AC3093 Auditing and Assurance

Assessment 1(a):

Answer 1:

In the late 2019, it can be identified that the business operations of the whole world came into standstill due to COVID-19. It is the time that the world entered into pandemic situation and nearly every business operation irrespective of any industry stopped. The shipping industry of the world also got affected due to the pandemic situation (Akyurek and Bolat 2020). Nearly all the operations of the shipping industry closed, which includes operators of ship, port operations, government authorities relate to the maritime operations of the country, operations related to supply chain in maritime are some of the few.

As per the recent report it can be identified that the damage COVID-19 has to offer basically affected every nation’s economy in the world. In order to safeguard the health of the public many countries implemented the policy of lock down. It can also be determined that the industrial usage and the industry production also get affected (Anand 2020). The supply chain related to the food and other necessary items were also affected due to the pandemic situation.

The United Kingdom’s manufacturing concern depends on various country for the raw materials. Among which China is one of the major contributors of the raw materials. Due to the pandemic situation, it can be identified that every trade between the United Kingdom and China were stopped because of the health related issues. Thus, many companies in the United Kingdom experienced shortage of raw materials, which affected the overall performance of the business industry.

In recent years it can be identified that the container industry and maritime industry of the United Kingdom faced many challenges even before the starting of the pandemic situation. Due to the US-China trade war many issues started to rise. Some of the major ones are shipping fleet deployment, green port and green shipping. After the pandemic situation started the country it can be identified that the maritime industry of the United Kingdom faced new challenges. It became new challenges for the government authorities of the United Kingdom. The major challenges that became hindrance for the government authorities of the United Kingdom. The main challenge that faced are the long wait for the security checks in the port, extra time for berthing operations, hinterland transportation management, inland seaport transhipment operation and many similar kinds of operations. Due to the change in the trade volumes, it can be identified that charter rates and freight rates increased by considerable means. Thus, forcing the shipping market operators to identify the resilience strategies. There are many ports of the United Kingdom experienced similar kinds of situation and hence the many ports reduce the operation of the ports, so that the market can be brough back into their profitable position.

In the beginning of the year 2020, it can be identified that not only container ship, but the cruise ships also get affected due to the influence of COVID-19. It can be identified that the ships started boarding the dock with almost no passenger. Thus, these cruise industries also limited their availability and thus, the financial return that comes from the cruise industry of the country decreased by considerable percentage, which affected the overall performance of the company. Thus, it can be determined that there are various types of risk that persists in the shipping industry, which will lead to material misstatement in the financial statements of shipping companies.

There are many challenges that shipping industry and ports of the United Kingdom are going through, which includes debt management and restructuring, options related to investment and disinvestment, raising of funds, efficiencies related to operations, environmental consciousness, issues related to cyber security, restructuring of the business, relocation of business and establishing a business presence in the international market.   

It is notable that assessing the shipping industry for the auditing purpose is very much problematic because of the existence of many barriers that are present in the industry. The financial information that are being published by the shipping companies in the United Kingdom are very much shady in its nature. Thus, the risks of future audit increases. It is necessary for the auditor of the company to create the proper auditing framework.

Following Of The Standards:

The maritime companies of the United Kingdom need to follow the standards while representing the financial information in their financial statements of the company. International Financial Reporting Standards has to offer considerable number of standards that every companies operating in the maritime industry of the United Kingdom has to follow. In many instances it can be identified that these maritime companies did not follow the standards and represented the faulty financial statements, which affected the overall performance of the company by considerable means (Bolton, Landells and Roberts 2020). The issues related with the audit of the financial statements of the company arises. Thus, it is important for the auditor of the company to perfectly identify the sales invoice of the company, purchase invoice of the company, the dork invoices of the company and other operating services of the company. The auditors of the company should also check the contract between other companies with the maritime company. I case the financial statements value differs then it can be determined that the maritime company involved in any kind of fraudulent act, which may affect the authenticity of the financial statements of the company (Cai  et al, 2021). It is necessary for the auditor to identify whether the company followed the standards that are being mentioned by the International Financial Reporting Standards. If such followed then the chances of the representation of the financial statements are accurate and authentic.

Preparation Process:

Preparation process of the audit framework is the preliminary steps for the audit procedures of any maritime industry, which can be applicable even during the crisis period.  It is important for the auditor of the company to send the notification, which should include the scope of the auditing procedures of the company, the main objectives of the auditing procedures of the company, possible risks that can be identified and methods that will be implemented by the auditor of the company to identify the presence of material misstatement in the financial statements of the company (Donnan  et al, 2020). It is important for the auditor to identify the proper team for the auditing process of maritime company. It is important to select the team who has the prior experience in the maritime industry. The auditor mainly selects the partner to conduct the auditing process. The auditor needs to identify the documents that needs to be tested during the auditing process of the company. It is considered to be very important because it becomes the base for the auditing procedures. The head of the auditor of the company needs to create the timetable, so that the auditing process can be fulfilled within the specific time period. The last part is to create a checklist, so that performance phase can be distinguished.

