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This study examined the direct influence that workplace bullying (WB) played on the independence of internal auditors.

Data consisted of 267 surveys from people within 85 middle eastern government and private colleges.

Providing background, they note:

·        For internal auditors, independence is “the absence of limitations that could compromise their impartiality in performing their duties” (p2). Accounting and auditing crises like Enron and WorldCom highlight how things can go astray in this area

·        Issues of auditor independence are said to be linked to regulatory, standards, personal, cultural and cognitive variables

·        Thus, “auditor independence is not merely a matter of “quo auditor” but rather a social, psychological and epistemological issue” (p2)

·        WB generates stress, sadness, tiredness, insomnia and other long-term mental health consequences. It can also significantly affect an organisation’s target performance through increases in absenteeism, decreased engagement, and drops in commitment and productivity through affected employees

·        WB is “repeated unwanted negative actions or behaviours (physical, verbal, or psychological intimidation), which can include criticism and humiliation and which are intended to cause fear, distress, injury or harm to one or more targeted person(s) from bullies, while the victim(s) is unable and powerless to defend [themselves]” (p6)

·        WB comes in different types, including excessive workloads, denial of leave, attempts to withdraw or revoke responsibilities or privileges, assigning menial tasks, and setting unattainable or unreasonable objectives with the intention of setting up the person to fail

·        Numerous WB activities may also be targeted towards internal auditors, in order to apply undue pressure and/or putting pressure on them in order for an exploitative manager to advance their own interests; among other ways (sometimes in covert ways)

Results

Findings indicated that:

·        Bullying is common from senior managers in this sample and is directed towards internal auditors

·        WB has significant, negative, high-level and direct effect on the mental and formal independence of internal auditors in this sector

·        The most common WB behaviours were hostility and aggressive competitiveness relating to commitments to auditing work, with the intent to maximise their own personal interests; excessive and uncontrollable increases in workloads; exposure to exclusion and neglect at work as a result of the auditor’s capabilities or hierarchical position; ignoring auditors’ ideas and improvements; demanding unreasonable or unacceptable deadlines for task completion; and restricting internal auditors’ movement to access relevant information

·        WB was indicated to threaten, weaken or disrupt internal auditor independence in various ways, like: destroying internal auditors’ motivation and perseverance in planning the audit process and how to report corruption and errors, and diminishing internal auditors’ responsibility of completing the evaluation of business operations before being assigned.

·        In other cases, auditors may be pressured to provide somewhat biased information and reports to “escape senior managers’ bullying, and they may be vulnerable to isolation due to a lack of discussion about the obstacles they face in the workplace” (p16)

·        Elsewhere, senior managers may engage in WB behaviours to force internal auditors to “abandon integrity through evaluating the business operations they were supervising in favour of implementing these managers’ agendas and personal interests” (p16)

In all, WB directed towards the independence of internal auditors “weakens [their] abilities to focus on identifying and diagnosing errors and weakens their interest in forwarding the organization’s goals and stakeholders’ objectives”.

Also, “Long-term WB behaviour affects an internal auditor’s courage and confidence in expressing the right opinion and pointing out defects, errors and corruption and, ultimately, weakens internal auditors’ abilities to maintain independence (self-control) in the face of pressure exerted by senior managers” (p16).

Authors: Taha, A. A. (2023). Internal auditors’ independence under workplace bullying stress: an investigative study. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research.

Study link: https://doi.org/10.1108/JIABR-09-2022-0239

Link to the LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/internal-auditors-independence-under-workplace-stress-ben-hutchinson