Performance auditing is a longstanding feature of democratic government in many countries. It aims to lift the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector organisations, but numerous authors have voiced scepticism about its ability to do so. From three decades of performance auditing literature, this paper distils seven critiques of performance auditing: ‘anti‐innovation’, ‘nit‐picking’, ‘expectations gap’, ‘lapdog’, ‘headline hunting’, ‘unnecessary systems’ and ‘hollow ritual’. The paper concludes that the critiques are not valid in all cases, but serve to categorise risks to be managed in the design of performance audit programs and associated institutional arrangements. In light of the critiques, the paper proposes desirable elements of frameworks for monitoring and reporting the performance of institutions with performance audit mandates.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to share personal reflections on impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on corporate governance and assurance, international finance and economics and non-fiction book publishing. The paper is intended both as a time capsule and as input for future governance and assurance reform and crisis response planning and related research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is an informal capturing and distillation of some personal experiences and insights relating to corporate governance and assurance, international finance and economics and non-fiction publishing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
A key insight from the essay is that the pandemic has had diverse and wide-ranging impacts, many of which are likely to persist beyond the immediate response and recovery periods. The impacts have been felt across the public and private sectors, the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors and different industries.
Originality/value
The author, based in Melbourne, Australia, had an unusually diverse and multi-faceted experience of the pandemic. The essay concludes with directions for further research.
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