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Internal Control pp 1–24Cite as

Introduction

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Part of the book series: Contributions to Management Science ((MANAGEMENT SC.))

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this chapter is to introduce the general research idea, purpose and the research method as well as to provide an overview of the general thesis structure and content.

Synopsis: This thesis will study the accounting and auditing approach to control where the concept of internal control has developed along with the theory and practice of auditing and its stated objectives. The concept of internal control goes back over 100 years and was first recognized in formal literature on auditing in 1892. Since the concept was first established, there has been a century of debate as to its definition and content and official definitions have often proven to be controversial. During the last 15 years, there have been loud calls for better and stronger corporate governance. Continuing corporate malfunctions, changes in shareholder patterns and the legal climate are some of the key drivers behind these calls. Demands have been made for greater accountability and transparency and the independent audit activity has hereby become the primary tool for securing accountability. An important joint development with the emerging audit society has been the rise of internal control systems. Internal control, once a private matter for technical assurance specialists, has risen to be an autonomous field or expertise and a mode of organizing uncertainty. Traditionally internal control had a fairly direct relationship to the accounting records. With the introduction of broader definitions, internal control has significantly expanded its domains into general management control and corporate governance. However the concept seems to be under-explored by social scientists and thus there is a need for more research into this area. The purpose of this research enterprise is to provide an account of existing research on internal controls. This will be done based on a literature review where academic papers published by other researchers on the subject have been surveyed. This thesis comprises of six chapters in total. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the general research idea and method. In the following chapters, theories that explain the need for control systems will be discussed as well as a practical framework on internal control. Chapter 4 provides a regulatory perspective and Chap. 5 takes up those common themes and issues which frequently occur in existing research on internal control. The final chapter makes concluding observations and provides suggestions for future research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The complete name of this law is: An act to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws, for other purposes. This is the public law 107–204 by the 107th Congress, United States, dated July 30 2002. The law may be cited in short as the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002” but we will repeatedly refer to this Act as SOX (2002) as this is common in papers on the subject.

  2. 2.

    See proposal from the Code group in SOU 2004, p. 46 [Svensk Kod för Bolagsstyrning. Förlsag från Kodgruppen] and the subsequent handling of the formal referral process through SOU 2004, p. 130 [Svensk Kod för Bolagsstyrning. Betänkande av Kodgruppen]. The work by the Code group was done in collaboration with a number of associations for stock market issues (see SOU, 2004, pp. 46, 130; also Jonnergård & Larsson, 2007, p. 467). Today the code group has changed into the Swedish Corporate Governance Board [Kollegiet för Svensk Bolagsstyrning] which mission is to promote good corporate governance practices and administer the Swedish code of Corporate Governance [Svensk Kod för Bolagsstyrning]. In connection to the treatment of different themes and issues in this thesis we will sometimes refer to the work by this Board. To simplify we often cite this in short as SCGB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Finance and Accounting, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Olof Arwinge

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  1. Olof Arwinge
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Correspondence to Olof Arwinge .

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Arwinge, O. (2013). Introduction. In: Internal Control. Contributions to Management Science. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2882-5_1

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