A framework for including sustainability in IS audit

Audit reports play a critical role in enhancing financial transparency and stakeholder confidence, particularly in emerging markets like Jordan where institutional enforcement and audit maturity are still evolving. This review article synthesizes global and regional literature to evaluate the key determinants, challenges, and emerging issues related to audit report quality in Jordan. The analysis spans six core dimensions: the classification and interpretation of audit opinions, structural and ethical factors affecting audit quality, linkages between audit opinion and financial performance, the timeliness and credibility of audit reports, audit failures and fraud detection mechanisms, and the role of technology and information systems in auditing. Despite Jordan’s formal adoption of International Standards on Auditing (ISA 700/701), gaps remain in implementation due to constraints in auditor independence, ethical skepticism, audit lag, and limited use of digital tools. The literature also reveals that factors such as firm size, audit fees, audit tenure, and AIS adoption significantly affect the reliability and timeliness of audit outputs. Furthermore, behavioral and institutional challenges such as lack of professional skepticism and fraud detection capabilities undermine audit effectiveness. The study identifies several research gaps, including the need for empirical, behavioral, and comparative audit studies in Jordan, especially in the post-pandemic context. Recommendations are proposed to improve audit reporting through enhanced training, regulatory reforms, and the integration of advanced technology. Overall, this review emphasizes the importance of strengthening audit report quality to uphold financial accountability and align Jordan’s audit practices with international expectations.

The need to be in conformity with religious and ethical principles, or to be Shariah compliant, is the unique and distinctive feature of Islamic finance which sets it apart from its conventional counterpart. Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are to be audited not only on financial performances but also on their adherence to Shariah precepts, including broader ethical and moral parameters. Currently there is no proper framework to govern the practice of internal Shariah auditing in IFIs. The recently issued Central Bank of Malaysia’s Shariah Governance Framework (CBM-SGF) has made it compulsory for IFIs to perform a regular internal audit of transactions, operations and information systems particularly at the product implementation stage to ensure a comprehensive compliance with Shariah. This has posed a challenge to Islamic banks and Takaful companies, to develop their own internal Shariah audit architecture and to train a new breed of internal auditors in the science and ethics of Shariah audit based on generalised guidelines under the new directive. This paper highlights persistent problems relating to inadequate auditing at the business operations level and prevailing issues in Shariah audit. Recommendations are made for the industry to adopt a common internal Shariah audit framework as a move towards standardisation and uniformity of audit practice.

Process-mining-enabled audit of information systems: Methodology and an application

Senior High School 14 of BANDAR LAMPUNG is one of the Secondary Education that applies the use of information technology into the academic information system. The Secondary Education strategy plan in the development of information systems has not gone through the information system audit process so that the planning of the information system is not in line with the needs of the expected business process. To overcome this, it is necessary to have an academic information system audit to see the maturity level so as to produce an audit report that can be used as a recommendation in planning an academic information system in the future. An information system audit was conducted using the COBIT 4.1 framework on the DS11 domain. Data collection techniques through observation, interviews and questionnaires. The questionnaire used is a maturity level questionnaire while the maturity level questionnaire is used to measure the level of maturity of the information system for the current condition (as is) and the expected condition (to be). The results of the study concluded that the detailed control objective performance obtained from the expected maturity level (to be) questionnaire in the DS11 process as a whole was at level 4 or managed and measurable. Recommendations for planning solutions towards the expected level of maturity are carried out by defining remedial actions on the attributes of AC, PSP, TA, SE, RA and GSM

IT governance and business value in the public sector organizations — The role of elected representatives in IT governance and its impact on IT value in U.S. state governments

Business and technology agenda for information systems executives

은행업에 있어서 정보시스템의 중요성은 다른 산업에 비해서 매우 높다. 본 논문에서는 한 은행의 사례를 토대로 은행에서 실시하고 있는 정보시스템 감사 제도의 전반적인 현황을 분석하여 문제점 및 발전 방향을 제시한다. 주요한 문제점은 다음과 같다. 전반적으로 정보시스템 프로세스의 수행 정도가 미흡하고, 감사 실시 정도는 전반적으로 중요한 프로세스에는 적절히 대응하고 있으나 금융 및 전산사고 예방에만 초점을 맞추어 전략적인 측면의 대응이 미흡한 것으로 나타났다. 또한 감사 활동이 프로세스 수행에 긍정적인 영향을 미치지 못하고 있어서 감사 사후 관리를 개선할 필요성이 제기되었다. 감사 인력/조직적인 측면에서는 인력의 충원이 필요하고, 전략 기획 분야와 연구·개발 활동이 미흡하고, 감사인의 적격성 및 독립성 분야에서 기준 대비 미흡한 면이 있는 것으로 분석되었다. 여기에 대한 발전 방향으로는 내부 감사 부서들간의 적절한 감사 분담, 외부 감사의 활용, 감사 자동화 도구 도입, 자가통제평가 제도 도입, 감사인력에 대한 경력개발 제도 실시, 위험 기반 감사 제도 도입 등이 있다. 본 연구의 결과는 은행업, 더 나아가서 다른 산업의 기업들이 참고할 수 있는 사시점을 제공하고, 본 연구에서 활용한 분석 프레임워크는 향후 정보시스템 감사 분야의 학술적인 연구에서 활용될 수 있을 것이다. Importance of Information Systems in banking industry is higher than that of other industries. This study, based on a case study of a bank, analyzes the current status of information systems (IS) audit and proposes future directions in the area of IS control and audit. Major problems identified in the study include deficiency of IS and audit process, and inability of audit function to improve IS process. In addition, deficiency of staffing level and investment in R&D, and lack of competency and independence of audit staff are identified. In order to solve the problems, the following directions were proposed proper division of functions among audit related departments, utilization of outside audit function, and adoption of CSA, CAAT, career path program, risk-based audit approach. The results of the studs will provide valuable implications to banks and companies in other industries. Also the research framework employed in the study can be utilized in the future research in IS control and audit.

