I.T. Assesment of ABC Inc - Essay Example

I.T. Assessment of an organization ABC Inc. is a multinational corporation based in the United s of America and deals with the designing and selling of computer software, personal computers as well as consumer electronics. The company has produced some of the well-known types of computers that are being used allover the world. The company has more the four hundred retail stores in fifteen nations, together with an online store. The company is the largest publicly traded worldwide by market capitalization. Whereby it overtops the Exxon Mobil by about sixty billion dollars, and also the largest and most popular technology corporation in the world in terms of profit and revenue, making it worth more than Microsoft and Google put together. As of November 20, 2011, the corporation had more than sixty five thousand permanent employees working around the clock and three thousand temporary full-time workers all over the world; its total annual sales hit the sixty five billion dollar mark, moving up to one hundred and eight billion dollars in the year 2011. The company was even in the year 2008 named by the Fortune magazine as the most admired company in the United States of America. Therefore, this means that this is the biggest company in the industry of the production of computer-related products (English 80). Management control The Management Control Review’s purpose at the Apple Company is to examine the whole management or system controls to help the units work more effectively and efficiently, as well as to offer a rational level of assurance or assertion that the products and process for which one is responsible are protected sufficiently. The company has established or put in pace some measures, which are preventive controls that are designed for the purposes of discouraging irregularities or even errors. One of the measures is the establishment of the department of internal audit (English 83). The GAO General Management Control Standards The assessment of the company’s general control environment should be done determining the level at which the General Accounting Office management control standards are included in the plans, strategies, procedures and guidance that govern operations and programs. In its assessment, the following have been ensured (English 87). Compliance with the law: All costs, obligations and operations adhere to the applicable regulation and law. The allocation of resources is effectively and efficiently done for the rightly authorized purposes. Reasonable safeguards and assurance: The management controls give rational assurance that the company’s assets are protected or safeguarded against misappropriation, loss and waste. The management controls are rationally complete, logical, efficient and effective in the accomplishment of the objectives of management. Competence, attitude and integrity: Personal integrity is encouraged among the workers and managers. All personnel are compelled to support the programs of agency ethics. There is also effective communication between and within offices. GAO Specific Management Control Standards The following specific control standards have been addressed: Delegation of Organizational responsibilities and Authority: The management has ensured that there is appropriate definition and delegation of responsibility, accountability and authority in accomplishing the company’s mission statement. The company also has an appropriate organizational structure for the purposes of effectively carrying out the program responsibilities. Supervision and Separation of Duties: The key responsibilities and duties in authorization, recording, reviewing and processing of official agency operations are separated or delegated among different individuals. There is proper managerial supervision for the purposes of ensuring that duties and responsibilities assigned to various individuals are not abused or exceeded (Albrecht and Albrecht 63). Accountability for and Access to Resources: There are some measures in place for limiting access to the resources together with records to the authorized people. Recording and documentation: All transactions are recorded on time, classified properly, and accounted for so as to prepare appropriate and trustworthy reports. In addition, the documentation for management controls, transactions as well as some other important events should be comprehensible and readily available for review. Audit Findings’ Resolution: The management gives prompt response to the identified deficiencies, the reported audit together with other findings, as well as related recommendations. Corrective actions are completed within the time frames that are established. Lack of internal auditors has appeared as one of the fundamental factors that have led to misappropriation of funds in several companies and organizations. That is why several companies and organizations have adopted it to help in bringing accountability, so that each money spent can be accounted for. Internal auditors play a very critical role in the corporate governance of the company, its financial reporting processes, analysis of risk management and the internal control structure. The internal audit department has helped in keeping track of where the money goes, and ensures that the money is put into good use, and not for the benefit of individuals (Albrecht and Albrecht 73). The department has also helped the organization in knowing if it is making or loosing more money. Internal audit has helped the company in reviewing the processes’ efficiency as well as the related international standards, shows commitment by the top management, offers scope of improvement, offers information for the management review meetings and also helping in the improvement of the client confidence and satisfaction. Operations Control Assign responsibility for the maintenance and reviewing of operational controls: The management assigns the individuals responsible for the maintenance of the controls and for their reviews for ensuring that procedures are strictly followed and correction of deviations done. In general, the employees that are responsible for the SEA (significant environmental aspects) being considered are responsible for the implementation of the related operational controls. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the immediate line manager to review regularly the controls. The company has listed the individuals responsible for every set of procedures (Albrecht 92). Development of training that is operational control-related The management of the company has ensured success in the meeting of the environmental objectives for every SEA offering sufficient training to everyone responsible for reviewing or maintenance of controls. Take corrective measure in case objective are not accomplished The management ensures that actions are taken to correct the failures in the operational controls within the quickest take possible to accomplish the environmental objectives. Works cited English, Mike. Superbrands. Superbrands- Middle East. 2010. Print. Albrecht, W. S. and Albrecht. Fraud Examination and Prevention. South-Western Educational Publishing, 2007. Print. Albrecht, W. S., et al. Forensic Accounting. South-Western Publishing, 2003. Print. Read More