Nooraslinda Abdul Aris

Fraud Detection and Prevention Methods in the Malaysian Public Sector: Accountants’ and Internal Auditors’ Perceptions☆

Abstract This study aims to identify methods to detect and prevent fraud and corruption in the public sector in Malaysia and their corresponding perceived effectiveness from the accountants’ point of view. This study uses structured questionnaires ( Cates, 1985 ) on a population sample comprising accountants and internal auditors from the Malaysian public sector. The outcomes from the study showed operational audits, enhanced audit committees, improved internal controls, implementation of fraud reporting policy, staff rotation, fraud hotlines and forensic accountants are among the most effective fraud detection and prevention mechanisms employed in the public sector. This study contributes towards enhancing the scope and effectiveness of fraud and corruption detection and prevention in the government machinery in Malaysia.

Assessment of critical success factors for accounting graduates employability

The accounting profession has now becoming more demanding as businesses move towards satisfying challenging environment and needs by the society. The modern professional accountant needs both hard and soft skills and the future accountants are said to need training in ethics and objectivity. Thus, educational systems will require to constantly be updated in order to meet such demand. Questionnaires were sent to potential employer of public and private sectors to evaluate their assessment on the critical factors in employing accounting graduates. The respond provides evidence for enhancement in the accounting education and provides necessary training for the future accountants who will face with uncertainties in their role as a guardian of integrity and compliance.

Designing indicators for cooperative sustainability: the Malaysian perspective

This study aims to design a set of sustainability indicators that is pertinent to cooperatives longevity. The primary goal of the cooperatives is towards meeting the economic progress of members while satisfying their socio-cultural interests and protecting the environment. As a sustainable and participatory form of business, cooperatives offer an alternative business model to social enterprises.,Using an extraction process analysis, this study examined and analyzed guidelines, indices, and framework on sustainability used by the public companies. The selected materials were analyzed using Atlas.ti software, whereby common indicators were divided into themes. The indicators were further scrutinized to suit the cooperatives identity and local regulations.,The results are presented as indicators for cooperatives sustainability that could serve as strategies and performance measurement. Promotion and expansion of cooperatives could be an important instrument for more than one billion people around the world involved in cooperatives either as members/customers, employees/participants, or both.,This work extends and complements the on-going efforts in uplifting the cooperatives sector as the third engine of economic growth in Malaysia. It contributes towards enriching the knowledge of the relationship between sustainable development and sustainability and its influence towards the cooperative sector. It may also provide the building blocks for future studies that could explore the usefulness of these indicators to other business setting having a similar objective like the cooperatives.

Islamic Financial System Epidemic

The global financial and ensuing economic crises have had negative impacts on a majority of firms, businesses, countries and indeed, the society. The traditional and capitalist way of financing has been criticised for its failure; thus, the consumer has started to move towards an ethical and sustainable form of finance. Islamic finance, which already existed by the period is said to be the panacea to the global crisis. It is being presented that Islamic finance may pose as the remedy in curbing economic ills. How true is this? Over the period of more than 40 years since Islamic finance was first introduced, the main players and regulators discuss pertinent issues to the development of the Islamic finance industry. Bankers and lawyers were vocal about the need for education and more regulatory upheavals in order to create a level playing field for Islamic finance, as well as propagate Islamic banking products to a wider clientele. This paper discusses a series of financial crises and the outbreak of Islamic financial system. The Islamisation of the conventional financial system in Malaysia is highlighted. We conclude that there is room for improvement, and there also is prominent untapped potential in non-bank financial institutions.