Internal Audit Foundation Releases New Internal Audit Activity Research Report

Aligning Internal Audit Activities and Scope to Organizational Strategy – How the Business Environment and Organizational Strategy Impact Internal Audit

The Internal Audit Foundation announced today the release of a new research report, Aligning Internal Audit Activities and Scope to Organizational Strategy – How the Business Environment and Organizational Strategy Impact Internal Audit.

This research project, supported by generous donations from the Foundation, focused on determining how internal audit can effectively align its activities to organizational strategy. Efforts centered on investigating the impact of strategy on internal audit function activities and understanding which skills internal auditors utilize in aligning their activities to organizational strategy. The findings are of particular importance in the current context of an increasingly changing, responsive, and robust business environment.

At its core is one major organizational factor — strategy. Interviews with CAEs, CEOs, and other members of management committees from diverse industries were conducted to more fully understand how organizational strategy can impact internal audit activities. Internal auditors then responded to a survey submitted by IIA North America to investigate these impacts globally.

The main conclusions drawn through analysis of the interviews and surveys show:

• The business environment is increasingly moving toward digital.
• To stay aligned with the environment and its changes, the internal audit plan has to be dynamic.
• Different strategic profiles have an impact on the activities performed by internal audit departments — especially the case with mergers, acquisitions, vertical integration, and unrelated diversification.

A list of practical implications is offered at the end of each section, providing advice for practitioners.

The Foundation makes many of its reports available as a free download. Get your copy of Aligning Internal Audit Activities and Scope to Organizational Strategy – How the Business Environment and Organizational Strategy Impact Internal Audit today. Download now.