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Developments in the internal audit profession appear to be heading along two different paths. Role confusion among auditors is common, and strategic planning in the audit function is very difficult as a result. Presents a transformation model which explains the changes and the growth of the internal audit profession over the past five millennia and describes what internal auditing will be like in the twenty‐first century. Using this model, modern internal auditing executives can develop strategies to prepare for the new cycle of change that is on us.

Ethical problems are a particular class of management problem. Resolving the dilemmas faced by internal audit management involves an understanding of the origins of ethical thought and the uses and limitations of Codes of Ethics. Reviews the available literature as well as practical case studies from the author′s experience. The case studies illustrate common problems. Makes recommendations for managing ethical problems for individuals, organizations and the auditing profession.

The auditing profession has been an important feature of industrialized economies for many years. The manner in which the auditing profession is regulated in the insurance industry, therefore, is worthy of investigation in light of the recent collapse of Heath International Holdings (HIH) which is currently recorded as the biggest corporate collapse in Australia's history. Two questions remain: did the HIH auditors carry out the work ethically and responsibly? Did the regulators fulfill their responsible roles? Among all factors that have led to the collapse of HIH, that of the auditor's role and the auditing profession's ethics has assumed particular importance.

The purpose of this paper is to appraise the current status of enterprise risk management (ERM) in the Gulf Co‐operation Council (GCC) oil and gas entities to develop a practical, region‐specific, and systematic action plan for the GCC oil and gas industry that can transform the existing ERM models to a mature and robust framework.

The paper reviews current relevant literature on Committee of Sponsoring Organization of the Treadway Commission ERM Framework; and enterprise wide risk framework within the precincts of the GCC oil and gas industry to identify the knowledge gaps which form the basis for the research questions. The paper then empirically investigates the GCC oil industry through six case studies, encompassing the six countries in the GCC (GCC comprising of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates). The case study has focused by exploring the ERM system per se through comparative case studies to answer the research questions. The research questions and the work have been done from the perspective of the naturalistic (inductive) research paradigm.

This paper establishes the understanding of the current existing ERM models while identifying the determinants of ERM adoption and the most significant challenges for its implementation. Furthermore, the paper also develops the best practice approach for successful ERM implementation in the GCC oil and gas entities.

The use of a case study has been made precluding the use of other direct methods such as survey questionnaires. The analytical methods used are deductive and discursive in nature, limited to the nature of the methodology of case study used. Rigorous statistical methods could not be applied owing to the limitations of the case study method. The paper explores and compares the industry structure of oil and gas sector in GCC countries, for this purpose, only a few selected entities in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sector are discussed.

Although ERM is conceptually straightforward, its implementation in practice is not. Furthermore, ERM is accepted as a contemporary hot topic and also a board room priority in most industries. The present paper steers the way forward for an improved understanding of the ERM system in a strategic industry dealing with a strategic commodity.

There is a need for a proactive ERM program in the oil and gas industry and also a need for additional research especially in terms of its implementation. Nevertheless, an apparent caveat in the ERM system is that there is no standard approach to implementing and entities grapple with how they should go about putting together an ERM program. The findings provide useful and timely analysis of the GCC oil and gas industry from the perspective of implementation of an ERM framework which is contemporaneous business priority item in most entities in the GCC hydrocarbon sector.

Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to address and reduce income inequality. However, since 1980, income inequality in the United States has caused concerns for researchers, policymakers and the public. Entrepreneurs and managers can take advantage of information technologies, while those in the middle and the bottom see fewer benefits. Meanwhile, countries such as Iceland are more capable of using ICT infrastructure to reduce income inequality, which contributes to the well-being of its citizens. This research study explores the relationship between infrastructure diffusion and income inequality through Rogers’s diffusion of innovations theory.

To answer the research questions, the author assessed the data through a series of regression analyses using SPSS. The authors used Power BI software to chart the relationships between ICT infrastructure diffusion and income inequality by country and in the United States by state and region.

The results show diffusion of innovations theory’s tenets do not necessarily hold, because a significant negative relationship exists between infrastructure diffusion and income inequality, especially in countries with emerging economies. In the United States, this relationship significantly differs by region.

This research contributes to research by expanding economic and sociology work to the IS domain, while providing conflicting evidence for diffusion of innovations theory. The research also provides suggestions for practice, such as more focused ICT infrastructure investments and regulations.

