Implementing section 404 of the sarbanes oxley act: Recommendations for information systems organizations

Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) Act addresses the effectiveness of internal controls, which in most organizations are either fully or partially automated due to the pervasiveness and ubiquity of information technologies. Significant or material control deficiencies have to be reported publicly. The adverse impact on organizations declaring deficiencies can be severe, for example, damage to reputation and/or market value. While there are many practitioner-led manuals and methods for dealing with 404, there has been little published in the academic research literature investigating the role of Information Systems organizations in implementing Section 404. The paper addresses this gap in knowledge. We used institutional theory as the lens through which to examine the experiences of Section 404 implementation in three global organizations. We used the case study method and an abductive strategy to gather and analyze data respectively. Our findings are summarized in six recommendations. We found that institutional pressures play a critical role in the implementation of Section 404. In particular, organizations face coercive pressure to achieve Section 404 compliance, without which punitive sanctions can be imposed by regulators. Organizations tend to imitate one another in the methods they use so that each is perceived to be in line with their competitive environment. Organizations face normative pressures to act in ways that are socially acceptable, which is to achieve compliance. Failure to do so would be a signal to the market that the organization does not take controls seriously. We expand these findings in terms of power and influence tactics that IS organizations can use when implementing Section 404. Our findings provide directions for practice and lines of enquiry for further research

Walking upright here : countering prevailing discourses through reflexivity and methodological pluralism : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Knowledge development takes place in the context of competing political, social and economic frameworks that often reflect dominant group values, practises and ideologies. Research scholarship needs to include and legitimate knowledge construction from different locations and epistemologies. Where research occurs with minority groups it is suggested that multiple research strategies are incorporated in order to prevent the reproduction of deficiency discourses. Such strategies could include self-reflexivity and the use of methodological pluralism, incorporating appropriate methodologies that can be used to expose and dismantle hegemonic discourses. A research exemplar is used that features the dual transition of migration and motherhood for women from Goa, India who are now living in New Zealand. This is done to illustrate the applicability of reflexivity and methodological pluralism in countering the hegemonic deficiency discourse associated with migrant women. The qualitative approach that was used privileges culture and locates the participants in their historical and cultural contexts. Goan women were interviewed about their migration history, their adjustment to living in New Zealand and experiences of childbirth and motherhood in a new country. The use of alternative creative and innovative conceptions of methodology that allow for the emergence of undetermined discursive spaces between different lines of inquiry, within which the authentic voices of participants might lodge and be heard is advocated. Without such strategies research that purports to represent the experiences of a particular group risks reproducing the processes of subordination that devalue certain groups while holding in place the needs and aspirations of a privileged few. The findings of the exemplar challenge monolithic essentialising representations of migrant women associated with discourses that position them as backward, passive and deficient. This thesis advances the discussion on what it means to construct knowledge of social practices within a multi-ethnic environment in order that the voice of the 'other' can be heard

Social Evolution: New Horizons

Cooperation is a widespread natural phenomenon yet current evolutionary thinking is dominated by the paradigm of selfish competition. Recent advanced in many fronts of Biology and Non-linear Physics are helping to bring cooperation to its proper place. In this contribution, the most important controversies and open research avenues in the field of social evolution are reviewed. It is argued that a novel theory of social evolution must integrate the concepts of the science of Complex Systems with those of the Darwinian tradition. Current gene-centric approaches should be reviewed and com- plemented with evidence from multilevel phenomena (group selection), the constrains given by the non-linear nature of biological dynamical systems and the emergent nature of dissipative phenomena.Comment: 16 pages 5 figures, chapter in forthcoming open access book "Frontiers in Ecology, Evolution and Complexity" CopIt-arXives 2014, Mexic

Complexities of large-scale technology project failure: A forensic analysis of the Seattle popular monorail authority

“Being stuck in traffic doesn’t have to be a way of life.” This beautiful prologue came from the Elevated Transportation Company (ETC) board’s letter in the ETC Seattle Popular Monorail Plan, one of the largest public works projects ever proposed in the city of Seattle. Three years after this proposal, the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) was shut down by voters on November 8, 2005. This paper critically analyzes the SMP through the lens of stakeholder theory. This perspective provides valuable insights into the failure of the SMP. We theorize that SMP’s failure might have been avoided had its leadership recognized the many stakeholders that had power over the plan and, more importantly, the dynamic changes in relationships between the stakeholders. Failure might also have been avoided by managing conflicts in stakeholders’ expectations. Specifically, we use stakeholder theory to develop four propositions that are relevant in the context of large-scale technology projects. One, organizations are more likely to succeed when have effective mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating interactions between stakeholders and changes in their positions in relation to their strategic innovation projects. Two, organizations are more likely to succeed when they tradeoff the conflicts in expectations and interests that stakeholders hold. Three, organizations are more likely to implement complex technology projects by understanding stakeholders’ expectations and the interplay between stakeholders. Four, organizations are more likely to achieve their innovative projects when they define stakeholders in terms of their power over their strategic objectives. The paper makes a contribution both to the research and practice of major technological infrastructure projects, strategic innovations, and government technology management

Teaching ethics:intersectionality, care failure and moral courage

Highlights• Provides a critical discussion of ethics teaching arguing that it must recognise begin to recognise frameworks from outside the Anglo-European tradition.• Drawing on examples of care failure, racism and sexism, argues that there is evidence that some nurses struggle to practice in accordance with ethical guidance.• Identifies intersectionality, the culture of practice and moral courage as fundamental to enabling nurses to practice in accordance with ethical guidance• Presents a case for an approach to applied approach ethics education, which recognises the complexity and diversity of practice

Short timescale behavior of colliding heavy nuclei at intermediate energies

An Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics model is used to explore the collision of $^{114}$Cd projectiles with $^{92}$Mo target nuclei at E/A=50 MeV over a broad range in impact parameter. The atomic number (Z), velocity, and emission pattern of the reaction products are examined as a function of the impact parameter and the cluster recognition time. The non-central collisions are found to be essentially binary in character resulting in the formation of an excited projectile-like fragment (PLF$^*$) and target-like fragment (TLF$^*$). The decay of these fragments occurs on a short timescale, 100$\le$t$\le$300 fm/c. The average excitation energy deduced for the PLF$^*$ and TLF$^*$ `saturates for mid-central collisions, 3.5$\le$b$\le$6 fm, with its magnitude depending on the cluster recognition time. For short cluster recognition times (t=150 fm/c), an average excitation energy as high as $\approx$6 MeV is predicted. Short timescale emission leads to a loss of initial correlations and results in features such as an anisotropic emission pattern of both IMFs and alpha particles emitted from the PLF$^*$ and TLF$^*$ in peripheral collisions.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figure