The internal public audit procedures have been applied since recent time in our country and this strongly influences the managersâ and employeesâ perception of the internal audit relevance. The internal audit is perceived as âanother form or a new form of controlâ due to the fact that the audit departments were organized, especially in the local public administration and in the decentralized public institutions, with the support of the internal control structure and with the participation of the personnel who was in the past responsible for control activities. This error of perception impairs the internal auditorsâ work and the organization management. The sources of the research are the annual reports of UCAAPI regarding the internal public audit activity between 2004-2007, available on the site of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The obtained results partly confirm the hypotheses of the research.
Open access
Risk Management in Financial Firms
Education, Management, Technology, Human Resources
The performance of the public sector affects us all. There are at least three reasons why we should be interested in how well it functions: it is big; its outputs are special; and it is getting bigger. With all these, in Romania, the performance within the public sector represents a concept not so analyzed and rarely applied in practice. There is not the same situation in countries with a high developed economy, which represent an interest for us, along with the European integration. Internationally, since the 1970s processes of modernization and reorganization of public institution have been initiated in diverse countries in the world. The society has demanded greater efficiency in rendering of services, a better application of public resources and also questioned the effective bureaucratic model. In this context, the model of managing government institutions gains force, consistence and become more credible. Flexibility, decentralization, creativity, autonomy of management, and a management contract used as quantification instrument are basic characteristics of the management reforms that focus on results. Results determination within the public sector and the implementation of a system meant to measure the financing and non-financing performances need an exact definition of the objectives and purposes of each organization and constituent institution.
What will the corporate finance department look like in the twenty-first century? Will it be staffed by CPAs, MBAs, computer information specialists? Will it even exist--absorbed instead by other departments? These were some of the tough questions 40 senior financial executives (from companies such as General Motors and Control Data), accounting educators (from schools such as Vanderbilt University, New York University and Senshu University in Japan) and CPAs (from accounting and consulting firms such as KPMG Peat Marwick, Price Waterhouse and Arthur Andersen & Co.) wrestled with for two days last April at a workshop in New York sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs management accounting executive committee. The goal of the workshop, mapping the future of financial management, was to help the committee envision the future of the finance function in businesses and thus help the Institute prepare its members for that future. As an opener, participants shared their views on the future of finance management by voting on various business management scenarios. Those with similar views were grouped in panels that constituted the management of a fictitious company; each panel member assumed a leading management role in the organization. Then each panel was asked to focus on its unique scenario, or endstate, and to develop a business plan for that endstate: the economic and business conditions that created and support it, the problems and opportunities it faces as it strives to survive, the tools it needs to prosper and the role of the finance department in this enterprise. Each panel then had to rationalize its end-state to the others in the workshop, defend its positions from challenges and report the weaknesses uncovered by working through the exercise. The five endstates were 1. Shareholder advocate--a back-to-basics focus on costs designed to boost shareholder wealth in the short run--even at the expense of future growth. The major role of the finance department is to root out activities that fail to produce immediate returns. 2. Business team--the management style is team oriented and the corporate goal is gaining market leadership by responding to market demand and customer needs. The role of finance is to dismantle excessive controls that paralyze meaningful analysis. 3. Managing risk--management recognizes it must confront multiple risks, including swiftly changing technology and severe business cycle and financial market swings. The principal role of finance is to act as a combination of internal hedge- and venture-fund managers. 4. Outsourcing--many of the corporation's finance functions--from payroll to general ledger and tax--are handled by outside organizations. The role of the finance department is no longer routine processing; it now is focused on control and standard-setting. 5. Decentralization--core business units are run relatively independently. Finance provides high-level analytical support. When the exercise was over, some of the participants came away with more than their original vision. In developing strategies and then being forced to defend them, some participants found their finance management views had changed somewhat. Some recognized advantages in endstates they had dismissed before. Others felt their original views were bolstered. And still others said they were considering shifting their allegiances or seeking to combine some endstate features with others. The bottom line: For some participants, the two-day exercise forced them to lay down some long-held views, recognizing that the future often is not a straight-line extension of the past. COMING TO CONSENSUS As a final exercise, participants were reassigned to different panels so they had to work with new colleagues--most of whom supported different endstates. Their new assignment was to search for common ground and create accommodations for their divergent views so they could agree on a new endstate. âŠ
headlines of newspapers nationwide are ablaze with stories about wage freezes, mergers, plant closings and scandal in Corporate America. It's no wonder employees of these companies harbor anxieties about their job security and the future of their workplaces. Even when dispensing unfavorable news, forthright and timely internal communications play a major part in quelling the fears and doubts of employees. Employees seek honest answers directly from management, not speculative stories in the morning newspaper. This article shows how six companies have used employee communications to convey bad news. each case, the company has faced negative public opinion, uncomplimentary news coverage, internal shake-ups, or simply slumping profits, either recently or in the past few years. Boeing has had to handle massive layoffs. Northwest Airlines also faced cost and wage cuts, along with a public court battle over fares with a major competitor and an unfriendly media environment. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield recently faced a scandal over its financial management and personnel changes at the top, along with 25% to 30% annual health insurance premium cost increases that had consumers and some of the press screaming. Time Warner Inc. struggled through four years of cultural upheaval caused by an expensive merger involving a hostile takeover, compounded by its production of controversial products and management maneuvering at the top of the company. And, two years ago, Citibank, Inc. embarked on a worldwide campaign to shore up its profitability. Regardless of the messages involved, all of these organizations have gone to great lengths in efforts to share up-to-the-minute controversial news with employees. They used various communications tactics and mediums, including: * Special editions of company-produced newspapers offering lengthy explanations of all pertinent events as well as progress reports in letter format from the president/CEO. * Videotaped or in-person appearances by the company's chairman of the board/CEO addressing employee concerns such as the company's financial stability, job security, opportunities for career advancement and market share erosion. * Monthly staff meetings for officers and directors during the crisis period to keep everyone abreast of the latest news. Mid-level managers are also encouraged to be there for employees they supervise to foster a we're all in this together attitude. * Town meetings, allowing open forums between the president/CEO or managers, and randomly selected employees. * A series of mental and physical health workshops aimed at helping employees deal with job-related stress on their lives. * Programs to encourage employees to stay charged and professional. Established communications systems allow for a quick turnaround of information in a highly volatile or crisis situation. But lessons in crisis communications are sometimes learned along the way. After its merger, Time Warner Inc. had to overcome the internal communications barriers between six decentralized, autonomous business divisions. It has taken but the company now has a smooth, workable total system. Two merged Kansas-based power companies learned a similar lesson when they tried to build a new, integrated culture. Northwest's spiral of turmoil Northwest Airlines had a convergence of several negative events all at once, starting in the summer of 1992, said Jeff Smith, director internal communications for the St. Paul, MN-based company. A federal court battle developed between Northwest and American Airlines after the latter made deep fare cuts. That started a spiral of bad (revenue) months for us, he said. In spring '92, we had no other alternative but to ask our labor groups to begin negotiating more than $900 million in reduced costs over three years, Smith continued. The lengthy process of those intense negotiations and all of the information and misinformation about the company caused a great deal of anxiety internally. âŠ