Internal Audit of Quality in 5s Environment: Perception on Critical Factors, Effectiveness and Impact on Organizational Performance

Quality Environment (5S) Practice is a concept which has been widely adopted by organizations as one way to achieve Total Quality Management (TQM) and business excellence. 5S refers to 5 principles to maintain quality which emanate from Japanese word Seiri (sorting), Seiton (straightening), Seiso (shining), Seiketsu (standardize) and Shitsuke (sustain). 5s concept aims to create a conducive, clean and tidy workplace which in turn can improve work quality and performance. Internal audit of 5S Quality (IAQ) has been introduced to ensure the organization can assess its strength and areas for improvement. This study attempt to measure the organizational factors that influence the effectiveness of internal audit of 5S Quality such as number of resources, auditor competencies and audit report, as well as looking at how these factors give impact towards company operational performance. The questionnaire were administered to head of audit and internal auditor in Malaysian private companies. Our hypotheses on the impact of organizational factors (resources adequacy, staff competency and report quality) to the effectiveness of internal audit of 5S quality are all positive. In addition, the results also show significant perception by internal auditors that an effective internal audit of 5S quality can help influencing company operational performance.