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The crux of the paper's argument is that, if organisations are to counter computer fraud, they must adopt suitable personnel procedures. The authors start by examining previous research into computer fraud focusing on the work of Albrecht et al and Bologna. They then set out personnel practices and procedures which, it is maintained, provide a powerful deterrent to computer crime. The paper ends with an analysis of the Audit Commission's publication, ‘Survey of Computer Fraud and Abuse’ and an examination of cases where improved personnel procedures may have deterred computer abuse.

With our growing reliance on interconnected computers and networks, viruses and other forms of computer abuse are becoming an increasing problem. Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) have been set up in the USA to respond to the problem, and an organisation called ‘FIRST’ has been formed by the various CERTs to act as their mouthpiece. This paper discusses both the preventative and response roles of CERTs and then looks at what is being done to establish such a system in Europe.

Fragile states (FS) are often neglected and categorized as “aid orphans”. In extreme circumstances, they are loaded with aid beyond their absorptive capacity. However, whether they receive little or too much, there is a compelling imperative to coordinate aid aimed at capacity development effectively. In an ever shrinking pot of funds from donors mainly due to the current global economic downturn, it is extremely important to coordinate and harmonise aid delivery. FS cannot afford to waste any money trapped under rubble of multi‐donor aid bureaucracy. Due to the multidimensional nature of fragility, we draw on case studies and interdisciplinary insights from Authority‐Legitimacy‐Capacity (ALC), Country Development Framework (CDF) and other models and frameworks of donor coordination. A number of asymmetries (e.g. technical, cultural and, financial) between donors and recipients need to be addressed. Donors can harmonise their respective Africa strategies reports and give priority to infrastructure instead of focusing exclusively on the social agenda as in the past. FS should fight the local culture of corruption, avoid fungibility, protect vulnerable groups in society, focus on reintegration as well as demobilizing ex‐combatants with employment provisions. Donors should not give mixed signals to recipients and need to be flexible in their operational procedures. Finally, we discuss the implications of key emerging issues that threaten or facilitate sustainable reconstruction, development and poverty reduction in post‐conflict environments.

A perennial problem in fraud detection is the need to identify potential fraudsters. One recent area of interest has been the use of computers to combat fraud and identify potential fraudsters, for example Leinicke et al. and Daniele both described the application of ‘computer fraud auditing’ to a number of situations and highlighted examples where computers have played an important role in making detective activities cost effective. Doig and Graham examined measures taken by the Intervention Board using the database operated by EC Customs agencies to ensure that audit checks were concentrated in sectors of undertakings where the risk of fraud was especially high and Dixon noted that computers can assist in the flagging of potentially fraudulent claims through an automated search for various fraud indicators.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the background to the special issue and to provide an introduction to the articles on case studies included in the issue.

The paper uses a review of developments in both the qualitative tradition and case studies in management research to provide a backdrop for the articles that are included in the issue. The articles discuss: the merits of unique cases and singular forms of evidence within a single case; the comparability of case studies with tools in other areas; and methods of theorising from case studies.

The merits of case studies have often been understated. The articles in this issue highlight a broader variety of uses of case study research than is commonly recognized.

This guest editorial introduces the papers in this issue, which may be read either as individual contributions that have merits per se, or as part of a collection that this introductory paper helps to knit together.

Internal auditors have an important role in communicating the threat posed by the spread of computer viruses and advising on appropriate control strategies. Computer virus is defined, distinguishing between “true” viruses and other rogue software like logic bombs, Trojan horses and worms. Some reported incidents are discussed; the application of risk management as an effective approach is considered. Control techniques are listed under the categories: organisational, software and hardware. How epidemiological analogy can be applied in high risk situations is explored through a system infection control programme under the direction of a system infection control committee.

Outlines the nature of audit committees in UK companies including the interaction between the audit committee and the internal audit function. Suggests that audit committees are not a panacea for deficiencies in corporate governance.

The aim of this article is to apply a re‐worked definition of ideology in order to account for cultural and political dimensions of contemporary armed conflicts.

The paper analyzes communiqués, press releases, magazines, pamphlets, speeches, interviews and other communicational media produced by insurgent organizations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia, particularly in the post‐Cold War, in order to assess the characteristics of their ideological platforms. The extensive use of these primary sources aims at revealing the way the organizations see themselves, and how important ideological warfare is in their overall strategy.

In the post‐Cold War, and even in the early twenty‐first century, armed guerrillas persisted in linking their armed struggle to ideological platforms, though in more flexible versions. Nationalism, fundamentalism and socialism are functional to their tactics and strategies, and have tangible effects at strategic and tactical levels.

Three sample cases have been revised exhaustively, but that methodology impedes the examination of a wider spectrum of post‐Cold War insurgent organizations, which may balance the results here presented. However, the high relevance of the ideological component in contemporary armed conflicts, as shown in the Afghan, Congolese and Colombian cases, demonstrates the need for further academic works on this topic.

Re‐defining ideology, as the paper proposes, turns it into a powerful conceptual tool to be used in academic research, given that precisely the absence of comprehensive categories of analysis has prevented scholars from providing a full picture of the political and cultural dimensions of contemporary armed conflicts.

As economic‐focused researches on armed conflicts have dominated the field since the 1990s, the paper underlines the need for scholars to approach a broader scope in peace studies.

The purpose of this paper is to develop principles through which the global economic structure could become more equal and just; it begins by demonstrating that world poverty is pervasive, and that the global economic structure is very unequal.

The paper utilizes conceptual/theoretical arguments in welfare economics, utilitarianism, Sen's capability approach, and Rawlsian theories of justice to argue that none of those theories can lead to a more equal global economic structure. Thus, the development of more egalitarian principles is needed.

Arguing that the principles that Rawls developed in his 1999 The Law of Peoples are more egalitarian than the other theories, the paper still finds them less than adequate. However, the principles developed in the paper can lead the world toward a more just and much more egalitarian economic structure.

Since the principles developed in the paper are more egalitarian, helping toward ending world poverty and extreme inequality, the paper and its findings constitute an original and a valuable contribution.