Even though the COVID-19 pandemic was being compared to a war, most political leaders were in denial about its seriousness during the early assault of the disease (Shao, 2020). But some leaders were pragmatic and modest, recognized the disease’s severity, and took it seriously. They acted fast and effectively in their communication with the public. Therefore, they successfully regulated the spread of the coronavirus, generating a unique synergy between government leaders and citizens in the process (Newton, 2020). For many leaders, the COVID-1pandemic is a crisis incomparable with any other in recent times. This paper examines Donald Trump and Narendra Modi’s Leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the perspective of COVID-19, America represents a case failure. Ex-President Donald Trump failed miserably in his attempts to handle the situation, hold people accountable, and provide accurate information about the virus. On several occasions, Trump claimed that the US government had it totally under control, and things would be fine (Shao, 2020). This is a sign of an overconfident leader. A brief examination of Trump’s remarks during the outbreak demonstrates that he significantly underestimated the magnitude of the crisis (Newton, 2020). In terms of attitude and leadership style, he resembles a self-centred populist and an authoritarian whose actions were driven more by personality than strategic considerations (Mendenhall et al., 2013). He pretended to be a wartime president, although he did not act in that role to bring the country together throughout the war. On the contrary, Trump’s actions and statements split governors, states, and citizens, downplayed the gravity of the pandemic, dismissed advice from experts, hence failing to inspire public confidence and trust in his administration.
Trump urged followers to stage massive rallies to “liberate” states (headed by Democratic governors) from stay-at-home directives. His campaigns became super-spreader events, where few attendees maintained physical distance or wore masks. Trump took nine days to impose a travel restriction on Chinese nationals. However, the measure was likely ineffectual due to Americans and British exempting from the condition (Shao, 2020). In addition, Bill Gates advocated for a statewide shutdown of the internet. The president not only disregarded such advice, but he also made potentially hazardous remarks, such as urging the use of untested pharmaceuticals and the use of cleaning agents to combat the virus, making the situation much worse.
India’s situation parallels that of the United States in that both leaders demonstrated ineptitude, making the populace incapable of trusting them. Numerous Indians place the burden for the country’s catastrophe squarely on the shoulders of one man: Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At a global summit in January 2021, Modi stated that India had saved civilization by restricting the corona enough. Health Minister Jeffrey et al. (2021) declared in March that the virus was reaching its “endgame.” However, his government did little to prepare for the possibility of a much more dangerous and contagious strain of Covid-19 spreading across India and beyond.
Leaders engage others through teamwork, personal influence, and communication (Jeffrey et al., 2021), but this was not the case with Modi, as his Covid-19 task force did not meet for several months. He also did not bother to consult experts with high and extensive knowledge. To a significant extent, I believe Mr Modi’s arrogance and autocratic leadership style are to blame for the current state of affairs. At one time, authorities ignored scientific warnings that the Indians remained susceptible and lacked “herd immunity.”
Through looking at Donald Trump and Narendra Modi’s Leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, I recommend that the public be educated on the importance of choosing a leader who can reliably deliver. Despite many obstacles, the most influential leaders assume personal responsibility in a crisis (Mendenhall et al., 2013). They align the team’s emphasis, build new measures to track success, and foster a culture of accountability. Besides, I also recommend that as a leader, one should constantly listen to other people both in leadership and at lower levels. An unwillingness to listen to other people and professionals made Trump and Modi one of the worst leaders during the coronavirus pandemic. We can constantly listen to others around us, particularly those who work directly for us. Effective listening provides information and perspectives that strengthen your leadership potential (Mendenhall et al., 2013). Allowing yourself to be receptive to criticism and new ideas from your team can assist you in making decisions that are good for you and the people you lead.
In addition, leaders, even those in political positions, need to start practising evidence-based decision-making. Rather than rumours or myths, facts should be the rule of law in our world. As we have seen in the response of some governments to the COVID-19 crisis, decisions made in the absence of facts can have far-reaching consequences for the economy and society as a whole.
In conclusion, both Trump and Modi failed to show proper leadership in leading their country to tackle the pandemic. Both America and India reported high cases of COVID-19 and moderate mortality rates due to the poor behaviour of leaders. The case of these two countries would be different if these leaders demonstrated responsible leadership in crisis management. Similarly, the analysis of the leadership of the two leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that overconfidence and unwillingness to listen led to a leadership crisis.
