Sources and Use of Financial Information - Research Proposal Example

?Investigating the Sources and Use of Financial Information in the Management of Prison Service in England and Wales Introduction The sources and useof financial information vary in most organizations. The sources of this information are usually from the audit reports and annual reports of the organization or the department. The information can be found in the library or the website of the department or the organization. The use of financial information in the management also differs, for instance, the financial information has been used to rate the performance, enhance financial auditing (Hp 2009, p2), and improve the management of the organization. The research proposal is set to investigate the sources and use of financial information in the management of the prison service in England and Wales. Justification There are various sources and uses of financial information in the management of an organization. However, these sources and uses differ from one organization to the other. Financial information is significant to an organization because it assists in rating the performance of the organization. The information also assists in improving financial auditing and management of the organization. Proper management is the key element to the success of any organization. The research is of great importance because it will help the prisons and the government to conduct duties efficiently. Thus, knowing the sources and uses of the financial information will help the government and the prison department in better management of the prison services in England and Wales. Review of Literature The main purpose of the Prison Service in England and Wales is to offer services to the public by keeping in custody those who have committed crimes; looking after these individuals humanely; and assisting them to lead useful and law-abiding lives during custody and after release. In order to support this purpose, the Prison Service has four objectives: to securely hold the prisoners, to minimize the possibility of prisoner re-offending, to offer well-ordered and safe establishments in which to treat the prisoners decently, lawfully, and humanely, and to offer an effective escort and custody service to criminal courts (Cope 2010, pix). Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS) runs 127 prisons and training centres throughout Wales and England. In a number of key areas, all the 127 prisons run independently with no centralized oversight and operations. The prison service lacks a shared system for the management of procurement, human resources, and finances (Hp 2009, p1). Each of the prison maintains its own exclusive financial system. Data tracking, software, and the staff responsible for handling finances and inputting data vary at each location. Thus, HMPS does not have access to the organization wide view of the finances. Therefore, the prison service has found it difficult to measure its performance, enhance financial auditing, and target areas to minimize costs (Hp 2009, p2). In the past few years, HMPS installed an Oracle-based financial system to centralize its financial reporting and accounting, and also to offer a wide and encompassing image of the financial activities of the prison service. This ensures that the personnel from various facilities and departments are conscious of the financial impacts when making decisions. Higher quality data management and improved transparency and a devoted focus of the finance resources on exceptional financial issues have led to the realization of the mentioned benefits (Hp 2009, p7). Improved financial transparency and accessibility of timely and meaningful financial data or information across the organization has enhanced decision-making thus, has led to better operational performance (Oracle 2009, p2). The United Kingdom (UK) sector has undergone significant changes in risk management. The UK criminological research on the prisons has not explored the manner in which the general corporate governance and the financial management at various levels of the prison sector, have been significantly restructured on organizational or ‘business risk’ frameworks (Whitty 2010, p5). This had led to the development of entirely new language of risk. It has also resulted in the development of new bureaucratized and formalized risk assessment and management systems like risk officers, risk committees, assurance frameworks, and risk maps. The intention of these systems is to make the future more calculable and manageable (Whitty 2010, p5). Publicly available evidence for this change within the criminal justice sector stems from two sources. The first source is the increase of the risk register templates, and the second source is the increase in references to the prioritization of risk management in audits and annual corporate reports of the three Prison Services. Both cases are important but in this case, the most important source is the second source (the audits and annual corporate report of the Prison Services). The risk register is based on the assumption that information will be gathered, recorded and used in recognition of particular organizational risks. For instance, the England and Wales Probation Service Circular offers guidance on the assessment of the impact of certain occurrences at various levels of the organization. These levels include public protection (loss of life or exposure of the public to injury), financial (overspending to ?25 million from under ?2 million), reputation (such as public criticism and ministerial resignation), and delivery (the failure to attain objectives) (Whitty 2010, p6). The second source, the audits and annual reports of the Prison Services give information about the risk management practices and the significance of the risk registers (Whitty 2010, p6). For instance, there is a section in the Scottish Prison Service 2005-06 audit report titled ‘Outcome on Risks Identified in Audit Plan’ which maps the main risks under the headings of financial risks (such as contractual transfer of the risks to service providers or prisoner compensation) and operational risks (such as assaults on the prisoners) (Whitty 2010, p6). Research Methodology Data for this investigation will be collected through questionnaires (as the primary data source) and documentary sources (as the secondary data source). Primary Data Sources In this context, questionnaires will be used to collect data required for the investigation of the sources and uses of financial information in the management of prison services in England and Wales. The questionnaire will assist the researcher in knowing how efficient these sources are, that is, how authentic and reliable they are. In other words, how the sources can be used to get relevant financial information concerning the prison services in England and Wales. The questions in the questionnaire will be open-ended questions. This will assist the respondents in giving as much detail as possible in relation to the research question. The questionnaires will be answered by various stakeholders of the prison department within England and Wales such as Her Majesty’s Prison Service, auditing companies, and several prisons. These stakeholders are important because they are the ones who produce and use financial information. The sample for the research will be relatively big, and it will consist of three components. It will consist of 5 auditing companies, Her Majesty’s Prison Service, and 50 prisons within the region of England and Wales. For each component of the sample, 10 people within that organization or department will be offered with a questionnaire. In total, 560 people will fill in the questionnaire. The sample will be chosen using random sampling method (both the organization and the people to be surveyed). This is to ensure that no bias will be experienced during the selection