Toward a Knowledge Management Framework for Auditing Processes

We aimed at discovering how auditors working in an auditing firm managed their knowledge-related processes, and then built a theoretical model for the knowledge management of professional knowledge-intensive services like auditing. We conducted a case study in an auditing firm in Vietnam by employing a qualitative methodology in this research by using twenty in-depth interviews, observations, and documentary analysis. A literature review revealed that auditing research has been developed through various approaches ranging from experimental studies to information processing and experience-focused and knowledge-related interests. However, there has not been much empirical research that explains how knowledge is created during an auditing process. We conducted an empirical case study in this research that provided useful insights into constructing a theoretical model of knowledge management processes in auditing. Because the theoretical model consisted of three phases of collecting data, analyzing data (thereby turning them into information), and synthesizing information into knowledge, we called it the collect-analyze-synthesize (CAS) model. The model was used to visualize the auditing process as a spiral with many iterative CAS processes. Wisdom in the CAS model is defined as high levels of accumulated knowledge and the ability to exercise professional judgments attained from long-term experience. Wisdom is retained by members in an auditing firm and drives the auditing process. The significance of this study was inherent in three main areas: providing scholarly extensions of the literature by suggesting a knowledge management framework for auditing processes, helping auditors and auditing firms with their roles, and ensuring better assurance services for society.