References
Jeffrey Gettleman, Hari Kumar, Karan Deep Singh, and Sameer Yasir. 2021. India’s Covid-19 Crisis Shakes Modi’s Image of Strength. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/world/asia/india-covid19-modi.html
Mendenhall, M. E., Osland, J. S., Bird, A., Oddou, G. R., Maznevski, M. L., Stevens, M. J., & Stahl, G. K. (2013). Global leadership. New York: Routledge.
Newton, K. (2020). Government communications, political trust, and compliant social behavior: the politics of Covid‐19 in Britain. The Political Quarterly, 91(3), 502-513.
Shao, W., & Hao, F. (2020). Confidence in political leaders can slant risk perceptions of COVID–19 in a highly polarized environment. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 261, 113235.
Global Terrorism And Counterterrorism Efforts Essay Sample For College
Introduction
Over the last decade, terrorism has been one of the most controversial issues facing countries across the globe. The US, for instance, has had to come up with better countermeasures to fight off terrorists, both international and domestic. One important question that lingers is, “what exactly is international or global terrorism?” According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) (2021), international terrorism involves criminal or violent acts committed by groups or individuals who are associated or inspired by either foreign terrorist groups or state-sponsored nations. It is that extreme type of radicalism that is not limited to a country’s boundaries about the methods used, schemes, targeted group, or the terrorist’s location. It is an organized crime that has been enhanced by factors such as technology, lax laws and measures, globalization, and social media platforms used to radicalize, recruit and incite people to help out in launching the international attacks. Since the 9/11 terrorist attack on the US, countries paid close attention to terrorism and changed their strategies to counter it, making this menace a serious global issue. International terrorism has gone through the first to fifth wave, with the earliest ones including the assassination of Sarajevo that led to the First World War (Ghosh, 2014). These waves have advanced to the modern forms of terrorism seeing with international groups such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram, ISIS and Al Qaeda. An instance of international terrorism include Israel’s invasion of Lebanon (Palestine-Israeli Conflict) and America’s support to Israel, which led to the bombing of its embassies in Lebanon. Iran’s support of Islamic groups which have conducted many terror acts across the world also amounts to global terrorism (Piazza, 2013). This report will give an analysis of global trends in various regions, the factors increasing global terrorism and also discuss counterterrorism efforts.
Variations/Trends of Terrorism across Regions
Global terrorism has spread across the world, showing varying trends across the many regions. Global Terrorism Index (2018) provides a short summary on the patterns and trends of terrorism in the world. It lists the countries that are most affected by terrorism in order, from the least affected to most affected. ISIS and Taliban continue to be the most feared and dangerous groups that made areas such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq have the most fatalities and therefore feature in the list of nations most affected by terrorism.
a) Afghanistan
Afghanistan was rated as the first in the list of countries affected by terrorism. The country had started having a period of stabilization but in 2018, things deteriorated. 16 of the worst attacks hit Afghanistan with 12 of them being done by the Taliban – this made the region be the most affected by terrorism (Dudley, 2018). Additionally, in 2018, the country’s terrorism situation was so bad that Afghanistan experienced 46% of the world’s terrorist-related deaths (Dudley, 2018). The deaths from this criminal act are said to have gone up by 631% since 2008. Hence its top position in the countries that are most affected by terrorism.
b) Iraq
Following up closely is Iraq – which is a country that has featured so often in terrorist-related cases. In 2018, the number of deaths in the country fell by a whole 75% as the government in partnership with international ones pushed back the Islamic State out of the country. The terrorist incidents decreased and so did the fatalities, from 2.2 deaths recorded in 2017 to 0.9 deaths in the following year (Dudley, 2018). However, things took a serious turn in the same 2018 seeing how dangerous the terrorists are. Over 1000 people died and 1723 injuries were recorded in the year to have been caused by terrorism. This still puts it as a top country in the list of those countries with the worst cases of terrorism. However, with its minimum improvements, at least the country is no longer topping that list. Analysts have speculated that it may not be permanent since the Islamic State or other groups may target the country in future.
