2 It was the final day of a two-week-long audit of Van Buren Company, a longstanding client of Fillmore Pierce Auditors.

In the afternoon, Anne Hayes, a recently qualified accountant and member of the audit team, was following an audit

trail on some cash payments when she discovered what she described to the audit partner, Zachary Lincoln, as an

‘irregularity’. A large and material cash payment had been recorded with no recipient named. The corresponding

invoice was handwritten on a scrap of paper and the signature was illegible.

Zachary, the audit partner, was under pressure to finish the audit that afternoon. He advised Anne to seek an

explanation from Frank Monroe, the client’s finance director. Zachary told her that Van Buren was a longstanding client

of Fillmore Pierce and he would be surprised if there was anything unethical or illegal about the payment. He said

that he had personally been involved in the Van Buren audit for the last eight years and that it had always been

without incident. He also said that Frank Monroe was an old friend of his from university days and that he was certain

that he wouldn’t approve anything unethical or illegal. Zachary said that Fillmore Pierce had also done some

consultancy for Van Buren so it was a very important client that he didn’t want Anne to upset with unwelcome and

uncomfortable questioning.

When Anne sought an explanation from Mr Monroe, she was told that nobody could remember what the payment

was for but that she had to recognise that ‘real’ audits were sometimes a bit messy and that not all audit trails would

end as she might like them to. He also reminded her that it was the final day and both he and the audit firm were

under time pressure to conclude business and get the audit signed off.

When Anne told Zachary what Frank had said, Zachary agreed not to get the audit signed off without Anne’s support,

but warned her that she should be very certain that the irregularity was worth delaying the signoff for. It was therefore

now Anne’s decision whether to extend the audit or have it signed off by the end of Friday afternoon.

Required:

(a) Explain why ‘auditor independence’ is necessary in auditor-client relationships and describe THREE threats

to auditor independence in the case. (9 marks)

(c) Discuss the ethical responsibility of the company accountant in ensuring that manipulation of the statement

of cash flows, such as that suggested by the directors, does not occur. (5 marks)

Note: requirements (b) and (c) include 2 professional marks in total for the quality of the discussion.

(b) ‘opinion shopping’; (5 marks)

4 Global Imaging is a fast growing high tech company with some 100 employees which aims to double in size over the

next three years. The company was set up as a spin out company by two research professors from a major university

hospital who now act as joint managing directors. They are likely to leave the company once the growth objective is

achieved.

Global Imaging’s products are sophisticated imaging devices facing a growing demand from the defence and health

industries. These two markets are very different in terms of customer requirements but share a related technology.

Over 90% of sales are from exports and the current strategic plan anticipates a foreign manufacturing plant being set

up during the existing three-year strategic plan. Current management positions are largely filled by staff who joined in

the early years of the company and reflect the heavy reliance on research and development to generate the products

to grow the business. Further growth will require additional staff in all parts of the business, particularly in

manufacturing and sales and marketing.

Paul Simpson, HR manager at Global Imaging is annoyed. This stems from the fact that HR is the one management

function not involved in the strategic planning process shaping the future growth and direction of the company. He

feels trapped in a role traditionally given to HR specialists, that of simply reacting to the staffing needs brought about

by strategic decisions taken by other parts of the business. He feels even more threatened by one of the joint managing

directors arguing that HR issues should be the responsibility of the line managers and not a specialist HR staff

function. Even worse, Paul has become aware of the increasing number of companies looking to outsource some or

all of their HR activities.

Paul wants to develop a convincing case why HR should not only be retained as a core function in Global Imaging’s

activities, but also be directly involved in the development of the current growth strategy.

Required:

Paul has asked you to prepare a short report to present to Global Imaging’s board of directors:

(a) Write a short report for Paul Simpson on the way a Human Resource Plan could link effectively with Global

Imaging’s growth strategy. (12 marks)

The town of Brighttown in Euraria has a mayor (elected every five years by the people in the town) who is responsible for, amongst other things, the transport policy of the town.

A year ago, the mayor (acting as project sponsor) instigated a ‘traffic lite’ project to reduce traffic congestion at traffic lights in the town. Rather than relying on fixed timings, he suggested that a system should be implemented which made the traffic lights sensitive to traffic flow. So, if a queue built up, then the lights would automatically change to green (go). The mayor suggested that this would have a number of benefits. Firstly, it would reduce harmful emissions at the areas near traffic lights and, secondly, it would improve the journey times for all vehicles, leading to drivers ‘being less stressed’. He also cited evidence from cities overseas where predictable journey times had been attractive to flexible companies who could set themselves up anywhere in the country. He felt that the new system would attract such companies to the town.

The Eurarian government has a transport regulation agency called OfRoad. Part of OfRoad’s responsibilities is to monitor transport investments and it was originally critical of the Brighttown ‘traffic lite’ project because the project’s benefits were intangible and lacked credibility. The business case did not include a quantitative cost/benefit analysis. OfRoad has itself published a benefits management process which classifies benefits in the following way.

