Determinants of Internal Audit Effectiveness
Determinants of Internal Audit Effectiveness
Determinants of Internal Audit Effectiveness
JIMMA UNIVERSITY
JUNE, 2014
J1MM4, ETHIOPIA
JIMMA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
MSC REGULAR PROGRAM
BY
• — e: Z0/1
Co-Advisor Date
u Ic
Internal Examiner
L L—t (LL(_..
External Examiner
Declaration
I undersigned declare that this Research report is my original work and has not been presented for a
degree in any other university, and all the materials used for this study have been duly acknowledged.
Signature
Date
This Research report has been submitted for examination with our approval as a university
advisor.
Main advisor
Name i LVIA T I A
(SI (SF I VA R11
Signature
cS—c tia
Date (94_ in6
Co-advisor
Date
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to investigate on the determinants of internal audit effectiveness in
the selected Ethiopian public sector offices. This investigation is focused on 15 purposely selected
public sector offices that are expected to represent all other sectors. The management teams and the
internal auditors of the selected public sector office are the source for the required data to the
researcher through the questionnaires administered. In addition, the finding of this study is to show
the direct relation effects of management perception, management support, organizational
independence of internal auditors, adequate and competent internal auditor's staff and the presence
of approved internal audit charter with the internal audit effectiveness on the public sector
management. According to the regression output the management support, the existence of adequate
and competent IA staff and the availability of approved IA charter were contributed for the internal
audit effectiveness in the public sector significantly and positively. The remaining two variable; the
managements perception Jar the IA value and the organizational independent of internal auditors
were positively related with the IAE but their contribution for the IAE were statistically not
significance. All of these five independent variables are making 55.10% of the contributions for
internal audit effectiveness in the public sector offices. The public sector offices should understand
that the contributions of these variables were collectively significant to identify any noncompliance
activities in their office and to add values for the IAE in the public sector offices.
Key Words: Internal Audit; Ethiopian Public sector offices; internal audit effectiveness; determinants
of internal audit effectiveness;
Acknowledgement
First of all, I would like to thanks my almighty God for his great support to accomplish this research
work and for his infinite support in my entire life success. Secondly, I would like to express my
genuine thanks to Dr. Sujatha Sclvaraj and Mr. Mohammed S. for their continuous comment and
supports to make this research paper and for the information given that is very valuable for my study.
And also I would like to thanks Jimma University College of Business and Economics research and
post graduate coordinating office for the chance given to and direct to make this research paper based
on the topics that I select.
Finally I would like to thank all the people who support me by giving different materials and for their
idea sharing to complete this study, particularly my big boss Engineer Genene Haile EEPCo Project
manager, my brother Hailemeskel EI/Mariam, my wife Mesi Wub, my kid Aregawi Shewamene, and
also my collaborators WA, TT, ZY, BT, SG and all my best friends who are highly supported me to
proceed this study.
ehewcurtene diailentatiam
aunt, 2014
s pinout, °Ethiopia
iii
Table of content
Contents Page
DECLARATION
Abstract ii
Acknowledgement iii
Table of content iv
Acronyms viii
CHAPTER ONE 1
1. INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER TWO 8
2.1 Introduction 8
iv
2.2.2 Types of Audits Performed by Internal Auditors I1
2.4 Summery 20
CHAPTER THREE 21
3.1. Introduction 21
CHAPTER FOUR 27
4.1. NTRODUCTION 27
CHAPTER FIVE 42
5.2. Conclusion 43
5.3. Recommendations 44
Reference 46
Appendix A: Questionnaires 50
vi
List of tables
Tables Page
I vii
I
I
Acronyms
I viii
I
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
In Every country that is administered in a democratic policy needs to be accountable in its use of
public money and in providing effective, efficient and economical (3e's) service delivery. To
achieve those government objectives applying internal audit function were the major mechanism for
controlling and using of all scarce resources available in the corporate organization. Ever more
larger and complex systems require greater competitiveness, thus internal audit has had to become
ever more professional (Cecilia Nordin Van Gansberghe, 2003).
In addition, the development in internal audit profession brings change in the scope and functions of
internal audit customers. Previously internal auditors were seen just as an assistant of accountant's
and an external auditor but recently internal audit is certainly is considered an independent
profession, which is playing a significant role in the management of organizations. Besides,
independent of internal auditors have always been a sensitive issue while he/she is the employees of
the organization, above all, not clearly organized structure or reporting line make the problem more
complicated in such offices (Rolandas Rupsye, 2005).
Public sector offices arc part of the public body which is partly or wholly financed by government
budget and concerned with providing basic government services to the whole society (Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development (MoFED, 2004). The compositions of the public sectors are
varied by their fimction and purposes, but in most cases, they are designed in order to enable the
public sectors to achieve their goals.
The public sector provide services such as banking service, financing, education, communication
service, healthcare, police, transportation, electric services, security and so on, which benefit all of
the society and encourage equal opportunity to benefit from those services provided (Mihret and
Yismaw, 2007). This research was focused on the determinants of Internal Audit Effectiveness in the
selected Public sector office found in Addis Ababa mainly federal government offices. Mostly, the
efficiency and effectiveness of the management operations in public sector are ensured by the
effectiveness of its employees.
Internal auditors which are the focus of this study and also the key employee of public offices, are
expected to work independently and objectively to enhance high quality of public services, achieve
good internal control system, avoid corruption, ensure good corporate governance system, promote
accountability and greater transparency (Coram et al, 2008; Van Peursem 2005; Belay, 2007).
Therefore, it is important to have effective internal audit unit as part of modern governance system
in public sector offices. In corporate governance internal audit (IA) issue has received increasing
attention in recent years, due to different reasons. To mention some of them, internal audit links to
the internal control-risk management system; improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness
through providing constructive criticism and recommendations about organizations status; reduce
information asymmetry during decision making; serves as an important internal assurance in the
business and financial reporting process of corporations (Soh and Bennie, 2011; Cohen and Sayag,
2010; Mihret and Yismaw, 2007).
Additionally, in the accounting profession, audits play an important role in serving the public interest
by increasing the accountability of managers and reinforcing trust and confidence in financial
reporting process and they serve as an important link in the business and financial reporting process
of corporations and not for profit providers at organizational level (Reynolds, 2009). In connection
with this, internal audit identifies weak links in the system as well as creates potential opportunities
for improvement and act as a feedback mechanism for the top management. Hence, organizations
seeking a suitable and effective quality management system need to conduct internal audits to ensure
that the system functions as intended (Lindow and Race, 2002).
Moreover, the new Institute of Internal Audit's (IIA, 2001), board of directors defined internal audit
as:
An independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add and improve an
organization 's operations. It helps an organization to accomplish its objectives by bringing a
systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management,
control, and governance processes.
2
These definitions give us a broad clue about importance and contribution of internal audit functions
in the organizations. For example, internal auditing is involved in consulting activities, and value
added contributions for the evaluation and improvement of the effectiveness of risk management and
governance process (IIA, 2001). This shows the roles of internal auditing is moving away from the
narrow scope of measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of internal controls towards a broader
scope of activities that creates opportunities for the internal auditing profession and to receive more
attention in corporate governances.
Even though, the internal auditors have many roles and contributions to the organization and the
public interest, it also faces many challenges from the organization they work. Some of the
challenges identified by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (2004), in their internal
audit manual are lack of management respect, lack of independence, assigned of internal auditors to
many tasks and being ignored (conflict of interest) and lack of professional development.
In addition, Mihret and Yismaw, (2007) in their case study on Ethiopian public Universities, they
argue that internal audit recommendations are not afforded enough management attention and
support which adversely affect the effectiveness of internal audit. Moreover, lack of mechanisms in
place to follow up the implementation of internal audit recommendations; absence of strategic plan
and consistent documentation styles for audit work, lack of resources, poor leadership for internal
audit function (IAF), absence of appropriate framework to measure IAF performance, and lack of
competent personnel are also some challenges of internal auditors (Mihret and Yismaw, 2007; belay,
2007).
Internal auditors have the right and ability to access all information in every part of the organization
and their function lies at every activities of the corporate governance system. All the stakeholders
will therefore benefit from having a strong Internal Audit Function (IAF) which will provide value
to the other cornerstones of corporate governance (Smet and Mention, 2011). Because internal
auditors can make line managers aware of their responsibility; can act as a consultant in monitoring
risk, identifies weakness in internal control system, and facilitates the implementation of risk
management as well as IA contributes to the appropriateness of procedures and operations of the
audited body (Cohen and Sayag, 2010: Arena and Azzone, 2009; Dittenhofer, 2001).
3
The internal audit staffs are organized inefficiently with low technical staff proficiency, that does not
prepared a strategic plans to conduct their activities to produce effective internal audit output to their
organization(Cohcn & Sayag, 2010; Arena and Azzonc, 2009; Mihret and Yismaw, 2007). Besides
this the audit evidences arc attached with their annual reports; but due to their limited access for
readability, limited distribution to the senior management officers and low level of follow-up for the
implementation of audit recommendations to apply effective internal audit, the overall responses by
the management to the IA findings and recommendations is generally not adequate in universities
which are part of the public sector. Moreover, the number of actual audit performed in a period is
usually less than the number of audits stated in the annual audit plan is not supporting the
effectiveness of the internal auditors in the organization (Mihret and Yismaw, 2007).
