Annamarie Filippone

Question: What are some current system-related risks that you have experienced in your organization?

Some risks that my organization faces include:
• Employees potentially allowing viruses onto their computer by opening unsecure emails, from within or outside the organization.
• Employees leaving their desktop without locking it, which cou…[Read more]

I don’t believe it’s entirely correct to say that auditors will never make recommendations. In fact, auditors are encouraged to make recommendations to customers. The strongest actions plans to remediate issues are usually the ones that audit and the customer worked on together (known as the “Solution Approach”). This also has the benefit of…[Read more]

Question: Describe a real life example of a company’s profitability-driven controls. What are the differences between a compliance-driven vs. a profitability-driven control?

An example of a profitability-driven control within an organization is price comparison prior to vendor selection. Many cost-conscious organizations, such as Walmart, w…[Read more]

Question: In your own words, how would you define a control environment?

A control environment comes from the perceived attitude and actions of upper management regarding the importance of the internal control system within an organization. This environment is reflected in a variety of ways within an organization, including the organizational…[Read more]

Question: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US and many similar laws in other countries were enacted as result of high profile control failures. Are these laws a sufficient reaction to the failures or are they an overreaction?

Laws like SOX were an appropriate reaction, especially given how much harm resulted from high-profile control failures.…[Read more]

Question: Describe a business process you have experienced (either as an external or internal participant) and what your role was.

One business process that I have experienced as an internal participant was billing and collections, while interning in the accounting/finance department of a major transportation company. The process went as…[Read more]

Though I had somewhat of a slow start, once I started on my project within Walmart’s Business Intelligence team, I really enjoyed myself. I gained a lot of useful new skills, working with new data visualization and gathering tools, and also solidified some skills learned at Temple, such as business analysis and project management. I was lucky to…[Read more]

One of the most important skills that I have learned during my internship is how to be more self-sufficient. In school, if I’m ever unsure on how to complete a project or assignment, I have a variety of sources to go to, such as classmates and the professor. However, when you don’t know about something on your project, it is usually not so obvious…[Read more]

Throughout the summer I have been utilizing skills taught to me in MIS 3504 and 3535. Since I am in the back office department of Walmart, the work I do is always for another department within the company. MIS 3504 taught me how to sit down with these clients and gather requirements for the project, as well as write out my scope, assumptions, and…[Read more]

Remaining organized and making use of my time appropriately is what allows me to remain on top of my internship and schoolwork. Utilizing Outlook at work to not only keep track of meetings, but to also create tasks that remind me of due dates for school work, has helped me greatly. Also, I take advantage of free time I may have during work, such…[Read more]

For me, the ability to learn things on my own has been an incredibly useful skill during my internship. I’ve already been introduced to new software that I’m expected to use (SAP Design Studio, Lumira, and Tableau) and documentation that I’m expected to write up for my project (functional and technical specifications). I’ve had to learn these…[Read more]