October 2008

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The Baton Has Been Passed, but the Race Continues

This is my first message as president of The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation (IIARF).  I’d like to thank the membership for entrusting me with this responsibility to lead The Foundation for the next three years. It is quite an honor to have this opportunity, and I assure you that I’ll do everything I can to continue the momentum of The IIARF.

With the 2008 Olympics just completed, it seemed to me that I could borrow a metaphor from the track and field events. Rod Winters has passed the leadership baton to me and fortunately it was a successful handoff. Under Rod’s leadership, The IIARF took several important strategic and operational steps forward. But now that I have the baton, I cannot stop running and rest on Rod’s laurels. We are in the midst of a long race that requires me to summon all of the vision and energy that I can muster, while also engaging the many important volunteers and IIA staff to help get to the finish line. And we’ll need your help, too!

The first thing I’d like to do is give you a sneak peek at The IIARF’s strategic plan, which will guide us from 2008 through 2013. This strategic plan, which aligns with The IIA’s strategic plan, was approved by The IIARF Board of Trustees at its September Board meeting. Our new vision is to “understand, shape, and advance the global profession of internal auditing by initiating and sponsoring intelligence gathering, innovative research, and knowledge-sharing in a timely manner.” Mark Pearson, CIA, vice president, strategy for The IIARF, will lead the project that will implement key elements of our strategic plan. This project has 19 individual initiatives designed to help us answer the following questions:

• How do we determine expectations and appropriate content for research and product development?
• How do we ensure the pre-identified research and product development are conducted and managed in an appropriate manner?
• How do we provide delivery vehicles that meet the market’s needs?
• How should we be structured to ensure sustainable and global success?

As I’m sure you can tell, we have a lot of work ahead of us to answer these questions and fulfill our vision. I’ll keep you posted as we make progress.

As exciting as strategic planning is, The Foundation has been busy on other matters as well. Some of the products and research already published in 2008 include:

• A Global Summary of the Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) 2006
• Essentials: An Internal Audit Operations Manual
• Threat! Managing Risk in a Hostile World
• Auditing the Procurement Function
• Evaluacion Eficaz del Sistema de Control Interno
• Leveraging IT Controls to Improve IT Operating Performance
• Using Nonfinancial Measures to Assess Fraud Risk

If you haven’t already done so, please visit the online IIARF Bookstore at www.theiia.org/bookstore to view these and other publications in the pipeline, such as Then and Now: Expectations and Realities of Sarbanes-Oxley, and new certification study guides in Spanish. Results of research also are available to members free of charge via The Foundation Web site. In future letters, I’ll tell you about new and emerging research, as well as our plans for the next Common Body of Knowledge study, which is scheduled for 2010.

Finally, I want to acknowledge three very important groups who are the lifeblood of The IIARF. First, I look forward to working with the many volunteers, including fellow members of The IIARF Board of Trustees, and the Board of Research and Education Advisors (BREA). These individuals donate their time and creativity to help The Foundation move forward. Second, I’d like to offer my appreciation to the many donors whose generous contributions support the efforts of The IIARF. These organizations, individuals, chapters, and institutes truly understand the valuable role research plays in supporting the success of the profession. And last, I thank the dedicated IIA staff professionals who help make all of this happen. I’ve known many of these individuals for several years, and their energy is exceeded only by their passion for what they’re doing. It’s very exciting to connect volunteers, donors, and staff with the many exceptional researchers and writers. Working together, I firmly believe The IIARF will be successful in its quest to “understand, shape, and advance the global profession of internal auditing.”

 
President
The IIA Research Foundation