Standing Tall!

An Agenda for Ruture Research in Internal Auditing

Professor Gerrit Sarens PhD, CIA,CCSA Universite’ Catholique de Louvain and visiting Professor for University Malaya

GS 1: Standing Tall – Unlimited Opportunities

In this session, Lord Smith will share his views on whether internal auditors have met stakeholders' expectations, how internal auditing has fared, the future outlook following the global financial crisis, and whether internal auditing is ready to step up its game. Lord Smith will also touch on building an effective relationship between internal auditing and the audit committee.

In this session participants will:

Hear about meeting stakeholders' expectations.

Explore whether there is an opportunity for internal audit transformation post the global financial crisis.

Discuss building an effective relationship between internal audit and the audit committee.

GS 2: Rising to the Challenge: Which way is up?

As organizations transform operating models to survive the reality of a global economy in crisis, expectations of internal oversight functions are high. Are we up to it? Whether private or public sector, non-governmental organization or nonprofit, all organizations are feeling the crush of fiscal constraints. Every angle is being explored painstakingly, every corner cut, and every excess curtailed, as efforts intensify to ride out the wave and live to tell the tale. In such challenging times, the control environment — the foundation that can make or break the end game — becomes fragile. Now more than ever, internal auditors must focus on critical risks and opportunities and deliver high-impact results that truly make the difference between surviving and thriving in the long run. And, by the way, we’ll be doing it with less.

In this session participants will:

Discuss how internal auditing can live up to the growing expectation and rise to the top.

Learn how to focus on critical risks and opportunities.

Discover how to deliver more with less.

GS 3: The Economic Outlook for the World and Asia: Long Term, Short Term, and Medium Term

The 2007 financial crisis has had a lasting effect on much of the world outside Asia. In Asia, growth has remained mostly strong, with investment and currencies rising. What does the future hold? When will European economies bounce back? Will exports from Asia to the United States boom again? What will happen to oil and commodities prices? How will currencies perform?

In this session participants will:

• Assess the prospects for the global economy over the next few years and longer term.
• Hear about how the economies of Asia will perform.
• Consider what will happen to currency and commodity prices in the medium term.
• Discuss economic and business challenges that lie ahead and how we can avoid future crises.

GS 4: Government Transformation Programme (GTP): Role of Internal Auditors for Successful Implementation and

The GTP is an ambitious, broad-based initiative aimed at addressing key areas of concern to the “Rakyat” (people), while supporting Malaysia’s transformation into a developed, high-income nation. To promote transparency and ensure that the government is held accountable to the rightful stakeholder of this exercise — the Rakyat — the GTP Roadmap was published, setting out its promises in detail. The National Key Performance Indicators results and their corresponding performance to the public are communicated in the annual report. This new way of operating stems from transformational leadership, changing the way the government does its business to transform the character of the organization.?

In this session participants will:

• Get an overview of the GTP and the six National Key Result Areas (NKRA).
• Hear about discipline of action, the plan and monitoring of progress and results based on the GTP governance structure.
• Gain an understanding of how the government is "thinking out of the box" and doing fundamentally different things.
• Learn about how the audit process is necessary in the grand scheme of things.

GS 5: Secrets to Sustainable Success: Human Factor (Panel Session)

In this panel session, the panelists will share their experiences and discuss how sustainable success is more than evaluating controls, rules, and processes, but it also focuses on the people and the value system within the organization. Are organizations nurturing dynamic, versatile personnel and talent to the greatest benefit of the organization? Are companies ready for a transformation to a human-centric governance framework?

In this session participants will:

• Discuss going beyond corporate governance into human governance.
• Lean about quantitative versus qualitative measures.
• Discover how to align human capital with organizational strategy.

GS 6: Fostering Public Trust in Corporate Governance: Is There a Role for Internal Auditors?(Panel Session)

The global financial crisis has significantly eroded public trust in corporate governance in many regions of the world. Regulators, legislators and others have worked tirelessly to implement measures to strengthen governance and restore confidence. Is there a role for internal auditors to play in such measures? This panel of distinguished experts will discuss this topic and deliberate whether the mandate of internal audit should be strengthened to enhance public trust in corporate governance going forward.

GS 7: Identity Intelligence – Knowing Yourself to Work Better with Others

This session will provide the basis for personal discovery and inspire you to seek an even greater understanding of yourself and how your identity impacts your work and personal environments. You will learn to recognize the facets of your identity that make you competent and help you successfully work with others who see things differently than yourself. You'll also identify barriers that lead to procrastination and low motivation. Discover how your environment affects you and how you can influence it to bring out the best of yourself and the people around you.

In this session participants will:

• Develop a personal vision for their future.
• Discover why they already have all the resources they need to succeed.
• Learn how awareness can expand their ability to “act” intelligently.
• Find out what "color" their brain is and how that affects their communication and relationships.
• Gain an understanding of how they may be accidently sucking the motivation out of others, and learn how to stop immediately.