Client Demands Research Articles

Does Reporting Risks of Material Misstatement in the Audit Report Impact Audit Adjustments? Experimental Evidence from U.K. Audit Partners and Senior Managers

This experimental study examines whether requiring auditors to report risks of material misstatement (and related auditor findings) affects audit adjustments. Experienced audit partners and senior managers in the United Kingdom proposed audit adjustments under three different reporting regimes: (a) an audit report where no risks are disclosed, (b) a report where risks of material misstatement are disclosed, and (c) a report where risks of misstatement are disclosed, augmented with the auditor’s findings with respect to those risks. Our results indicate that disclosing risks of material misstatement without findings has no effect on audit adjustments, but that lower audit adjustments occur when the disclosure also includes findings, and that this result is driven by auditors requiring particularly low adjustments when they indicate a finding that the post-audit account balance is “mildly optimistic” (as opposed to “reasonable”). Results also suggest that this tendency is unintentional. Overall, these findings indicate that auditors unintentionally trade off audit adjustments for disclosures, consistent with increased detailed disclosure providing an opportunity for “moral licensing” that enables auditors to satisfy client demands while also complying with professional standards. From a practice perspective, these results suggest that disclosure of critical or key audit matters as recently required by U.S. and international standard setters may not affect auditor behavior, but that allowing disclosure of additional findings as done voluntarily in some jurisdictions may have the unintended consequence of reducing the size of audit adjustments that auditors require.

Google Assistant Controlled Home Automation

World’s interest for power had become 85% somewhere in the range of 2010 and 2017 this expansion is more than the present all out utilization of power in India, USA, Japan, Australia consolidated. We can’t diminish the power development rate however we can decrease the measure of power squandered every year by killing our home machines when not being used. This venture shows a plan and model of Home Automation framework that will utilize ESP8266 Wi-Fi module as a system supplier in associating with different machines. The proposed framework has two principle segments. The primary fundamental part is Arduino, which controls and oversees contribution of Wi-Fi module. The other principle segment is Wi-Fi module through Wi-Fi module a web server can be added to the module which will help in controlling of gadgets over Internet. One server can oversee numerous equipment interface modules as long as it exists on Wi-Fi arrange inclusion. It bolsters a wide scope of home mechanization gadgets like power the board segments, and security parts. We need to make this automation framework incorporated and misleadingly astute. The framework is executed utilizing common family apparatuses Natural language voice directions are given to the Google Assistant and with the assistance of IFTTT (If This Then That) application and the Blynk application the directions are decoded and after that sent to the microcontroller, the microcontroller thusly controls the transfers associated with it as required, turning the gadget associated with the separate hand-off On or OFF according to the clients demand to the Google Assistant. The microcontroller utilized is Node MCU (ESP8266) and the correspondence between the microcontroller and the application is built up by means of Wi-Fi.

The World’s Oldest Profession? Employment-Age Profiles from the Transactional Sex Market

Abstract Standard labor market models predict that the likelihood of employment increases, hours worked increase, and individuals transition from less-skilled and temporary jobs to more skilled and more stable employment as they age. I examine the association between age and transactional sex work using national household surveys from Zambia, one of the few settings with general population surveys asking women about transactional sex and a relatively high documented prevalence of employment in transactional sex. My results indicate that the likelihood of employment in transactional sex sharply falls with age. Increased employment opportunities outside of transactional sex do not appear to explain the transactional sex employment-age profile and marital status appears to explain only a portion of it. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that clients prefer younger transactional sex workers and suggest that policymakers implement interventions designed to reduce client demand for younger females.

Contracting development: managerialism and consultants in intergovernmental organizations

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) are now managed with an eye to managerial trends associated with transnational professionals, a view that has ramifications for how IGOs govern their policies and processes. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with staff in IGOs, we trace how managerialism in IGOs is changing how staff perceive work practices. We find that IGOs increasingly rely on consultants to enact policy scripts and to evaluate program success. This signals a subtle yet significant shift from expertise and bureaucratic impartiality, grounded in particular types of knowledge, to skills and flexibility to meet client demands and advance best practice norms according to prevailing world cultural frames. This managerial trend in IGOs is partly driven by stakeholder dynamics but is primarily a normative change in who is seen as having the authority to make claims over professional best practices. Such managerialism is contracting the development policy space. This contraction is partly driven by consultants, who defer to their peers and to donors rather than IGO staff and concerned member states. This work also depletes institutional memory for IGO operations. We trace how IGO staff perceive managerial trends and changes in work practices.

Guiltiness: A practical approach for quantifying virtual network functions performance

In Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), service providers create customized network services by chaining Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) in forwarding graphs, according to individual client demands. Despite the flexibility promoted by the NFV paradigm, specific VNFs used in network services may become bottlenecks due to a number of factors, e.g., lack of resource capacities, demand overload, incorrect ordering, and interdependency between VNFs. Hence, resource monitoring is crucial to determine which VNFs have a negative impact on the quality of service. However, NFV imposes constraints that hinder the adoption of traditional network monitoring approaches, such as: the heterogeneity of environments with all sorts of VNF purposes (e.g., caching, address translation, and performance optimization), and the atypical functioning of specific VNFs that rely on non-blocking I/O implementations. In this paper, we propose a model to quantify the guiltiness of each VNF on degrading the performance of a network service. This model consists of a novel application of the Utilization Law from queuing networks theory. Through numeric assessments on typical scenarios, we refined the set of relevant resource metrics and applied a weighted sum to gauge them in the model. Also, a hybrid algorithm based on linear regression and neural networks is introduced to adjust the model’s parameters according to the environment particularities, such as the type and number of VNFs in the service. Experimental evaluations confirm the ability of the model to (i)detect bottlenecks, and (ii)quantify performance degradations. When capacity restrictions were applied to different types of VNFs, our guiltiness metric was able to detect the root cause of degradations. Further, the guiltiness metric outperformed traditional metrics, being able to characterize 96.15% of the performance issues with a 25.6% reduction in the number of false positives when compared to CPU usage.

Four Years of Testing to AS5562

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">With the publication of SAE AS5562 in 2015, icing wind tunnel test facilities have upgraded their operating environments and instrumentation to meet the client demand to test to this new standard. Nearing four years of testing and development to this standard, numerous questions and challenges have arisen that industry has addressed on an individual basis but not in a common format for all. This paper addresses some of the known challenges in an effort to apply AS5562 consistently across industry and provide clarity to all users.</div></div>

Incorporating Social Determinants of Health in Electronic Health Records: Qualitative Study of Current Practices Among Top Vendors.

BackgroundSocial determinants of health (SDH) are increasingly seen as important to understanding patient health and identifying appropriate interventions to improve health outcomes in what is a complex interplay between health system-, community-, and individual-level factors.ObjectiveThe objective of the paper was to investigate the development of electronic health record (EHR) software products that allow health care providers to identify and address patients’ SDH in health care settings.MethodsWe conducted interviews with six EHR vendors with large market shares in both ambulatory and inpatient settings. We conducted thematic analysis of the interviews to (1) identify their motivations to develop such software products, (2) describe their products and uses, and (3) identify facilitators and challenges to collection and use of SDH data—through their products or otherwise—either at the point of care or in population health interventions.ResultsOur findings indicate that vendor systems and their functionalities are influenced by client demand and initiative, federal initiatives, and the vendors’ strategic vision about opportunities in the health care system. Among the small sample of vendors with large market shares, SDH is a new area for growth, and the vendors range in the number and sophistication of their SDH-related products. To enable better data analytics, population health management, and interoperability of SDH data, vendors recognized the need for more standardization of SDH performance measures across various federal and state programs, better mapping of SDH measures to multiple types of codes, and development of more codes for all SDH measures of interest.ConclusionsVendors indicate they are actively developing products to facilitate the collection and use of SDH data for their clients and are seeking solutions to data standardization and interoperability challenges through internal product decisions and collaboration with policymakers. Due to a lack of policy standards around SDH data, product-specific decisions may end up being de facto policies given the market shares of particular vendors. However, commercial vendors appear ready to collaboratively discuss policy solutions such as standards or guidelines with each other, health care systems, and government agencies in order to further promote integration of SDH data into the standard of care for all health systems.