The area that looked in this research focus on the effectiveness of internal auditors; measuring in
terms of internal auditor's ability in identifying non-compliance activities and the added
contributions by IA to the Ethiopian public sector offices which are an important concept to show
the influential out puts of the internal auditors. This would have far-reaching implications on the
level of IA's effectiveness and competency. Because the percentage of recommendations suggested
by the internal auditors are actually implemented by the auditee offices; and the ability to plan,
execute and communicate audit findings are the most suitable dimensions to evaluate internal audit
effectiveness (Cohen & Sayag, 2010; Arena and Azzonc, 2009; Mihret and Yismaw, 2007).
With regard to this, the researcher is attempting to identify the factors influencing internal auditor's
effectiveness in the public sector offices. Specifically, how management's perception of IA's value,
management support, organizational independence, adequate competent internal audit staff, and
approved IA charter influence the effectiveness of internal audit in the public offices are examine
and answered.
4
1.3 Objective of the Study
The general purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of internal audit effectiveness in
the selected public sector offices.
• To examine the contributions of management support for IAE in the public sector offices.
• To examine the contributions of management perception for IAE in the public sector offices.
• To examine the contributions of organizational independence of internal auditors for IAE in the
public sector offices.
• To examine the contributions of adequate and competent internal auditors staff for IAE in the
public sector offices.
• To examine the contributions of approved internal audit charter for IAE in the public sector
offices.
• Does the support given by the management to internal auditors enhance the IA effectiveness?
• Does the management perception matter for internal audit effectiveness?
• Does organizational independence of internal auditors affect IA effectiveness?
• Does the adequate and competent internal audit staff impacts on IA effectiveness?
• Does the presence of approved internal audit charter in the public sector offices contribute to the
internal audit effectiveness?
5
1.5 Research Hypothesis
After reviewing the related literatures (Mihret and Yismaw, 2007; Cohen & Sayag, 2010; Arena and
Azzone) specifically the relations of management perception, management support, organizational
independence of internal auditors, adequate and competent internal audit staff, and the presence of
internal audit charter with internal audit effectiveness the study are designed the following
directional hypothesis.
HI: The management supports arc positively related to the internal audit effectiveness in the public
sector offices.
H2: The better the management's perceptions of internal audit values, the higher internal auditors'
ability in identifying noncompliance activities and the more added contributions.
I-13: The organizational independence for internal auditors positively related to the internal audit
effectiveness in the public offices.
1-14: The presence of adequate and competent IA staff in the public sector offices are positively
related to the internal audit effectiveness.
1-15: The availability of approved IA charter in the public sector offices have positive and significant
impact with the internal audit effectiveness in the public sector offices.
The internal auditors have a significant impact to control any non-compliance activity in line with
the established policies, plans, procedures, laws and regulations, set by the government which could
have a significant impact on the organization's operations. The internal auditors are also essential to
add or create value to the organizations, to avoid failure and to save the operating and administration
costs in accordance with the organization's policies and procedures.
Therefore, this research is very essential to show the effectiveness of the internal auditors by
assessing the factors which determines the public sectors internal audit effectiveness. In addition this
research is important for the empirical evidences for the public sector offices to examine their
6
U
policies and procedures, and for the future researchers also important to develop a conceptual
literature development.
The study, focus on the determinants of internal audit effectiveness would more successful if it is
conducted in all public sector offices, and also on all privately owned organizations. But due to time
I and financial constraints it is out of the touch of the individual researcher, and due to this the public
sector offices which are cover under this research work are limited to 15 purposively selected public
sectors which are expected to show the effects of all the rest untouched offices. In addition the intent
of this study is to investigate the selected determinants of the IA effectiveness; such as management
perception, management support, organizational independence, adequate competent internal audit
staff and presence of internal audit charter in the selected public sector offices.
In addition to the preliminary page, this research paper consists of five chapters. The first chapter
I
with its sub topics was introductory parts incorporated the introduction, statement of the problem,
research objectives, research questions, research hypotheses, significant of conducting the study,
scope and limitation of the study, and the methodologies used to conduct this study. The second
chapter describes the detail review of related literatures with regard to the internal audit effectiveness
and the variables which affect the internal audit effectiveness. The third chapter expresses the
information regarding the sampling techniques used to conduct the research. The fourth chapter is
I
the analysis, discussions and presentation part of the research findings and finally, the last chapter
describe about the conclusions and recommendations of the case study followed by the references
and appendixes.
7
CHAPTER TWO
The Ethiopian ministry of finance first issues the audit directive in 1942, by focusing mainly on the
public sector utilization of funds, and it marked on the modernization of audit practice in the
country. By following this, the Office of the Audit General (O.A.G) is formulated in 1961 with the
necessary modifications with respect to the duties and responsibilities of the bureaus and the
auditors; and in 1987 and on wards there are significant developments in public sector auditing
systems in the country).
Moreover, the coming of Proclamation No. 13/1987 empowered the O.A.G to direct the internal
auditors of government offices and public enterprises in three aspects that are whether accounting
records are properly maintained and reliable, whether the assets of the ministries and enterprises are
adequately safeguarded and properly maintained; and whether policies and procedures laid down by
top management are complied with that implies less attention was given to operational audit as a
service to management(Kinfu, 1990; Lemma Argaw, 2000).
8
The public sector offices are the major vehicle for economic development due to their engagement in
various economic activities: such as in manufacturing industry, transport and communication
services, banking and financial service sectors, construction sector, hotel and tourism industry, etc.
To become efficient and effective in each economic activity the performance of the management
should regularly measure and assessed to take corrective actions when bad performance is found.
Accordingly, the management of the public offices is responsible to follow up the implementation of
economic policy and procedure, and submit reports on the performance of the economy (MoFED,
2004). Therefore, the effectiveness of IA should receive the greater attention in research area to
enhance the quality of its report. In line with this, the research had focused on the determinants of IA
effectiveness in selected public sector offices.
Nevertheless, Internal Audit is subject to many problems that affect internal auditors' effectiveness
in different corporate governance (Cohen & Sayag, 2010; Arena &Azzone, 2009; Belay, 2007;
Mihret & Yismaw, 2007). Particularly the determinants of internal audit effectiveness which are
used to measure the improvement of public sectors through IA were the focus of this case study. In
this case study the literature review consists of the definition of internal audit and the term
effectiveness, the type of auditing activities performed by the internal auditors and the internal audit
effectiveness instrument of improving public sector management such as the perceptions of the
management, management support, organizational independence of internal auditors, adequate and
competent of IA staff and the presence of approved IA charter by referring different books,
reviewing and analyzing prior audit researches and journals.
A simple and more traditional meaning of internal auditing is defined as: an independent appraisal
function established within an organization to examine and evaluate its activities as a service to the
organization.
Later on, the new Institute of Internal Audit (IIA, 2001), defined internal audit as:
An independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add and improve an
organization 's operations. ft helps an organization to accomplish its objectives by bringing a
9
systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management,
According to this definition the major scope of the internal auditors are making assurance to the
organization and giving consultant services to the overall managements of the corporate governance.
By providing the independent opinion and conclusions regarding the operation, function, system and
wellbeing of the organization the IA can provide assurance services; and by giving the advisory
service based on the specified requests of an engagement client the internal auditor can give the
consulting service to the organization.
Internal audit are the mechanism through which information about the effectiveness of the quality
system is gathered by auditors selected from within the company but, who are independence of the
area, function or procedures being audited. Or the Internal Audit Function (IAF) is the mechanism
through which the operation of the quality management system is formally monitored and in
accordance with the documented quality system is assured (MoFED, 2004).
The Statement on Auditing Practice (SAP-6) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
describes internal audit as "the plan of organization and all the methods and procedures adopted by
the management of an entity to assist in achieving management's objective of insuring, as far as
possible, the orderly and efficient conduct of its business, including adherence to management
policies, the safeguarding of assets, prevention and detection of fraud and error, the accuracy and
completeness of accounting records and timely preparation of reliable financial information.
On the other hand, internal audit is a critical appraisal of functioning of various operations of an
enterprise including the functioning of the system of internal check, Exceptions from normal
functioning of internal check system are exposed in internal audit. Accuracy, completeness,
reliability and timeliness of accounting information are tested and reported for remedial action.
Nom-accounting areas with the operational side of enterprise are critically studied, analyzed and
weakness of the system or practice with inefficiency, wastage and frauds are brought to the notice of
the management. Suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of the system, for improving the
productivity and profitability of business practices are offered. Internal audit is the independent
appraisal of activity within an organization for the review of accounting, financial and other business
practices as a protective and constructive arm of management. It is a type of control which functions
10
by measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of other types of control (B.N. Tandon/ 4th edition, p.
112-115).
