Information Security Access Control Methods Assignment

Information Security Access Control Methods - Assignment Example Passwords are granted to the end user for accessing their accounts. User access can be managed locally or by policies defined by the organization. It is a method of strengthening the network security by limiting the accessibility of network resources to communicating devices that fulfill with a proposed security policy. Network Access Control method restricts the end users from accessing particular resources within the network. (Helfrich, Frahim, Santos, & White, 2007, p. 396-397) A well planned network access control strategy includes anti-threat applications like anti-viruses, intrusion detection systems, spywares prevention programs, as well as access control lists (ACLs). It also shapes the individual access to particular resources, once connected. Access control for an OS establishes the process of implementing access level policies of the system’s resources satisfying the security policies of integrity, availability, and confidentiality. This procedure authorizes processes/users to carry out certain operation different resources of the operating system. It is method of securing information systems. It converts the information to some language that is only understandable by the user for whom it was ciphered. This process starts by ciphering the plain text to a cipher-text for scrambling the information into some cryptographic language. (Peltier, Peltier, & Blackley, 2005)The individual who performs the encryption and decryption is named as

History- Low Risk #8 The Crown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History- Low Risk #8 The Crown - Essay Example been made by the Indian company may be maintained at her authority’s pleasure, an indication that the Indians are subjects to the will of the colonial power. The Queen also views revolting Indians as enemies though she provides for qualified amnesty to those who wish to honor her authority. Her statement of protection of rights of the Indians and provisions for equal treatment for job opportunities however presents an appeal to the Indians that their welfare is of interest. The Queen therefore views the Indians as subjects who are slaves to her authority (Wason, p. 2, 3). The King Emperor however addresses the Indian people in a democratic tone. His speech identifies political freedom that the Indians are entitled to and which his authority wishes to grant. The king’s identification of successful initiatives by his authority towards peace, stability, and good governance that respect the will of the colonized territories means that the monarch values the Indians, not just as the colonized but also as a people who are entitled to good governance (Wason, p.

Planned Change Programs May be Harmful to Organizations Essay

Planned Change Programs May be Harmful to Organizations - Essay Example It is common for every organization that is interested in maximizing its profit to have well-structured organizational plans. Nevertheless, not all planned change works for the best interest of the organization in question. In fact many planned changes are considered to be of great harm to many organizations (Marion 2011). Nevertheless, research shows that there are available alternatives to planned changes.Planned changes are essential to better position the extension organization and focus on client needs and moving forward in sustainability programs (Marion, 2011).. Reorganization provides a framework for longer-term commitment to organizations and sub units are being encouraged to put work teams in place to ensure that each sector integrates staff and services into a cohesive, focused business unit (Cheremisin and Davletshin, 2010). Consultation and participation are believed to be essential for the successful development and implementation of organizational goals and objectives. Each work team is asked to develop an effective process for discussion of major challenges and opportunities facing the organization, if possible, over the next decade. Updated strategic plans are then developed.In addition to this, these plans form a framework for focusing organizational resources on the most strategic fields by using a well laid out approach. Updated strategies are implemented by workers at all levels of management in many organizations, 90 percent of the work force is provided by the human beings.

