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...

Corporate governance has emerged from obscurity into being a mainstream topic about which there is a need to know, as well as being incorporated into industrial and commercial training courses. There has been a plethora of reports starting in the USA and spreading to the UK, which has then...

The failure of the Enron Corporation in late 2001, apart from signalling the largest corporate bankruptcy in the USA, has also thrown up a myriad of questions about the effectiveness of contemporary accounting, auditing and corporate governance practices. There are strong historical antecedents...

The reconvening of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (The “Earth Summit”) from 3 to 4 June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, preceded by a meeting of the Commissioners in London in April, to debate “nothing less than the fate of the planet”, emphasized the urgency of...