July 2020

July 27, 2020

​Understanding the Roots in Internal Audit’s Response to COVID-19

To say the effects of COVID-19 have been significant for organizations large and small is to state the obvious. Each day brings fresh insights about control weaknesses, costly failures, and new risks exposed by the pandemic and its many related affronts.

It is also obvious by now that many organizations have responded admirably to counter these effects. They reacted nimbly to initial lock downs by adapting processes and embracing technology to ensure continued productivity. They balanced creative new approaches to business with socially responsible actions to soldier through the pandemic safely.

Internal audit has proven its value in this crisis, as well.…

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July 20, 2020

​New IIA Three Lines Model Offers Timely Evolution of a Trusted Tool

Today, The IIA unveils an important update to one of the best known and trusted risk management tools. The new IIA Three Lines Model, a fresh look at the venerable Three Lines of Defense model, promises to change the way many organizations look not just at risk, but also at controls, collaboration, communication, accountability, assurance, and more.

I posted a blog more than a year ago announcing The IIA’s plans to explore how best to update the Three Lines of Defense. The intent was to reflect changes in modern risk management and governance, while at the same time preserving the model’s straightforward and clear approach.…

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July 13, 2020

COVID-19 Demands Audit Committee Effectiveness: 6 Recommendations

The challenges to business and society created by the biggest health crisis in a century have been manifold. Each day brings a new twist in how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our safety, interactions, business, politics, and security.

Yet, this relentless scourge may offer one significant benefit: It has sharpened our focus on governance and accountability by requiring organizations to take a long, hard look at how they operate, whether they be large or small, complex or simple. This examination — a bit of organizational soul searching, if you will — helps identify waste, hone in on core missions, accelerate adoption of new technologies, and most importantly, better understand how we govern ourselves.…

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July 6, 2020

​Persuading Internal Audit Clients Just Got Harder

There’s an old expression — “when everyone shouts, no one listens” — that certainly rings true today. From politics to social media and even in grocery store aisles as much of the world still battles COVID-19, the prevailing approach to discourse is to shout down or vilify those who disagree.

It seems to me that the art of persuasion has fallen out of favor to confrontation. But as internal auditors know well, to effect positive change in our organizations, we must make those on the receiving end of our recommendations and reports open, comfortable, and amenable to what we have to say. …

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