c) Nigeria
Africa has not been spared from the list of countries most affected by terrorism – Global terrorism, after all, cuts across all regions. Nigeria is found in West Africa. In 2018, the country was said to account for around 13% of the terrorist-related fatalities in the world with an increased 33% of these deaths from 2017 (2040 deaths and over 770 injuries caused by terrorism) (Dudley, 2018). The country is known for an infamous terrorist group, Boko Haram, which has attacked, killed, injured and kidnapped civilians in the hope of intimidating the people and the government. The group even abducted a group of students. A task force put up by the Nigerian Government in collaboration with Niger, Chad and Cameroon was put up to push the group out of the country and it saw the reduction of deaths in 2018. Other terrorist groups continue to threaten Nigeria’s national security. Some extremist Fulani groups are now more active and they caused over 1000 deaths in 2018 as compared to Boko Haram’s 589 deaths (Dudley, 2018). With these two groups in the country, Nigeria features among the countries that are worst affected by terrorism in the world with the two groups causing around 80% of the attacks and 86% terrorist-related deaths in a single year. This increase in terrorism in the country is what led to Sub-Saharan region to surpass the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and be the second most affected place after South Asia in terms of terrorism (Global Terrorism Index, 2018). The part of Africa is said to have had the second highest fatalities from terrorist attacks. Other parts of Africa that have experienced worst cases of terrorism include DRC. The government continues to counter the groups to date.
d) Somalia
The country is found in Eastern region of Africa. Though the deaths and injuries from terrorism were reported to have gone down in 2018, Somalia is still one of the most affected countries in the GTI list. Dudley (2018) states that two terrorist groups, Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab are reported to be behind the attacks. 646 people died and over 600 were injured in the over 280 terrorist incidents that happened in the country last year. Al-Shabaab is the most dangerous terrorist group in the region having caused over 90% of the deaths in 2018 (Dudley, 2018). The US and its forces and the African Union have been leading peacekeeping missions to help fight off the group. A third terrorist group called Jabha East Africa has also been responsible for lesser terrorist incidents and fatalities (Dudley, 2018). Countries in the region, such as Kenya, have been helping to fight off the terrorists, more so Al-Shabaab, the most notorious group.
e) Pakistan
In South East Asia, a country that has suffered significant terrorist attacks is Pakistan. It was reported that the incidents have been decreasing over the last five years, but still the country is among the five top deadliest nations when it comes to violence from non-state actors and organizations. In 2018, over 1000 people were injured and more than 500 of them killed as a result of the 366 attacks launched by terrorists (Dudley, 2018). Though these figures are shocking, it is believed that the country experienced the worst terrorist cases in 2013. The terrorist group that threaten’s Pakistan’s peace is the Khorasan Chapter of Islamic State, that accounted for over 250 deaths in 2018 (Dudley, 2018). The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan group follows next and a third one, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi also threatens the country’s national security, accounting for two attacks in 2018 (Dudley, 2018). Thus, South East Asia, proves to be a region highly affected by terrorism.
f) Yemen
Closely following in the list is Yemen, a Middle East country. Yemen has been a war zone and unstable region for many years now, and terrorism is in the middle of it all. In 2015, the country experienced a total of 1500 deaths from terrorist attacks. Though the number has fallen since then to only 301 people dead and 325 injured, the region is still highly affected by terrorism (Dudley, 2018). The groups include a team of Houthi rebels who have been fighting against President Hadi’s government and the patron in Saudi Arabia (caused half of the deaths in 2018), Al-Qaeda and Adan=Abyan Province of the Islamic State (Dudley, 2018). The country is still experiencing many civil conflicts regardless of the peacekeeping missions and counterterrorism efforts, making Yemen feature in the GTI list of nations that are highly affected by terrorism.
Factors Increasing/Causing Global Terrorism
Despite countries making efforts to counter terrorism in their regions and tightening their security, there has been an increase in the attacks in the last decade. Countries have suffered mass deaths, loss of property worth billions and disruption of their infrastructure because of terrorists. There are factors that have contributed to the spike in terrorist incidents around the globe. In particular, the biggest cause of terrorism is the psycho-pathological leadership of nations, wherein some of the leaders tolerate and propagate the terrorism ideologies (Njoku, 2021). Normalizing the acts of terrorism and presenting them in a guise can be detrimental especially where leaders intend to gain from the chaos that ensues.
