Auditing Information Systems, Second Edition

10.6. BENEFITS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM

The benefits of a successful CSA program are many. They encompass the entire organization, including individual staff members, management, internal and external auditors, and the owners of the organization.

Staff members benefit by having their creative ideas for improving operations and controls implemented, or at least considered. They participate in the process of identifying internal control weaknesses and formulating solutions. Thus, they are more likely to take ownership of the solutions since they contributed to their development. This employee empowerment enhances worker morale while helping to improve operational effectiveness. Without CSA, they might believe that their ideas are not valuable, thereby leading to job dissatisfaction and higher turnover.

Management benefits by gaining the opportunity to enhance their ability to meet their business objectives with the direct help of their staff. Management has input into the process by identifying the critical business objectives to be addressed by the CSA workshop participants. This can sometimes directly improve their financial incentives. Also, increased employee morale reduces the incidence of employee disgruntlement and the related difficulties of counseling and other disciplinary actions. Management also learns that they are responsible for internal control, not the internal auditors.

Internal auditors benefit by being perceived as helping to add value to the organization. This ...