Effects of corporate governance components on internal audit task. (c2015)

Abstract

Corporate Governance is vital to the survival of any corporation. Because of its immense importance in both developed and developing countries, many recent studies noticed the need to enhance corporate governance in developing countries. Considering the case of Lebanon where corporate governance is not legally enforced, companies tend to neglect the importance of maintaining quality corporate governance. Several recent studies suggested the importance of existing interactions among the major components of corporate governance in any corporation and internal audits. This thesis seeks to explore the effects of corporate governance components’ on internal audit tasks in medium-Large corporations in the Lebanese financial sector. The results showed that corporate governance components affect internal audit tasks. When the components are considered separately, top management and audit committee are found to have significant influences on the internal audit tasks whereas internal audit tasks are less influenced by external auditors and board of directors. On the other hand, when the four corporate governance components are jointly considered, their combined effect on internal audit tasks revealed that top management, audit committee, and external auditors significantly influence internal audit tasks.