Substantial development and its benefits to Toronto Essay

Substantial development and its benefits to Toronto - Essay Example Sustainability entails that we should consider the world to be a system connected in both space and time, hence an environmental blunder committed in a particular place in the world, will be felt worldwide and in generations to come. In a developmental context, sustainability calls for a decision making process that is futuristic. It strives to bring a balance between the competing needs and environmental consciousness. According to Stockholm Partnership Forum for Sustainable Development (2012), Stockholm is one of the world’s greatest cities that have highly embraced the idea of substantial development though it has been facing a lot of challenges. The city offers an attractive and conducive environment for its citizens in both the working and living arenas. Through its principle of sustainability, has been seen to grow substantially in terms of economics. For instance its 2012-2015 environmental program is envisioned in the principle of promoting an appealing and developing city where individual’s needs are approached from both a qualitative and bio-diversity approach. The program seeks to promote a transport system that is environmentally efficient, sustainable use of resources (land, energy and water), effective waste treatment techniques and production of human friendly structures and goods. The combined approach of BBP-NC and TGS will surely benefit the city through infrastructural expansion as well as health care costs. This is because it aims at providing infrastructural structures that are long lasting and eco-friendly. Sustainability emphasizes on recycling and proper utilization of resources, principles which are very prominent in both the two approaches (Lindstrà ¶m & Kà ¼ller, 2008). Furthermore, if natural resources such as air and land are abused currently, their long felt effects such as global warming will be felt intensely in the future. This is why TGS and BBP-NC strive to reduce significantly the amount of carbon dioxide

Seven Ancient Wonders Of The World Essay Example for Free

Seven Ancient Wonders Of The World Essay Man fears Time, yet Time fears the PyramidsThe Great Pyramid of Giza lies next to Cairo. It is today in greater Cairo. According to the wonders of the ancient world, the pyramid of Khufu is the only pyramid included in the list of the wonders. The other two of the pyramids of Giza are excluded from the list. This is the only monument of the seven wonders to survive till today in perfect condition and managing mere escapes from fires, earthquakes and other common disasters that hold a threat to anything other large artifact stands on earth. It today is in perfect condition despite its loss of height and its unperfected preservation of outside rock smoothness and quality. It was constructed by the Egyptian pharaoh: Khufu of the fourth dynasty. It held its purpose as his tomb, and a few years later its purpose came into use. It is the only surviving ancient wonder. The Hanging gardens of Babylon was located on the east coast of the river Euphrates. It is currently located 50 kms south of Baghdad in Iraq. These hanging gardens were built in the Babylonian empire at the time of the neo-Babylonian dynasty and built by the famous king Naboplashars son: Nebuchadnezzar II. Its purpose was to please the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, whom liked mountain, surrounded areas. The only remains of the gardens were the foundations excavated in more recent archaeological projects in Iraq. However the gardens were accurately reconstructed with many positive and negative arguments about the artificial structure. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were very well renowned for its system of water fountains, pipes and irrigation structures, which take care of the garden leaving the grass permanently green and the trees and bushes regularly watered. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was located in the ancient town of Olympia, on the modern map; the monument is located on the west coast of Greece, approximately 150 km west of Athens. The construction of the statue was completed in 450 BC. It was built in honor of the god Zeus. As the importance of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece became more demanding, important, and cultural, the Greeks needed a temple that was new, large, one worthy of the king of the gods. Thus they built the statue of Zeus. It was made a wonder of the ancient world due to its magnificent interior statue. It is well renowned for the statues sandals and robes which were made of gold and the temples Doric styled design. As the years passed, several natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides and floods did immense damage to the structure. Later on, the inner statue of Zeus was transported to Constantinople. There it suffered from a fire and today the only remains of this temple are rocks and debris. The Ancient temple of Artemis is located in the ancient city of Ephesus near the modern city of Selcuk 50kms south of Izmir in Turkey. It was built in honour of the divinities of hunting, wild nature and fertility: the goddess Artemis. The structure was believed to be the most beautiful structure on Earth and was built around 550BC. The temple was both a market place and a religious institution. It was a temple built of the greatest marble and consisted of bronze statues of the goddesses. The temple was later on burned to the ground by Herostratus who wanted to immortalize his name under the name of history and existence and he was very successful. Then a law had been created that whoever spoke of him shall be executed. It was a coincidence that Alexander the great was born on the same night of destruction of the temple, and the goddess Artemis was too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to save her temple. Though the temple was rebuilt and now named temple E, the temple which was actually the wonder is now nothing but foundations and rock. The mausoleum at Halicarnassus is located in the city of Bodrum (Halicarnassus) on the Aegean Sea in south west Turkey. It was built as a tomb for the king of the empire Caria. It was well renowned for its extreme beauty and the finest marble of which it was built with.it is also