Safety Integrity Level in Valves

Safety integrity level (SIL) is a part of an international standard such as IEC 61508 that provides suppliers and end users with a common framework to design products and systems for safety-related applications. SIL provides a scientific and numeric approach to specifying and designing safety systems, enabling risk of failure to be quantified. The probability of failure on demand and probability of dangerous failure per hour on safety functions for each SIL level are given in the IEC standard. This paper reviews a 20″ pneumatic actuated ball valve in low-temperature carbon steel material ASTM A352 LCC and pressure class 1500 equal to 258.6 barg at ambient temperature (38 °C) that has an emergency shutdown (ESD) function. The ball valve is installed on a gas export pipeline that transfers the gas from an offshore platform to onshore. The ball valve is usually open, but it will be closed in case of failure in the pipeline to stop production and allow maintenance on the pipeline. The system includes an integrated valve, actuator, and control panel as a single unit that corresponds to one-channel (1oo1) architecture in international standards such as IEC 61508. Associated failure possibilities such as dangerous detected and undetected as well as safe failure types were assigned to the valve, actuator, and control panel separately. Calculating the safe failure fraction for the whole system as well as each single component separately proved that the safety level of the system is categorized as SIL 2, which is according to the client demand.

Perceived Facilitators and Barriers to Couples' HIV Testing and Counseling in U.S. Clinical Settings: Perspectives From U.S. Health Providers.

We used a qualitative descriptive design to ascertain perceived facilitators and barriers to couples' HIV testing and counseling (CHTC) by U.S. health care providers. We recruited 22 providers from 4 health care facilities in Miami-Dade County, FL, from November 2015 to March 2016. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted. Content analysis categorized and contextualized provider narratives. Perceived facilitators of CHTC were provider experiences with couple-centered HIV-related care, existing patient or client demands for joint HIV screening, and a health care practice environment that fosters an interprofessional approach to addressing client needs. Perceived barriers were partner unwillingness to undergo HIV screening, provider role beliefs and preferences regarding couple-based approaches, and provider time constraints in tandem with funding and billing issues. Overall, providers endorsed CHTC and thought that current challenges and successes with couple-based efforts and HIV screening and care could influence CHTC implementation. Provider recommendations are discussed.

Approximation algorithm for squared metric facility location problem with nonuniform capacities

Facility location problem is one of the most classical NP-hard problems in combinatorial optimization. In the metric facility location problem (MFLP), we are given a set of facilities, a set of clients and the metric distances between facilities and clients. In this paper, we consider the squared metric facility location problem (SMFLP) with nonuniform capacities, where each facility has a nonuniform capacity to serve a limited amount of client demands, and the distances between facilities and clients are no longer metric but squared metric. Fernandes et al. (2015) analyze the LP-based algorithms for the MFLP when they are applied to the SMFLP and achieve constant approximation ratios. In this paper, we do the same thing on local search algorithm, one of the most powerful techniques for MFLP with nonuniform capacities. Particularly, we propose the first constant approximation algorithm with approximation ratio 13+ϵ for the SMFLP with nonuniform capacities.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE QUALITY OF PROPERTY VALUATION REPORT IN KADUNA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

The study examines the quality of valuation reports in Kaduna metropolis with a view to examining their satisfaction level and thus improving on the quality of the valuers’ reports. The survey method employs the use of self-administered questionnaire coupled with interview to obtain the relevant data. A total of 15 Banks and 20 estate surveying and valuation firms were studied. Data collected were analyzed using tables and relative importance index. The result of the examination of 18 valuers’ reports in comparison with the standard expected shows that valuers’ reports were meeting the standard. The result also showed 53.3% of the banks are at least satisfied with overall contents of their valuation reports. However, the examination of clients’ needs revealed that they would prefer to see more details on the reports. The result shows that “clients demand more information on the larger property market and valuation calculation to convince them on how the valuers arrived at the value; a portion stating the complexity of the market and the position of the property in the market; more emphases on the analytical aspects of the valuation and the estate surveyors and valuers should state how certain they are about the valuation figures”. The study concluded that there should be greater understanding between the clients and estate surveyors with respect to the needs of the clients in the area of valuation reports as well as greater understanding of the limitation of the value figure.