Identification of Performance:

It is important for the auditor of the company to conduct the meeting with the internal auditor of the client company. It is also important to discuss with the directors of the company, so that the present issues can be discussed and can be mitigated. During this process the objectives of the company needs to be discussed. The auditor will perform the auditing process after following the checklist (Doumbia-Henry 2020). The process will also include some ley factors like questioning, listening, observing and recording skills. During this time the auditor will evaluate every relevant concern with the audit team and also with the internal auditor of the company. The documentation process of the company should also be discussed in this meeting, so that the clarity can be maintained (Galam 2020). It is also important for the auditor of the company to discuss the controls that can be implemented by the auditor of the company in the auditing process, so that the auditing report can be correct and true to its nature. It is also important for the management of the company to identify the key topics that needs to be discussed with the auditor of the company.

Audit Reporting:

After the performance measurement and identification of risks that exists in the company, the auditor of the company finalises the date where the auditor will provide audit completion report. The auditing report that will be finalised by the auditor of the company contains the information and auditor’s opinion about the financial conditions of the company and also about the key auditing matters (Grimm 2020). The report will contain the summary sheet, audit number, objectives of the auditor of the company, name of the auditors, list of non-conformities and other relevant information related to the financial performance of the client company.

Following Up Process:

In the last stage of the auditing process the auditor of the company mainly identifies whether the client company takes appropriate action to rectify the mistakes (Karatzas 2020). In this way the financial performance of the company of the company can be maintained, so that the shareholders’ interest can be maintained.

Answer 2:

During the pandemic situation it can be identified that the financial performance of the maritime industry decreased by certain percentage due to the decrease the unavailability of the products and decreasing of the purchasing factors of the company. In order to mitigate such situation, it is important for the management of the company to identify the key value factors including both financial and non-financial factors that can mitigate the emergence issues and bring back the maritime company on the track (van Tatenhove 2021). Thus, the management of the company needs to implement unique sets of strategies, so that the measures of success can be reduced by certain numbers. They are as follows:

1. As the maritime industry is the base for the supply chain it can be identified that it is the busiest vessel character. The complexity of the business is very high. Thus, it is important to identify the profitable voyages and implement in the business, so that the profitability can be maintained and the operating expenses can be reduced (Urbanyi-Popiolek 2020). The management of the company to identify the proper opportunities and invest it in that, so that the profitability and sustainability can be maintained. It is important for the managers of maritime companies of the United Kingdom to understand the cascading effects of every chartering decisions, so that the order can be maintained in the financial perspectives. Thus, the decision making process of the company should be maintained in the proper manner.
2. As the market is changing at high speed, so it is important for the managers of the company to identify the changes and implement in the business, so that the going concern of the company can be maintained. The functions of the business should be read properly and discard some of it, which are not creating profit for the market.
3. It is important for the management of the company to automate the complex freight system by investing into modern technology. The proper investment in the technology can remove the existence of the guess work in the decision making process of the company. The automation process of the company will also improve the estimation process and the predictions of the managers will prove to be accurate. Thus, the valuable time of the company will be saved bt certain amount.
4. The management of the company also needs to implement proper internal systems like linked indices, which can improve the process of market data sources. In this way the complete market visibility and proper communication process can be identified.   
5. It is important for the managers of the company to create the dedicated team who will be responsible for the market to market performance, which will directly improve the overall performance of the company by considerable means. Due to the pandemic situation, the workforce has decreased by certain percentage (Zhou et al, 2020). As per the government regulations it can be identified that the maritime company can only be operating with 50% workforce. Thus, it is important for the managers of the company to digitalize the voyage contract process for the proper optimisation of the deal capture and proper tracking system. It is expected that in this way the revenue of the company will increase and at the same time the operating expenses of the company will be reduced, hence the profitability of the company will increase. Thus, the overall performance of the maritime companies of the United Kingdom can recover their losses that pounder during the pandemic period.   
6. As per the manager of the ship it can be identified that the operator of the ship found to be the visible, which will anticipate the act of ever changing voyage that identifies in the most efficient manner. It is also important for the management of the company to maximise the operational performance. It can only be done if the management of the company considers the community of the company proper manner. It is believed that if the managers of the company can maintain the community then it is expected that the managers of the company can successfully maintain the sustainability of the company. The optimisation of the real time voyage management can improve the operating process and company can reduce the cost by considerable means. The continuity of the proper lifecycle is important as it helps the management of the company to take proper decisions. It is also providing information about the future voyage, so that no extra loss can be sustained by the company.
7. The improvement of the communication process can be improved, so that the problems associated with the operations of the company can be directly conveyed to the management of the company. It is believed that if the communication process of the company can be increased then it can be identified that the financial performance of the company can be increased by considerable means. In order to improve the communication process in the maritime companies it is important for the management of the company to restructure the organisation structure and change the approaching process. It is important for the management of the company to maintain the sustainability in the business and it can be maintained properly if the interest of the stakeholders of the company can be maintained. If the proper communication process can be maintained then it can be observed that the interest of the stakeholders of the company can be maintained. The issues related to the operations of the business can immediately mitigated if the proper communication process can be followed in the business.
   
