Reciprocal peer reviews : evaluating potential bias and conflict of interest
- Authors: Baca, Zolile
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Reciprocal , Peer review , Conflict of interests
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , Thesis
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59358 , vital:62074
- Description: External quality assessments are conducted to provide independent reasonable assurance that an internal audit activity is operating in conformance with the Institute of Internal Auditors’ (IIA) Standards, Code of Ethics, and the extent of compliance with international best practices. The assurance provided by an internal audit activity is relied on by various stakeholders in the organisation for decision-making purposes. Therefore, it is crucial for an independent external quality assessment process to be credible and trustworthy for internal audit stakeholders to know that the internal audit activity conforms with the Standards and Code of Ethics, which in turn allows the stakeholders to rely on assurances and advice provided by the internal audit activity. The objective of this study was to determine the potential existence of a conflict of interest and or bias, in fact or in appearance, when reciprocal peer reviews are performed by people working within the same district and who are familiar with each other. A qualitative research method was followed to achieve the objective of this study and answer the primary research question. A single case study approach was followed in this study using municipalities in the Overberg District to answer the primary research question, with a purposive sampling method used to select relevant participants for the study. Participants were the Audit Committee members, the Municipal Managers, and the Chief Audit Executives from the municipalities in the Overberg District. An interview guide was administered by the researcher to collect the primary research data through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were electronically recorded after permission was obtained from each participant, and each interview session was also transcribed. The primary data collected was then analysed using the In vivo coding method. Each interview transcript was manually analysed to identify key words, phrases or statements that agreed or disagreed with the IIA’s guidance pronouncements in relation to the performance of external quality assessments, with a specific focus on the use of reciprocal peer reviews. The findings of this study indicated that most participants did not perceive reciprocal peer reviews performed by persons working within the same district to be without bias and or conflict of interest, in fact or in appearance because of familiarities and close relations that exist between persons working in the same district in the same sector. The findings revealed that participants would consider the process and results of reciprocal peer reviews to be credible and trustworthy if they were conducted across the district or even across the provincial borders. The findings further showed that participants perceived a full external assessment to be the most reliable and trustworthy method to be used because of the external assessors or assessment teams having the necessary training, knowledge, and experience to perform external quality assessments which give the credibility and trustworthiness that is required for the external quality assessment process.. , Thesis (MCOM) -- Faculty of Faculty of Business and Economics Science, School of Applied Accounting, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-12
- Authors: Baca, Zolile
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Reciprocal , Peer review , Conflict of interests
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , Thesis
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59358 , vital:62074
- Description: External quality assessments are conducted to provide independent reasonable assurance that an internal audit activity is operating in conformance with the Institute of Internal Auditors’ (IIA) Standards, Code of Ethics, and the extent of compliance with international best practices. The assurance provided by an internal audit activity is relied on by various stakeholders in the organisation for decision-making purposes. Therefore, it is crucial for an independent external quality assessment process to be credible and trustworthy for internal audit stakeholders to know that the internal audit activity conforms with the Standards and Code of Ethics, which in turn allows the stakeholders to rely on assurances and advice provided by the internal audit activity. The objective of this study was to determine the potential existence of a conflict of interest and or bias, in fact or in appearance, when reciprocal peer reviews are performed by people working within the same district and who are familiar with each other. A qualitative research method was followed to achieve the objective of this study and answer the primary research question. A single case study approach was followed in this study using municipalities in the Overberg District to answer the primary research question, with a purposive sampling method used to select relevant participants for the study. Participants were the Audit Committee members, the Municipal Managers, and the Chief Audit Executives from the municipalities in the Overberg District. An interview guide was administered by the researcher to collect the primary research data through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were electronically recorded after permission was obtained from each participant, and each interview session was also transcribed. The primary data collected was then analysed using the In vivo coding method. Each interview transcript was manually analysed to identify key words, phrases or statements that agreed or disagreed with the IIA’s guidance pronouncements in relation to the performance of external quality assessments, with a specific focus on the use of reciprocal peer reviews. The findings of this study indicated that most participants did not perceive reciprocal peer reviews performed by persons working