A strategic plan yields tremendous benefits to an organization but it requires a dedicated attention. For example, considerable time is required to understand the process, elements, and their impact. A comprehensive audit of such a plan will enable auditors to gain deep insights into other areas previously uncharted that, if not uncovered, can undermine an enterprise.
The internal audit activity is now firmly entrenched in risk management and governance processes, thus placing the activity at a strategic level within an organization. To preclude internal audit from reviewing the strategic plan would seriously diminish internal audit’s independence, objectivity, consistency, and broad audit coverage.
A few years ago, a McKinsey Quarterly survey of nearly 800 business executives showed that only 45% of executive management staff members were not satisfied with the strategic planning process (Association for Strategic Planning, 2009).
This session will instill the importance of exploring new opportunities in the audit of an organization’s strategic plan as very few audit departments do such an audit through fear or walking through a political minefield.
