Detecting Causes of Variances In Operational Outputs of Manufacturing Organizations: A Forensic Accounting Investigation Approach.

With the introduction of the International Standard on Auditing number 240 (ISA240) there has been a paradigm shift in auditing as auditors are now required to identify and assess the risks of material misstatements due to fraud at the financial statement level and to evaluate the sufficiency, implementation and the effectiveness of the controls related to those assessed prone to fraud. This, of course, implies that statutory audit must now take the garb of forensic investigations. The problem with the present system of forensic investigation is that it is focused more on financial transactions than on the totality of the entity’s operations and often time neglects areas where there have been constant leakages of other organizational resources that are of financial consequences but which are not easily detected with a normal analysis of the financial statement. This paper attempts to offer suggestions using real case problem on how to apply forensic accounting in investigating variances and suspected fraudulent activities in manufacturing processes. It employs both empirical and supervised experimental modules integrated with the normal audit tools in unearthing fraudulent acts perpetrated over many accounting periods

MAXIMISING PROFITS FROM PASSENGER TRANSPORT SERVICE USING TRANSPORTATION MODEL ALGORITHM

The diversity and complexity of the different types of passenger transportations in operation today invokes the need for an efficient transport service management system. Existing transportation models tend towards proffering solution for finding the least cost combination for delivering cargoes from various depots to known remote customer destinations. This paper looks at the possibility of adopting and or modifying the existing model for use in the management of passenger transport services. A preliminary investigation using the Nigerian private transport sector management practices situation show that inability to apply scientific based approach to vehicle capacity assignment and passenger volume projection stands in the way of profit maximization for most indigenous transport companies. The paper clearly suggests that adopting the transportation model algorithm for estimating the best vehicle assignment method to routes will optimize operational decisions

Environmental and Social Accounting As An Alternative Approach To Conflict Resolutions In A Volatile and E-Business Environment

Profits and improvements in world social welfare are the main reasons for industrialization. However, while governments and business owners are striving to solve one social problem or the other, these same solution processes scoop up other problems along the line which inadvertently breed conflicts and confrontations between the host communities and the owners and operators of the organizations attempting the solution. This is the position which most oil producing companies in the Nigerian Niger Delta region as well as some manufacturing concerns have found themselves. In E-Business, market domination and monopolistic trade practices have pitched major world players in the information and communications technology industry against one another, engendering yet another type of social conflict. This paper believes that a lot could be done to douse the resulting conflagration and pacify those directly affected by applying palliative and preventive remedies using the process of environmental and social accounting aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies as a tool

BANKS CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA: A SYNERGISTIC HARVEST

In order to strengthen the competitive and operational capabilities of banks in Nigeria with a view towards returning global and public confidence to the Nigerian banking sector and the economy in general, the Central Bank of Nigeria instituted a banking reform which saw most of the then existing 89 banks merging with each other. It was earlier speculated in some financial analysis quarters that the exercise might turn out to be one of those overblown hypes of an ailing economy. This, however, has turned out to be the opposite as most post-merger results tend to highlight that financial synergies exist. This paper tries to evaluate the authenticity of this assertion. To do this, pre-merger and post merger financial statements of 4 consolidated banks were obtained, adjusted, carefully analyzed and compared. The result revealed that all the four merger groups produced in addition to operational and relational synergy, financial gains far more than the 2+2=5 synergistic effects. The validating two-way ANOVA test also revealed that variations in shareholders funds can significantly affect the value of total assets of a bank

MAXIMISING PROFITS FROM PASSENGER TRANSPORT SERVICE USING TRANSPORTATION MODEL ALGORITHM (PART 2) - The Advantage of Shadow Pricing

The diversity and complexity of the different types of passenger transportations in operation today invokes the need for an efficient transport service management system. Existing transportation models tend towards proffering solution for finding the least cost combination for delivering cargoes from various depots to known remote customer destinations. This paper which is the second part of the same title adopts shadow pricing to modify the existing model for use in the management of passenger transport services. It uses a case study approach to investigate the effect of non-application of a scientific based approach to vehicle capacity assignment management technique in the Nigerian private transport sector. Using worked examples the paper clearly suggests that adopting the transportation model algorithm for assigning and reassigning vehicle to routes especially during peak periods of activity, holidays or festivities will optimize operational decisions

A Comparative Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Three Solvency Management Models

The introduction of the Altman’s Z-score model in 1983 and much recently the Enyi’s Relative Solvency Ratio model in 2005 has divergently provided financial analysts with alternative methods of analyzing corporate solvency which hitherto was exclusively done using the traditional historical record based ratio analysis, with particular reference to the current ratio. To test the relevance and effectiveness of the three models, real life performance data were extracted from the annual reports of 7 quoted companies, analyzed using the three models and the results compared to show the strengths and weaknesses of each. The result revealed that the current ratio and the Z-score models suffer from many limitations including imprecision while the Relative Solvency Ratio combines the capability of an effective indicator with the precision required of a true predictor