   

Assessment 1(b):

In the time of the covid crisis the business world is suffering from acute problem of generating revenue and to sustain in the competitive market. In this scenario to manage the business crisis it is essential for the management to think like a crisis manager, a crisis manager used to manage situation when any unforeseen incident occur that creates an adverse effect on the business activities. In the shipping industry when due to the occurrence of covid the business activities cannot be performed efficiently which adversely created a negative impact on the profit earning capacity of the organisations the management to deal with such conditions need to think like a crisis manager, the management has to consider the following points while managing the crisis situation

Creation Of Situation Team

I think that the manager should create a situation team that will help in managing situations which are beyond the control under normal circumstances. The situation team should get clear approval from the higher management while managing the crisis condition and in many situations, it has been observed that while handling any crisis condition if the team has to wait for approval of the higher management the situation become out of control and cannot be solved. The situation team should consist with most efficient members of the organisation and if the organisation think then more professional individuals are required to manage the situation then it will be required to appoint professionals who can manage the situation.

Collecting Relevant Information

In order to solve the crisis situation, the crisis managers always try to collect, information that will assist in solving such crisis condition. I think that if the management can collect relevant information to manage the crisis condition it will become easier to take decisions on the basis of such information can handle any adverse condition that appears suddenly and create barrier on the growth rate of the company.

Reducing Other Responsibilities Of The Special Team

I think that in order to get the most effective result from the special team it will be required to free them from their other responsibilities, as managing a crisis situation is a very comp0licated task and of the team members that are employed to manage the crisis situation in the shipping industry.

Taking Decisions Quickly

I think that while managing a crisis condition it is essential to decisions quickly and accurately to reduce the level of task associated with such crisis condition. in the shipping industry there are several complex issues which are difficult to control and during a crisis condition these situations will become more complex for which it is required to get the best result efficient employees are to be deployed for this role so that they can provide quick solutions to solve such problems.

Positive Leadership Quality

I believe that to think like a crisis manager the management has to bear a positive leadership approach so that all the other employees does not feel demotivated even during the most critical condition and remain positive and should wait for the right time to come as no crisis situation will stay forever and at some point, of time the situation will change and at that time it will be essential to deliver the best to compensate the loss that has to be incurred during the crisis condition.

Communication

I think that during a crisis situation a crisis manager will communicate more with its subordinates to keep them motivated and bring the best out of them. In the crisis situation due to the fall of the business many employees can feel demotivated for which the management is required to motivate the employees more during the crisis condition. In the shipping industry there are several departments in which many employees are employed for which the management have to control many employees who may feel demotivated and that will create an impact in the performance of the organisation and that can only be solved if the management can communicate efficiently as communication with them it will be possible for the management to understand the actual problem and take actions that can solve the problem of the employees.   

Stay Focused

In the time of crisis situation, it is essential for the management to stay more focused as that will help them to solve the situation more efficiently. I think that during a crisis situation many issues will arise in front of the management but like a crisis manager even during an adverse situation does not diverse their main motive and should give more emphasis on keeping the business activities active.

Key ingredients of the creative management

key ingredient of the creative management is stated below

I think a creative manager should possess the skill of thinking unique ideas that will increase the demand of the product in the industry and generate more revenue for the organisation. The company will be able to create a brand image in the market.

Resource Allocation

A creative manager should try to allocate resources efficiently so that the resources can be utilised properly and the productivity of the shipping industry will increase. The allocation of resource is very essential for a business as the resource are scarce and the organisations should make proper utilisation of such resource so that it can increase the profitability.

