Importãncia da Auditoria interna no Processo Decisório das Organizações

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo geral tratar da importância da auditoria interna no processo decisório das organizações. Com o acirramento do mercado e a velocidade em que as informações são geradas torna-se de grande relevância o aperfeiçoamento e gerenciamento dos processos. A auditoria interna tem vindo a assumir um papel de extrema importância, no seio das organizações na medida em que o reconhecimento da utilidade e relevância desta função revolucionou a forma de estar das empresas, fazendo com que o campo de actuação das auditorias se alargasse da vertente contabilístico - financeira para a vertente operacional e informática, de forma a permitir formular recomendações de melhoria das limitações identificadas apoiando a gestão no processo decisório, de forma que as decisões sejam atempadas e adequadas. Procurou-se demonstrar a importância do controle interno para levantamento dos dados que possibilite a geração de informações necessárias para aprimorar e controlar a administração da empresa garantindo eficácia e eficiência operacional. A nossa investigação foi desenvolvida a partir de um estudo de caso, onde complementamos os conceitos teóricos explorados na revisão da literatura. Neste sentido aplicamos questionários aos colaborados da instituição, uma entrevista ao Diretor do Gabinete de Auditoria e procedemos a análise do manual de controlo interno.

El "boteo" en las calles como práctica contradiscursiva. Análisis de narrativas identitarias de personas ciegas

El “boteo” (pedir dinero) en las calles se ha convertido en una forma en la cual las personas con discapacidad afrontan el panorama adverso que enfrentan: falta de oportunidades educativas y laborales. Sin embargo, en nuestra sociedad, esta actividad es estigmatizada y considerada como vergonzosa. El objetivo del artículo es explorar la relación entre el discurso social en torno al boteo y la narrativa identitaria de personas ciegas que se dedican a esta actividad. Para lograrlo, se analizan, utilizando el análisis del discurso, las narrativas identitarias de personas ciegas que botean por las calles de Monterrey, estado de Nuevo León, México. Entre los resultados del análisis, podemos destacar que las personas que botean la consideran una práctica contradiscursiva ante la falta de oportunidades laborales que enfrentan.

Psychometric properties of the oral health impact profile and new methodological approach

Objective: Evaluate the validity, reliability, and factorial invariance of the complete Portuguese version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) and its short version (OHIP-14). Methods: A total of 1,162 adults enrolled in the Faculty of Dentistry of Araraquara/UNESP participated in the study; 73.1% were women; and the mean age was 40.7 ± 16.3 yr. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis, where χ2/df, comparative fit index, goodness of fit index, and root mean square error of approximation were used as indices of goodness of fit. The convergent validity was judged from the average variance extracted and the composite reliability, and the internal consistency was estimated by Cronbach standardized alpha. The stability of the models was evaluated by multigroup analysis in independent samples (test and validation) and between users and nonusers of dental prosthesis. Results: We found best-fitting models for the OHIP-14 and among dental prosthesis users. The convergent validity was below adequate values for the factors “functional limitation” and “physical pain” for the complete version and for the factors “functional limitation” and “psychological discomfort” for the OHIP-14. Values of composite reliability and internal consistency were below adequate in the OHIP-14 for the factors “functional limitation” and “psychological discomfort.” We detected strong invariance between test and validation samples of the full version and weak invariance for OHIP-14. The models for users and nonusers of dental prosthesis were not invariant for both versions. Conclusion: The reduced version of the OHIP was parsimonious, reliable, and valid to capture the construct “impact of oral health on quality of life,” which was more pronounced in prosthesis users.

Chaos decomposition and gap renormalization of brownian self-intersection local times

We study the chaos decomposition of self-intersection local times and their regularization, with a particular view towards Varadhan's renormalization for the planar Edwards model.

The Road to Bali: ERIA Perspectives on the WTO Ministerial and Asian Integration

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) forthcoming Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali comes at a critical juncture for the multilateral trade body, long mired in the Doha Round stalemate. Beyond offering a critical first test at consensus-building and institutional renewal, the Bali Ministerial affords a unique opportunity to gauge contrasting perceptions across ASEAN and East Asian countries of the continued relevance of the WTO to trade and economic governance within the region and beyond. Resulting from the collaborative efforts of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), the Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) and the World Trade Institute at the University of Bern (WTI), this policy research initiative offers comparative scholarship on some of the key questions arising from the forthcoming WTO Ministerial gathering from an East Asian perspective. Specifically, it explores what scholars in the region expect the Bali Ministerial to produce by way of tangible outcomes and whether the Ministerial will restore the momentum needed to bring the Doha Round to a successful conclusion. Contributors also investigate how relevant the WTO remains to the multiple processes of deepening economic integration in ASEAN and East Asia (e.g. AEC, TPP, RCEP) and, importantly, what lessons in rule-design and market opening WTO Members could usefully draw from the ongoing march towards the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community.