BackgroundPublic sector organizations increasingly adopt information systems (ISs) to improve economic efficiency, service quality and overall adaptability. These projects represent substantial financial investments, making their success critical for organizational performance and societal impact.ObjectiveThis scoping review aimed to identify the driving and restraining forces influencing IS implementation in public sector organizations and to explore strategies that support successful change processes.MethodsA total of 25 peer-reviewed articles were analyzed using Lewin’s change theory to categorize and interpret driving and restraining forces. In addition, the narrative emerging from previous research on IS implementation was examined to explore how previous research portrays the success of IS implementation processes.ResultsThe findings highlight that IS implementation is influenced by 6 domains: organizational practices and challenges, technological factors and barriers, management practices and issues, change project factors and challenges, end user factors and concerns, as well as institutional factors and barriers. Key driving forces include leadership support, stakeholder involvement and system usability, while restraining forces encompass user resistance, technical challenges, and organizational silos.ConclusionsDespite the challenges, IS implementation offers significant opportunities for improving public sector operations and societal outcomes. Addressing restraining forces and leveraging driving forces is essential for achieving sustainable digital transformation. This study provides actionable insights for future IS implementation in the public sector.

Organisations deploy information systems (IS) with the exclusive intention to pursue their business objectives. Executive managers assign ownership of IS to business leaders, expecting them to leverage the IS towards achieving the objectives of the business areas. Many business leaders are reluctant to take ownership of the IS in their business areas, placing the organisation at risk that IS may not be optimally utilised and business areas not attaining their objectives. Little guidance exists to understand what 'taking ownership of IS' entails. In the research, a framework for understanding IS ownership was developed through a process of induction. The IS ownership framework discusses the different perspectives of the role-players with respect to defining IS ownership, the rationale for IS ownership, the criteria for having ownership and the rights, obligations and expectations associated with IS ownership.

ABSTRACTExcessive spending on recurrent expenditure hampers economic growth. A program-based budgeting approach has been proposed to discipline fiscal excesses of agencies outside direct civil service machinery but government is inactive. This study hypothesized that difficulty in securing output measures, resistance from politicians, agency heads, and workers; current audit practice; and cost–benefit considerations, hinder implementation. Analysis of perceptual data reveals that resistance from politicians and employees is the major factor that hinders implementation of a program-based budgeting in Nigeria. In addition, difficulty in securing measures to quantify outputs thwarts implementation initiatives, and current audit practice whereby private audit firms audit operational activities of agencies only at year-end subvert program reviews. The study recommends that politicians be advised on political considerations in budgetary allocation; a performance measurement committee be set up to develop measures of outputs acceptable to workers; and a body of auditors be nationalized to undertake audit of government agencies.

Customers, being important assets to an enterprise, directly relate to the latter’s profitability and survival. Customers buy products to generate revenue. Their feedbacks also promote the improvement of products and drive an enterprise to develop forward. With or without an information system, good CRM (customer relationship management) is extremely important for an enterprise to achieve its profit targets. Though a non-profit organization (NPO) does not pursue profits, it has service objects, concrete products or services for achieving its vision, or supporters of its vision. The spirit and practice of making every effort possible to know their customers which is usually adopted by an enterprise in order to achieve its business objectives could also be seen to exist in non-profit organizations. It’s just such spirit and practice that is slightly different in form or the goal. If adjusted, the application of CRM in enterprises could also effectively help non-profit organizations to understand more clearly the practice they have to take in order to achieve their visions and understand the objects of their services or supporters. Exampled with the church, this study explores whether CRM helps the church and how should churches apply CRM. Leaders at all levels in the church pastoral relationship could be compared to managers at all levels in a corporate organization, while PRM (pastoral relationship management) applied to churches via CRM could generate specific impacts on group pastoral care, group development strategies, equipment of true believers, business as mission, family as mission, church planting and preaching.

