Auditing Interactive Complexity: Challenges for the Internal Audit Profession

Nuijten, A.L.P.; Twist, Mark van; Steen, Martijn van der

doi:10.1111/ijau.12049

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The existence and proliferation of auditing shows that traditional central control in government is still possible. Whether auditing is particularly successful or unsuccessful is beyond the scope of the present research (but see Lenz & Hahn, 2015;Nuijten et al, 2015). Presumably the same holds for auditors as would hold for the members of most other professions-some are very good, others are not.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Dealing with complexity presupposes the existence of coping strategies-ways to reconcile the apparently irreconcilable that enable auditors, and other agents, to do their work in the face of ambiguity and complexity (Lipsky, 2010;Nuijten et al, 2015). In Lipsky's original work, many coping strategies were detrimental from a strict public policy perspective and mainly served to help street-level bureaucrats face the incompatible day-to-day challenges on the front line of a public service (Tummers, Bekkers, Vink, & Musheno, 2015).…”

Section: Coping While Auditingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The issue constantly and without prompting resurfaced during the interviews and focus groups. It also directly connects to the professional ambition of auditors to "break out" (ACCA, 2014), to improve the added value of auditing (Nuijten et al, 2015), and to excel in "audit and advice" (ADR, 2012). The interviewees often suggested, as does the professional literature, that these two tasks are difficult to reconcile; yet the respondents almost universally suggested that they already were reconciled.…”

Section: Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coping with Complexity: Internal Audit and Complex Governance

Schillemans

Twist

2016

Public Performance & Management Review

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Complexity, a key issue in accountability research, is almost coterminous with modern governance. Increased complexity is a key external contingency driving analyses of public administration. Scholars often conclude that "traditional" forms of centralized accountability and control are no longer feasible in the face of complexity, but at the same time, internal audit in government, as a form of centralized accountability and control, is expanding its scope. This apparent paradox is addressed by means of mixed research methods focusing on how internal auditors in government understand and cope with complexity. The article demonstrates that auditors do so by hybridizing values and through professional and relational anchoring of practices. The results suggest that public administration scholars should not write off centralized control in complex systems of governance. The article also suggests that new accountability issues arise, relating to professional autonomy and influence inside government.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Coping While Auditingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coping with Complexity: Internal Audit and Complex Governance

Schillemans

Twist

2016

Public Performance & Management Review

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“…Thus, it remains unclear under which circumstances the TLoD can be implemented effectively and efficiently. Research indicates that several determinants might influence TLoD implementation efforts, in particular, company characteristics (such as size/complexity, industry, e.g., Nuijten et al, 2015; Carcello et al, 2018; Zhou et al, 2019), IAF characteristics (such as the focus of IAF activities and IAF quality, e.g., Sarens & De Beelde, 2006; Eulerich et al, 2018; Eulerich et al, 2019) and the relation to its main stakeholders (e.g., management and supervisory board, e.g., Sarens & De Beelde, 2006; Eulerich et al, 2018; Eulerich et al, 2019). This helps us to differentiate between two groups of companies dealing with the TLoD: one group that faces no challenges in implementation versus the other group that does face challenges in implementation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coordination challenges in implementing the three lines of defense model

et al. 2020

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The three lines of defense model (TLoD) aims to provide a simple and effective way to improve coordination and enhance communications on risk management and control by clarifying the essential roles and duties of different governance functions. Without effective coordination of these governance functions, work can be duplicated or key risks may be missed or misjudged. To address these challenges, professional standards recommend that the chief audit executive (CAE) coordinates activities with other internal and external governance stakeholders (assurance providers). We consider survey responses from 415 CAEs from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland to analyze determinants that help to implement the TLoD without any challenges and to explore the extent of (coordination) challenges between the internal audit function and the respective governance stakeholders. Our results show a great variance in the extent of coordination challenges dependent on different determinants and the respective governance stakeholder.

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“…Earlier studies have posited that the effectiveness of internal auditors is affected by several factors (D'Onza & Sarens, 2018;Erasmus & Coetzee, 2018;Nuijten et al, 2015;Salehi, 2016). The current study has supported this notion by introducing extrinsic factors (i.e., top management support, independence, complexity, and internal audit department size) affecting the effectiveness of internal auditors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Extrinsic Factors Influencing Internal Auditors’ Effectiveness in Jordanian Public Sector

Alqudah¹,

Amran²,

Hassan³

2019

RES

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This study focuses on the extrinsic factors, namely, top management support, complexity, independence, and internal audit department’s size that are out of internal auditors' control affecting their effectiveness in the Jordanian public sector. The current study also tries to improve understanding of the extrinsic factors affecting internal auditors’ ability to achieve the assigned goals in order to highlight internal auditors’ effectiveness. Resource-based and agency theories were used in developing the research model. Two sets of questionnaires were distributed among the financial managers and internal audit managers. The results reveal that top management support, independence, and the size of internal audit department play a significant and positive role on the effectiveness of internal auditors, whereas complexity of the task has been found to make a negative impact on the level of their performance. Given the significance of the public sector within the Jordanian economy, the findings are valuable for the internal audit function, regulators, and decision-makers in proposing new legislation and regulations of an internal audit function. Future studies may look into other factors that may restrict internal audit performance, such as organizational culture and pay satisfaction.

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Auditing Interactive Complexity: Challenges for the Internal Audit Profession

Cited by 13 publications

References 63 publications

Coping with Complexity: Internal Audit and Complex Governance

Coping with Complexity: Internal Audit and Complex Governance

Coordination challenges in implementing the three lines of defense model

Extrinsic Factors Influencing Internal Auditors’ Effectiveness in Jordanian Public Sector

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