Chapter 8
Root Cause Analysis
Root Cause
In this chapter, we define and discuss the concept of root cause analysis. This cause-identifying approach is often used by internal audit departments around the world to describe their valiant efforts to discover the true or underlying reason why an exception exists. The ironic aspect of the concept is that many departments believe that they are attempting to find and identify the root cause of an exception but are, in reality, unfamiliar with the most effective way to obtain and recognize it. Root cause analysis is one of the most overused terms in internal audit departments; it also is one of the most misunderstood as to process and identification. Even though almost every audit department states that they use the root cause analysis, not everyone understands the process of how to find root cause nor recognizes the root cause when it has been identified. In addition to clearly explaining the concept, we discuss the keys to validating that the internal audit team understands the analysis and the supporting explanation as to why it is critical to identify the true root cause each and every time a reportable exception has been found through internal audit testing. Also, this chapter provides a practical approach and keys to learning how to identify root cause for any exception noted.
Root Cause Defined
By definition, root cause analysis is a research-based approach to identifying the bottom line reason of a problem with root cause representing ...
