Mapping of internal audit research: a post-Enron structured literature review

Abstract

PurposeThis paper reviews the field of internal auditing (IA) post-Enron to develop insights into how IA research has developed, offer a critique of the research to date and identify ways that future research can help to advance IA.Design/methodology/approachA structured literature review (SLR) was used to analyse 471 papers from 64 journals published between 2005 and 2018 based on a number of criteria, namely author, journal type, journal location, year, theme, theory, nature of research, research setting, regional focus, method and citations.FindingsThe IA literature has not significantly contributed to knowledge of the internal audit function (IAF), and one still knows relatively little about the factors that contribute to making the impact of IA practice effective and measurable. The IA literature is US-dominated (authors and journals), focussed on the American context (publicly listed companies), reliant on positivist analyses and largely makes no explicit reference to theory. Central regions (emerging economies) and key organisational settings (private SMEs and not-for-profit organisations) are largely absent in prior IA research. This paper evaluates and identifies avenues through which future research can help to advance IA in order to address emerging challenges in the field.Originality/valueThis is the first comprehensive review to analyse IA research in the post-Enron period (2005–2018). The findings are relevant to researchers who are looking for appropriate research outlets and emerging scholars who wish to identify their own research directions.

Mapping of internal audit research in China: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

“…Thus, superficial studies not based on the empirical investigation of academics and professionals' superficial studies are not based on the empirical investigation on academics and professionals are weak. This is in constant with the findings of Kotb et al (2020), that reported that the studies that are not based on empirical investigation and a deep theoretical basis do not contribute to knowing the practical value of IA functions.…”

“…The IA functions in management and planning play a fundamental and important role in promoting and improving good governance (Christopher, 2019). IA is one of the internal control mechanisms to improve and strengthen governance (Kotb et al, 2020;Matarneh, 2011). In recent years, the work of auditors has expanded from the traditional job of detecting fraud to carrying out many tasks such as (i) working on electronic risk assessment, (ii) investigating organisational culture, (iii) evaluating general performance, and (iv) ensuring the implementation of general regulations and procedures for protecting financial data through the use of many modern approaches such as analysing the dynamic and visual of reports in addition to the analysis of agile practices (Deloitte, 2018).…”

Sustainability assurance practices: a systematic review and future research agenda

“…The systematic literature review approach is popular in management, finance, and economic fields (Hedin et al 2019 ). Systematic literature review (SLR) can provide significantly unbiased results compared to traditional narrative review (Hazaea et al 2021b ; Kotb et al 2020 ). Subjective and biased results can be reduced, and the investigation status is improved in the topic being discussed using SLRs (Massaro et al 2015 ) as it limits scholars’ preference during the identification of the sample literature.…”

“…According to Kotb et al ( 2020 ), Zhao et al ( 2021 ), and Massaro et al ( 2016 ), studies based on SLRs required the following steps: determine the protocol to be used for the review and identify the databases from which the research sample can be obtained (e.g. Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ProQuest), determine the research questions to be answered using previous studies under investigation, determine the type of studies to be investigated and specify the time period, measure the impact of the article based on predefined rules (e.g.…”

The role of internal audit in the risk management process: A developing economy perspective

“…Research into IA differences based upon demographic location and culture, and whether they were in private or public institutions were also called for (Goodwin‐Stewart & Kent, 2006; Mihret et al, 2010). Kotb, Elbardan, and Halabi (2020) also found that most of the IA research focused on the US in terms of authors, contexts, and the use of Public Limited Companies (PLCs). They also noted the absence of IA literature from emerging and developing markets as well as from private SME's.…”