IIA Position Paper on Organizational Governance: Guidance for Internal Auditors

Overview

The topic of organizational governance (often referred to as corporate governance) is important for many key stakeholders in the political and business worlds. Typically, internal auditors operate in two capacities in this area. First, auditors provide independent, objective assessments on the appropriateness of the organization's governance structure and the operating effectiveness of specific governance activities.

Second, they act as catalysts for change, advising or advocating improvements to enhance the organization's governance structure and practices.

By providing assurance on the risk management, control, and governance processes within an organization, internal auditing is one of the key cornerstones of effective organizational governance. This guidance is designed to help internal auditing in its assurance and advisory role with regard to specific aspects of organizational  governance.

This document has three main sections:

1. Definition of Organizational Governance and the Role of Internal Auditing.

This section provides a framework for understanding the role of internal auditing, specific activities internal auditors can perform, and possible next steps for internal auditors.

2. Organizational Governance Principles, Participants, and Its Interaction With Other Initiatives.

This section discusses additional information on the key principles of organizational governance, the roles of typical participants in this area, and the impact of common organizational initiatives (e.g., quality programs, enterprise risk management) on organizational governance.

3. Appendices. This section provides additional definitions and resources related to organizational governance.

Organizational governance is a complex topic that overlaps with other internal audit subjects. Various companies, governments, research organizations, regulatory bodies, and other organizations have addressed aspects of the broad topic of organizational governance through various means. This document is not intended to replace all these publications and does not concentrate on organizational governance as an isolated topic.

The concepts outlined in this document are intended to apply to the role of internal auditing across a broad range of organization types, including publicly or privately owned businesses, nonprofit or for-profit organizations, and government or nongovernmental institutions. Regardless of the type of organization, the key concepts in this document can be applied to the company's internal audit activity.

Download the paper from the IIA site. link