Professor Walter B. Meigs of America says internal auditing consists of a continuous, critical review
of financial and operating activities by a staff of auditors functioning as full time salaried employees.
Internal audit implies an audit of the accounts by the employees of the business. The work is done by
a separate set of staff that may or may not have professional audit qualifications. The function of an
internal auditor is practically the same as that of an auditor. In addition to that an internal audit has to
see that there is no wastage and the business is carried on efficiently and effectively. Again if an
internal auditor finds that as a result of the inefficiency of the management, the management the
concern has suffered a loss, it is his duty to report the fact. The IA has to be reported to the
management whether the policy and plans of activities prescribed by them have been implemented,
whether the internal controls and checks established were adequate, whether the actual results
obtained were varying from the estimates, etc. to enable the management to achieve the objective of
the company in the planned manner.
A variety of audits are performed in the review of campus programs and resources. These audits
include:
Operations Audits: These audits examine the use of resources to determine if resources are
being used in the most effective and efficient manner to fulfill the organization's mission and
objectives.
Financial Audits: These audits review accounting and financial transactions to determine if
commitments, authorizations. and receipt and disbursement of funds areproperly and accurately
recorded and reported. This type of audit also determines if there are sufficient controls over cash
and other assets and that adequate process controls exist over the acquisition and use of existing
resources.
11
Compliance Audits: These audits determine if entities arc complying with applicable laws,
regulations, policies and procedures. Examples include federal and state laws, and Trustee policies
and regulations.
Information Systems Audits: These audits review the internal control environment of automated
information processing systems and how people use these systems. The audits usually evaluate
system input, output; processing controls; backup and recovery plans: system security; and computer
facilities.
Internal Control Reviews: These audits focus on the components of the major business activities,
such as payroll and benefits, cash handling, inventory and equipment, physical security, grants and
contracts, and financial reporting.
Different authors were defined the term "effectiveness" as follows; for instance, Arena and Azzone
(2009) defined effectiveness as "the capacity to obtain results that are consistent with targets".
Dittenhofer (2001) "Effectiveness is the achievement of internal auditing goals and objectives using
the factor measures provided for determining such factors". In Mihret and Yismaw, (2007) internal
audit effectiveness is defined as "the extent to which an internal audit office meets its supposed
objective or the extent to which it meets the intended outcome".
All the three authors defined effectiveness in terms of achieving the IA goals and objectives, though
interpreted in different ways. Mihret and Yismaw (2607) described the characteristics of effective
internal audit unit from the internal audit point of view. Effective Internal Audit (IA):
• Management support is a natural quid pro quo for effective internal audit.
12
While; Sarens and Beelde (2006) point out the contribution and roles of internal audit in
organizations or corporate governance from the senior management's expectation point of view.
Senior management expects internal audit:
As the main aim of this research is to assess the effectiveness of internal audit in the public business
sector enterprise, different authors and researcher's idea and recommendations regarding the related
topic of internal audit are analyzed and presented. Although the prologue of internal audit in
Ethiopia arc dated in the 1940s the time also the united states and most European countries are
adapted; the effectiveness of internal audit in the public sector arc challenged because of the factors
that hinder the development of IA in Ethiopia. For the ease of presenting the literature those studies
regarding the main determinants/factors/ that influence the effectiveness of internal audit in the
public business enterprise sector; such as the perceptions of the management, management support,
organizational independence of internal auditors, adequate competent of IA staff and the presence of
IA charter reviewed from different researchers arc included in these literature.
13
2.3.1 Management Support
Internal auditors have a close relationship with organization's management in their day to day
activities. They need good support and perception from their management to be more effective and
to achieve the audit objectives. Management support is expressed in terms of supporting the auditing
process by fulfilling the necessary resources, finance, transport if required, providing training,
introducing auditors with new technology and procedures, budgeting funds for certification and
other facilities that facilitate the internal auditing works.
Given the fact that internal audit activities are performed in dynamic management process and more
supportive environment, internal auditor expects senior management to take the first steps to support
the IA process. Because, Sarens and Beelde (2006) argue that the overall acceptance and
appreciation of IA within the company is strongly dependent upon the support they receive from
senior management. Internal audit actively seeks management support with resources, commitment
to promote and communicate their added value.
The management support is almost crucial to the operation and internal audit; because all other
determinants of IA effectiveness derive from the support of top management, given that hiring
proficient IA staff, developing career channels for IA staff, and providing organizational
independence for IA work are the results of decisions made by top management (Cohen & Sayag,
2010). This means it is the interest of management to maintain a strong internal audit department
(Adams, 1994; Mihret and Yismaw, 2007).
14
Therefore, audit finding and recommendations would not serve much purposely unless management
is committed to implement them. Furthermore, Belay, (2007) find that to curb corruption and
inefficiency in the public sector of Ethiopia. it is mandatory to have effective internal audit function
(IAF) that in turn needs appropriate governance structure, mobilizing sufficient and appropriate
resource and competent personnel.
When employees at all levels perceive that the top management assigns importance to the function
of IA, they will cooperate and support these processes (Cohen & Sayag, 2010). This implies that
internal audit staffs are more motivated and encouraged to perform audit activities given good
management's awareness of IA values. Sarens and Deckle (2006) used a case study approach of five
Belgian firms to explore the expectations and perception of both senior management and internal
auditors with respect to the relationship between these two parties. They find that, when internal
audit operates primarily in a management support role, there is a lack of perceived objectivity and
the relationship the audit committee is week. However, senior management's expectations
significantly influence internal audit and that the perception of senior management is critical to the
acceptance and appreciation, to promote value added and to the maturity of internal audit function
with the organization.
15
2.3.3 Organizational Independence
Independence has no single meaning and interpretation across the people; hence the concept is
subject to ambiguity and uncertainty (Wines, 2012). However, for the purpose of the case study
independent refers to the concept of being free from any management influence while internal
auditors perform audit activities and issue audit report (Ahmad & Taylor, 2009; Belay, 2007;
MoFED, 2004). Independence is fundamental to the reliability of auditor's reports. Those reports
would not be credible, and investors and creditors would have little confidence in them, if auditors
were not independent both in fact and appearance. The assurance services provided by auditors
derive their value and credibility from the fundamental assumptions of independence of mind and
independence in appearance (Wines, 2012; Stewart and Subramanian, 2010).
While the internal audit typically the whole management process, to maintain objectivity, to increase
the reliability of information. to be free from unacceptable risk of material bias, and to issue
reasonable and credible audit opinion, it is required to be independent (IIA,2001). However, due to
an often strong direct or indirect relationship between IA and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
and/or chief Finance Officer (CFO), it is reasonable to expect that senior management is in a
position to exert a significance influence over IA (Sarens and Beelde, 2006; Van Peursem, 2005).
Independence in fact exists when auditors are actually able to act with objectivity, integrity,
impartiality and free from any conflict of interest. While the concept of independence in appearance
is the auditor should be perceived by others (the public or other third party) to be independent. In
this case, conflict of interest will also exist when a reasonable person, with full knowledge of all
relevant facts and circumstances, would conclude that the auditor, or a professional member of the
audit team, is not capable of exercising objective and impartial judgment in relation to the conduct of
the audit of the audited body.
Auditors should be sufficiently independent from those they are required to audit in order to conduct
their work without interference. Coupled with objectivity, organizational independence contributes
to the accuracy of the auditor's work and gives employers confidence that they can rely on the
results and the reports (Cohen & Sayag, 2010). However, Hellman N. (2011) suggested that CFOs
seek to influence audit planning, particularly with regard to internal controls and the selection and
scope of entities subject to audit; and this in return impairs the independence of internal auditors.
16
In order to maintain their independence internal auditor's organizational status and position is also
critical which is related to management perception. This is because it enables them to exercise their
tasks independently and act objectively. As Stewart and Subramaniam (2010) review under
organizational status the IAF should be given the appropriate status in the organization to enable the
function to exercise organizational independence and individual internal auditors to act objectively
since internal auditors found in a unique position as employees of an organization with responsibility
to asses and monitor decisions made by management and also to the management.
Furthermore, many auditors have been argued that in order to achieve audit objectives and become
effective organizational independence is very important. For instance, the independence of internal
audit department and the level of authority to which the internal audit staff report are the important
criteria influencing the objectivity of its work, and added that organizational independence is more
crucial to the effectiveness of the internal auditors, as it protects the auditor from pressure or
intimidation, and increases the objectivity of the auditing work (Cohen & Sayag, 2010; Van
Peursem, 2005; Boa- Read, 2000).
Adequate staffing is essential for a system to its full capability. Weakness in staffing can lead to
mismanagement, error and abuse, which can negate the effect of other controls (MoFED, 2004). The
size of IA staff and the competency of internal audit are the critical characteristics of IA quality that
can't be separated. This means at the absence of one dimension the other cannot contribute to the
quality of internal auditors.
