Question

Analyze the importance of internal and external sustainability audits in corporate sustainability. When should organizations catch their errors? Identify a well-known organization (or a not so well-known one) that has been “caught” in an audit nightmare. What might the corporation have done to avoid a catastrophe? Was the blunder a recoverable one? Explain.

Answer 1

A sustainability audit plays a vital role in defining the future of any organizational setup. Its primary mandate is taking up an inventory on all matters pertaining policies as well as all the procedures governing operations in the organization. The audits are both of internal and external nature critical in the sustainability of any cooperation.

The vital fact about these checks is that they enhance transparency and not forgetting accountability. These two aspects are quite important for the success of any corporation. Expenditures and budgetary reports have to capture all the key areas in an organization, and this should be handled in a manner devoid of questions. As a result, efficiency and efficient service delivery set in.

Errors are part of any operation. However, a perfect time to catch them is during reporting before the actual audit process. Mistakes made in each department are detected and acted upon to avoid unnecessary questions from the review officers.

The BSA software organization is a good example of one that was caught by the audit team. This is what is termed as the audit nightmare. However, to avoid this, the organization could have employed compliance, i.e., letting the audit personnel do their work without interference. Allow then give their report and recommendations. For proper functioning and competition, the recommendations could have been used as a rich source for target setting. In my view, the mistake was one that could be recovered with the setting of new rules that discourage noncompliance.

An audit serves as an eye opener hence should be embraced by any business corporation if competition is to be kept on high. Success of any business enterprise is the goal that requires realization.