Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-327).

Corporate governance has received increased attention from both regulators and researchers in recent years resulting in highlighting the significance of the internal audit function (IAF). Another transformative force on the IAF has been the dissemination of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems which have an impact on the legitimacy of the IAF if it is not suitably adapted. However, there is insufficient knowledge about the adaptations of the IAF which are required if it is to maintain its essential role in governance. This thesis extends our knowledge by exploring and theorising the adaptation of the IAF after ERP introduction. This thesis uses institutional theory as a lens through which to investigate how the IAF responds to the external governance pressures and the internal pressures of the control logic following the introduction of an ERP system. Data were gathered from two listed companies in the food and beverage sector and two large banks operating in Egypt, where one of each pair is an international company and the other is a national company. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with all stakeholders in addition to careful analysis of a number of internal and external documents related to the ERP and the IAF. The study finds that governance pressures related to the IAF determine the legitimisation criteria for the IAF. There is little coercive governance pressure on the IAF in Egypt. However, international companies with operations in Egypt have introduced normative governance pressures as a result of their compliance with stock exchange rules in other jurisdictions. Therefore, mimetic behaviour has helped in transferring the IAF response to ERP implementation. ERP systems carry new control logics based on some interlinked assumptions, which have affected the IAF. The ERP system’s control logic is aligned with the corporate governance goals and objectives, but further alignment is needed to make the best use of the ERP system in enhancing internal control. The introduction of an ERP system produces uncertainty about the IAF’s activities, which motivates it to adapt by changing its practice and structure. The changes in the IAF are dependent on the strategic response adopted by the auditors, which range from acquiescence to defiance. These responses were found to change over time. The differences in responses result in different outcomes for the IAF adaptation. In the international companies the implementation of an ERP system motivates the IAF to be integrated and have a comprehensive scope, whereas in the national companies change was resisted and the role of the IAF was significantly diminished. The IAF’s legitimacy maintaining strategies depend on the coercive and normative governance pressures, which give directions about how to maintain legitimacy. This study offers an explanation of how information systems contribute to the IAF’s professional stability or change and of how macro-governance pressures can bind micro-IAF practice within organisations.

This study examines the impact of knowledge, experience, goal orientation, ethical orientation, and personality traits on managers' and accountants' abilities to recognize misappropriation of assets. Participants included students and professionals. The student group included upper-level accounting majors and upper-level management majors. The professional group included students enrolled in an introductory accounting course for their MBA program and internal auditors from a variety of organizations. Findings in the study show that accounting students assessed the possibility that fraud was in progress at a higher level than the management students, suggesting that the accounting students acquire basic knowledge about fraud from the accounting curriculum, which improves performance. The effect of reading articles was marginally significant for assessing the possibility of fraud, showing that students who have read or who are required to read articles better identify the clues associated with employee theft. For the professional group, the effects of academic major and fraud specific training led to identifying the possibility of employee theft at a higher level. It appears that training sessions help professionals in identifying the risk factors associated with fraudulent activity, producing benefits to organizations that far outweigh the costs. Full-time work experience was marginally significant (p Several findings of the additional analysis using structural equation modeling extend the audit decision making literature by showing certain factors that enhance knowledge and improve decision making as experience increases. Higher learning goal orientation scores, mediated by experience and ethical position, should lead to more accurate identification of risk factors that are commonly associated with fraudulent activity. These findings should encourage firms to draw upon the knowledge of experts as they develop expert decision aids and training sessions for internal audit departments. Organizations should also integrate actual instances of misappropriation of assets into training sessions on fraud prevention and detection while developing and improving models of training sessions and expert decision aids for unstructured, complex tasks.