The empirical findings by Al-Twaijry et al. (2004), based on questionnaire and interview responses
from internal and external auditors, working in Saudi Arabia, suggests that the external auditors
believes that IAF size is an important indicator of its quality. In addition, large size of IA staff has
many benefits for internal operations of IA unit. For instant, larger sized functional units, there will
be more opportunity and flexibility to have a staff rotation schedule that can also influence IA
effectiveness by promoting a more healthy relationship and resulting in more objective audit
investigations. Furthermore, Zain et al. (2006) argue that a larger size internal audit is likely to be
better resourced, including having a broader work scope, higher organizational status and wider staff
talent than a smaller unit. Likewise, the quality of IA work is likely to be higher in internal audit
17
units with a larger proportion of staff with audit experience than those with a lower proportion of
audit experience.
Appropriate staffing of an internal audit department and good management of that staff are keys to
the effective operation of an internal audit. An audit requires a professional staff that collectively has
the necessary education, training, experience and professional qualifications to conduct the full range
of audits required by its mandate (Al-Twaijry et al, 2004). Auditors must comply with minimum
continuing education requirements and professional standards published by their relevant
professional organizations (IIA, 2001).
The IIA's standard 1210, on proficiency of the auditor require that the internal auditors should
possess the knowledge, skill and other competencies need to perform their responsibilities (IIA,
2001). Additionally, the critical dimensions of JAF is the quality of its internal auditing staff
measured in terms of internal auditors skill (Seol et al, 2011; Leung and Cooper, 2009; Seol and
Sarkis, 2006). As part of this. Competency Framework for Internal Auditing (CFIA) focuses on the
skills needed by an individual person to be an efficient internal auditor.
The literature review specifically conducted on the communication skills (Smith, 2005) stated that
the development of effective communication skills (such as listening, interpersonal, written and oral
communication skills) is an important part of internal auditor's advancement potential. Internal
auditors must possess highly developed communication level skills to become a successful
professional. The development of these skills is not only enhances the auditor's potential, but will
also improve the quality of audits produced.
In addition to the above dimension of IA quality, the competence of internal auditors can be
measured in terms of academic level, experience and the efforts of staff for continuous professional
development and compliance with audit standards. Both the quantity of audit effort and the quality
of professional care exercised will determine the overall quality of the internal audit work (Cohen &
Sayag, 2010; Leung and Cooper, 2009; Belay 2007). Arena and Azzone, (2009) also stated that IA
effectiveness increase in particular when the ratio between the number of skilled internal auditors
and employees grows. This shows that sufficiently large number of skilled professionals enables the
IA to do its duties.
18
2.3.5 The Approved Internal Audit Charter
Internal audit charter is defined by the IIA as "a formal written document that defines the activity's
purpose, authority and responsibility. The charter should be (a) establish the internal audit activity's
position within the organization; (b) authorize access to records, personnel and physical properties
relevant to the performance of managements; and (c) defined the scope of internal audit activities"
(IIA, 2001). Additionally, an internal audit charter typically includes the responsibilities of the IA in
broad terms, the standards followed by the IA; and the relationship between the IA and the audit
committee.
It may also defines access to the information (documents, records, systems, and personnel) necessary
to perform and reach conclusions on the work, and it is a vehicle for asserting that there are no
unreasonable limitations on the scope of the auditor work. The charter should clearly identify and
record any limitations and alter to actual or potential changes on internal and external conditions that
affect its ability to provide internal control assurance from a forward looking perspective (0. Regan,
2002).
Different authors have been explained the presence of defined audit charter in organizations will
helps auditors to be effective. For instance, 0. Regan (2002) concludes that a well drafted charter is
an important ingredient for the IA effectiveness. It helps to direct the efforts of audit staff and
defines what the board can expect on the assurance it required on internal control from an IA. Van
Peursem (2005) added that the presence of a strong charter adds an official and respected layer of
authority to the position of IA in the company. It is also an important feature of insuring success in
achieving the independent status of an IA. Furthermore, the existence of audit charter in organization
influences senior management to flow the recommendations of the internal auditor (Van Peursem,
2005) which in turn affects IA effectiveness.
19
2.4 Summery
Despite increasing attention to the IA's role within corporate governance, only limited researchers
have been examined the determinants of effectiveness of its function. A number of these studies
were IA related and organizational characteristics to the effectiveness of its function. For example,
similar understanding of IA as value adding activity by management and its customer will increase
the possibility of regular utilization of IA services and recommendations, that in turn related with IA
effectiveness (Flesher and Zanzig, 2000; Arena and Azzone. 2009). In assessing the organizational
delivers of TA effectiveness added that the size of internal auditors team and the involvement of audit
committee in internal auditors activities are positively related with internal audit effectiveness
(Arena and Azzone, 2009).
The advantage of having TA function within the organization was increasing the likelihood of
detecting and self-reporting fraud than outsourcing functions. Nevertheless, the possibility of
realizing these advantages is determined by different organizational characteristics (Coram et al,
2008). As Cohen and Sayag (2010) find top management support was strongly and consistently
related to the three internal audit dimensions such as auditing quality, auditee evaluations and the
added contributions. In addition, they stated that the greater the organizational independence
increases positive internal auditee evaluation. Furthermore, the size of internal auditors staff, skills
and experience of internal auditors, continues professional development and academic level are the
best indicators of internal audit quality (Arena and Azzone, 2009; Cohen and Sayag, 2010; Al-
Twaijry et al., 2004).
Finally, a well-defined internal audit charter will helps internal auditors to be effective and
contributes to achieve the attempt of' ensuring independent status of internal auditors (Van Peursem,
2005; O'Regan, 2002). The current research was investigated the determinants of internal audit
effectiveness in the public sector offices based on the management support, the managements
perception of internal auditors value, organizational independence, existence of adequate and
competent internal auditors stall, and the presence of approved internal audit charter.
20
CHAPTER THREE
An important part of the research activity is to develop an effective research design which shows the
logical link between the data collected, the analysis and conclusions to be drawn. This design
satisfies the most suitable methods of investigation. the nature of the research instruments, the
sampling plan and the types of data (Dc Wet, 1997). In this section the research design, sampling
type, research instrument, the dependent and independent variables applied throughout the research,
and finally the model specifications used for data analysis which are applicable and use in the study
are included.
3.2.Research Design
The study is expected to investigate on the determinants of internal audit effectiveness in the
selected public sector offices. The data used to conduct this study are the primary data obtained
through the questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed both to the organizations senior
management team and for their internal auditors. The study areas are selected using purposive
sampling method from the federal level public sector offices which have greater impact to influence
the country's overall economy.
The target populations for this research were the federal public sector offices which are found in
Addis Ababa city of the Ethiopian federal government. In Ethiopia there are around 72 public
sectors, while most of them have internal audit staff but some public sectors haven't internal audit
staffs, (Ethiopian legal Brief, 2013). Due to the difficulty of covering all the total existing public
sector, the researcher obliged to minimize its study area by focusing only on 15 purposively selected
public sector offices that are expected to be used as a representative of other sectors.
These sector offices are selected purposively, because the use of purposive sampling enables the
researcher to generate meaningful insights that help to gain a deeper understanding of the research
phenomena by selecting the most informative participants that is satisfactory to its specific needs.
21
Therefore, the researcher focused on these public sectors which have enough internal audit staffs,
very popular in nature and have greater impact to influence the country's overall social, political and
economic issues.
The selected public sectors and related public sector offices arc as follows:
• Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Development Bank of Ethiopia, Construction and Business Bank
of Ethiopia from the banking and finance sectors; Ethiopian Airports Enterprise, Ethiopian Postal
Service Enterprises, Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise, Ethiopian Commodity
Exchange, Agricultural mechanization service enterprises the enterprise sector and also from the
Corporations; Ethio Telecom, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, Metal and Engineering
Corporations, Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, Ethiopian Road
Construction Corporation and Ethiopian Railway Corporations are the focus of this case study
The data collection was conducted based on a survey from the selected public sector offices that
have internal audit team in their offices. The public sector offices that don't have internal audit
function are excluded from the study. From each public sector office the management members;
chief executive officers (CEO), chief finance officer (CFO) and their respective deputy senior
managers who have been used the audit result are participated for the responses distributed. The
internal auditors of those purposively selected public sector offices having more professional
certification and experienced auditors also participated for the questionnaires administer.
From the researcher's preliminary study the total number of public sectors are around 72 offices
which were classified into three strata based on their services rendered to the public, and by dividing
it into different homogeneous substratum the researcher focused on fifteen public sector offices. The
questionnaires arc distributed For these selected public sector offices to get appropriate responses.
To obtain the adequate responses through questionnaire the researcher believes that distributing the
questionnaire for four senior managers; those are the chief executive officers and chief finance
officers with their respective deputy managers (who arc the stepping stone to other positions) in total
sixty respondents who use the audit result are appropriate.
22
And also, to get adequate response from the public sectors internal audit staffs regarding the factors
affecting the effectiveness of internal audit in the public sector taking four experienced internal
auditors (because most of the public sector offices have four IA) from each sector and total sixty
respondents arc believed appropriate to make analysis regarding the effectiveness of IA in the
selected public sector offices. Even if the use of proportional sampling is appropriate in order to
obtain a representative sample from each strata; because of the samples selected from the population
have not equally selected /not equally important/ the use of purposive sampling is more essential to
obtain a typical and representative of the whole universe (Kothari, 2004).
