Design considerations: Business process modeling as a factor in audit performance
Aspect
Explanation
Course

Acct 8630 Infomation Systems Assurance

Learning outcome

 Learn to provide information systems (IS) assurance, defined as:
  1. Develop audit objectives for risks of information systems
  2. Design audit procedures
  3. Implement audit procedures
  4. Communicate audit results
Research question Is business process modeling (BPM) skill associated with the successful audit of information systems, defined as the detection of internal inconsistencies and unusual conditions? 
Theory: From cognition and mirrored in practice BPM entails constructing situation models (Zwaan and Radvansky 1998, Psychological Bulletin 123: 162-185; Barsalou 1999, Discourse Processes 28: 61-80). Practitioners and researchers have been coming to the view that understanding business processes is a precursor to developing and executing audit procedures and interpreting results. The lack of a process model or reliance on an inadequate one obscures idiosyncrasies of the situation, which would predispose auditors to applying typical audit procedures in standard ways, which might not reveal the evidence they seek of inconsistencies or unusual conditions.
Design possibilities
Simple model

 

 

This model fails to:

  1. Control for systematic differences across learners, e.g., prior academic performance (GPA), ability (SAT or GMAT), language proficiency
  2. Verify effectiveness of BPM training in developing BPM skill
  3. Measure BPM skill
  4. Verify that BPM skill is associated with improved audit performance
More realistic model

 

 

This model:

  1. Requires many participants (hundreds!)
  2. Shows analysis of many relationships, including some not shown. E.g., are the variables GPA, SAT/GMAT, and querying skill factors in developing BPM skill?
  3. Depends on measures of BPM skill being created and validated. Because BPM is new, journal reviewers would likely be sympathetic to reasonable measures. Are separate pre- and post-measures needed? Probably, because the pre-measure would probably include one or more business situations that learners might remember.
  4. Depends on a measure of querying skill. Although querying a database is not a new skill, there are no standard measures for it, which means that a measure would need to be created and validated for this covariate.
  5. Omits language proficiency as an antecedent to BPM skill, querying skill, and audit performance
Updated March 14, 2005