Internal auditors should examine several “tacit truths” that often hinder organizational ethics.
Recent corporate scandals at companies such as Nike, Volkswagen, and Wells Fargo have spotlighted the negative impact of poor ethical cultures. Meanwhile, public trust in business and government is low.
Ethics is a key part of corporate governance. The past three decades have seen several moves to improve business governance and ethics: The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s Internal Control–Integrated Framework, the U.S. Sentencing Reform Act, and the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and similar legislation in other countries.