Magistro baigiamasis darbas „Audito įrodymai ir jų formavimo metodų tyrimas atliekant vidaus auditą Kauno apskrities viršininko administracijos audituotuose subjektuose“ aktualus tuo, jog audito įrodymai yra svarbus audito proceso etapas, tiek teoriniu, tiek praktiniu aspektu. Nuo jų surinkimo priklauso audito ataskaitos projekto ir ataskaitos rengimas. Teorinės bei praktinė problematikos susijusios su šiuo audito procesu apsprendė ir darbo tikslą, - teoriniu bei praktiniu aspektu ištirti audito įrodymų rinkimą ir jų formavimo problemas, Vidaus audito tarnybos darbuotojams atliekant auditą Kauno apskrities viršininko administracijos audituotuose subjektuose. Atsakant į šį tikslą formuoti uždaviniai, susiję su auditų procesų etapų analize, auditų įrodymų surinkimų sampratų tyrimu. Taip kelti uždaviniai, susiję su pagrindinio subjekto – Kauno apskrities viršininko administracijos Vidaus audito tarnybos audito įrodymų proceso tyrimu, kuriuo siekta ištirti audito įrodymų turinį, svarbą ir jų formavimo metodus. Darbe naudota lyginamoji ir literatūros analizė, apibendrinimas, indukcija, sintezė ir norminių dokumentų analizė. / Speaking in theoretical and practical terms audit evidence is important stage in audit process. Auditors gather evidence to formulate their judgment on statements and it is also important for final report. The aim of the magister theses is analysis of problems concerned with problems of the formation and gathering audits’ evidence in the Department of Internal audit in the Kaunas region Administration. The tasks of the study is to examine processes and procedures of inner audit; research of theoretical conceptions connected with gathering of audit evidence. Another aim is research of the practical problems using case analysis. The mixed qualitative and quantitative methods are used for the analyses of the problematic. The hypothesis of the research – gathering of audit’s evidence do not always correspond up the standards and requirements in the practices of Department of Inner audit. The results of the study show that there is no strong relation between the audits frequencies and opinion about the practice of gathering audit evidence. The results of qualitative research shows that Department of Internal audit in the Kaunas region Administration I effectively managed in the context of audit evidence gathering procedures (efficient training’s aims, consistent audit planning and consultation process). The research shows that critical factor in audits’ evidence gathering process is the competence of auditors. In the other hand there are some obstacles in the process of using... [to full text]

Darbe apžvelgiama Lietuvoje gautos ES finansinės paramos valdymo ir kontrolės sistema, susisteminami pagrindiniai Europos Komisijos reikalavimai kontrolės sistemai, apibrėžiamas Europos Sąjungos finansinės paramos lėšų vidaus audito vaidmuo visoje paramos lėšų kontrolės sistemoje ir analizuojamas vidaus audito pasirengimas tinkamam priskirtų funkcijų įgyvendinimui. Darbe iškelta hipotezė pasitvirtino tik iš dalies. Lietuvos valstybinio sektoriaus vidaus auditas nesuteikia pilnos garantijos, kad Europos Sąjungos paramos lėšos naudojamos teisėtai, tinkamai ir tik finansuotinoms išlaidoms dengti, dėl nepakankamų praktinių įgūdžių, nepakankamo vidaus auditorių skaičiaus, specialiųjų gebėjimų neturėjimo, nemotyvuotos mokymo politikos, netobulo veiklos planavimo. / This job reviews the system of the European Union funds control, the role of internal audit and the internal audit readiness to guarantee that the European Union funds are used legallyand properly. The hypothesis suggested at the beginning of the work proved out only partially. The internal sector of the Lithuanian state sector does not give a full guarantee that the European Union funds are used legally, properly and only in order to reimburse the costs to be financed, due to the lack of efficient practical skills, insufficient number of internal auditors, absence of special capasities, unmotivated training policy, incomplete planning of activities.