The primary data were used to accomplish the study. and to collect the data from the respondents
included in the sample questionnaires were distributed. The questionnaires were distributed to the
managers and the internal auditors of the public sector office. But, the questions are different for the
managers and the IA according to their profession and responsibility. The questionnaire for the
manager deals about the effectiveness of the offices internal auditing process, while the
questionnaires for the internal auditors are about the independent variables which determine the
effectiveness of internal auditors.
The questionnaires was adopted and modified from the prior author and literature review (Mihret
and Yismaw, 2007; Cohen & Sayag, 2010; Arena and Azzone, 2009), an approach which is
recommended in methodological literature for studies of this nature (Bryman and Bell, 2007) and
those questionnaires are prepared in the form of Likeret-Seale type (showing respondents agreement
or disagreement) by constructing into five point scale where the lowest scale represent strongly
disagree and the highest scale represent strongly agree (Liken, 1932). The questionnaires distributed
to the respondent are organized in to two parts; the first part comprises the demographic question
regarding the respondents, and the second part contains items relating to the effectiveness of IA and
its determinants.
23
3.6.Variables used in the Research
The dependent variable for this research is the internal audit effectiveness. In here the internal audit
effectiveness are measured in terms of internal auditors' ability to identify non-compliance activities
with the offices procedures and policies, and the contributions added by IA to the public offices.
Compliance audit is a type of audit service that mostly performed by internal auditors of the
organization (Fadzil, FE et al, 2005). Compliance is defined as 'adhering to the requirements of
laws, industry and organizational standards and codes, principles of good governance and accepted
community and ethical standards'. Compliance also involves ascertaining the extent of compliance
with established policies, plans. procedures, laws and regulations, which could have a significant
impact on the organization's operations (Fadzil, F.H et al, 2005; MoFED, 2004). Therefore, IA is
responsible to regularly assess and verify internal operations conformance with organization's
policies and procedures, and then issue compliance report to the concerned body (MoFED, 2004).
The added contribution by IA to organizations can be measure in terms of value creation (e.g. its role
in the avoidance of corporate failures) and cost saving (Soh and Bennie, 2011; Cohen & Sayag,
2010).
In this case study the researcher was measured the IA effectiveness by implementing the internal
audit effectiveness of the public sector offices with the country's auditing environment in which the
internal auditor's ability in identifying non-compliance activities and the added contribution by the
IA to the public oTces. Compliance audit is the most audit services implemented in Ethiopian
public bodies (Mihret and Woldeyohanes, 2008; MoFED, 2004) while the added contributions by
the IA to organization was used by Cohen and Sayag (2010) to measure the IA effectiveness.
Therefore, both dimensions were measured IA effectiveness against the perception of public offices
managers (CEO and CFO).
To understand the level of the manager's perception of IA effectiveness a 5-scale point Likert-type
of 15 different item questionnaires were constructed and distributed to the respondents. The
researcher have been used the summative score technique for the questions in each factor for each
participant. This is because Likert scale is the common summative scores (Balnaves and Caputi,
2001).
24
3.6.2. Independent Variable
This study was focused on five independent variables that might have an impact on the internal audit
effectiveness in the public sector offices. Those predicted variables investigated in this research are:
the managements support for the IA activity, the management's perception of IA's value,
organizational independence of the IA work, the adequate and competent internal audit staff and the
presence of approved internal audit charter. It should be noted that the data for the independent
variables were collected from the internal auditors of the selected public sector offices. Therefore,
the independent variables represent the perceptions of the internal auditors regarding these concepts.
Similarly with the dependent variable items, all of the independent variables items were measured on
a five point Likert-scale where the lowest scale represent strongly disagree and the highest scale
represent strongly agree (Likert, 1932).
As shown in Appendix A of part II, twenty four different item questionnaires were constructed to
identified each of the independent variables of the management support, the management's
perception, organizational independence and the availability of adequate and competent internal
audit staff, and four items were constructed for the presence of approved internal audit charter; and
the internal auditors were asked to express their opinion for those items.
Data analyses are conducted through a descriptive statistics to provide details regarding the
demographic question and the various factors that affect the effectiveness of IA in the public sector.
To evaluate the effects of various factors on the effectiveness internal auditors in the public sector
the correlation analysis were used.
And also, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and Excel were used for the
data analysis. In order to assess the reliability and consistency of the instrument the Cronbach's
Alpha (a) analysis was conducted. Whereas, to determine the relationship among the variables and
to test the research hypothesis correlation and regression analysis method are used by meeting the
ordinary least square (OLS) assumptions of the linear regression.
25
3.8. Model Specification
The following model is formulated for this research in order to test the research hypothesis set
earlier. Most of the independent variables included in the model are extensively used in prior audit
researchers (Mihret and Yismaw, 2007; Cohen & Sayag, 2010; Arena and Azzone) except the
management perception of IA's value and the adopted internal audit charter. So the reliability and
validity of the model was recognized and used in this research is to analyze and interpret the result of
the study.
Where:
IAE—> the effectiveness of internal auditors' in identifying non-compliance activities and the added
a> is a constant, represents the effectiveness of IA when every independent variables are zero.
pi_5—> is the coefficient, in which every marginal change in variables on internal auditor's
26
CHAPTER FOUR
As indicating in the previous chapter, the main attempt of this study is to investigate the
determinants of internal audit effectiveness in the public sector. Therefore, this chapter presents the
analysis and discussions for research findings obtained from the questionnaires. It reports the
investigation results obtained from senior managers and internal auditors of the public sector offices
covered in the questionnaire. The discussion begins with the questionnaires' response rate followed
by the descriptive statistics of the respondents related questions; like the gender, age, profession, and
level of education. The results of the reliability analysis and the regression assumption test also
reported and finally the results of hypothesis testing are presented.
The questionnaires were distributed to both the senior managers and the internal auditors of the
selected federal level public sector offices. For these, 120 questionnaires are distributed both to the
senior managers and internal auditors and from which 112 questionnaires were collected (56
responses each from managers and internal auditors) giving the response rate of 93.33%. This shows
good response rate both for the managers and internal auditors
The table given below describes the general findings regarding the respondents age, sex, field of
study and level of education for both the senior managers and the internal auditors. The respondents
from the senior managers 36 (64%) were males and 20 (36%) were females, while from the internal
auditors category 41 (73) were males and 15 (27) were females. Here in both categories the shares of
males are higher than females but in proportion the gaps are higher in the internal auditor's category.
27
I
I
I The majority of the ages of respondents of the managers are fall under the age of 40-49 (23, 41%),
30-39 (20, 36%), and the rest falls in the age interval of 50-59 (8, l4%) and 20-29 (5, 9%); and in
the internal auditors category the majority are fall in the age of 30-39 (20, 36%) and 40-49 (19,34%)
and the rest falls in the age of 50-59 (12, 21%) and 20-29 (5, 9%) respondents. Here, the majority of
the respondents are in the age of 30-50 (82. 73%) years, but unfortunately there were no respondents
who are aged above 60 years.
Responses
Demographic Questions Managers Internal Auditors
Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
Male 36 64 41 73
Gender Female 20 36 15 27
Total 56 100 56 100
20 — 29 5 9 5 9
30 — 39 20 36 20 36
Age 40-9 23 41 19 34
50 — 59 8 14 12 21
Total 56 100.00 56 100.00
Accounting 24 43 41 73
Management 27 48 10 18
Field of Study Economics 3 5 5 9
Other 2 4 -
28
I
In the case of field of study the respondents were composed of from Accounting (24, 43%),
Management (27, 48%), Economics (3, 5%), and others fields (2, 4%) for managers, while the IA's
were composed of from Accounting (41, 73%), Management (10, 18%) and economics (5, 9%)
fields. 1- lere, the majority of managers and internal auditors were studied management and
accounting fields respectively which shows the good assignment of professionals for their
appropriate job.
In terms of the level of educational background, most managers and internal auditors have
bachelor's degree (44, 79%) and (41, 73%) respectively followed by master's degree (12, 21%) for
I managers and (13, 23%) for internal auditors. Only 2 (4%) respondents from IA have diploma and
there were no managers who had diploma. But from both categories there were no respondents who
I had other level of educations. These shows the majorities of the respondents were educated/or
professional and can contribute more for the effectiveness of their intended work.
The internal auditors, who are the main participants in the internal audit effectiveness were requested
separately to response the questionnaires regarding their professional certification, experiences
working as IA and the presence of audit committee in their sector office. Table 4.2 below shows the
descriptive statistics of these internal auditors' responses for the delivered questionnaires.
