The Value of Public Sector Audit:Literature and History

This paper explores the value of financial statement auditing in the public sector. The study applies theory about auditing from the private sector as well as the public sector to explore ways in which public sector auditing can be expected to be valuable. It shows that there are a number of complementary explanations that can be applied to examine the value of public audit, including agency, signaling, insurance, management control, governance and confirmation explanations. The evidence from research and history is generally consistent with the agency and management control explanations. There is some support for the signaling and insurance explanations, while research evidence suggests that governance has differing impact in the public sector compared to the private. The confirmation hypothesis is also potentially relevant. Reviewing the history of the development of public sector auditing functions shows that at least some developments were consistent with explanations such as agency theory and management control. Auditing in the public sector is an area where more research is valuable. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues for further investigation

The integrated strategic purchasing and focused outsourcing approach

In order that purchasing becomes a more strategically oriented business activity, purchasing staff need to engage in purchasing‐oriented research and devise and implement industry‐specific purchasing intelligence systems. Purchasing staff need to raise their profile within the company if they are to be involved in a range of marketing activities such as the development of a customer service policy. Strategic purchasing officers have the skills and knowledge to be involved in a number of business intelligence activities such as monitoring and evaluating environmental and business trends; managing trust‐based buyer–supplier relationships; devising and implementing total quality management systems; and participating in international business deals such as negotiating market entry strategies, for example the formulation of strategic alliances