Evaluation of the risk culture in audit firms : an analysis of its resilience

Abstract

Nowadays the audit firms need to comply with many rules and regulations, also they have to innovate in technological tools to stay ahead of their competitors and follow the digital evolution and furthermore they have to comply with ethical requirements and guarantee a steady reputation. Many threats that weren’t applicable before, now threaten the organisation’s activities. The organisation’s objective is to detect, prioritize and solve those risks.

The aim of this paper is to analyse in a first phase the several theoretical aspects concerning the risk management in an organisation to flow into a discussion about the importance of a sound risk culture and an analysis of the dimensions of resilience. Then, these theoretical concepts will be measured in practice through a practical assessment of the risk culture and its resilience of four different audit firms. The audit firms are well-known firms among the Big Four service firms as well as one smaller well-functioning firm. As the risks take a high importance rate in the company, the management of those risks is of high importance. Therefore, it is important for an audit organisation to make risks everyone’s business. Therefore, a well-functioning communication flow from the board to the staff is crucial to develop a sound risk culture inside the audit firm.

This paper will evaluate the risk culture of the four chosen by me audit companies and analyse its resilience through six dimensions creating a resilient risk culture.