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Ethics and internal audit: Moral will and moral skill in a heteronomous field

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  • Everett, Jeff
  • Tremblay, Marie-Soleil

Abstract

This paper examines ethics in the field of internal audit. A set of in-depth interviews, the autobiography of ex-Vice President of Internal Audit of World Com, Cynthia Cooper, and the documents of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) are all analyzed to shed light on the ethics—deontic, teleic, and aretaic—that characterize this weakly autonomous field. The paper further employs work in the field of economic sociology and Milan Kundera's literary ideas to highlight how internal auditors actively moralize markets and embrace a moral will that is ambiguous, if not conflicted. The paper further raises questions about the IIA's present offering of ethics-related resources and its ability to effectively develop moral skill in this field. In addition, and in keeping with our phronetic research approach, the paper provides suggestions aimed at improving the Institute's ethics resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Everett, Jeff & Tremblay, Marie-Soleil, 2014. "Ethics and internal audit: Moral will and moral skill in a heteronomous field," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 181-196.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:25:y:2014:i:3:p:181-196
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2013.10.002
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    12. Al Shbail, Mohannad & Salleh, Zalailah & Mohd Nor, M. N., 2018. "Antecedents of burnout and its relationship to internal audit quality," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(4), pages 789-817, August.
    13. Lehman, Glen, 2014. "Moral will, accounting and the phronemos," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 210-216.
    14. Isabel Z. Wang & Neil Fargher, 2017. "The effects of tone at the top and coordination with external auditors on internal auditors’ fraud risk assessments," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(4), pages 1177-1202, December.
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    18. Vikash Kumar Sinha & Marika Arena, 2020. "Manifold Conceptions of the Internal Auditing of Risk Culture in the Financial Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 81-102, February.
    19. Mélanie Roussy & Michelle Rodrigue, 2018. "Internal Audit: Is the ‘Third Line of Defense’ Effective as a Form of Governance? An Exploratory Study of the Impression Management Techniques Chief Audit Executives Use in Their Annual Accountability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 853-869, September.
    20. Céline Baud & Marion Brivot & Darlene Himick, 2021. "Accounting Ethics and the Fragmentation of Value," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 373-387, January.
    21. Hoang To Loan Nguyen, 2023. "The Effect of Auditor's Personal Characteristics on Professional Judgment and Ethics in Auditing," International Journal of Knowledge and Systems Science (IJKSS), IGI Global, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, January.

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