Inequality or deprivation perceptions among groups defined by culture is also another factor that leads to global terrorism. Most of the individuals who engage in the terrorism activities believe that they have been deprived of some resources endowed to others. Precisely, global terrorism is often associated with the negative urge to address the deprivation of some sectors in a means of drawing attention to these areas. Another perspective is that the terrorists often attempt to create equality in terms of governance (Permana & Adam). For instance, some of the terrorist groups believe that they have been deprived of equal status from other societies that hold more bureaucratic power. Such notions lead the terrorist to attack the places with such power and progress to assert the aspect of equality. Nevertheless, the terrorist approach is wrong and unacceptable despite the motivations behind such activities.
The inadequacy of political continuity and legitimacy also contributes to global terrorism. Most of the areas where terrorists conduct their operations do not have proper integration in the political structure. A niche is created due to the discontinuity of the political realm leading to external forces and pressures to fill the niche (Lia & Skjølberg, 2022). For instance, the Taliban terrorist group recently captured the Afghanistan jurisdiction in an attempt to fill in the power niche in this country. It should not be forgotten that this group was involved in the 9/11 attacks and, thus, its grip of power may exacerbate the rate of terrorism around the world. Therefore, nations that lack a legitimate and continuous governance often face the vulnerability of terrorist attacks.
Conversely, terrorism is also increased by dominance in the international systems by some actors. These actors are often the leading forces of the world and are viewed to dictate how the affairs of the world are run. Accordingly, global terrorism is often a backlash of the efforts towards modernization and globalization intended by the dominant actors in the international arena. This reason can be used to explain some of the most catastrophic attacks conducted on the first world nations of the world.
Since terrorism is conducted for various purposes, religious dominance also motivates terrorist activities. It goes without saying that religious terrorism is one of the rampant forms of terrorism conducted in the modern world. This position is attributed to the disparate approaches taken by the varying religions and religious groups on matters such as morality and religious practice. Some of the more ardent and conservative religious groups may feel that others are lenient and a mockery to the superior being (Lia & Skjølberg, 2022). In such situations, the former attempts to conduct an activity that will extinguish the latter to ensure that “religious righteousness” is achieved. For instance, some of the most renowned terrorist activities, such as the Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, are pegged on the perspective that some religions have marred the required moral lines. However, the terrorist approach is extreme and highly unfair in an era of rule of law and respect for human rights.
Global terrorism is also heightened by acts that are conducted in response to violent acts. The inspiration behind such attacks is vengeance and the strive to revenge former acts of violence. A renowned example of this factor is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that takes the form of a tit-for-tat (Lia & Skjølberg, 2022). Such attacks take place repeatedly thus causing disruptions to the world order and peace as other nations are also affected directly or indirectly. This situation leads to an endless cycle of attacks between countries as they are unable to foster peace within themselves and their neighbors. Some of the terrorist activities conducted in the United States have also been a result of the previous attacks on the terrorist countries in an attempt of ending the activities. Overall, the acts of revenge can be mitigated by peaceful and mutual peace keeping missions and negotiations between the nations involved in the conflict.
Counter-Terrorism
The preceding discourse is an eye opener for the heightened level of global terrorism around the world. As a consequence, various efforts have been undertaken to prevent future terrorist activities. The efforts are also placed on the detection of the on-going plans of executing terrorism in the world. One of the best ways that has been adopted to combat the terrorist activities is through intergovernmental alliances. Such alliances ensure that the efforts are directed from a regional force, which reduces the efficacy of terrorist activities around the world. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) can educate, develop policies, and train the military individuals on the means of handling cases of terrorism (Bird, 2019). Not only do the intergovernmental alliances require cooperation from countries from a military perspective, but also in other sectors such as the economic and diplomatic perspectives.
Once the intergovernmental alliance cooperates towards counterterrorism efforts, the states should establish a committee that oversees matters of counterterrorism. Setting up a committee is essential in fighting terrorism as it ensures specific attention is drawn in this regard. Specifically, the committee should be charged with establishing the relevant policies that ca be used to handle the intelligence received about any terrorism plans or attacks. NATO can also establish the capacity building for civilian individuals to prevent any acts of terrorism in the region (Bird, 2019). It is noteworthy that such efforts must be complemented by diplomacy and other financing aspects.