known for its beautiful inner statues. Later on in the early 16 century, the structure faced an end. The knights of st John built a massive crusading castle and decided to fortify it. Thus they used the mausoleum to supply their  material. They displaced every block from the mausoleum to build their walls. By 1522, the mausoleums foundations were also incomplete, it had been cleared. The Colossus of Rhodes was located at entrance of a harbor in the Mediterranean island of Rhodes at Greece. In 304BC, after the people of Rhodes came to a peace agreement with the Antigonids, they collected their leftover weapons from outside their territory where the Antigonids have been trying to siege Rhodes in order to break their alliance with Ptolemy I from Egypt. They sold the weapons and collected the money and built the statue in symbol of their freedom. It took 12 years to construct the structure, and it lived for only a mere 56 years. It was broken by an earthquake at its weakest point, its knees. Around AD654, it was sold to a Jew. The statue was well known for its amazing shape of it standing on two pieces of land which were joined the major island. Each mini peninsula had a leg on it and the statue lifting a torch into the sky. The statue was a divinity: the sun god of Rhodes-Helios. The Lighthouse of Alexandria was located on the island of pharos currently in Alexandria in Egypt. It was built in honor of the savior gods. It was necessary that they built that lighthouse because of the dangerous and rough rocked coastline of Alexandria. So they built it to save the ships from danger. It was very well renowned for its mirrors which could reflect light for over 50 miles. It was the only wonder of the seven wonders of the ancient world that had a purpose that would serve several people with an additional purpose other than religion. It was the most important of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world. The list of the seven wonders of the ancient world was originally compiled around 200BC.many suggestions, arguments and changes have been made to the list when finally during the middle ages the list was recompiled, even though most of the monuments didnt even co-exist. For the ancient people and workers who built and saw the wonders being built to them was a celebration of either religion, peace, burial or afterlife ceremonies, freedom or simply the beauty of the structure like the hanging Gardens of  Babylon. others had a more important and divers purposes such as the Lighthouse of Alexandria which was built in honor of the savior gods and was built to help the ancient sailors to a peaceful trip back or to the harbor. Some structures like the Great Pyramid of Giza were spectacular and complicated structures with several passageways, corridors, traps and escape shafts to confuse tomb raiders. However, every single wonder was truly spectacular and the ancient world wouldnt have bee n able to support its massive reputation without these structures. Bibliography http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/pyramid.htmlhttp://www.unmuseum.org/ztemp.htmhttp://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/zeus.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/9705/seven.wonders/http://www.crystalinks.com/seven.html

ROLE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS IN RISK MANAGEMENT Essay Example for Free

ROLE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS IN RISK MANAGEMENT Essay Effectiveness of Internal Auditing of institutions and bodies formed under Acts of Parliament has been less studied and reported in the literature. The study is focused in examining the relationship between the employees’ attitude and perception and the internal Audit’s effectiveness in delivering on their roles in a rapidly evolving environment and public’s awareness of their roles. The main aim of this research study is to better understand  and measure the effect of employee’s attitude and perception on the effectiveness of internal audit in public institutions, with National Social Security Fund as a case study. A survey of sampled 425 employees will be undertaken and the results of the quantitative and qualitative survey findings will be reported. The research is designed to be conducted using both quantitative and qualitative approaches by use of literature review, survey, and case study. Data will be collected from the chosen sample through structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews as well as review of available documents and records targeting members of the Internal Audit. Data will be analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 11.0 tool, which is a computer based automated statistical tool and conclusions drawn; from the findings of the study, recommendations will be made which will help institutions to determine paradigm shift in attitude and perceptions by employees necessary to keep the internal audit as an effective critical function relevant in the future for robust public sector financial management and governance to assist organizations achieve their goals. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Background to the Study. Traditionally, internal auditing in the public sector served as a simple administrative procedure to ensure compliance and it comprised mainly of checking for accuracy of transactions, pre-payment verification and control, counting assets and reporting on past events to various levels of management. However, combinations of factors in the social-political and economic discourse globally have led to greater citizen awareness and participation in the public sector governance. As a result, public institutions are moving towards higher levels of transparency, efficiency, accountability and integrity in the use of public resources. Consequently, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA, 1999a) redefined internal auditing as: †¦. an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by  bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes. This definition signifies that internal audit has undergone a paradigm shift from an emphasis on accountability about the past to improving future outcomes to help auditees operate more effectively and efficiently (Nagy and Cenker, 2002; Stern, 1994; Goodwin, 2004). Since, the definition equally serves both the private and the public sectors (Goodwin, 2004), it is used in this study as a basis to analyze public sector internal audit effectiveness. Internal audit is effective if it meets the intended outcome it is supposed to bring about. Sawyer (1995) states, â€Å"†¦ internal auditors job is not done until defects are corrected and remain corrected.