Responses
I Questions Frequency Percentage
Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) 25 45
I Professional Certified Public Accountant (CPA) 4 7
certification Certified Management Accountant (CMA) 3 5
I
Other cert i fication 3 5
Note Certified 21 38
Total 56 100
Experiences Below live years 6 11
I
working as IA 5 to 10 years 23 41
29
1
11 to 15 years 16 29
16 to 20 years 9
Above 20 years 6 11
Total 56 100
The presence of Yes 40 71
audit committee No 16 29
Total 56 100
As indicating in table 4.2 above the professional certification of the internal auditor; 25 (45%)
Certified Internal Auditors (CIA), four (7%) Certified Public Accountants (CPA), three (5%) have
Certified Management Accountants (CMA) and also the other three (5%) are with other
certifications and the remaining 21 (38%) respondents had no professional certification of auditing.
The internal auditors work experience ranges from one year up to 25 years, but the majority of the
respondents arc in the range of 5-10 years (23, 41%) and 11-15 (16, 29%) years of work experience
followed by participants having less than five years and above twenty years of work experience both
are numbered six (I 1%) and participants having work experience of 16-20 years are five (9%). Here
the majority of the IA arc well experienced and can perform their auditing activities by using their
past audit experiences.
In terms of the present of Audii Committee, about ten (n = 40, 71%) public sector offices had audit
committees and four (n= 16, 29%) public sector offices had no audit committees in their office. The
availability of audit committee in the public sector have the benefits of monitoring and controlling
the internal audit activities and objectives, ensuring the independence, reviewing the internal audit
program, ensuring the adequacy of the scope of internal audit activities and monitoring
managements actions in terms of financial , risk management and internal control (MOFED, 2004).
30
4.3.Reliability Analysis
To measure the consistency of the questionnaire particularly the Likert-type scale the reliability
analysis is essential in reflecting the overall reliability of constructs that it is measuring. To carry out
the reliability analysis, Cronbach's Alpha (a) is the most common measure of scale reliability and a
I value greater than 0.700 is very acceptable (Field, 2009; Cohen and Sayag, 2010) and according to
Cronbach's (1951), a reliability value (a) greater than 0.600 is also acceptable.
I
Table 4.3 Reliability Statistics
.684 .713 6
From table 4.3 above, the value for Cronbach's Alpha (a) was 0.684 for all variables. When these
I
calculated reliability values are close to 0.7000, and compared with the minimum value of
alpha 0.600 advocated by Cronbach's (1951), then the responses generated for all of the variables'
used in this research were reliable enough for data analysis.
In order to test the normality of data, Kolmogorov-Smimova and Shapiro-Wilk tests of normality
were used and conducted on SPSS 20. According to Field (2009), when the test is non-significant (p
> 0.05) it shows that the distribution of the sample is not significantly different from a normal
1 distribution. Accordingly, the result of test showed in table 4.4 below and Appendix C that all
variables were found to be normal and the presence of normality was accepted at p > 0.05.
1
I
I 31
1
Table 4.4 Test of Normality
Kolmogorov-Smirnov' Shapiro-Wilk
Variables Statistic df Sig. Statistic df Sig.
For the regression output of the model Breusch-Pagan/Cook-Weisberg test for Heteroskedasticity
I was conducted on stata 12 to test for homogeneity of variance and a P-value of greater than 0.05
were acceptable. As the result revealed in table 4.5 below and Appendix C, p value (= 0.7894) for
I the model is greater than 0.05 the critical value, shows homogeneity of variance across the model.
. estat hottest
Breusch-P. „...1 / Cook-Weisberg test for Heteroskedasticity
I
Multicollincarity exists when there are strong correlations among the predictors and the existence of
I
r value greater than 0.80, tolerance value below 0.10 and Variance Inflation factor (VIF) greater than
I
32
1
I
10 in the correlation matrix are the causes for the multicollinearity existence (Field, 2009; Myers,
1990; Pallant, 2007). Tolerance is a statistics used to indicate the variability of the specified
I independent variable that is not explained by the other independent variables in the model.
Collinearity Statistics
Variables Tolerance VIF
I
Management Support .604 1.655
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.0i level (I-tailed). Correlatio -1 is significant at the 0.05 level (t-tailed).
I
Source: Survey data, 2014 SPSS output
I
33
1
Table 4.7 above depicts the correlation between the independent variables and also with the
dependent variables. The result shows the acceptable reliability of the research variables in which,
the correlation among predictors were not high indicates there are no Multicollinearity problems
among variables. As of the relationships between the dependent variables (IAE) and independent
variables (MS, MP, OIN, ACIAS and AIAC), some findings are significant.
Furthermore, there were strong correlations between the dependent variable internal audit
effectiveness (IAE) and independent variables MS (r = 0.399), ACIAS (r= 0.575) and AIAC (r
0.402) with (P<0.0 1 ) level of significant, shows a strong support for first, fourth and fifth hypothesis
respectively. However, there were no significant correlations among the MP and OIN with internal
audit effectiveness thereby leading to reject the second and third hypotheses. The correlation
analysis was utilized to reject or accept research hypothesis in previous audit research in addition to
the regression analysis (Cohen and Sayag, 2010).
Data were assessed to ensure that the autocorrelation is not a threat for the use of OLS for analysis.
This assumption can be tested with the Durbin-Watson test which test for serial correlation between
errors and the value closer to 2 are acceptable (Field, 2009). As described on appendix D and table
4.6below, the Durbin-Watson statistics value are 1.952very close to 2 suggests that there is no severe
autocorrelation among error terms.
The regression result that arc obtained by regressing the internal auditors effectiveness in identifying
noncompliance activities and the internal auditors ability in adding value for their organization on
the managements support (MS), managements perception (MP), organizational independence (OIN),
adequate and competent internal audit staff (ACIAS) and the existence of approved internal audit
charter (AIAC) were analyze and reported. Finally, the hypothesis tests were undertaken based on
the proposed hypothesis and the regression output results.
34
4.5.1. Regression Results for IAE
The regression result explores the necessary indicators of the internal audit effectiveness by using
the variables identified in the model. As indicated in the model summery (table 4.8) the appropriate
indicators of the variable used 10 identify the IAE were explored. That is, the value of R square used
to identify how much of the variance in the dependent variable (IAE) identify by the model. The
larger the value of R square, the better the model is.
audit charter to the IAE accounted for 55% (R2 = 0.551) of the variation in the IAE, the rest 45% are
other variables not included in this study.
R - 0.743 R2 -0.551 Adj. 12.-= 0.507 Std. Error of the Estimate = 2.7287
Moreover, the model summary also shows the significance of the model by the value of F-statistics
(P =.000) and f = 12.292 which implies that there were strong relationship between the predictors
and the outcomes of the regression variables and are at best fit the model to predict the effectiveness
of internal audits in the public sector. The beta 03) sign also shows the +ve or -ve effect of the
35
independent variables coefficient over the independent variable. And as shown in table 4.8 above,
beta sign of all the independent variables shows the positive effect of the predicting dependent
variable. That means. any increase in the independent variables lead to increase in the dependent
variable internal audit effectiveness. This finding is consistent with most of the previous studies that
are identified in this paper (Mihret and Yismaw, 2007; Cohen & Sayag, 2010; Arena and Azzone,
2009; Al-Twarny et al. 2004
Therefore, based on the coefficients of the dependent variable 03 sign) all the hypotheses proposed
by the researcher are acceptable because of all the five hypotheses stated the positively relationship
with the dependent variable are meet. But based on the statistical significances of the independent
variable over the dependent variable at 5% level of significance, only three independent variables
(MS, ACIAS and AIAC) are significantly contributed for the IAE at (13<0.01) level of confidence.
Thus, this implies the MS, ALIAS and AIAC are the most important determinants of IAE in which
the public sector office should give more emphasis in their IA function. Besides this, even if their
relationships are positive the remaining two independent variables (MP and OIN) have not
significant contribution lbr the predicted dependent variable (IAE) because they have a sig. value of
greater than 5%. The variable with the level of significance (sig) value less than 5% could make a
significance unique contribution to the predicted value of the dependent variable, beyond this level
of sig. the variable arc not 111H:it-tit a significance contribution for the prediction of the dependent
variable ( l'a I I ant, 2007: Somelth and Lcwinn, 2005).
The regression analysis whose results are presented in table 4.8 above and appendix D provides a
more comprehensive and accurate examination of the research hypothesis. Therefore, the regression
results obtained from the model were utilized to test these hypotheses. The hypotheses sought to test
for a significant influence of management support (MS), management perceptions (MP),
organizational independence t DIN), adequate and competent internal audit staff (ACIAS) and the
existence of approved internal audit charter (AIAC) on the direct effect of internal audit
effectiveness which was measure in terms of internal auditors ability to identify the noncompliance
activities and by their added contributions to the public sector.
36
As can he seen in table 4.8 above the p value for the MS, ACIAS and AIAC are statistically
significant at (p< 0.01) which suggests a strong support for hypothesis 1, 4 and 5; whereas, MP and
OIN arc not supported the developed hypothesis (hypothesis 2 and 3) because it was statistically
insignificant at (p <0.05).
The following hypotheses tes; were conducted based on the regression results of the internal audit
Hl: The management supports are positively related to the internal audit effectiveness in the
public sector office:;.
