Green IT Perceptions and Activities of Internal Auditors in Australia, Canada, and the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT Green IT and sustainability reporting receive considerable attention. Internal auditors are considered control experts and provide assurance that controls have been designed and are functioning properly. However, literature indicates discrepant findings in terms of internal auditors' role in sustainability activities. Based on a theoretical link between environmental regulations and internal auditors' role in sustainability activities, we examine whether internal auditors' roles in green IT differ across Australia, Canada, and the U.S. We find that internal auditors' current green IT perceptions and involvements in the three countries are essentially interchangeable, even though their regulations are significantly different. We find that their perceived roles differ across most green IT activities across industries, but their current involvement does not. Future research needs to identify whether there are cultural reasons or deeper, profound systemic reasons why internal auditors are not more proactively involved in the highly visible, rapidly growing, value-added areas of sustainability.