of the respondents. In the case of the prisons, only individuals within the management will be surveyed and not the prisoners. Since the sample will be widely distributed within England and Wales, the questionnaires will be sent by post. Questionnaires are easy to fill and they will save time and cost other than doing the actual interview. Since it is an investigation being done, the questionnaires will offer precise answers in relation to what is being studied. Questionnaires can assist in the collection of huge amounts of data with little effort. Issues of the respondent’s anonymity are dealt with the questionnaires because they protect the anonymity of the respondents. If coded in the right way, they can assist in quick analysis of the data with minimal error rates (Birmingham and Wilkinson 2003, p39). Thus, questionnaires will be the method of choice because of the mentioned benefits. Secondary Data Sources The secondary data source to be used is the documentary sources. Documents are generated by groups and individuals in their daily practices and are intended to meet their own practical needs. They are written with a purpose and they are based on certain assumption, and presented in a particular way. Up to this level, the researcher is supposed to be fully aware of the purpose, origin, and the original or initial audiences of the document. There are two forms of documents used in the documentary study which include primary and secondary documents (Mogalakwe 2006, p222). In this context, secondary documents sources will be used to collect data. Libraries and the websites are the common sources of these documents. Information regarding the sources and use of financial information in the management of Prison Services in England and Wales will be collected from various sources such as the departmental libraries, organizational libraries, and departmental and organizational websites. Important sources of financial information include Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS), England and Wales Probation Service Circular, Scottish Prison Service audit report, and the National Offender Management Service. Another important source of financial information in relation to prison service in England and Wales is the private sector. This is because, in the recent years, private sector has managed several prisons built by HMPS (Spurr 2010, p50). Most of these financial documents are in the form of annual reports and audit reports. In the case of departmental and organizational libraries, the source will be accessed by getting permission from the relevant authority. Permission is important since each organization or department library has its own regulations. If the same information can be accessed through the internet, then the source will be accessed through the department or organization website. Other websites may require registration in order to access the relevant material. When collecting information from documentary sources, it will be important for the researcher to consider the regulations and copyrights of the materials collected. Potential Ethical Issues There are many potential ethical issues in this research. Information for the research will be collected using two methods (questionnaires and documentary sources). In regard to questionnaires, issues such as the privacy of the information given by the respondent and its use may arise. Bradburn, Sudman, and Wansink (2004, p13) states that survey research may be intrusive because there could be violation of respondent’s privacy. Thus, it is important for the researcher to be aware of the right of privacy of the respondent (Bradburn, Sudman, and Wansink 2004, p13). In order to overcome this issue, the identities of the respondents will remain hidden as they will not be required to reveal any personal information. Other ethical issues that may arise include the right of the respondent to be informed about the aims of the study as suggested by Babin and Zikmund (2006, p232). This ethical issue will be overcome by informing the respondents of the objectives of the research before they are issues with the questionnaires. Concerning the documentary sources, the issue of accessing the organizational or departmental library may arise. This is because most of these libraries are only accessible to the employees or authorised individuals. Thus, accessing the library may be a violation of the organization or department’s policy. It will be vital to establish if access to the library may raise concerns within the department or the organization. In order to overcome this issue, permissions will be sought in advance from all the relevant authorities. Failure to acknowledge or properly cite the internet sources may raise issues concerning plagiarism and violation of the document’s copyright. Foard, Henn, and Weinstein (2009, p105) state that it is important for the researcher to consider the content posted on the Internet if he or she has to use it. The important element to look at is the copyright terms of the site in question (Foard, Henn, and Weinstein 2009, p105). Other than reading the copyright and the guidelines offered, it is important for the researcher to properly acknowledge the sources (library or internet) used. All the secondary sources referred to during the study will be properly referenced and cited. Data Analysis Data from the questionnaires will be analysed using SPSS method. The software to be used to analyse the data will be SPSS software. The data collected will be analysed in stages. First, the questions will be looked at individually. In this case, coding errors and initial conclusions will be checked. Second, differences between the batches will be checked by comparing the means. Lastly, statistical significance will be checked. In the context of documentary sources, the data will be analysed based on the relevance of the sources to the research question. In other words, the documentary sources selected must be in line with research question. Timeline (March – August 2012) Activity March April May June July August Background study Preparation of questionnaires Issuing of Questionnaires Documentary sources Analysis of the data collected Presentation of report Skills to Be Assisted With By the Learning Development Group There are several skills to be assisted with by the Learning Development Group. These skills include how to effectively avoid the ethical issues that may arise from the research in regard to research methodologies used, and how to conduct an effective documentary research. References Babin, B. J. & Zikmund, W. G. (2006) Exploring marketing research, Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Birmingham, P. & Wilkinson, D. (2003) Using research instruments: A guide for researchers, London, UK: Routledge. Bradburn, N. M., Sudman, S. & Wansink, B. (2004) Asking questions: The definitive guide to questionnaire design: for market research, political polls, and social and health questionnaires, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Cope, J. (2010) Prison service pay review body: Ninth report on England and Wales 2010, London: The Stationery Office Limited. Foard, N., Henn, M. & Weinstein, M. (2009) A critical introduction to social research, London, UK: SAGE Publications Ltd. Hp (2009) Prison service reduced costs, improved service and gained nearly $191 million in benefits, London: Hp. Mogalakwe, M. (2006) The use of documentary research methods in social research. African Sociological Review, 10(1), pp221-230. Oracle (2009) Her Majesty’s Prison Service saves more than US$131 million per year with shared services, London: Oracle Corporation. Spurr, M. (2010) Her Majesty’s Prison Service of England and Wales. Resource Materials Series, 67, pp48-60. Whitty, N. (2010) Rights as risk: Managing human rights and risk in the UK prison sector. Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation, 57, pp1-33. Read More