The first hypothesis of this research posted that the effectiveness of the internal audit is directly
related with the extent of the management support it receives. Showing the strongly correlated
relationship between the and the management support, the positive beta sign and a statistically
significant result of management support related with the internal audit effectiveness 03 = 1.705, t
3.841, P<0.01) support the prnposed hypothesis acceptable. The management support in terms of
providing resources, giving trainings, introducing with new technologies, providing enough facilities
and encourages the internal audit process with commitments to promote and communicate their
added value for the effectiveness of internal audit work in their office contributes for the IAE.
The result were consistent with the previous auditing research works of (Mihret and Yismaw, 2007;
Cohen and Sayag, 2010) they find that the top management support was the critical determinants of
internal audit effec iveness in audit finding and the commitment to strength internal audit through
hiring proficient internal audit staff, developing career channels for internal audit staff, and
providing internal audit work independence. Similarly, in this research finding the managements
support in terms of trainings. resources and through other necessary facilities to the internal auditors
the top management can contribute to the effectiveness of internal audit works for their office.
Therefore, the management can contribute for the effective result of the internal auditors through
their support in terms of continuous training for their IA staff, fulfilling the necessary materials and
facilities that the IA staff needs: and this in turn strongly supports the first proposed hypothesis (HI).
37
H2: The better the management perceptions of internal audit values, the higher internal
auditors' ability it identifying noncompliance activities and the more added contributions.
The second hypothesis of this research revealed that there were the direct relationship
between the management's perception and the effectiveness of TA in the way of identifying
noncompliance activities and the ability of IA to add value to the IAE. This hypothesis were
not supported by the regression result as of the regression results insignificant related with
the IAN at (P<0.05). As shown in table 4.8 above the coefficient of MP ((3 = 0.047) were
positively related but statistically (1=.282, p>0.05) not significant related with the internal auditors
effectiveness by identifying noncompliance activities and in adding more values to the IA works of
insignificant contribution for the internal auditors ability in identifying the noncompliance activities
and their added contribution to the end objective of effective internal audit activities in their office.
Even if this variable have a coefficient of positively related with the effectiveness of internal
auditors as a result of its insignificant regression analysis output result leads not to support he
proposed hypothesis (112).
But this hypothesis needs a caution; in that insignificance of the management's perception in
determining the IA effectiveness didn't mean that it doesn't completely contribute to the
effectiveness of IA. This result mm be happened due to the management's support and the available
of adequate and competent IA staff highly contributed for the IAE in the public sector offices. This
makes the contribution of the .\ IP to the IAE insignificance.
Thereibre, the spirit of good perception of the management to the effectiveness of internal audit
function in identifying the noncompliance activities and their ability to add value to their office were
nothing without the appropriate management support to the internal audit functions and without the
existence of adequate and approved IA staffs in the office. Furthermore, the supports from the
management and the availability of the adequate and competent IA staff may overshadow in the
determinants of the management's perception for the internal auditor's value.
38
1-13: The organizational independence for internal auditors positively related to the internal
audit effectiveness in the public offices.
The third hypothesis of this research which is assumed to be the determinants of IA effectiveness is
the independence of the organization in which internal audit work were conducted. As shown in
table 4.8 above 1'; : coefficient of OIN (3 = .135, t= .S25) were positively related with the
effectiveness of IA. But, becuise of its statistical result (P>0.05) the regression output result haven't
statistically significant relationship between the organizational independence and the IA
effectiveness reveals not to support the third hypothesis.
Whereas, it is inconsistent with the previous studies conducted by (Cohen, & Sayag, 2010; Van
Peursem, 2005) they find that, the more organizational independence to the internal auditors plays
the vital role in assurance of internal audit effectiveness by freely access of necessary documents,
information and data about the organization for audit work, and can provide audit finding /report/
freely and directly to the responsible body, and this all supports the IA effectiveness in their sector.
This may be occurred due to the organizations support to the IA effectiveness and accordingly, the
level of independence, reporting level, direct contact to the board and senior management, conflict of
interest, interference, the unrestricted access to all departments and employees, appointment and
removal of the head of internal audit, and performing non-audit activity may not be equally
perceived. But, without the relevant senior management support simply the independence of the
organization to the internal auditors may not be enough to acid value and to identify the
noncompliance activities pcfibrined in their office.
Thereline, the existence of adequate and competent IA staff and the availability of MAC in their
office in line with the appronriate management support for internal auditor's activity are strong
enough to make effective the internal audit function in the public sector. And this in turn leads to
make the result of OIN for the IAN insignificant contribution and not to support the proposed
hypothesis (113).
39
H4: The presence of adequate and competent IA staff in the public sector offices are positively
related to the internal audi: effectiveness.
The existence of adequate and competent internal audit staff also supposed to be the determinants of
internal audit effectiveness and is the fourth hypothesis of this research. The regression result highly
supports this hypothesis at (E.(0.0 I) level of significant and with the positive signs of beta and t-
statistics (0 = 1.196 and t= 6.257). But, this result was inconsistence with some previous auditing
researches (Arena and Azzone, 2009; Cohen and Sayag, 2010) they argued that there were no
correlation between professional proficiency and adequacy with the IA effectiveness.
But the previous research Wa`: conducted in terms of the number of internal auditors, professional
certification and level of education, whereas this research was conducted the effects of IA by
considering the overall abilities of the internal auditor staffs and the availability of adequate and
certified internal auditors in terms of their performance to proceed the required auditing activities by
matching with the audit standards and organizational objectives by using modern technologies when
compared to those previous studies.
Therefore, the existence of adequate and competent IA staff in the public sector office results with
positively relationship with IA N and with high contribution for the IAE by performing their activities
on time, cover the planed scope of auditing activities by using the computerized data tools and
specific IA software. This results with the overall contribution of internal audit effectiveness and its
positive relationship with leads to highly support the proposed hypothesis (H4).
H5: The availability of approved IA charter in the public sector offices have positive and
significant impact on the internal audit effectiveness in the public sector offices.
The last hypothesis which is proposed to support the effectiveness of internal audit is the existence
of approved internal audit charter in the public sector office. A well drafted IA charter is a crucial
ingredient for the successful internal auditing functions. The regression output result also supports
this hypothesis with significantly correlated variables with the level of significance (p<.01) and the
positively related coefficients ((3 = 1.255 and t= 4.208) contributes for the internal audit
effectiveness. This indicates Ire significant impacts of AIAC to increase the ability of internal
auditors to identilY the noncoripliance activities and the more contribution to the public sector.
40
In addition, the result of this hypothesis was consistent with the prior audit researches conducted by
(Peurscm, 2005; 01(cgan, 2002). According to the authors a well drafted IA charter helps the
internal audit function to peribrin its roles of management influence objectively and used as a way of
getting access to the in formntion (documents, records, systems, and personnel) that are necessary to
perform and reach conclusions on the work. The MOPED (2004) also directs all the public sectors to
have approved IA charters that arc used as a working manual.
Therefore, the existence of approved internal audit charter in the public sector office contributes for
the effectiveness of internal audit works by facilitating the activities of internal auditors and to make
their purpose and authority in line with the standards for the professional practices formulated by the
institute of internal auditors accordance to the rules and regulations of the organization. This
strongly supports the proposed hypothesis of the positively related relationship between the
availability of AIAC and its significant impact for the internal audit effectiveness (H5).
41
CHAPTER FIVE
According to the regression output all these predictors were positively contributed for the
effectiveness of internal audit functions in Ethiopian public sector offices. Therefore, the public
sector office should give emphasis to use these determinant variables to make their service delivery
effective, efficient and economical throughout their offices. Moreover the management support, the
existence of adequate and competence internal auditor's staff and the availability of approved
internal audit charter were the major determinants of IAE in the public sector. However, the
managements perceptions for IA value and the organizational independent of IA were not
significantly important for the IAE of public sectors as of the above three variables.
This study finds that the composite measure of management support, managements perception of IA
values, organizational independence of internal auditors, the existence of adequate and competent IA
staff, and the availability of approved internal audit charter accounts for 55.10% (R2 = 0.551)
variance for the IA effectiveness in identifying noncompliance activities and added contributions to
the public sector offices. That means, the impact of these five independent variables contributed for
the dependent variable IAE were 55.10%, and the remaining 44.90% were other variables that are
not included in this study.
The final portion of this research aims to conclude the finding of the study focusing on the core
determinants that have significant impacts to the internal audit effectiveness and to provide
recommendations based on the research findings of the study. These conclusions and
recommendations are drawn from the findings of the study specifically related to the managements
support given to the IA activities, the management's perception for the IA values, the organizational
independence of the IA, the existence of adequate and competence IA staff, and the availability
approved IA charters in the public sector offices.
42
5.2. Conclusion
Due to its important role it plays for the overall management system internal audit is the major
mechanism to ensure sound corporate governance. The existences of effective internal audit in the
office links with internal control risk management system, improves organizational efficiency and
effectiveness, reduce information asymmetry during decision making, and ensures internal reliability
of financial reporting process. By taking this aspect into consideration, this study was identified
factors that determine the IA effectiveness in the public sector offices and then analyzed the
organizational dimensions in which the public sector office should carry out to enhance the IA
effectiveness. And also by testing of the proposed hypotheses showed relations of these independent
variables with the IAE the following conclusions were drawn.
