Cross‐cultural Currents : The Case of Internal Audit

Internal audit is a suitable canvass on which to explore cross‐cultural themes since these professionals possess a bird's eye view of an organization, and frequently swoop on their prey for short periods. It is vital in these short skirmishes, which nowadays tend to result in constructive and positive recommendations (Vinten, 1986), for cross‐cultural currents to be considered. The issue may arise within one country, with the cultural and ethnic diversity of the workforce, especially in a multinational enterprise, or as one steps over national boundaries to visit other countries. William T. Thornhill wrote a stimulating text on “Auditing Non‐US Operations” (Thornhill, 1984). Its emphasis was on international organizations as a whole, and the problems and issues to which they give rise. These ranged from customs, laws and regulations, languages, religions and government which the author misleadingly refers to as “simple” problems, to the “complex” problems of economics, foreign exchange, credit, import‐export problems and restrictions, ethics, and integrity of controls.