The Relationship Between CAE Leadership and the IAF’s Involvement in Corporate Governance

Abstract

This article examines the importance of leadership in the context of the internal audit function (IAF). We investigate the influence of the Chief Audit Executive’s (CAE) leadership in enabling the IAF to become a strategic player in corporate governance (CG). Using the responses of 804 CAEs from the Anglosphere countries and South Africa, we find that strong CAE leadership skills and the existence of a leadership training program are significantly and positively associated with IAF involvement in CG processes. This provides support for the argument that CAEs with strong leadership skills help the IAF to move from a behind-the-scenes player to a key actor in the improvement of CG practices, increasing the IAF’s organizational relevance. We also find that the use of a risk-based audit plan, the existence of a quality assurance and improvement program (QAIP), activity type (consulting vs. assurance), and IAF size are also positively associated with IAF involvement in CG. These findings suggest that IAF activity characteristics also have significant implications for this function’s stronger involvement in the CG space.