• The IAE of the public sector office increases, when there were more supports from the
management, have adequate and competent internal auditors staff in the office combined with the
availability of approved IA charters. The regression analysis (shown on table 4.8) shows very
strong contributions of these variables for the IAE. Therefore, the overall effect of the
management support, the existence of adequate and approved IA staff, and the availability of
approved IA charter in the public sector is very important for the IAE in the public sector offices
without neglecting the other two statistically insignificance variables (MP and OIN), because
they have a positive sign of beta and contribute for the 55.10% of the variances for the IAE.
Thus, neglecting these two variables may cause to decrease the value of IAE variance that was
obtained from collective contribution of the five independent variables.
• In addition, the correlation analysis (shown on table 4.7) shows all the independent variables
have the direct effect of the internal audit effectiveness (IAE) and the regression result also
depicts all the independent variables have a positive sign of coefficients (shown on table 4.8)
with IAE in the public sector offices. However, the management's perception to the IA value and
the organizational independence of IA were statistically not significant enough at 5% sig. level to
contribute for the IAE in the public sector offices, therefore this conclusion requires future
research should consider for obtaining the impact of these variables on the IA effectiveness.
43
• Furthermore, the correlation analysis (see table 4.7) showed the contributions of the independent
variables to the internal audit effectiveness. For instance, the management's perception of IA
value and the organizational independence of internal auditors were not significantly correlated
with internal audit effectiveness to the public sector offices. This conclusion requires future
research should consider the impact of these determinants on internal audit effectiveness.
5.3. Recommendations
After watching the research findings and achieved results with regard to the main objective of this
study to identify the major determinants of IAE in the public sector offices and also to prove the
hypotheses, the researcher provides the following recommendations to the public sector offices, the
internal auditors, the MoFED and the educational institutions.
• The finding of this research proved that the management support, the existence of adequate and
competent IA staff, and the availability of approved IA charter were statistically significant and
positively related with the IAE in the public sector offices. Thus, the public sector office should
support more for the internal audit functions by facilitating the IA works, should recruited more
adequate and competent IA staff and give sufficient training and professional certification for the
existing IA staffs, and should maintain the approved IA charter and workable manuals for their
office because it directs the overall activities of the internal auditors in line with IIA standards
and the office policies and guidelines.
• The internal auditors of the public sector office should recommended to maintain and improve
their effective contribution for the IAE in their office, by using the supports from their offices
management team appropriately, by improving their professional certification in line with the
institute of internal audit standards and organizational guidelines and by introducing themselves
with modern technologies that improve their IA function for their office.
• As the research proved that the existence of approved IA charter, and adequate and competent IA
staffs were the major determinants of IAE in the public sector, the MoFED were recommended
to design, provide and continually evaluated the internal audit charters for each public sector
office; and also the MoFED recommended to support the internal audit works by increasing the
number of certified internal auditors by funding the certification fees and also by facilitating the
way for certification.
44
• The internal audit staffs of the public sector also recommended to work in accordance with the
available internal audit charters, it helps the internal auditors to provide the appropriate reports
and to know the extent of their relationships with the managements, briefly describes their rights
and duties IA and the employers.
• Finally; the Ethiopian higher educational institution should contribute for the IAE by working in
collaboration with the MoFED and other public sector offices to accomplish effective internal
audit work by supplying the adequate and competent internal audit staffs and also to give short
term trainings to upgrade the existing IA staffs proficiency in line with the institute of IA
standards.
45
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49
Appendix A: Questionnaires
Jimma University
College of Business and Economics
School of Graduate Studies
Department of Accounting and Finance
Dear Participant:
The intent of this questionnaire is to explore information regarding the determinants of Internal
Audit (IA) effectiveness and to conduct Master Thesis (Research) for the partial fulfillment of
Masters Degree in accounting and finance at Jimma University. The questionnaires are distributed to
the federal level public sector offices that found in Addis Ababa city. The results of the study are
expected to contribute to identify the determinants of internal audit effectiveness.
The conclusions of the study will be drawn in aggregate terms, without any reference to specific
office or individual respondents. Please, do not write your name on the questionnaire.
I would also like to assure you that the information you provided will be treated as strictly
confidential and used only for the purpose of this research only.
50
I. Questionnaire Administered to Managers
below.
A. The personal profiles
General Instruction: Please indicate your choice by putting "\I" mark in the bracket.
51
B. The questionnaire items (questions)
The Questionnaire is prepared in Likert-scale form with five (5) point scales. I ask you to tick (V) or
circle the appropriate scale (point) that indicates your opinion in table below. The values of scales
arc 5 = strongly agree, 4 = Agree, 3 = Neutral, 2 = Disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree
S. The effectiveness of internal auditors' in identifying
No The Scales
noncompliance activities and added contributions to the
organizations
1 Internal auditors can effectively identify and report any non- 5 4 3 2 1
compliance activities with my office's/sector's policies and
procedures.
1 8
reasonable.
1 resources in my office/sector.
52
1
12 The existing role that the internal audit is playing sufficient enough to 5 4 3 2 1
address the very purpose for which it is established
expectations.
15 The internal auditor reports are highly considered for decision making 5 4 3 2 1
53
B. Questionnaire Administrated to Internal Auditors
Objective of the Questionnaire
Effective internal audit function is an important management tool to monitor and direct the internal
operations of an organization effectively and appropriately. Therefore, the purpose of this research is
to assess and identify factors that affect the effectiveness of IA function in different public offices.
In line with this, you are kindly requested to give your response to your personal profile and each
statement related with the management's perception of internal audit function, the management
support, the organizational independence, the adequate competent internal audit staff and the
approved internal audit charter as provided in the table below.
5. Professional certification (if any): Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) ( ), Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) ( ) Certified Management Accountant (CMA) ( ), other (specify)
8. Indicate your sector: public business enterprise [for profit] ( ) or public office /bureau [Not
for profit] ( )
9. What are the activities carried out by IA in your office/sector? You can select more than one.
54
I
I circle the appropriate scale (point) that indicates your opinion in table below. The values of scales
are 5= strongly agree, 4= Agree, 3= Neutral, 2= Disagree, 1= strongly disagree
S.
I
No The Management Support The Scales
1 I receive full cooperation, access to records and information 5 4 3 2
I
from my office/sector
I
Management's perception of internal audit function
6 The office/sector has enough awareness and good perception about 5 4 3 2 1
I
internal auditing roles.
I 55
I
9 The position/status of internal audit is clearly recognized by the 5 4 3 2 1
management in my office/sector.
Organizational independence
11 I perform the auditing activities without any interference from 5 4 3 2 1
anybody and without any influence from the office/sector.
14 I feel free to include any audit finding in my audit work and report 5 4 3 2 1
directly to responsible body.
56
18 The audit procedures and evidence collections are completed on 5 4 3 2 1
time, since enough and skilled internal auditors are available or
employed.
19 The internal audit staff number & their skill matches the scope of 5 4 3 2 1
office's/sector's internal operations.
I 57
Appendix B: Reliability Statistics for Variables
Reliability Statistics
.684 .713 6
Item-Total Statistics
58
Appendix C: Assessment of OLS Assumptions for the Model
i. Assessment of Normality
Test of Normali
Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk
59
iii. Assessment of Multicollinearity
Pearson Correlations
IAE MS . MP OIN ACIAS AIAC
N 56 56 56 56 56 56
- -
Pearson Correlation .399 1 .354 .429 .492- .311-
N 56 56 56 56 56 56
-
Pearson Correlation .216 .354 1 .220 .343- .184
N 56 56 56 56 56 56
I ..
Pearson Correlation .575" .492- .343 .262 1 .126
ACIAS Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .005 .026 .176
N 56 56 56 56 56 56
- -
Pearson Correlation .402 .311 .184 .200 .126 1
I 60
I
Appendix D: The Regression Results for IAE
Model Summary"
Model R R Adjusted R Std. Error of Change Statistics Durbin-
Square Square the Estimate R Square F df1 df2 Sig. Watson
a. Predictors: (Constant), Approved IA Charter, Adequate and Competent IA Staff, Organizational Independence,
Management Perceptions, Management Support
b. Dependent Variable: Internal Audit Effectiveness
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
Total 829.929 55
a. Dependent Variable: Internal Audit Effectiveness
b. Predictors: (Constant), Approved IA Charter, Adequate and Competent IA Staff, Organizational
Independence, Management Perceptions, Management Support
Coefficient?
Unstandardized Std. Correlations Collinearity
Coefficients Coefficients Statistics
Variables Std. T Sig. Zero- Part Tolerance VIF
B Beta Partial
Error order
61
1
I
62
I
i.
3. Management Perceptions
4. Organizational -Independence
I
63
I
I
1 23.00
24.00
5
5
8.9
8.9
8.9
8.9
85.7
94.6
I 6. Approved IA Charter
I 64