Week 5 DQ1

What is the control environment? How does the control environment affect a company’s internal controls? What are the negative and positive elements of a control environment?  What are two examples of strong and weak internal controls in organizations where you have worked or have first-hand knowledge? 

The control environment is the basis of the entire control system that the organization is establishing. The control environment is the value that is placed on integrity and the knowledge that unethical activity will not be tolerated. It is management’s responsibility to express behavior and attitude that enforces this ethical behavior. The control environment affects the internal control by setting a basis of control activities that safeguard assets, enhance accounting reliability, increase efficiency of operations, and compliance with laws and regulations. The negative elements of a control environment are that strict adherence must be applied continuously. Sometimes employees become overworked and underpaid and this is cause for concern because their level of carelessness goes up. Other times people might become slack in their duties over time. Some of the positive elements of a control environment are that responsibility does not lie on one person but many. Each part of a process requires several people to handle it therefore offering little opportunity to do wrong. Other positives are the process of that accountability is established and understood by each individual. An example of a weak internal control I witnessed was in a friend’s tanning bed business. The friend worked during the day and outlined how she expected her teenage employee’s to behave through policies and procedures. To my friends face the employees were the picture of a model employee but when she left in the evenings to go home and let them finish out the night the trouble would begin. The employees were letting all their friends tan for free, selling them tanning products and pocketing the cash. My friend finally put up a camera and goodness was she shocked at what was happening after she left for the evening. A strong control system that I have knowledge of is the system where I presently work…