† Van Gansberghe (2005) explains that internal audit effectiveness in the public sector should be evaluated by the extent to which it contributes to the demonstration of effective and efficient service delivery, as this drives the demand for improved internal audit services. Traditionally, ineffectiveness of internal audit has been as a result of understaffing, unqualified and nonprofessional staff and underfunding. Despite invigorated internal audit function with sufficient well trained, qualified and professional staff topped up with adequate funding in the public sector institutions such as National Social Security Fund (NSSF), and being charged with responsibilities of advising management on issues of policy and compliance, accountability, financial reporting, safeguarding of assets, risk management, prevention of fraud and on economic and efficient use of resources (PFA, 2003): there are continued incidences of budget deficits, unpaid utilities, unremitted pensions, unproductive investments, irregular payments, unaccounted for funds, loss of pension cash, non compliance with policies and procedures and general mismanagement of funds. A report by the Auditor General tabled in Parliament in June, 2013 indicated savers could have lost billions of shill ings in dubious transactions and shady land deals (SNP, June 6, 2013). There is urgent need to identify critical success factors to enable the internal audit to perform effectively the roles for which it is intended in the public sector financial management and governance. 1.1Statement of the Problem Public sector institutions have functional well funded internal audit departments with well qualified and professional staff whose role is to provide the management with re-assurance that internal controls systems are adequate and that they are complied with, that risk exposures are identified and addressed, and that fraud is quickly identified and inherently deterred. However, internal auditors have continued to be ineffective as envisaged by continued incidences of fraud and corruption, abuse of authority and outright financial mismanagement of massive scale due to perception and attitude issues towards their work. This precipitates the increased risk of financial failure of the institutions, poor and compromised service delivery, public agitation and political disaffection towards the government of the day. Little has been researched on the effect of employee’s perception and attitude on the effectiveness of internal auditors. This study therefore is meant to bridge that ga p by finding out to what extent the employee’s perception and attitude is attributed to ineffectiveness of the internal auditors thus affecting the delivery of assurance services `central to organization achieving its objectives. 1.2Purpose of the Research To determine paradigm shift in employee’s perception and attitude necessary to keep the internal audit as an effective and critical function relevant in the future for robust public sector financial management and governance. 1.3Objectives of the Research The research will be guided by the following objectives: 1. To determine the effect of perception and attitudes on the effectiveness of internal audit in the public sector financial management and governance. 2. To identify value addition services required to enhance relevance and effectiveness of the internal audit function in the public sector. 3. To identify the measures that would enhance or maintain better perception and more positive attitude by employees towards internal auditors. 1.4Research Questions The research questions of this study shall be: 1. How does employee’s perception and attitudes towards internal auditors affect internal audit effectiveness in the public sector financial management and governance? 2. Which value addition services are required to enhance relevance and effectiveness of the internal auditors and in effect ensuring they are perceived well? 3. What steps can be taken to ensure the employees continually maintain a positive perception towards the internal auditors so as to achieve organizational goals? 1.5Significance of the Study This study seeks to generate useful insights on how managing employee’s attitude and perception affects internal auditor’s effectiveness which then can be used by the government and public institutions. This promotes effectiveness in the role of internal audit functions in the public sector financial management and governance by addressing the employee’s attitude and perception. It can also be used by researchers for further research as this is a new area to be studied. 1.6 Basic assumptions of the study It is assumed that the respondents would be co-operative and provide accurate information when responding to the research questions. It is also assumed that the sample size to be chosen will be adequate to enable the researcher draw valid conclusions about the population. 1.7Limitations of the study Time constraint is a limiting factor because the study has to be concluded within a short time. Availability of funds is also a limiting factor to the study since the researcher is self sponsored. There is also no assurance that the respondents would return all the questionnaires duly completed, neither is there a guarantee that the subjects would respond to all the questions put forward to them comprehensively. The answers of some respondents may not be representative of the whole population. The condition of the subjects may affect their responses as emotions may be involved thus affecting their accuracy in responding. 