Using Bio-Spiritual Music Focused Energetics for Social Workers to Enhance Personal Identity and Professional Transformation: The Power of Self-Reflective Empathy

Working conditions, client demands, heavy workloads, and numerous other factors cause high levels of stress among social workers and undermine their potential for self-fulfilment and productivity. Bio-Spiritual – Music-Focus - Energetics (BSMFE) is a focusing technique used in this study for social workers and addiction counsellors as a part of staff training and development and re-certification. This article speaks to the need for creative and uniquely supportive approaches for helping professionals. It presents an account of addictions counsellor training and education (N=7) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. During a day long workshop, social workers and counsellors participated to heighten their awareness of their own inner-directed processes. Implications are directed toward social workers, addiction counsellors, music therapists, helping professionals, clergy, and pastoral counsellors, in their own spiritual quest toward personal fulfilment and professional growth and transformation.

Optimization of single outsourcer\u2013single subcontractor outsourcing relationship under reliability and maintenance constraints

In this paper, we focus on outsourcing activities optimization problem in single period setting. In some situations, capacity planning or outsourcing is a one-time event and can be modeled as a single period problem. The aim of this research is to balance the trade-off between two echelons of a supply chain consisting of a single outsourcer and a single subcontractor. Each part is composed of a failure-prone single machine that produces one product type to satisfy market requirements. The outsourcer’s manufacturing system is not able to satisfy the demand; in this case, outsourcing is allowed to recover the lack of capacity. We consider that the subcontractor can satisfy the demands of strategic clients and rent his machine for the outsourcer under a win–win partnership contract. We assume that the hazard failure rate depends on time and the adopted manufacture rate. When unforeseen failures occur, minimal repairs are implemented. Overhaul can be performed to reduce the degradation effects. Hence, we develop a mathematical model to define a profitability interval so that both parties of supply chain can be considered as winners. We seek to determine the contract parameters that suit both parties (duration, start and end dates, the production and outsourcing rates). Then, we develop an exact algorithm to solve the problem of single period optimization, which offers a better execution time through a series of test problems. Finally, we consider a sensitivity analysis based on outsourcing parameters (cost, periodicities, etc) to analyze their effects on partial costs and individual profit of each part, as well as the total profit generated by the system.

How to ensure provision of accurate data to enhance decision-making

Data is increasingly under the spotlight as regulators and clients demand more from financial institutions. In order to address this issue, this paper puts forward a framework for improving the accuracy and overall quality of data that is used to inform decision-making. Drivers for adopting a more systematic approach to improving data quality are explained in terms of the current regulatory and business context. The paper describes ‘fitness for use’ in terms of various aspects of quality that will be important to the various consumers in an organisation. The importance of data governance as an appropriate control mechanism is emphasised and a framework of necessary components is put forward. An overarching approach to corporate internal controls is vital to provide the strategic context and management backing for a data governance initiative and the various components are explained in detail. This then sets the scene for the specific data components of the framework. The paper describes how to catalogue data inventory and put meaning and relevance at the heart of explaining the data requirements of the business. Analysis of how the data is used in frontto- back processes provides the link to data lineage and describes accountability and ownership for data quality, so implementing governance within the day-to-day business. Ongoing monitoring of data quality and the types of metrics that should be used is discussed and an example of their use in a buy-side value chain adds real-world context. Finally, the meaning of data accuracy in relation to future trends in the world of ‘Big Data’ and analytics leads to the conclusion that organisations should be aiming for ‘good enough’ for a given situation. This, and future business success and profitability, however, is predicated on a fundamental understanding of the nature of the data that the business requires.

Digital transformation of construction organizations

Construction sphere is standing at the threshold of large-scale transformation based on innovations and digital technologies. These changes will result not only in reduction of investment-construction project life cycle and improve their economic efficiency but will also force organizations to more widely evaluate their competitiveness and position in the market. Purpose of this paper – analysis of theoretical approaches to digital transformation of the companies, revealing of specific features and problematic issues regarding certain transformations occurring in construction organizations, analysis of local and foreign experience of implementation of digital tools intended to improve efficiency of cooperation with clients, employment of new forms and methods of business process management, development and fulfillment of up-to-date business models. Digital systems enable the company managers to more profoundly comprehend the production process and its economic efficiency, regional features of markets and client demands.