RISK PREDICTION AND REDUCTION IN PASSENGER TRANSPORT SERVICE DELIVERY

Risk is a phenomenon that has become part of human activities. Risk is in everything and is defined according to the circumstance of the activity or event under contention. Transportation business in Nigeria is a highly risky one especially as it affects passenger transport services. The abundance of bad roads and reckless driving habits coupled with poor highway and vehicle maintenance culture tends to multiply the risk for both operators and their human cargoes. The need to effectively determine operational risk with a view to finding ways of reducing same gave rise to the research and presentation of this paper. In the course of study, records were obtained and analyzed from the offices of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and a prominent luxury bus transport company at Onitsha. The analysis gave informed insight into the causes of road accidents and their risk factors from which a modest risk prediction model was formulated whilst offering useful suggestions on risk reduction strategies. The study also revealed that passenger transportation business operational risk is of two folds – accidental and financial risk and it is the combination of these two that determines the overall systematic risk of the business

Working Capital Management, Liquidity and Corporate Profitability among quoted Firms in Nigeria: Evidence from the Productive Sector

Working capital management is very crucial in this period of global financial turmoil. This is because illiquidity is prevalent world-wide necessitating that effective and efficient management of any available cash will be needed to ensure that company breaks even and survives this distressed time since credit is not easily come by. This article presents empirical evidence of the effect of working capital management and liquidity on corporate profits using a cross-sectional time series data for the period 2005-2006. This micro-data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an OLS methodology. The authors find a positive effect of inventory conversion period (ICP), debtors collection period (DCP); and a negative effect of cash conversion period (CCP), creditors payment period (CPP), on return on assets (a mirror of corporate profitability). We discover that CCP with a wrong sign is the most significant precision variable in influencing profits and leads corporate profitability in Nigeria. It is closely followed by ICP and then CPP is third in importance in affecting profitability and liquidity in Nigeria. The paper therefore recommends (1) that firms should promptly collect cash from credit sales, (2) that excess cash should be reinvested in short-term securities (assets) to generate profits and (3) that since there exists high sales turnover in the Nigerian emerging markets, government policy should target multinational companies (MNCs) for invitation to participate in investing in Nigeria by creating the right legal and regulatory framework to enable them enter the market for possible FDI, IPI, and FPI injections into the Nigerian domestic economy

HIV Non-Occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Awareness Among Undergraduate Students of a Private University in South-West Nigeria

Objectives: The Human Immunodeficiency virus causes an infection of public health importance with about 71% of the global burden in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, 3.2 million people are living with HIV, and 838,000 - 1.3 million of the cases are found among youths. Although Non- Occupational Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) post-exposure prophylaxis (nPEP) is a safe and efficacious method of HIV prevention, it remains an underutilized prevention strategy in Nigeria.  This study aimed to determine the awareness level of nPEP after sexual and other non-occupational exposure to HIV among undergraduate students of a private University. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 395 undergraduates’ students. Data was collected by pre-tested structured self-administered questionnaires. Data obtained from the study were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 20 software program and Frequency distribution tables with percentages and cross-tables were used for data description. Results: About 42.8% were aware of nPEP. Most of the respondents 361 (91.4%) knew that PEP is to be given after HIV exposure risk following sexual intercourse. Although 79.5% of the respondents indicated that they will see their physician after unprotected sexual intercourse and other non-occupational exposure to HIV, the majority neither knows about nPEP initiation time, 247 (62.5%) nor its duration, 286 (72.4%). Conclusions: A low level of awareness was observed among our study participants, therefore, consistent health education and promotion of nPEP will improve its awareness, uptake, and possibly reduce the prevalence of HIV among our youths

Lysophosphatidic Acid Acyltransferase β (LPAATβ) Promotes the Tumor Growth of Human Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignancy of bone with poorly characterized molecular pathways important in its pathogenesis. Increasing evidence indicates that elevated lipid biosynthesis is a characteristic feature of cancer. We sought to investigate the role of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase β (LPAATβ, aka, AGPAT2) in regulating the proliferation and growth of human osteosarcoma cells. LPAATβ can generate phosphatidic acid, which plays a key role in lipid biosynthesis as well as in cell proliferation and survival. Although elevated expression of LPAATβ has been reported in several types of human tumors, the role of LPAATβ in osteosarcoma progression has yet to be elucidated.Endogenous expression of LPAATβ in osteosarcoma cell lines is analyzed by using semi-quantitative PCR and immunohistochemical staining. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of LPAATβ and silencing LPAATβ expression is employed to determine the effect of LPAATβ on osteosarcoma cell proliferation and migration in vitro and osteosarcoma tumor growth in vivo. We have found that expression of LPAATβ is readily detected in 8 of the 10 analyzed human osteosarcoma lines. Exogenous expression of LPAATβ promotes osteosarcoma cell proliferation and migration, while silencing LPAATβ expression inhibits these cellular characteristics. We further demonstrate that exogenous expression of LPAATβ effectively promotes tumor growth, while knockdown of LPAATβ expression inhibits tumor growth in an orthotopic xenograft model of human osteosarcoma.Our results strongly suggest that LPAATβ expression may be associated with the aggressive phenotypes of human osteosarcoma and that LPAATβ may play an important role in regulating osteosarcoma cell proliferation and tumor growth. Thus, targeting LPAATβ may be exploited as a novel therapeutic strategy for the clinical management of osteosarcoma. This is especially attractive given the availability of selective pharmacological inhibitors