Internal Auditors Too Can Be Quality Champions Synopsis Research findings show that internal auditors can be at the cutting edge of quality by championing knowledge and experience of Total Quality Management (TQM) in their engagements, as well as using TQM tools and techniques in their own internal auditing.

Such a contribution to an organization’s quality programmes can be through various roles –

as a systems developer, as a systems auditor, as a compliance auditor – and adopting ‘quality characteristics’ recognized in TQM principles.

Extracted from The IIA Research Foundation report Total Quality Improvement Process and The Internal Auditing Function (1995), Professor Parveen P. Gupta and Professor Manash R. Ray.

Copyright 1995 by The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation, 247 Maitland Avenue, Altamonte Springs, Florida 32710-4201, USA. Reprinted with permission.

After Reading the Case Study Consider:

1. How do attitudes to quality management in your own organization compare with those discussed in the case?

2. Can you identify examples of internal audit involvement in your organization’s quality programmes? Are your examples by design or driven by your organization’s quality policies?

3. Are any of the following quality characteristics used by you to achieve quality in your audit work and other services you provide:

• Use of feedback from auditees.

• A working involvement with your organization’s quality auditors.

• Issue of a quality statement by internal audit.
• Clear understanding of audit objectives between auditor and auditee.
• Supervisory reviews of audit working papers.
• Use of quality teams to focus on activities that need to be improved.
• Training of internal audit staff in techniques for quality improvement.
• Use of quality measures.
• Reviews of selected audit work by internal audit staff independent of audit.
• Reviews of selected audit work by staff outside of the internal audit department.
• Use of internal audit standards/code of ethics/statements of responsibilities.
• Use of any other quality management standards, laws, regulations as a benchmark.