Building a Successful Voice Telepractice Program.

Telepractice offers prevention, assessment, treatment, and consultation at a distance. This article provides an overview of telepractice with specific considerations and examples related to voice across licensure requirements, state and federal laws, reimbursement, documentation, and telepractice methods. As technology continues to advance and as client demand for telepractice services increases, practitioners need to create successful telepractice programs.

In Dependence: The Paradox of Professional Independence and Taking Seriously the Vulnerabilities of Lawyers in Large Corporate Law Firms

In this paper, and drawing on the work of Martha Fineman and others, we deploy a vulnerability lens as an heuristic device to push against the concept of professional lawyer independence as enshrined in statute and promoted by legal services regulators. Using interviews with 53 senior partners and others from 20 elite law firms, we show how the meaning and practice of independence are profoundly mediated by the contexts, relationships and interactions of corporate lawyers’ everyday working lives. Vulnerable to competition from other firms, the demands of clients, the shift over time from ‘trusted advisor’ to ‘service provider’, regulatory requirements, pressures to make profit and so on, these corporate lawyers appeared prone to developing and normalising potentially risky and irresponsible practices. We therefore argue that a debate about corporate legal regulation is better based upon a richly theorised concept of inter-dependence which takes seriously the causes and effects of practitioner vulnerabilities in particular circumstances.

Drivers of Sustainable Construction Practices in the Zambian Construction Industry

While the construction industry plays a crucial role in the social and economic growth of a country; on the other hand, it is known to be a major contributor to the degradation of the environment. This has led to the quest for a sustainable environment achieved through sustainable construction (SC) in countries around the world. This paper presents the results of the assessment of SC in Zambian Construction Industry (ZCI). A quantitative approach was adopted for the study and a questionnaire survey was conducted on the construction professionals. Analysis of the data gathered was done using appropriate descriptive methods. The study indicated that there is an average level of awareness of SC practices among construction professionals; however the level of implementation of these practices is low. The major drivers towards the adoption of SC practices include; legislation or legal requirement, building regulations, advocacy and awareness, developing regulatory mechanisms, and clients demand. The adoption of the various sustainable construction practices offers a solution to the many challenges within the ZCI. Thus, adopting the use of the various identified practices will not only aid to the greening of the country, but result in the preservation of resources and improve quality of life.

ReligiositySpirituality (RS) in the Clinical Context: Professional Experiences of Psychotherapists

Abstract Although the scientific production on religiosity/spirituality (R/S) is increasing, notably from their connection with the health dimension, this theme is practically absent in Psychology training. The objective of this study was to learn the professional reality of psychotherapists regarding their clinical experiences and the R/S dimension. Twenty-four professionals from two cities in the states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, Brazil, with an average psychotherapy experience of 10.54 years, were interviewed individually. The interviews were transcribed in full and analyzed from the R/S literature. Such a dimension is evoked as relevant for all psychotherapists, although it has not been sufficiently addressed in their training. The exploration of R/S stems from client demands and presents at times as an important resource for intervention, while in other times hinders the development of many conditions. The recent proposals of the Psychology Councils regarding R/S are unknown by the professionals, suggesting the need for greater dialog and also the presence of such discussions in Psychology training.

The Role of Internet in Successful Marketing in Tourism Organizations

Tourism has been dealt with continuously since the earliest times. This was done without entering into the essence of the motive of satisfying the needs of individuals and groups then and now. Various tourist destinations need to be introduced to the wider public. Therefore, a range of information needs to be distributed to the public by agencies, tourism operators, and other participants in tourist activities. The use of the internet has become a daily routine guiding tourism organizations’ marketing, including hospitality and tourism oriented towards meeting the demands of tourists and clients in general. By analyzing the trends in terms of the use of the internet and factors affecting marketing in tourism and hospitality, this paper focuses on its role and importance in the tourism business. The use of internet technology in hotel marketing activities was also analyzed.