within the same district to be without bias and or conflict of interest, in fact or in appearance because of familiarities and close relations that exist between persons working in the same district in the same sector. The findings revealed that participants would consider the process and results of reciprocal peer reviews to be credible and trustworthy if they were conducted across the district or even across the provincial borders. The findings further showed that participants perceived a full external assessment to be the most reliable and trustworthy method to be used because of the external assessors or assessment teams having the necessary training, knowledge, and experience to perform external quality assessments which give the credibility and trustworthiness that is required for the external quality assessment process.. , Thesis (MCOM) -- Faculty of Faculty of Business and Economics Science, School of Applied Accounting, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-12
Horns of dilemma : Department head and subject teacher : a case study of Heads of Department in a public secondary school, northern Namibia
- Authors: Naundobe, Robert Natukondye
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: High school department heads -- Namibia , High school teachers -- Workload -- Namibia , Teacher effectiveness -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Conflict of interests
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2043 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017354
- Description: The accountability and responsibilities of school leaders have intensified greatly over the past decades and school leadership has become a strong focus of research. Meanwhile, Bush (2003) asserts that “school leaders [experience] tensions between competing elements of leadership, management and administration” (p. 7). This study uses observations, questionnaires, interviews and document analysis to unpack the perceptions of four Heads of Department (HoDs), the principal, and eight teachers on the tensions inherent in balancing the responsibilities of department head and subject teacher for HoDs in public secondary school. The study goes beyond the mere task of influence in its attempts to unpack how the leadership and teaching practices of HoDs may, or may not, be in conflict with each other. Using distributed leadership as a theoretical framing and drawing in particular on the work of Spillane and colleagues (2001; 2004), the study examines the roles HoDs enact; the challenges HoDs encounter in enacting their responsibilities as department head and subject teacher; and the strategies HoDs employ to combat the emerging challenges. The study found that the roles of HoDs are extensive and stretch across the classroom, the department, the whole school and beyond. However, the majority of these roles are biased in favour of management systems and processes and opportunities for leadership are rare. The many and extensive management responsibilities of the HoDs limit both their classroom teaching as well as their agency as leaders. The weight of their management work thus restricts their leadership, resulting in an authorised form of distributed leadership (Grant, 2010). The data also revealed that HoDs struggle to balance the responsibilities of department head and subject teacher due to both inter-role and intra-sender conflict. However, the study also found that the HoDs strategically adopt a range of strategies to assist them in doing their work, these include: compensatory teaching; delegation; and planning and prioritizing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Naundobe, Robert Natukondye
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: High school department heads -- Namibia , High school teachers -- Workload -- Namibia , Teacher effectiveness -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Conflict of interests
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2043 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017354
- Description: The accountability and responsibilities of school leaders have intensified greatly over the past decades and school leadership has become a strong focus of research. Meanwhile, Bush (2003) asserts that “school leaders [experience] tensions between competing elements of leadership, management and administration” (p. 7). This study uses observations, questionnaires, interviews and document analysis to unpack the perceptions of four Heads of Department (HoDs), the principal, and eight teachers on the tensions inherent in balancing the responsibilities of department head and subject teacher for HoDs in public secondary school. The study goes beyond the mere task of influence in its attempts to unpack how the leadership and teaching practices of HoDs may, or may not, be in conflict with each other. Using distributed leadership as a theoretical framing and drawing in particular on the work of Spillane and colleagues (2001; 2004), the study examines the roles HoDs enact; the challenges HoDs encounter in enacting their responsibilities as department head and subject teacher; and the strategies HoDs employ to combat the emerging challenges. The study found that the roles of HoDs are extensive and stretch across the classroom, the department, the whole school and beyond. However, the majority of these roles are biased in favour of management systems and processes and opportunities for leadership are rare. The many and extensive management responsibilities of the HoDs limit both their classroom teaching as well as their agency as leaders. The weight of their management work thus restricts their leadership, resulting in an authorised form of distributed leadership (Grant, 2010). The data also revealed that HoDs struggle to balance the responsibilities of department head and subject teacher due to both inter-role and intra-sender conflict. However, the study also found that the HoDs strategically adopt a range of strategies to assist them in doing their work, these include: compensatory teaching; delegation; and planning and prioritizing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
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