NEXIS and DIALOG both offer full‐text online coverage of the magazine Business Week, while ABI/INFORM Global Edition on CDROM provides abstracts. A comparison of all three systems shows mixed results. DIALOG had the most records for two narrow topics, while NEXIS was superior when the search topic was broader. Although retrieving fewer items than the full‐text systems, ABI/INFORM had a considerable amount of material. With the difficulty of choosing between costly full‐text systems, settling for abstracts on CDROM may be an alternative for the researcher.

Research and development of out‐patient case mix systems, to plan and monitor resource use in the out‐patient sector, has hitherto not been accorded priority in the NHS. As part of an investigation of their usefulness, a survey of NHS professionals′ requirements for out‐patient case mix was conducted. The results confirmed that there was support for developing out‐patient case mix systems, although different users had different requirements. However, a common theme to emerge was the desirability of constructing holistic systems which cover in‐patient, day‐case and out‐patient care. Additionally, development of care packages was seen as a necessary first step in constructing systems for out‐patient care. Concludes that visit‐based case mix systems are unlikely to fulfil users′ requirements and recommends that case mix contracting projects by Healthcare Resource Groups should be extended to the out‐patient sector, but must recognize that existing systems do not meet users′ requirements.

This study aims to investigate teacher perspectives on teaching handwriting to children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and collaboration with occupational therapists.

A descriptive design was applied. Purpose-designed surveys were distributed to teachers of children with ASD (aged 4-12 years) in the Republic of Ireland. A response rate of 35 per cent (N = 75) was obtained, with 25 responses analysed using descriptive statistics of closed questions and content analysis of open-ended questions.

Of 139 children with ASD, 80 (58 per cent) were reported to have difficulties with handwriting. Teachers reported specific difficulties with pencil grasp, letter formation and task concept among the children with ASD. Fourteen (56 per cent, N = 25) respondents did not give handwriting as homework. Teachers valued occupational therapy advice, individualised programmes and ongoing consultation during implementation. Interest in occupational therapy education regarding handwriting was reported.

Occupational therapy collaboration to address handwriting difficulties for children with ASD should include involvement in teacher education, coordination of teacher–parent collaboration and the need for involvement in early intervention provision within an emergent literacy framework.

Handwriting development is challenging for children with ASD. There is limited information on teaching or teacher–occupational therapy collaborative practices to address handwriting difficulties of children with ASD.

While the importance of leadership in various domains has been highlighted in the extant literature, effective leadership in the context of higher education sector has not been well addressed in the leadership scholarship. There is a need to address the challenge of leadership effectiveness in the education sector, including business schools, given the failures noticed in the sector attributed to poor-quality leadership. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the factors that affected leadership in the context of higher education institutions.

The research is exploratory in nature as the study critically reviewed extant literature surrounding leadership practices specifically from a public-sector context to identify factors affecting leadership effectiveness.

The findings of the study pointed out that, regardless of the nation or organisation, leadership effectiveness is a factor that is dependent on how well the followers have accepted the leader. This indicates that, amongst the different challenges explored in this study, leadership effectiveness is not only a challenge by itself but is also affected by other challenges, including leadership practice and style.

This research provides a better understanding of the critical factors affecting leadership practice of deans of business schools and how the styles’ influence on leadership practice, the relationship between leadership practice and leadership effectiveness and how leadership style translates into leadership effectiveness.

This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge surrounding leadership scholarship from a public-sector context about the challenges that affect leadership effectiveness in the context of HEIs and stimulates further investigation into those challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to inform or alert readers to the extensive use and ready availability of genetic information that poses varying degrees of social and legal danger. The eugenics movement of the 1920s and the general acceptance of genetic essentialism provide context for considering contemporary examples of the problem.

This paper takes an argumentative approach, supporting proposals with ideas from historical and current research literature.

The limits of data protection, extensive use of direct-to-consumer genetic testing and use of genetic information in white nationalist circles portend a resurgence of eugenic beliefs from a century ago.

Research-based recommendations may help to avoid extreme consequences by encouraging people to make informed decisions about the use of genetic information.

The paper counterposes contemporary understanding of genetic testing and data accessibility with the much older ideology of eugenics, leading to concerns about how white nationalists might further their aims with 21st century technology.