Financial: A financial benefit can be confidently allocated in advance of the project. Thus if the investment will save $90,000 per year in staff costs then this is a financial benefit.

Quantifiable: A quantifiable benefit is a benefit where there is sufficient credible evidence to suggest, in advance, how much benefit will result from the project. This benefit may be financial or non-financial. For example, energy savings from a new building might be credibly predicted in advance. However, the exact amount of savings cannot be accurately forecast.

Measurable benefit: A measurable benefit is a benefit which can only be confidently assessed post-implementation, and so cannot be reliably predicted in advance. Increase in sales from a particular initiative is an example of a measurable benefit. Measurable benefits may either be financial or non-financial.

Observable benefit: An observable benefit is a benefit which a specific individual or group will decide, using agreed criteria, has been realised or not. Such benefits are usually non-financial. Improved staff morale might be an example of an observable benefit.

One month ago, the mayoral elections saw the election of a new mayor with a completely distinct transport policy with different objectives. She wishes to address traffic congestion by attracting commuters away from their cars and onto public transport. Part of her policy is a traffic light system which gives priority to buses. The town council owns the buses which operate in the town and they have invested heavily in buses which are comfortable and have significantly lower emissions than the conventional cars used by most people in the town. The new mayor wishes to improve the frequency, punctuality and convenience of these buses, so that they tempt people away from using their cars. This will require more buses and more bus crews, a requirement which the mayor presents as ‘being good for the unemployment rate in this town’. It will also help the bus service meet the punctuality service level which it published three years ago, but has never yet met. ‘A reduction in cars and an increase in buses will help us meet our target’, the mayor claims.

The mayor has also suggested a number of initiatives to discourage people from taking their cars into the town. She intends to sell two car parks for housing land (raising $325,000) and this will reduce car park capacity from 1,000 to 800 car spaces per day. She also intends to raise the daily parking fee from $3 to $4. Car park occupancy currently stands at 95% (it is difficult to achieve 100% for technical reasons) and the same occupancy rate is expected when the car park capacity is reduced.

The new mayor believes that her policy signals the fact that Brighttown is serious about its green credentials. ‘This’, she says, ‘will attract green consumers to come and live in our town and green companies to set up here. These companies and consumers will bring great benefit to our community.’ To emphasise this, she has set up a Go Green team to encourage green initiatives in the town.

The ‘traffic lite’ project to tackle congestion proposed by the former mayor is still in the development stage. The new mayor believes that this project can be modified to deliver her vision and still be ready on the date promised by her predecessor.

Required:

(a) A ‘terms of reference’ (project initiation document, project charter) was developed for the ‘traffic lite’ project to reduce traffic congestion.

Discuss what changes will have to be made to this ‘terms of reference’ (project initiation document, project charter) to reflect the new mayor’s vision of the project. (5 marks)

(b) The new mayor wishes to re-define the business case for the project, using the benefits categorisation suggested by OfRoad. Identify costs and benefits for the revised project, classifying each benefit using the guidance provided by OfRoad. (14 marks)

(c) Stakeholder management is the prime responsibility of the project manager.

Discuss the appropriate management of each of the following three stakeholders identified in the revised (modified) project.

(i) The new mayor;

(ii) OfRoad;

(iii) A private motorist in Brighttown who uses his vehicle to commute to his job in the town. (6 marks)

(c) Outline the problems with references. (7 marks)

(15 marks)

3 Mark Howe, Managing Director of Auto Direct, is a victim of his own success. Mark has created an innovative way

of selling cars to the public which takes advantage of the greater freedom given to independent car distributors to

market cars more aggressively within the European Union. This reduces the traditional control and interference of the

automobile manufacturers, some of whom own their distributors. He has opened a number of showrooms in the

London region and by 2004 Auto Direct had 20 outlets in and around London. The concept is deceptively simple;

Mark buys cars from wherever he can source them most cheaply and has access to all of the leading volume car

models. He then concentrates on selling the cars to the public, leaving servicing and repair work to other specialist

garages. He offers a classic high volume/low margin business model.

Mark now wants to develop this business model onto a national and eventually an international basis. His immediate

plans are to grow the number of outlets by 50% each year for the next three years. Such growth will place

considerable strain on the existing organisation and staff. Each showroom has its own management team, sales

personnel and administration. Currently the 20 showrooms are grouped into a Northern and Southern Sales Division

with a small head office team for each division. Auto Direct now employs 250 people.

Mark now needs to communicate the next three-year phase of the company’s ambitious growth plans to staff and is

anxious to get an understanding of staff attitudes towards the company and its growth plans. He is aware that you

are a consultant used to advising firms on the changes associated with rapid growth and the way to generate positive

staff attitudes to change.

Required:

(a) Using appropriate strategies for managing change provide Mark with a brief report on how he can best create

a positive staff response to the proposed growth plans. (12 marks)

(b) What advantages and disadvantages might result from outsourcing Global Imaging’s HR function?

(8 marks)