Undoubtedly, the international cooperation is necessary to ensure that the levels of terrorism are reduced. It involves ensuring that the terrorists are subjected to the criminal justice system and punished for their crimes accordingly. Furthermore, different nations of the world should embody the principles of giving up the terrorists and refusing to create a safe haven where they can get away with the atrocities they cause. One of the main issues that hinders the enforcement of terrorist combat is the lack of honoring extradition requests, as it exempts the terrorists from the criminal justice systems (Rosand, 2020). This position also applies to the states that have weak prison systems and other centers as they are unable to hold the prisoners for long before they actually escape. Therefore, alliances between the nations of the world to combat the terrorist activities can go a long way in fighting global terrorism.
Another means through which global terrorism can be combated is prohibiting and regulating the production of weapons of mass destruction. Recently, there has been heat between nations on the production of such weapons as they are deemed to be highly detrimental especially when they fall into the wrong hands (Rosand, 2020). For instance, it goes without saying that should terrorists land the nuclear weapons, they can cause grave damage to the modern society. The modern world nations are calling to each other to prevent the production of such weapons due to the risk they possess. In other words, the adage, “prevention is better than cure,” is of key significance in fighting the production of the weapons of mass destruction.
The 9/11 attacks were a major wake up call for the United States and other nations of the world. One way in which the US established a guarantee for its interior security is by establishing the Department of Homeland Security that interrogates and collates intelligence regarding terrorist activities within the nation. Although the DHS is not a total guarantee against terrorism in the United States, the citizenry can work and live safely without fear that an unforeseen terrorist attack will take place. One of the global efforts that can be undertaken to fight the acts of terrorism is establishing a global department of homeland security. This position means that a single entity can be created to monitor the intelligence and affairs of people suspected to be involved in the acts of terrorism around the world. Creating the global intelligence entity would ensure that the world is aware of the movements of individuals suspected of terrorism and is also certain of the means to prevent suspected operations.
Conclusion
Indeed, global terrorism is an ongoing issue in the world poses a threat to modernization and progress. It poses such risks by endangering the lives of people as well as their property. Some of the most vulnerable areas exposed to the risk of terrorism include the societies with weak state structures and the those engaged in the democratic transitions. Further, the weak and collapsed states that have ongoing wars also contributed to the terrorist activities. Some examples of such states include the countries in the middle east such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Palestine. Some of the causes of terrorism include political discontinuity and illegitimacy, deprivation perceptions and inequality, and religious dominance perceptions. Consequently, several efforts have been undertaken to curb the occurrence of global terrorism such as the prohibition of production of weapons of mass destruction. Other steps undertaken include formation of intergovernmental alliances and establishment of intelligence agencies. These steps ensure that the plans, operations, and attacks by terrorists are anticipated and possibly prevented.
References
Ghosh, S. (2014). Understanding Terrorism in the context of Global Security. Socrates, 2(JUNE 2014).
Njoku, E. T. (2021). Queering terrorism. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1-23.
Global Terrorism Index 2018(GTI). (2018). Measuring and understanding the impact of terrorism. Institute for Economics and Peace. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Global-Terrorism-Index-2018-1.pdf
Piazza, J. A. (2013). Regime age and terrorism: Are new democracies prone to terrorism?. International Interactions, 39(2), 246-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050629.2013.768481
Permana, I. M., & Adam, F. Factors Causing the Emergence of Understanding Terrorism in Historical Overview.
Rosand, E. (2020). Preparing the Global Counterterrorism Forum for the Next Decade. United States Institute of Peace.
Lia, & Skjølberg. (2022). Causes of Terrorism: An Expanded and Updated Review of the Literature – GSDRC. GSDRC. Retrieved 27 January 2022, from https://gsdrc.org/document-library/causes-of-terrorism-an-expanded-and-updated-review-of-the-literature/.
