they internal, external, quality, environmental, social, clinical and so on. In Creative and Innovative Auditing, Jeffrey Ridley studies all auditing practices, not just internal auditing, using an innovation model he has developed through research which is applicable to all auditing organisations and professions. He shows how motivating innovation in auditing practices will address the needs of today and tomorrow's auditing of governance, risk management and control.