Case Study - planning & strategy in small business Essay

Case Study - planning & strategy in small business - Essay Example 56). His management of finances proved to be good. As the owner of the firm, James has proved skillful in managing its finances and thus ensuring that success is attained. The overall overheads in the company have been minimal by the reduced cases of unnecessary taking of risks and by assigning all work in the firm on a sub-contract basis. The reduction of bad debts is another measure of his finance control. His checking of the profit margins involving all the contracts the company awards, the minimal cases of business bad debts and the leasing of land for business expansion has boosted his finance managerial skills. He is experienced and understands the market demand for the business. His vast knowledge on the relationship between employee productivity and their comfort prompted his venturing into this type of business. His business idea was spurred by his experience in the building and construction field and the knowledge on the existing market competition (Thomas 2006, p. 190). The ch ampioning of new ideas and development of existing ones has ensured growth. He is inexperienced at controlling and managing human resources. The result of his taking of human resource management position, which requires a competent person, has led to his arrogant nature in relation to employee-employer relationship. He cannot delegate duties as a result of his mistrust of employees. The effect is reduction in employee performance as a result of lack of team spirit and motivation which develops into low productivity. This is the case in Comfort Homes where James, despite his lack of experience in human resource management takes the position and controls everything without considering his employees in any decision making. He, however, gets things done but the employees do not feel as part of the company. This has led to poor communication system at the firm and lack of new ideas to steer the business towards growth. For instance, the failure to involve Kevin

Summarise the paper"The business risk audit A longitudinal case Essay

Summarise the paper"The business risk audit A longitudinal case study of an audit engagement" - Essay Example In contrast, the longitudinal approach revealed the practices that were embedded in the auditing process. The paper has focused on the impact of BRA on audit engagement. In addition, administrators use methodologies that will increase the profitability of their firms. For example, audit methodologies can divert the attention of the staff from low-value added services by ensuring they focus on more value-added audit services during the process. Moreover, administrators have the power to determine the nature and scope of the audit process. Consequently, it is evident that they have a lot of influence over the outcome of the process. However, it is believed that they will not abuse this influence because they have to protect the legitimacy of their organizations and their profession. Furthermore, it is difficult for the administrators to control the activities of seasoned practitioners from the center of the organization. The introduction of the BRA was informed by the need to shift the focus of the auditor from the financial statement risk to business risk. In addition, it focuses on transforming the nature of auditing from a high volume one to focusing on high level monitoring based on the application of strong analytical tools (Curtis & Turley 2007, p.444). The administrators are concerned with the implications that the audit methodology employed will have on the firm. In contrast, the auditors are influenced by their personal beliefs and experiences. The latter often consider the guidelines that are provided by the former as frameworks rather than something that must be followed strictly. The firm can be sued if its methodologies result in an unexaggerated view of the business. Consequently, the administrators have to ensure that they create effective methodologies that are consistent with the expectations of regulators. The