Bird, J. (2019, May 16). Working with partners to counter terrorism. https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2019/05/16/working-with-partners-to-counterterrorism/index.html
Dudley, D. (2019, November 20). Terrorist Targets: The Ten Countries Which Suffer Most From Terrorism. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2019/11/20/ten-countries-terrorism/?sh=1cd96a334db8
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2021, September 8). Terrorism. Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism#::text=InternationalterrorismViolentcriminal,nations(statesponsored).
Governance And Auditing Free Sample
Introduction
The strength of the economy and society at large is highly reliant on the existence of successful and sustainable businesses. The achievement of corporate goals and long-term profitability is typified by the manner in which enterprises are directed and controlled (Financial Reporting Council, 2018). The creation and sustenance of successful and beneficial relationships with an array of stakeholders thus play a significant role in the aforementioned long-term success of these enterprises. Corporate governance is essentially intent on assuring the interests of suppliers of finance in the form of stakeholders and shareholders are protected (Ali, 2018). This essentially means that there is a return on investment for the parties involved. The UK Code of Corporate Governance comprises a number of laws, codes of practice, and market management.
The code is imperative as it ensures best practice with regard to amplifying the eminence of engagement between stakeholders and shareholders with corporate organisations (Financial Reporting Council, 2018). Corporate governance is to be grounded on transparency, accountability, and fairness. The organisation’s board is necessitated to address the demand for the company’s long-lasting success, ensuring the materialisation of value for stakeholders and shareholders and further contributing to the community at large (Financial Reporting Council, 2018). The board should ensure that the corporate culture and workforce policies and practices are effectively aligned with the purpose, values, and strategy that governs its operations. Moreover, an imperative matter of concern is the division of responsibilities. The organisation is required to offer an effective balance in assigning responsibilities through epitomising objective rationale and logic as well as endorsing a culture of constructive challenge as well as clear communication.
Issues to address to comply with the provisions of the code
Sherbet Ltd is essentially necessitated to highlight the importance of maintaining the presence of a separate and independent chairperson. The presence of an independent chair is imperative in ensuring that the organisation maintains a long-term perspective with regard to the purpose and operations of the organisation (Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). Moreover, having a separate Chair and CEO effectively condenses the risk of highlighting the unprecedented and unwarranted focus on short-term goals, particularly in the situation where there is a powerful remuneration involved in such transactions. Setting up a nominating committee made up of the Non-Executive members of the board is a plausible solution to the question of appointing competent board members (Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). The committee is integral in ensuring that select board members are highly qualified and are the best candidate for their areas of expertise and that their knowledge and skills effectively ensure profitability for the organisation. Transparency in appointment will be maintained by the nomination committee that has been set in place (Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). The committee will ensure that there is a perfect balance between the board members, in terms of who fully comprehend what makes Sherbet Ltd the organisation that it is, ones who have mastery with regard to their expertise, and board members who have an alternate perspective of matters with regard to the organisation.
Furthermore, senior management officials are necessitated to provide timely information that ensures competent supervision and direction of the Board (Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). These entities are imperative in ensuring that the rights of the stakeholders and shareholders are effectively maintained. Timely information will ensure that the organisation effectively realises a binding say on the entities that concern profitability, pay, remuneration, and without-cause removal policies that may influence shareholders’ investment. Nonetheless, the board is necessitated to ensure that risk management and assessment dogma are adhered to within the organisation (Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). The goal of risk management is to help identify and document an article to show the risks taken by the organisation in their critical business processes and the internal controls that both have the process to alleviate those risks. The common types of audit risks are control detection and inherent risks. This stems from the inability of the auditor to detect misstatements and errors in an organisations financial statement. This leads to the auditor issuing a wrong judgement on the mentioned statement.
