Enhancing Europe’s global power: a scenario exercise with eight proposals

In the present context of intensifying competition between the major trading economies and potentially game-changing technological developments, the European Union is generally seen as the weaker party. Lacking the ‘hard power’ derived from military capabilities, it has laid claim to a ‘soft power’ of normative influence externally, yet even that is only partially utilised. Nor has Europe been able to exercise the power to coerce – ‘sharp power’ – commensurate with its economic weight as a trading bloc equivalent in size and reach to the US or China, its most prominent global competitors. How can Europe strengthen its position, and in what fields? Through a scenario exercise, we develop eight policy proposals aimed at countering Europe´s vulnerabilities and enabling it to assert its sharp and soft power more effectively. Specifically, we consider the feasibility, means and scope for their realisation. Together, they provide a transformative agenda for the EU’s position in the world

Comment letters to the National Commission on Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting, 1987 (Treadway Commission) Vol. 1

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_sop/1661/thumbnail.jp

Postscript: Beirut Life and Debt Version 2.016

This essay continues a project begun a decade ago with the article, “A Matter of Life and Debt: The Untold Costs of Rafiq Hariri’s New Beirut.” This new article, or “Postscript,” begins by examining the reception of that first investigation and responds to one criticism directed at the original essay: that it proffers an unfairly pessimistic profile of the reconstruction effort generally and of its prime mover specifically, the now-deceased Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. This paper follows a cost/benefits analysis of the project and the company behind it, Solidere, and examines two other Solidere-styled developments abroad, both results of the company’s attempts to monetize its so-called “brand.” The first of these, “Abdali,” is in Amman. The second of these comprises a trio of projects that SI prepared for Sheikh Zayed City in metropolitan Cairo. The paper argues that Solidere’s failure to disclose the dubious financial dealings behind such projects further erodes the credibility of a company for whom the notion of “business as usual” works first and foremost to benefit the few at the expense of the many

Managing Value-for-Money Audit in the European Union: The Challenge of Diversity*

There has been a growing recognition over recent years within European Union (EU) legislation (e.g. the regulations governing the Structural Funds of 1988 and 1993, and the new Financial Regulation of 1990), and by managers in the Union institutions that 'value-for-money' considerations, and review and evaluation, should form part of the financial management and policy-making process. Copyright 1996 BPL.

A Maturity‐level Assessment of Generalised Audit Software: Internal Audit Functions in Australia

Published ArticleThe advancement of information technology in today’s technologically driven era has had a significant impact on the way corporate organisations are conducting their business, especially in a developed country such as Australia. Consequently, it is now almost impossible to conduct effective and efficient audits without the use of technology-based tools in control environments that are dominated by big data and increasing volumes of electronic audit evidence. Generalised Audit Software (GAS) is one of the most frequently used technologybased tools available for the internal audit function for tests of controls purposes. The objective of this article is to explore the maturity of the use of GAS by internal audit functions in Australia. The literature review reveals that the use of GAS by internal audit functions globally is still at a relatively low level of maturity, despite the increased adoption of information technology and the generation of big data within organisations. Similarly, the empirical results also confirm the low level of maturity in the use of GAS by internal audit functions in Australia. Only 17.4% of the respondents displayed a high level of maturity with regard to the use of GAS