Technical Knowledge

I think that a creative manager should have a technical knowledge that will help the organisation to create products that will be different from the existing products in the market, technical knowledge is a key ingredient that will make it different from the other competitors.

From this module I have learned that the managers will be able to think differently and create a product that will enhance the growth of the company. From the creative management concept, I have learned that the managers particularly during a crisis situation should be creative so that it can be possible to keep the business activities running. From the crisis management skills, I have learned that during a crisis situation it is essential to focus more in the core business activities and to communicate more with the employees to manage the situation more efficiently.

References

Akyurek, E. and Bolat, P., 2020. Port state control at European Union under pandemic outbreak. European Transport Research Review, 12(1), pp.1-13.

Anand, N., 2020. Impact of COVID-19 on the Shipping and Maritime Industry. Ct. Uncourt, 7, p.23.

Bolton, D., Landells, T. and Roberts, B., 2020. Sustainable Governance and Responsive Regulation: The Higher Education Sector and Maritime Industry in Australia. Journal of Sustainability Research, 2(3).

Cai, G., Hong, Y., Xu, L., Gao, W., Wang, K. and Chi, X., 2021. An Evaluation of Green Ryokans through a Tourism Accommodation Survey and Customer-Satisfaction-Related CASBEE–IPA after COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability, 13(1), p.145.

Donnan, R.C., Edwards, C.R., Iyer, A.R., Karamete, T., Myers, P.F., Olson, S.E., Prater, R.S., Andrews, D.J., Polmateer, T.L., Manasco, M.C. and Hendrickson, D.C., 2020, April. Enterprise Resilience of Maritime Container Ports to Pandemic and Other Emergent Conditions. In 2020 Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium (SIEDS) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Doumbia-Henry, C., 2020. Shipping and COVID-19: protecting seafarers as frontline workers. WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 19(3), pp.279-293.

Galam, R., 2020. Futures on Hold: The Covid-19 Pandemic, International Seafaring and the Immobility of Aspiring Filipino Seafarers. Futures.    

Grimm, F.G., 2020. Antecedents of psychological safety in the maritime industry investigating the influence of antecedents on the psychological safety of on-and offshore employees of a maritime shipping and installation company (Master's thesis, University of Twente).

Harju, M., Increasing Eco-efficiency via Digitalisation in Maritime Industry in The Baltic Sea Region: Policy Support through Carrots or Sticks?.

Karatzas, B.M., 2020. COVID-19 and the Maritime Industry. The Journal of Equipment Lease Financing (Online), 38(3), pp.1-10.

Kwon, O.K., 2020. How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting global supply chains, logistics, and transportation?. Journal of International Logistics and Trade, 18(3), pp.107-111.

Notteboom, T., Pallis, T. and Rodrigue, J.P., 2021. Disruptions and resilience in global container shipping and ports: the COVID-19 pandemic versus the 2008–2009 financial crisis. Maritime Economics & Logistics, pp.1-32.

Pu, S. and Lam, J.S.L., 2020. Blockchain adoptions in the maritime industry: a conceptual framework. Maritime Policy & Management, pp.1-18.

Sama, K.C., 2020. Corruption in the maritime industry: manifestations and the possibilities to address it by educational measures.

Shengda, Z., 2020. Vertical Integration in the Maritime Industry: Container Shipping Line Investment in Ports and Terminals (Doctoral dissertation, University of Sydney).

Stannard, S., 2020. COVID-19 in the maritime setting: the challenges, regulations and the international response. International Maritime Health, 71(2), pp.85-90.    

Urbanyi-Popiolek, I., 2020. . Economic and Social Development: Book of Proceedings, pp.397-405.

van Tatenhove, J.P., 2021. COVID-19 and European maritime futures: different pathways to deal with the pandemic. Maritime Studies, 20(1), pp.63-74.

Yazir, D., Åžahin, B., Yip, T.L. and Tseng, P.H., 2020. Effects of COVID-19 on maritime industry: a review. International Maritime Health, 71(4), pp.253-264.

Zhou, Y., Soh, Y.S., Loh, H.S. and Yuen, K.F., 2020. The key challenges and critical success factors of blockchain implementation: Policy implications for Singapore’s maritime industry. Marine Policy, 122, p.104265.

Are you in dire need of assignment help in the UK? Can’t figure out who can help you whenever you find yourself thinking, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could pay someone to do my assignment?” With Myassignmenthelp.co.uk, you can fulfil your desires without any hassle.

Send us your requirements, and our paper writers will take care of your assignment worries quickly. So now, you don't have to worry about, "Where can I find someone to do my assignment for me in the UK?” Instead, let our experts provide you with the best assignment help in London, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool and more!