In Defense of the Corporation

The financial crisis clearly highlighted that stakeholder interests were not adequately defended, and exposed failings in the traditional lines of defense that the stakeholders rely upon to defend their interests. This paper identifies these traditional lines of defense and suggests that everyone in the organization is, to some extent, accountable for helping to defend the interests of the multiple stakeholders. It goes on to outline the individual components which constitute an organization's corporate defense program and explains how corporate defense management (CDM) involves addressing the strategic management of these critical components. Finally it addresses how internal auditing, in its assurance role, has an important role to play, not only within the corporate defense program itself, but also in advising the relevant stakeholders of the lack or level of maturity of such a program