The Audit Society
Rituals of Verification
Published on 3. July 1997
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-0-19-828947-0 (ISBN)
Description
Since the early 1980s there has been an explosion of auditing activity in the United Kingdom and North America. In addition to financial audits there are now medical audits, technology audits, value for money audits, environmental audits, quality audits, teaching audits, and many others. Why has this happened? What does it mean when a society invests so heavily in an industry of checking and when more and more individuals find themselves subject to formal scrutiny?
The Audit Society argues that the rise of auditing has its roots in political demands for accountability and control. At the heart of a new administrative style internal control systems have begun to play an important public role and individual and organizational performance has been increasingly formalized and made auditable. Michael Power argues that the new demands and expectations of audits live uneasily with their operational capabilities. Not only is the manner in which they produce assurance and accountability open to question but also, by imposing their own values, audits often have unintended and dysfunctional consequences for the audited organization.
The Audit Society argues that the rise of auditing has its roots in political demands for accountability and control. At the heart of a new administrative style internal control systems have begun to play an important public role and individual and organizational performance has been increasingly formalized and made auditable. Michael Power argues that the new demands and expectations of audits live uneasily with their operational capabilities. Not only is the manner in which they produce assurance and accountability open to question but also, by imposing their own values, audits often have unintended and dysfunctional consequences for the audited organization.
Reviews / Votes
The book appears just when we need it ... a valuable book. * Financial Times * This splendid book tracks what has been happening to the auditing profession in the context of the recent 'managerial turn' ... This is a breath of fresh air. * LSE Magazine * This book is valuable precisely because of the obscurity of its subject. Very little has been written about the purpose, context, or process of auditing. This book, therefore, fills a gap. I would recommend this book for managers and physicians interested in understanding and appraising more critically the role of audit in their ogranisations. * Lois Quam, BMJ Volume 316, 1998 * This is a book for the times...It is wide-ranging and perceptive, showing the fruitfulness of Power's original training in critical philosophy combined with his later specialization in financial accounting...the book provides the most coherent challenge to the audit explosion that has been offered to date. - Christopher Hood. London School of Economics. 18/1/1998 ..subtle, stimulating and important book. - Rudolf Klein. University of Bath. 1998. This is a book for the times. It will resonate instantly with hard-pressed UK public-sector professionals. It is wede-ranging and perceptive, s howing the fruitfulness of Power's original training in criticalphilosophy combined with his later specialization in financial accounting. The book provides the most coherent challenge to the audit explosion that has been offered to date. - Christopher Hood. Journal of Public Policy. 18/1/1998.More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
line figures
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
448 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-828947-0 (9780198289470)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/1999
Oxford University Press
€68.09
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Michael Power is Professor of Accounting at the London School of Economics. He is a qualified accountant himself and has undertaken audit work for one of the major accounting firms.
Content
Introduction ; Preface ; 1: The Audit Society: General Themes ; 2: The Rise of Audit ; 3: The Audit Explosion ; 4: Audit and the Dialectic of Regulatory Failure ; 5: Audit Knowledge and the Construction of Auditees ; 6: Beyond Audit, Towards Trust ; Notes ; Bibliography