Recommendations for achieving compliance
Increasing diversity is imperative in ensuring that Sherbet Ltd does not suffer the same fate as many other companies with regard to significant losses. Increasing diversity effectively gives rise to augmented financial performance. Diversity assists auditors create better strategies, enhancing diversity and inclusion and business performance. A diversity audit also increases creativity in a workforce, creating room for innovation. The board at Sherbet Ltd currently necessitates an independent panel that is not indebted to the CEO (BK, 2019; Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). Increasing diversity in age, experience, and background is imperative in ensuring that the organisation’s vision is optimised by effectively identifying the gaps within the current board. Therefore, setting up a nominating committee made up of the Non-Executive members of the board is a plausible solution to the question of appointing competent board members. The committee is integral in ensuring that select board members are highly qualified and are the best candidate for their areas of expertise and that their knowledge and skills effectively ensure profitability for the organisation (BK, 2019; Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). A diversity audit is needed to generate an unbiased and real view of Shebert Ltd’s equity. A diversity audit may include speaking diversity; supplier diversity audits, equality impact assessments and diagnostic diversity surveys. The committee will ensure that there is a perfect balance between the board members, in terms of who fully comprehend what makes Sherbet Ltd the organisation that it is, ones who have dexterity with regard to their expertise, and board members who have an alternate perspective of matters with regard to the organisation.
Furthermore, senior management officials are necessitated to provide timely information that ensures competent supervision and direction of the Board (BK, 2019; Tumwebaze et al., 2018; Volkov, 2013). Nonetheless, the board is necessitated to ensure that risk management and assessment dogma are adhered to. The decision-making process is made effective by apposite risk management policies and consequent cost-effective decisions.
The advantages and drawbacks of listing
Listing as a plc is imperative for both the growth and development of the enterprise in question. Companies are afforded a platform from which they can fortify their particular configuration and status. For the Sherbet Ltd. organisation, the listing will most importantly provide liquidity to the investors and guarantee ease in operations regarding the effective supervision of compliance (Korchak, 2016; Metropolitan Stock Exchange, 2017). Moreover, going public will serve as a basis from which the organisation gains access to capital. This will effectively thwart the financial constraints that materialise from the need for additional monetary assets that are imperative in funding the organisation’s growth and expansion plans. The listing also serves as proof of compliance with an assortment of regulatory norms as well as evidence of transparency and efficiency in organisational operations (Korchak, 2016; Metropolitan Stock Exchange, 2017). This effectively enhances Sherbet Ltd.’s visibility and integrity to the investing public and other interested corporate institutions.
Consequently, this also amplifies employee morale. However, sensitive information may be easily accessible to market competitors, which may put the organisation at a disadvantage. The increased visibility advances the organisation’s public perception, which, as a result, amplifies the value of the organisation’s personnel as well as their drive to achieve corporate goals (Korchak, 2016; Metropolitan Stock Exchange, 2017). However, going public necessitates that the stock value will essentially dictate the organisation’s success (Smith, 2019). Consequently, this will put Sherbet Ltd in a vulnerable position as the organisation can potentially collapse due to external pressures, inhibiting the organisation’s stability. Listing could also potentially lead to significant strain on resources.
The rules around audit rotation
A series of repeated inaccuracies have been avoided by mandatory audit firm rotation, which is crucial to improve audit quality. Mandatory audit firm rotation has encouraged fresh thinking and has also strengthened scepticism. Audit partner rotation usually improves the integrity of reporting financially and the auditing process (Mayse, 2018). Independent auditors can therefore observe and achieve credible financial statements with unbiased relationships. To avoid negative drawbacks involving relevant stakeholders, preserving auditor independence is a fundamental requirement. Not only does auditor independence solidify the public trust but also interested investors and shareholders (Mayse, 2018).
The rule of audit rotation states that if joint auditors of which both have had audit tenure f more than ten years, at the date of effect, then only one of the audit firms are required to rotate. At the same time, the latter is granted an additional two eras before audit rotation is needed. A change of auditors is beneficial because it brings new solutions to technical problems, deepens understanding, and leads to more accessible access to global resources. Sherbet Ltd did not initially adhere to this but decided that a change was necessary in order to improve the credibility of their published financial statements. This decision was, however, not well received by board member FD Iqbal who felt the change was not necessary.
Ethical concerns
Familiarity may pose a great threat to the integrity of the auditing process. The company is obliged to rotate the audit personnel after half a decade since the objectivity of the parties involved in the audit may prove questionable. Auditors are highly necessitated to preserve and uphold autonomy from the entity that they are auditing. Professional accountants will be too sympathetic to their interests and will be too lenient and accepting of their work. The auditing process should be devoid of any forms of allegiance. It should be vigilant of the situation of rewards and gifts and also thwart any forms of favouritism that may essentially arise. The misuse of material is a pressing concern. The process will essentially hand auditors access to a number of corporate materials, which should not be siphoned off or pocketed for individual gains.
