Assessing Culture and Conduct Risk for Internal Auditors

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is suitable for internal auditors, compliance officers, risk managers, and professionals responsible for assessing and managing organizational culture and conduct.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will:

• Understand the significance of culture and conduct in both an organization's success and its risk management and control environment.
• Identify key risk considerations associated with culture and conduct.
• Learn how to apply maturity models and frameworks to assess and benchmark an organization's culture and conduct practices.
• Gain insights into the auditing techniques and methodologies specific to culture and conduct assessments.
• Determine how to effectively communicate observations and recommendations for culture and conduct improvements.

Unit Topics

Introduction to Assessing Culture and Conduct Risk

• Defining organizational culture and conduct.
• Key stakeholder concerns and expectations related to culture and conduct risk.
• Regulatory and ethical considerations.
• Role of internal audit in assessing and reporting on organizational culture and conduct.

Risk Considerations for Organizational Culture and Conduct 

• Understanding the impact of culture on risk management.
• Identifying culture and conduct risks.
• Risk assessment techniques specific to culture and conduct.

Maturity Models and Frameworks

• Introduction to culture and conduct maturity models.
• Key frameworks for culture and conduct assessment (e.g., COSO, ISO).

Auditing Methodologies

• Approaches to auditing the organization’s culture and conduct risks.
• Data collection, analysis, and sampling methods.
• Conducting interviews and surveys.
• Utilizing technology and data analytics.

Reporting and Communication

• Effectively communicating audit observations.
• Recommendations for culture and conduct improvements.
• Collaboration with management and the board.

Continuous Monitoring and Improvement

• Tracking culture and conduct performance and risk indicators.
• Ongoing assessment and reporting of aspects of culture risk through individual internal audits.
• Auditing the effectiveness of culture and conduct improvement initiatives.
• Coordination with other culture stakeholders within the organization.