本研究旨在探討內部稽核單位規模之影響因素，透過問卷調查方式向國內上市櫃公司的稽核主管蒐集相關資料，藉此瞭解內部稽核單位的運作情形與稽核主管對其單位規模未來變動的看法。本研究發現： 1.內部稽核之功能對稽核單位規模有正向顯著的影響，顯示我國上市櫃公司係依據其內部稽核功能之強弱，以決定其稽核單位的規模。 2.內部稽核功能的影響因素係以機構的內在管理因素為主，包括治理單位的重視與要求、公司之資訊透明度以及組織內其他部門的配合，而內部稽核的相關法令規範亦為影響稽核功能的因素之一。 3.上市櫃公司稽核單位的規模在近三年來大多為持平的狀態，而目前的員工人數，仍以1至2人的小規模單位為主。我國稽核單位普遍面臨人力不足的情況，主要原因為機構所設定的內部稽核功能超過稽核單位的人力，以及缺乏特定專長的人員。目前稽核單位多採取減少低風險項目的稽核、提昇稽核效率與加班等方式，以因應人力不足之限制。 4.非金融業稽核主管，其大多認為未來稽核單位規模將持平；而金融業稽核主管則有近半數認為其單位規模會逐步增加，顯示金融業對於內部稽核單位的擴充較具信心。 / This purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that significantly influence the size of a firm’s internal audit department (IAD). This paper also reports the status of IAD operations and chief audit executives’ (CAEs) opinions regarding the possible change in size of their departments. A research questionnaire was sent to the CAEs of listed companies in Taiwan to collect data for empirical analysis. The main conclusions of this study are as follows. 1.Internal audit functions positively influence the size of IAD. Most organizations determine the size of their IADs in accordance with their expected functions of internal audit. 2.There are four factors affecting the functions of internal audit, namely, the board of directors’ emphasis on internal audit, corporate information transparency, other departments` cooperation and coordination with IAD, and the laws and regulations on internal audit. 3.The size of IAD remains stable for the past three years. The size of IAD is very small. For most IADs, there are only 1 to 2 auditors, and lots of IADs are experiencing shortage in manpower. The shortage is mostly due to the board’s expectation of IAD exceeds the current capability of IAD and its lack of specialty personnel. To overcome the constraint in manpower, most IADs decrease the audit of low-risk items, increase audit efficiency and/or work overtime. 4.Most CAEs believe that the size of their IADs will not change significantly in the near future. However, the CAEs in the banking industry generally believe that the size of their IADs will increase gradually.

The master thesis deals with proving benefits of the use of data analysis within internal audit on the example of a concrete audit of procurement cards of company Zebra Technologies. In theoretical part are described the basic theoretical starting points concerning the internal audit methodology. The practical part includes a description of the selected analysis executed during the examined audit.

The role of internal audit has changed during the past few years. Today, internal auditors are central players in organizations’ corporate governance structure. However, previous studies show that there is a gap between internal auditors’ own perception of their role compared to their stakeholders’. The wide scope of internal auditors’ role risks placing internal auditors in a situation of conflict, where consulting services threaten their provision of assurance services. In order to provide clarification to the role, this thesis studies how internal auditors become comfortable in their role, as both assurance and consulting providers and what concerns internal auditors face in their work. In order to fulfill the aim following research question is asked: How do internal auditors become comfortable in their role within risk management? Ten internal auditors were interviewed in order to make a contribution in the field of internal audit. The findings suggest that both assurance and consulting services are needed in order for internal auditors to feel they add value to the organization and hence, become comfortable in their role. Internal auditors’ comfort is many times dependent on fulfilling their stakeholders’ needs, however, staying in the scope of their role was shown to be more important.

The author examined whether contextual variables impact internal auditors' self-assessed likelihood of whistleblowing. The author synthesized a theoretical framework and developed research hypotheses that predict relationships between the self-assessed likelihood of whistleblowing and (1) magnitude of the consequences (2) channels of communication and (3) type of wrongdoing. To test these hypotheses, the author provided internal auditors (n=123) with a scenario and asked them to self-assess the likelihood of reporting evidence of a malfacation to their internal audit director even though their audit manager told them to ignore the wrongdoing.

This study examines the effects of using the internal audit function as a training ground for management and fraud magnitude on internal auditor fraud reporting decisions. Using a 2x2 between-participants experiment, the current study manipulates the use of the internal audit function as a management training ground (used as a training ground vs. not used as a training ground) and fraud magnitude (large fraud, defined as 30 percent of net income vs. small fraud, defined as one percent of net income). The results indicate that internal auditors may be less likely to report a fraud to their superior when the internal auditors are being groomed for management positions. No effect is found for fraud magnitude, as respondents indicated a similar willingness to report small frauds as large frauds. These findings contribute to the whistleblowing literature and the internal audit objectivity literature by demonstrating that undesirable repercussions associated with using the internal audit function as a management training ground can extend to the internal auditor fraud reporting decision.