Equipped to sustain (how an organizations internal audit plan can help it meet its current sustainability needs)
Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 27, Issue 8
Cascone J., Derose J. and Nefedova A.Internal Auditor, December 2010, Vol. 67, No. 6, Start page: 49, No of pages: 4
Raises the issue of whether an organization’s audit plan can be made sufficiently comprehensive to help the organization meet current sustainability needs, and grow the business into a more environmentally friendly (“green”)form. Explains that the idea of adopting sustainability business practices receives mixed responses from organizational leaders, where some businesses take sustainability with some scepticism and claim that when facing a choice between“going green” and making a profit, the latter must take priority,while others make sustainability considerations a key part of every strategic business decision. Points to numerous drivers that are moving economic development in a sustainable direction, including regulations, investor activism, consumer preferences, natural resource scarcity, and the cost benefits of making sustainability an inseparable part of organizational business strategy. Focuses on the array of risks facing businesses and notes some aspects of the sustainability-attaining processes that can be adopted, including: supply chain reporting; life cycle assessment; and non-financial reporting. Discusses approaches that can be used in this process, such as: gauging the risk universe;assurance and testing; and aiding the sustainability effort.Article type:ViewpointISSN: 0020-5745Reference: 40AG484
Keywords: Auditing principles, Environmental management,Environmental regulations, Internal audit, Organizations, Sustainable development