Moreover, the audit should accordingly be devoid of client patronage and advocacy entities, which may lead to huge conflicts in the interests of the parties involved in the scenario. The lack of full disclosure of necessary information may prove an integral ethical concern. The audit findings should be clearly and fully disclosed to the organisation under scrutiny, as well as the organisation from which the auditor is employed. The appropriation and communication of all necessary information effectively ensure that the organisations in question equally receive appropriate treatment while also disapproving the auditor bias in operation.
Materiality
How and why specific issues are of importance to an organisation or in the business sector is clearly defined by the concept of materiality. Materiality in auditing not only means not just a quantified amount but also the effect of the amounts on various contexts. Material issues can have a key impact on the reputational, legality, financial, and economic aspects of an organisation. Materiality, in essence, could be considered qualitatively and quantitatively and is regarded as a key aspect for planning, scoping, and reporting. Information is regarded as material in cases whereby its misstatement can influence the economic decisions of users on the grounds of the financial information afforded. A transaction can be material due to either its nature or its amount. In terms of the amount, the transaction is made a percentage of a figure in Profit and loss or the Balance Sheet. One of the bases of percentages is applied in every item for the material amount.
Nonetheless, studies have essentially maintained that no single rule is designated to determine materiality within the organisation’s transactions. Nonetheless, the IASB desists from affording the regulatory standards concerning materiality calculation. As such, the entities of the calculation of materiality are based on the subjective discretion of the team obligated to the audit operations. Materiality, according to the single rule, is obtained as 0.5% of total assets within the organisation in question.
The Role of the Auditor
Auditors are necessitated to preserve an attitude of professional scepticism, which calls for auditors to distinguish the prospect that misstatement as a result of fraud may possibly transpire, in spite of the auditor’s preceding experience of the client’s veracity and candour (Kaplan Financial Knowledge Bank, 2020; Al-Dalabih, 2018). The auditor is necessitated to acquire rational assertion that Sherbet Ltd’s financial statements are devoid of any form of material misstatement, albeit in consequence of either error or fraud. Through inquiry, the audit team is necessitated to understand the various tactics in place that are concerned with assessing and responding to the prospect of fraudulent documentation of financial statements(Kaplan Financial Knowledge Bank, 2020; Al-Dalabih, 2018). On the detection of fraud, the audit team is obliged to communicate the issue in a timely manner to the appropriate level of management within the board. In situations where the auditor or the team in question is rather uncertain of the integrity of the parties charged with this form of governance, they are necessitated to pursue legal counsel in order to better understand the most appropriate course of action (Kaplan Financial Knowledge Bank, 2020; Al-Dalabih, 2018). Increasing the auditor’s roles is imperative as it guarantees that the revenue of the organisation is effectively and quite essentially truthfully reported as per the necessities of the organisation. Tainting the independence of the auditing team and personnel essentially impairs the necessity to file financial account registries and statements, which may potentially carry significant and adverse effects on the organisation.
Reflective Writing
I know that I need to develop my critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The ability to meet challenges confidently is an essential skill set for school readiness. Manageable steps to identify problems, brainstorm, test appropriate solutions, and analyse results by introducing problem-solving skills have helped me improve how I deal with challenges today and those that lie ahead. Viewing problems as chances to grow has broadened my understanding resulting in a rise in confidence. The classroom is now a controlled, safe environment where with the help of my teachers, I get to hone my problem-solving skills even further. An advantage of acquiring this skill has been that it taught me discernment, helping me distinguish what a solvable problem is.
Through a lot of questioning and using analogies, I had a lot of motivation to search for background knowledge. These questions inspired me to make connections to real-life situations. Critical thinking and problem-solving are essential skills in the career I aspire to be. I desire to be a public audit. A general audit guarantees that taxpayers’ hard-earned money is accurately accounted for and precisely spent on the task intended at its core. As an auditor, objective analysis and evaluation of facts and information in an audit are essential to provide actionable insight. Critical thinking also brings about a business acumen crucial skill for an auditor. Using the Kolb cycle, my problem-solving skills have greatly improved. “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” (Kolb,1984).
Reference List
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