单选题
Congress can pass laws, regulators can beef up
enforcement, and shareholders can demand more accountability. But when it comes
right down to it, making sure a company is operating well is really an inside
job. That's where internal auditing comes in. It doesn't sound glamorous, but
it's an expanding field beckoning to people with a lot of pent up
we-can-do-better energy. Internal auditors keep an eye on a company's
"controls"—not just financial systems, but all sorts of functions designed to
make the business run smoothly and protect the interests of
shareholders. The recent string of corporate scandals provided
a rude awakening to the importance of these internal checks. In the case of
WorldCom, it was internal auditor Cynthia Cooper who blew the whistle on the
company for inflating profits by $3.8 billion. She didn't intend to be a hero,
she said to Time magazine when it named her one of its Persons of the
Year. She was just doing her job. A lot more of those jobs are
opening up as companies turn to internal auditors for help in complying with the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Top executives of publicly held companies now have
to sign off on their financial statements and vouch for the effectiveness of
internal controls. "Up until now, CEOs and CFOs have been going to bed and
sleeping well at night, knowing that they've got good controls or financial
reporting because they've got good people ... But what's missing is the
documentation that really supports that gut feel," says Trent Gazzaway, the
national director of corporate governance advisory services for Grant Thornton,
an accounting and business consultancy firm. "I cannot think of a time in
history when there's been a greater opportunity to enter the internal-audit
field," he adds. Job postings on the website of the Institute
of Internal Auditors (IIA) in Altamonte Springs, Fla., have more than doubled in
the past year, says IIA president William Bishop III. And in the organization's
survey for 2002, half the internal-audit directors said they planned to make one
or more new hires that year. People who can assess computerized systems are
especially in demand. Privately held companies are voluntarily
adding more scrutiny, as well. In a recent survey that drew responses from 1,400
CFOs in such businesses, 58 percent said they are responding to new
corporate-governance standards. Of those, 36 percent are creating or expanding
internal auditing, according to Robert Half Management Resources. An American
company with $3 billion to $4 billion in revenue typically has about 16 internal
auditors. The job is often a training ground for future management positions,
but those who stay in the field and become directors earn an average of just
under $100,000. The IIA offers certification for internal auditors, but many
firms do not require it. Assessing "the tone at the top"—the
culture and the ethical environment of a company—is one of the key charges for
internal auditors, Mr. Bishop says. But their effectiveness depends on the
resources and independence senior managers give them. As auditors have a
perspective that encompasses every aspect of the company, executives sometimes
want to hear their recommendations for improving systems. But their main goal is
to make sure the systems already in place are working properly.
The balancing act can be tricky. "If I make a recommendation ... and then I come
and evaluate it, I'm not going to be criticizing it," says Parveen Gupta, who
teaches corporate governance and accounting at Lehigh University. Ideally, the
internal auditor should be an extra set of eyes, a consultant who knows the
company well but has enough independence to give honest feedback. Regulations
"are pushing internal auditors to become a bit more policeman-oriented," he
says, "but if employees perceive it as someone second-guessing them, that is
very dangerous." One tool designed to avoid that adversarial
feeling is "control self-assessment". The auditor sets up discussions among
employees to find out, for instance, if a written ethics policy is being
implemented, or if workers are feeling such intense pressures that they might be
prompted to push ethical boundaries. The power of the new laws can go only so
far. "This entire issue of corporate governance—trying to run the company as if
you were managing your own money—is a matter of heart and soul," Dr. Gupta says.
And guts. Anyone considering a career in internal auditing, he says, "should
have the guts to speak out, to tell the truth."
单选题
According to the passage, the main goal of internal auditing is
______.
A. to make recommendation for improving enterprises' organizational
systems
B. to help build a profit-making system in a company
C. to make sure the system of an enterprise is operating well
单选题
When Parveen Gupta says, "If I make a recommendation ... and then I
come and evaluate it, I'm not going to be criticizing it," (para. 7) he implies
that ______.
A. the balancing between recommendation and criticism is most
important
B. no one will take a negative attitude towards his/her own suggestion
C. corporate governance should be combined with accounting
D. the internal auditor should play the role of an independent
consultant
单选题
The expression "to push ethical boundaries" in the sentence "or if
workers are feeling such intense pressures that they might be prompted to push
ethical boundaries" (para. 8) can be paraphrased as ______.