Auditing culture and behaviour

Which guidance demands internal audit functions look at the risk and control culture of an organisation?

IIA international standards

IIA internal audit professional practices framework

All of these answers

IIA UK Code of practice

Behaviour and culture are not tangible and cannot be precisely measured

True for behaviour, but culture can be measured more precisely

True for both culture and behaviour

True for culture, but behaviour can be measured more precisely

False for both culture and behaviour

What does culture consist of?

The beliefs of people

The patterns of behaviour of people

The behaviour of people

All of these answers

What drives culture?

Dynamics between groups of people

All of these answers

Bonus scheme design and the sector you work in

Fundamental human psychological traits

Scientific models have been developed to analyse culture completely and objectively.

Mostly false – cultural models have limitations on both their completeness and their objectivity, but they can give some insights when taken with a pinch of salt

True - and experts/consultants can share these models with us

False – culture models are neither complete nor objective

Partially true – models can measure culture objectively but this may not be complete because some people may not reply

Culture is a stable phenomenon that we can use to guarantee people will behave sensibly.

True – especially if we really push the culture with a strong tone from the top

Partially true – A good culture will give us reserves so nothing really bad will happen

Mostly false – there may be some lasting cultural traits but they do not guarantee individual good behaviour, and catastrophic issues can happen all of a sudden

False – culture cannot indicate how people will behave to any degree at all

Because IIA standards do not discuss culture explicitly, there is no way we can audit this area.

Partially true – but we can advise

Partially true – we can advise if we have expertise, and we can audit if we can be clear about other assurances and agree a criteria for the assignment

True – this is an area for HR and psychologists

False – we can easily audit this area, just like any other area

Culture surveys cannot fully grasp the real culture because:

Culture survey results are only an average – there will be a range of experiences and all of these give the true picture of culture, not just the average

Surveys are created by management and may not ask all the questions they really need to

Some employees may not reply, and even if they do they may give results based on impressions (rather than reality)

All of these answers

What factors might tell you whether the risk sub-culture of a department you audit is better?

Whether direct access to data and documents is allowed without argument

Whether they provide information on time

Whether they are open and honest about issues and risks

All of these answers

Internal Audit has its own sub-culture.

Partially true – we have a professional culture and this may differ by country

Partially true – we are independent and objective but we do have a professional culture

Yes – Internal Audit has a sub-culture just as much as any other department, even audit ratings say something about the sub-culture

False – we are independent and objective and report to the Audit Committee

Auditing culture and behaviour

Which guidance demands internal audit functions look at the risk and control culture of an organisation?

Behaviour and culture are not tangible and cannot be precisely measured

What does culture consist of?

What drives culture?

Scientific models have been developed to analyse culture completely and objectively.

Culture is a stable phenomenon that we can use to guarantee people will behave sensibly.

Because IIA standards do not discuss culture explicitly, there is no way we can audit this area.

Culture surveys cannot fully grasp the real culture because:

What factors might tell you whether the risk sub-culture of a department you audit is better?

Internal Audit has its own sub-culture.

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