ABSTRACT
This project titled “The Role
of Internal Control as the Foundation of Quality Management: a study of the
Broadcast Media in Nigeria” is both a descriptive and an analytical study
designed to evaluate the role of internal control in an organization so as to
see whether, or otherwise, it is the bedrock of quality management. The entire
work is chronicled into five chapters with each addressing an important segment
of the research work.The objectives of the study are to identify and evaluate:
the importance of Internal Control System in the management of an organization
using Broadcast Media in Nigeria for the study; the features of a good Internal
Control System; the factors responsible for increase of frauds, embezzlements
or misappropriations of funds/assets in the modern day Nigeria; and also to
find out why some of them remain undetected for a good number of years whereas
the books of accounts of the organization are often being examined by her
internal and external auditors.
Furthermore, the population of
the study is the Broadcast Media in Nigeria and the determined sample size is
171. Data used for the study were obtained from primary and secondary sources,
making use of oral interviews, questionnaires, and literature review. Again,
the data collected were analyzed by the use of tables, simple percentages, and
absolute numbers, while chi-square (x2) technique was used to test the hypotheses
formulated in the study.
Moreover, the major findings
made in this dissertation are as follows:
that some of the factors
responsible for increase of errors, frauds, embezzlements or misappropriations
of funds/assets, in this modern day Nigeria are: greed and lack of contentment;
non-compliance with the laid down internal control procedures; non-adherence to
financial policies and guidelines; collusion; employment of unqualified and
incompetent personnel; poor remuneration; glorification of ill gotten wealth in
Nigeria; and delay in payment of salaries by some employers that undetected errors, frauds,
embezzlements or misappropriation of funds/assets for quite a good number of
years (whereas the accounts of the organization are being reviewed by her
internal auditors on regular basis and the external auditors yearly) are due to
the following: collusion; employment of inexperienced internal auditor;
negligence on the part of some external auditors; and noncompliance of
companies/organizations to auditors’ management letters (letters of weakness).
Finally, based on the
major findings above, the following recommendations aimed at improving the
situations are made:
establishment of adequate accounting system
and effective internal control measures; employment of honest, dedicated and
competent personnel; proper supervision of staff; compliance with Auditors’
management letters; adequate remuneration and regular payment of salaries, and
reorientation of the Nigerian citizens towards the glorification of ill gotten
wealth in our society today.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
It is a well-known fact that
everything in this world has a foundation. In fact, the foundation of anything
be it a building, an idea, a career, belief, etc matters a lot: it determines,
to a very large extent, the strength, durability, quality and success, or
otherwise, of that very thing.
The Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, defines foundation as: strong base of
a building, usually below ground level, on which it is built up; that on which
an idea, belief, etc rests; underlying principle; basis; starting point.
Management as an
essential ingredient of all organized endeavour has an underlying principle and
that is the internal control system. How successfully an organization achieves
its objectives, satisfies social responsibilities or both, and depends upon how
well the organization’s managers do their jobs. In other word, how well the
managers adhere to the whole system of controls, financial and otherwise,
established by the management in order to carry on the business of the
enterprise. How well managers do their jobs - Managerial performance - is
measured in terms of two concepts: efficiency and effectiveness.
According to Stoner and
Freeman (1 989:10), efficiency means “doing things right,” that is, the ability
to get things done correctly, and effectiveness means “doing the right thing,”
that is, the ability to choose appropriate objectives.
The sum
of these two concepts is quality management which is itself the product of
Internal Control system.
Nwoko (1997:202) defined
quality management as a systematic approach for ensuring that all activities
within an organization happen according to the plan. This approach was evolved
primarily by a group of American quality experts: W.E. Deming, Joseph Juran and
Philip Grosby. Before implementing quality management, there must be a quality
system in existence. A quality system is an assembly of components, such as organizational
structure, responsibilities, procedures, processes, and resources.
In the same direction,
Stoner and Freeman (1989:4) defined management as the process of planning,
organizing, leading, and controlling the efforts of organization members and of
using all other organizational resources to achieve stated organizational
goals.
A process is a systematic way
of doing things. Management is defined as a process because all managers;
regardless of their particular aptitudes or
skills, engage in certain interrelated activities in order to achieve their
desired goals.
Planning implies that
managers think through their goals and actions in advance. Plans give the
organization its objectives and set up the best procedure for reaching them.
the organization obtains and commits the resources required to reach its
objectives;
members of the organization carry on activities consistent with the
chosen objectives and procedures; and
progress toward the objectives is monitored and measured so that
corrective action can be taken if progress is unsatisfactory.
The first step in planning is the selection
of goals for the organization. Then objectives are established for the subunits
of the organization — its divisions, departments, and so on. Once the
objectives are determined, programmes are established for achieving them in a
systematic manner.
Organizing means that
managers coordinate the human and material resources of the organization. Once
managers have established objectives and developed plans or programmes, to
reach them, they must design and staff the organization in order to be able to
carry out those programmes successfully.
Leading describes how
managers direct and influence subordinates, getting others to perform essential
tasks. After plans have been made, the structure of the organization has been
determined, and the staff has been recruited and trained, the next step is to
arrange for movement toward the organization’s defined objectives. This
function can be called by various names: leading, directing, motivating,
actuating, and so on. But whatever the name used
to identify it, this
function involves getting the members of the organization to perform in ways
that will help it achieve its established objectives.
Whereas planning and
organizing deal with the more abstract aspects of the management process, the
activity of leading is very concrete; it involves working directly with people.
Finally, controlling
means that managers attempt to assure that the organization is moving toward
goals. Managers must ensure that the actions of the organisation’s members do
in fact move the organization toward its stated goals. This is the controlling
function of management, and it involves four main elements:
establishing
standards of performance (budgets);
Measuring current performance and comparing it against the established
standards;
detecting deviations
from standard goals
in order to make
corrections
before a sequence of activities is Completed;
taking action to correct performance that does not meet those standards.
Through the controlling function, managers
can keep the organization on its chosen track, keeping it from straying from
its specified goals.
But it is a sad
commentary to say that even in those organizations in which quite competent
managers and skilled supporting staff are known to be at the helm of affairs
for attaining the goals of the organizations, the problems of frauds,
irregularities, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds/assets, mismanagement
or poor management, or whatever name it may go with, are still being
encountered, and even at
an alarming rate. Why? It is the opinion of the researcher therefore, that a
study on internal control system as a foundation of quality management would
provide an insight to the way of solving the problems.
Bethel, et al (1971:27)
pointed out that an enterprise may possess the most modern plant and equipment,
a highly skilled and experienced labour and sales force, ample
Financial resources and
an adequate source of raw materials yet fail to perform efficiently. They
argued that although several reasons are involved but the major factor is poor
management.
The question now is:
what is poor management? Poor management, in the context of this study, simply
means deviation from any of the system of controls, financial and otherwise,
established by the management in order to carry on the business of the
enterprise in an orderly and efficient manner, ensure adherence to management
policies. Poor management occurs only where there is no internal control system
in existence or where in existence, it is weak. Therefore, the only solution to
poor management is establishment of good internal controls and observing them.
Santocki (1972:12)
opined, “By internal control, is meant not only internal check and internal
audit, but the whole system of controls, financial and otherwise, established
by the management, in order to carry on the business of the company in an
orderly manner, safeguard its assets and secure as far as possible the accuracy
and reliability of its records.”
In
fact, internal control is the bedrock of quality management, and to achieve its
purposes, it must be adequate in design and effective in operation.....
================================================================
Item Type: Project Material | Attribute: 133 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment