A Corporate Code of Conduct: The Internal Auditor’s Role

An illustration is provided for all readers, students and practising professionals alike, of the dilemma faced by internal auditors as they try to perform a new service, namely, helping to operationalise a code of ethics (conduct) within their firms and at the same time remain true to the objective of their profession, to carry out “an independent appraisal function... as a service to the organisation”. The steps necessary to get a code of conduct operational are reviewed and the results are presented of a survey of a small number of firms in the utility industry which illustrates, among other things, the individual and/or groups responsible for making the code of conduct a viable document within their organisation.