1.8Delimitation of the study The study shall be restricted to three Branches of National Social Security Fund, within Rift Valley region. The study shall focus on how effectiveness of internal audit functions in public sector financial management and governance are affected by employee’s perceptions and attitudes. Public sector may be defined to include the Central Government, the courts, the National Assembly, the Senate, Constitutional Commissions, County Governments and institutions and bodies formed under an Act of Parliament. For precision and focus, the purpose of this study shall be restricted to public sector institutions formed under an Act of Parliament and case study is NSSF. Literatures on other independent variables are not to be studied as this research is to be narrowed down to employee’s perceptions and attitudes only. Due to time constraints and the budget, population to be studied is only narrowed down to NSSF staff which is convenient to the researcher within the province. On the methodology to be used, Telephone interviews wouldn’t be applied as it is unreliable, the employees may not cooperate, and is expensive than a candid face to face interview where all staff may be met in the same place as per their convenience. 1.9Organization of the study Chapter one provides a background on internal audit effectiveness, statement of the problem, purpose and objectives of the research, research questions that the study looks forward to answering, significance of the study, basic assumptions of the study, limitations to the study and delimitations of the study. Chapter Two outlines the various schools of thought on what constitutes internal audit effectiveness and factors affecting it, as expounded in various literatures available. Chapter three outlines the research design and methodology used for purposes of completing the study. It also describes in details research design, target population, sample, sampling procedure and data collection instruments. Chapter four will contain data analysis, presentation and interpretation while chapter five shall provide a summary of findings, discussion, conclusions and recommendations. This is followed by references and appendices sections. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter is will cover critical review of literature by other scholars and writers in relation to and the implication of employee perception and attitude on internal audit function and its effectiveness in the public sector financial management and governance. 2.1 Internal Audit Function Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organizations operations (IIA, 2002). It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes (Collier, etal, 1991). With this description forming a foundation, the essential characteristics of an effective internal audit function can be framed. According to Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA, (1999), internal audit is an important part of the corporate governance structure within an organization. Corporate governance includes those oversight activities undertaken by the board of directors and audit committee to ensure the integrity of the financial reporting process. Three monitoring mechanisms have been identified in the corporate governance literature. They are external auditing, internal auditing and directorships (Anderson et al, 1997; William, 2000) as well as the audit Committee (IIA, 2003). 2.2Internal Audit Evaluation Evaluating the internal audit function is to examine how well it can detect errors within an organization as well as fraud that have received greater emphasis (Rittenberg Anderson, 2006). The internal audit function is an important function that has been shown to add value and reduce detected errors by external auditors (Godwin, 2003; Carcello, 2005). Farber (2005), observed that the objective of internal audit function is to improve on the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance. Nestor (2004)  observed that internal audit function is taken to be an important governance tool to protect corporations from internal criminal behavior. Further, the professional literature suggests that internal audit is a vital tool in fraud detection when assets are misappropriated by employees or outsiders (Carcello et al, 2005b; Rittenberg and Anderson, 2006). As a result of the increase in accounting scandals in recent years, the internal audit function has received impressive atte ntion as an important contributor to effective public sector financial management and governance. Furthermore, the issue of effectiveness of internal audit is indispensable because it will create improvement in the government ministries (Unegbu Kida, 2011). In line with this, consideration over the measurement of the effectiveness of internal audit function keep receiving significant challenges, consisting the finding of the best and relevant method for measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of internal audit (Bota Palfi, 2009; IIA, 2010; Spertus et al, 2010). In this vein, measurement of internal audit effectiveness should be considered because it has a role to play in achieving public sector objectives. Therefore, Arena and Azzone (2010), Chaveerug (2011) and Mihret et al, (2010) emphasize the need for future studies to examine the factors that influence internal audit effectiveness and the possible interactions among them. Equally, it is interesting to focus on the model that will lead to the strength of internal audit effectiveness (Aguolu, 2009). Consequently, many stu dies that have been conducted on internal audit effectiveness give more concern to private sector and the central government and its various ministries and departments. Internal Auditing of institutions and bodies formed under Acts of Parliament has been less studied and reported in the literature. 2.3Internal audit effectiveness: The word â€Å"effectiveness† have been defined by different researchers, for instance Arena and Azzone (2009) defined effectiveness â€Å"as the capacity to obtain results that are consistent with targets objective,† while, Dittenhofer (2001) view effectiveness as the ability toward the achievement of the objectives and goals. In the same context, a program can be seen as effective if its outcome goes along with its objectives (Ahmad et al, 2009; Mihret et al, 2010). In this situation, internal audit effectiveness means  the ability of the internal auditor to achieve the established objective within the public sector institution. This goes along that the objectives of an internal audit for every organization depend on the goals set out by the management of the organization (Pungas, 2003) as such, the objective of internal audit in public sector institutions should also go a long with the set up goals by the management of the particular