March 2022
I have recently been speaking again with members of the press seeking my perspectives on internal audit, risk management and governance in the post-COVID era. While I am not the spokesman for the profession any longer, I am always happy to share my views. It is not uncommon for the interviewer to note that internal audit has taken some criticism for missing red flags or even fraudulent activity in a fresh corporate scandal. I have responded to those questions so many times over the years that they rarely come as a surprise.
Over the past decade, there has been no shortage of corporate scandals born from ineffective corporate governance, poor risk management, and toxic cultures.…
In speaking to an audience recently, I observed that the past year has been the most tumultuous I can ever remember when it comes to risk velocity and volatility. In the past 12 months alone, we have witnessed an awesome stream of risk-induced disruptive events including:
- Brazen cyber-attacks on infrastructure targets
- COVID-induced supply chain disruptions
- The COVID Delta Variant
- The “great resignation”
- A surge in inflation to the highest levels in 40 years
- The COVID Omicron variant
- War in Europe for the first time in 70-years
- Record fuel prices
There was a time when one of these events in a year would have been noteworthy.…
For the 14th year in a row, The IIA is using its extraordinary reach to survey the internal audit profession in North America, and once again, the results shine a bright light on key trends, emerging risks and important opportunities for the profession. The 2022 North American Pulse of Internal Audit report has just been released, and it doesn’t disappoint!
This year, The IIA surveyed more than 500 senior internal audit leaders – more than 85% of whom are CAEs. Respondents were primarily from organizations headquartered in the United States (83%) and Canada (10%). As in past years, audit leaders were surveyed on key resource trends and internal audit’s plans and priorities.…
It is no secret that I consider internal auditing one of the most rewarding jobs on the planet. I make no apology for being a champion of this profession. But let’s face it, no matter how good you are at your job, it’s likely that people don’t drop by your office or schedule a Zoom call just to tell you how much they love your last audit. As I have been exploring in recent blog posts, audit reports are too often met with frustration or even indifference by those on the receiving end. As a young auditor, it used to bother me that my audits were not embraced the way I thought they should be.…
The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors in the United Kingdom and Ireland (IIA-UK) is a pioneer in advocating internal audit’s role in auditing corporate culture. So, it’s no surprise that the body has stepped up again to provide a fresh perspective on the topic in a new report: “Cultivating a healthy culture: Why internal audit and boards must take corporate culture more seriously in a post-Covid world.” The research was undertaken with the support of AuditBoard and the London Business School’s Leadership Institute. I was honored to add my voice, along with IIA-UK CEO John Wood, to the foreword of this important work.…