Purpose – To provide internal auditors with a summary of the communications skills needed for a successful professional career in internal auditing. Design/methodology/approach – A range of recently published (2000‐2004) publications, which aim to show the importance of communication...

Purpose – To provide accounting practitioners and educators some of the reasons for the decreasing trend of students majoring in accounting and describe some of the activities that can be undertaken by accounting educators and practitioners to reverse the trend. Design/methodology/approach –...

The attached paper describes the keys to success for Southwest Airlines, including its approach to quality management. Southwest did not implement a formalized “quality management program.” Numerous companies in the USA have implemented formalized “quality management programs” and they...

Purpose – Of all the relationships that auditors enter into, that with employees seems relatively neglected, and with the trade unions virtually absent from consideration. During the anti‐union period of Thatcher and Reagan this may have been explicable, but now that a more balanced role for...

Some view whistleblowing — informing on illegal or unethical practices in the workplace — as being undesirable. However, if whistleblowing is incorporated as a natural part of the internal corporate communications system it can be transformed into an extremely valuable aid. Provides examples...

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...

Redundancy is a risk to all employees, and needs careful handling and counselling. Less recognised are the needs of those left behind. On the analogy of major disasters, they too demand meticulous attention to avoid deleterious effects both to themselves and to their organisations. The...

Skills shortage and recruitment is an area of undeniable importance to the SME sector and a challenge for human resource management. This article reports on the findings from a study of people management in over 300 organisations employing typically between 20 and 200 people. It aims to provide...