institutions and Acts of Parliament that established them. With regard to that, the internal audit should be able to achieve the established objective in order improve the performance of the organization. Consequently, to determine whether the internal auditing function is operating effectively or not, some things have to be considered which include; identification of the basic objective of internal auditing; define the goals to be accomplished by the internal auditing and establish measures that will assist toward the achievement of those goals (Aguolu, 2009; Dittenhofer, 2001) while Cassandra et at (2008) argued that in order to achieve internal audit objective, three basic c onditions must be satisfied i.e. independence; organizational status; and objectivity, also (Feizizadeh, 2012) consideration was that, for an internal audit function to achieve high levels of effectiveness these four items must be consider; goes along with stakeholder needs; achieves best to his abilities; complies with relevant professional standards and; performance measures. Thus, Beckmerhagen et al (2004) also argued that the audit effectiveness should not be measured based on achievement of the audit objectives or on the number of findings of the internal auditor alone, but also more important is to determine the quality and suitability of the audit plan, execution and follow-up. Similarly, Shareholders have the power to remove any internal auditor that is ineffective (Dhamankar Khandewale, 2003). This should also be the case in public sector, where internal auditors that are not effective despite the provision of all necessary measures that might have improved their effectiveness, should be removed by the stakeholders. Generally, researchers have also indicated some of the reasons behind the ineffectiveness of internal audit to include; ineffective management controls, non clear definition of objectives by some organizations and inadequate support from top management (Ahmad et al, 2009; Dittenhofer 2001; Unegbu Kida, 2011). Therefore, in line with their findings, the implications of an ineffective internal audit in a public sector management can lead to; the possibility of the emergence of fraud; low or non compliance with internal policies and procedures; ineffective financial decision for successful operation (Unegbu Kida, 2011). Hence, the effective internal audits carry out an independent evaluation of the financial and operating information and systems and procedures with a view to provide good recommendations for improvements (Mihret Yismaw, 2007; New Delhi, 2006). That is why proper internal organization is also essential factor that lead to the achievement of internal audit effectiveness. Similarly, internal audit effectiveness can also be enhanced by ensuring consistency in the documentation of audit work, quality of reporting and proper implementation of their recommendation (Mihret Yismaw, 2007). Therefore, having such effective internal audit within organization, will automatically helps to achieve performance and profitability and prevent in loss of revenues particularly in public sectors (Vijayakumar Nagaraja, 2012), even though Pilcher Gilchrist and Singh (2011) observed that efficiency and effectiveness of audit in a public sectors context is more complex than in the private sectors. Several studies have been conducted on the internal audit effectiveness. For example the study carried out by Ahmad et al (2009) on the effectiveness of internal audit in Malaysian public sector, using simple percentage for data analysis found the lack of audit staff is ranked as the major problem faced by internal auditors in conducting an effective internal auditing. The study concluded by suggesting that future studies should adopt other methods such as field survey of wider groups of internal auditors both in public and the private sectors. Likewise, Theofanis, et al (2011) examine the relationship between element of internal control system and internal audit effectiveness and the result of the study reveal positive relationship between the two relationships. Even though the studies used only 52 Hotels in Greek as a sample and mail survey for data collection, but at conclusion they suggest that if future studies should carried out research on internal audit effectiveness with large sample, the result will be better than their own. Also Feizizadeh (2012) carried out study on strengthening internal audit  effectiveness and found that most of the companies measure and quantify the performance effectiveness of their business activities. Therefore, looking at the above studies, they consider the effectiveness of internal audit at company’s level, hotels and banks ignoring such effectiveness at local level. In this vein, this study extends the previous study through examining such effectiveness at public sector institutions and mainly on the employee perception and attitude which many did not cover. 3.4 Conceptual Framework Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of factors influencing Internal Audit CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.0Introduction This chapter will focus on the methodologies used for the study which will include: research design, study area, identification of the target population, sample selection method and size, data collection techniques, data analysis methods and the anticipated constraints. 3.1 Research design The study will adopt a cross sectional survey design where both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis will be used. The respondents will be selected from different departments within the branch; this includes; managers, Internal Audit, Human Resource, Information technology staff, Finance and Accounts staff of NSSF. 3.2Scope of the study The study will be carried out at NSSF Branches at Nandi Hills, Kericho and Sotik in Rift Valley Region. All information and respondents targeted to participate in the study are expected to be easily accessible in the offices situated in these places. Other variables will not be considered in this study. It is limited to the attitude and employees’ perception 3.3Population The public sector in Kenya constitutes the central government and the allied ministries and departments, the county governments and the related departments, the courts, constitutional commissions and institutions and bodies formed through Acts of Parliament. It is the single largest employer of internal auditors, but the target population for this study within the NSSF will include and be stratified as: Branch Managers, Accountants, and other staff, totaling 425 possible respondents. 