ABSTRACT: ERP systems are typically the largest, most complex, and most demanding information systems implemented by firms, representing a major departure from the individual and departmental information systems prevalent in the past. Firms and individuals are extensively impacted, and many problematic issues remain to be researched. ERP and related integrated technologies are a transformative force on the accounting profession. As the nature of business evolves, accounting expertise is being called on to make broader contributions such as reporting on nonfinancial measures, auditing information systems, implementing management controls within information systems, and providing management consulting services. This review of ERP research is drawn from an extensive examination of the breadth of ERP-related literature without constraints as to a narrow timeframe or limited journal list, although particular attention is directed to the leading journals in information systems and accounting information systems. Early research consisted of descriptive studies of firms implementing ERP systems. Then researchers started to address other research questions about the factors that lead to successful implementations: the need for change management and expanded forms of user education, whether the financial benefit outweighed the cost, and whether the issues are different depending on organizational type and cultural factors. This research encouraged the development of several major ERP research areas: (1) critical success factors, (2) the organizational impact, and (3) the economic impact of ERP systems. We use this taxonomy to establish (1) what we know, (2) what we need, and (3) where we are going in ERP research. The objective of this review is to synthesize the extant ERP research reported without regard to publication domain and make this readily available to accounting researchers. We organize key ERP research by topics of interest in accounting, and map ERP topics onto existing accounting information systems research areas. An emphasis is placed on topics important to accounting, including (but not limited to) the risk management and auditing of ERP systems, regulatory issues, the internal and external economic impacts of ERP systems, extensions needed in ERP systems for XBRL, for interorganizational support, and for the design of management control systems. See Supplemental Material.

Ensuring information security in public sector information systems is now more important than ever. Advances in technology and information have not only made daily life easier, but also made the opportunities for cybercrimes vast and inevitable. This study aims to create a framework for evaluation that measure the maturity level of information security in information systems by integrating existing frameworks, NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and COBIT 2019. The result of this framework development is implemented in a public sector organization called PT XYZ, which has an information system as a tool to assist in the implementation of public services. The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) method is used to calculate the maturity level. The implemented approach resulted in information security maturity evaluation framework for information systems. This framework includes 118 activities which are divided into 23 categories. The distribution of the integration of the two frameworks contributes 61% activities, the NIST CSF contributes 8% and the COBIT 2019 framework contributes 31% activities. The measurement result of the information security maturity level in the information system at PT XYZ shows that all functions are at level 1 or the initial level. PT XYZ's low information security maturity reveals the critical need for stronger data protection and system resilience. This study introduces a novel approach to demonstrating a practical methodology for integrating two frameworks. The resulting framework enables public sector organizations to assess their security posture, identify areas for improvement, and enhance resilience against cyber threats, strengthening public service and safeguarding data.

Stakeholder influence in public sector information systems strategy implementation—The case of public hospitals in South Africa

Following the adoption of the Greek Accounting Standards, this research aims to examine the financial assessment and viability of enterprises through the use of information technologies. The theoretical foundation stresses the relevance of following accounting standards and gives an outline of the role that information systems play in financial evaluation. To obtain pertinent data, the research process uses case studies of two organizations of public sector. One of them is called E.Y.A.TH., which is a company providing water supply and sewerage services to more than 1.2 million citizens in the greater Thessaloniki Urban Area every day. The second company is parts of public administation called in Greece D.E.Y.A, that are Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Companies. The findings show that the adoption of Greek Accounting Standards has improved financial viability and evaluation, with information systems being a key factor. The findings are summarized in the conclusion, which highlights the value of information systems in improving financial review procedures. The article is organized as follows: Τhe abstract provides a concise summary of the paper, highlighting its main objectives, findings, and implications. The next section called introduction refers to the topic of financial evaluation and viability in the public sector and the role of information systems in facilitating this process, emphasizing on the importance of the public sector in driving economic development and the need for effective financial evaluation and viability assessment in public sector organizations. Moreover, the significance of financial evaluation and viability analysis in the public sector is mentioned, highlighting the key factors that contribute to the success and sustainability of public sector organizations. Finally, there is a section delving into the specific relevance of information systems in the public sector, discussing their impact on financial transparency, accountability, and overall organizational performance. Finally, there is the discussion and conclusion. Discussion presents a comprehensive discussion of the key findings, insights, and implications arising from the analysis of financial evaluation and viability in the public sector, considering the role of information systems and the impact of Greek Accounting Standards. Conclusion: This section summarizes the main points discussed in the paper, emphasizing the importance of information systems in financial evaluation and viability assessments in the public sector, particularly in the context of Greek Accounting Standards.