A Corporate Code of Conduct: The Internal Auditor’s Role Available to Purchase

An illustration is provided for all readers, students and practising professionals alike, of the dilemma faced by internal auditors as they try to perform a new service, namely, helping to operationalise a code of ethics (conduct) within their firms and at the same time remain true to the objective of their profession, to carry out“an independent appraisal function... as a service to the organisation”. The steps necessary to get a code of conduct operational are reviewed and the results are presented of a survey of a small number of firms in the utility industry which illustrates, among other things, the individual and/or groups responsible for making the code of conduct a viable document within their organisation.