3.4Sample Selection and Size A purposive sample is used. Accordingly a survey type of research will be adopted in which a sample from the target population will be used for the study. The total staff population in NSSF is 1455. To arrive at the sample size for the purpose of this research study, a sample size calculator is used. By putting the confidence level at 95% and a confidence interval of 4, the sample size needed to be selected is from the 1455 employees will be 425 which represent 29.2% of the sample target population. This represents an average of a third of the total number of members of staff and will be representative enough for this research. It is distributed as shown in the table below: Composition of staff with NSSF Kenya for the purpose of the research working. Category Target Population Target Sample Percentage of target population Managers

The Barriers To Communication

The Barriers To Communication While there are many subtleties to communication between people with some basic skills can actually help you to be even effective communicator. On this assignment we will explore barriers to listening and strategies for effective listening, Barriers to accurate perception and barriers to effective verbal communication and strategies for accurate perception and lastly strategies for effective verbal communication. Listening may not seem like a complicated process when someone speaks you listen. As you are ready to receive the information and being communicated you are likely not actually realizing that you are decoding the dialogue or interpreting it Barriers to Communication If noise is whatever interferes with communication between sender and receiver (and vice versa), its important to understand what causes noise-what are the main barriers to communication. There are three main types of barriers: external, internal, and semantic. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ External barriers to communications include environmental and visual distractions. Suppose you are listening to your professor and suddenly you see your favorite movie star walk by in the hallway. Do you think you would hear and understand everything your professor was saying at that moment? Or maybe youre on a date and having a hard time hearing what your companion is saying because of the racket in the restaurant. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Internal barriers come from within the receiver. They include not paying attention or not listening, boredom, and lack of interest. If a student is sitting in class daydreaming instead of listening to the instructor, for example, how much communication is taking place? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Semantic barriers come from differences in language, education, and culture. Obviously if the sender is speaking in English and the receiver doesnt understand English, theres a problem. But even if the sender and receiver speak English, they may not speak the same dialect. The words they use may not mean the same thing. If you order a soda in Washington, DC, for example, youll get a soft drink. If you order a soda in Detroit, youll get a drink made of soda water and flavored syrup with ice cream floating in it. If youre from the United States and youre speaking to a Scot from Glasgow, you may have a hard time simply understanding his Pronunciation. And your accent may be incomprehensible to him! Four Steps to Effective Interpersonal Communication If you are the sender, its your job to find ways to penetrate the noise that prevents clear communication. Following these four steps in your communication will help you do so: 1. Focus your message 2. Magnify the listeners attention 3. Penetrate barriers 4. Listen actively. Focus Your Message Focusing your message means planning before you speak. Think carefully about what you want to say and how you want to say it. Decide what your goal is: to inform, to persuade, to direct, or to do something else. Be sure you understand who your audience is so you understand where the audience is coming from as it receives your message. Make sure your message is specific and concise. Get to the point; dont be diverted into side issues. Present your message politely, and be objective-state all sides positions fairly before arguing your own. (If the listener perceives that you are biased, this itself can become an important barrier to communication.) Magnify the Listeners Attention Ask yourself: Why should my listener care about what I have to say? You must create interest-make your message relevant to the listener. If your instructor suddenly announces that something will be on your next exam, youre more likely to pay attention. If you announce that what youre about to say will save your listeners money, youre likely to grab their attention. Find something in your message that your listener can relate to and make sure you highlight that. Make it clear that your message is important. For example, if you suddenly announce that What Im about to say could save your life, before you discuss a crucial safety issue, youll grab the listeners interest. But your ideas must really be important. Simply declaring that they are wont do it-you must persuade the audience through the clarity and logic of your arguments and your evidence that your message really is significant. Again, think about your message from the audiences perspective instead of your own. This means knowing your audience. Deliver your message so that it naturally draws your listeners attention. Penetrate Barriers One serious barrier to clear communication is vagueness. If you say, There was a fire downtown last night, you have communicated little. If you say, however, Twenty fire trucks from three different towns fought an inferno last night that destroyed an entire city block, including a fireworks factory, your concrete description has communicated a good deal more. The listener now understands that youre talking about a major disaster, not a fire in a trash can. Your concrete description helps the listener create a mental picture, or visualize the blaze.