Digital transformation is changing how governments process financial transactions, manage records, assess risk and demonstrate accountability. Public-sector internal audit functions are progressively replacing fragmented manual procedures with electronic working papers, data analytics, dashboards and audit management systems. However, technology implementation alone does not create an effective digital audit function because its value depends on reliable data, appropriate governance, competent auditors and organisational support. This qualitative study examines the development of digital audit capability in the Malaysian public-sector internal audit functions and proposes an integrated framework based on technology readiness, digital governance and auditor competency. The study draws on semi-structured interviews with senior public-sector internal audit representatives. Thematic analysis identifies system integration, data accessibility, trustworthy digital processes, multidisciplinary competency and management commitment as the main conditions supporting digital audit capability. The Malaysian context demonstrates a progressive but uneven transition among government internal audit departments towards audit management systems, online audit workflows and dashboard-based monitoring. The proposed framework positions digital auditing as an institutional capability-development process rather than a technology-acquisition exercise. The study contributes a context-sensitive framework that can guide government agencies in strengthening digital audit implementation, audit effectiveness and public accountability.
Z. Sanusi, Yusarina Mat Isa, Nur Aima Shafie et al.· International journal of res...· 0 citations
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting has moved from voluntary communication to regulated corporate accountability, yet the quality of adoption varies sharply. Many organisations, particularly in emerging economies, produce disclosures that satisfy formal requirements without altering strategy, governance or resource allocation, a pattern described as symbolic reporting. This concept paper asks how organisations with mature ESG practice couple reporting to management, and what that implies for firms entering mandatory regimes such as Malaysia's National Sustainability Reporting Framework. Guided by stakeholder, legitimacy and institutional theory, the study adopts a qualitative multiple-case design based on documentary analysis of Ørsted (Denmark), Microsoft (United States), Unilever (United Kingdom) and SD Guthrie, formerly Sime Darby Plantation (Malaysia), compared across seven dimensions spanning strategy, reporting design, environmental and social practice, governance, challenges and impact. The comparison yields a framework in which five integration mechanisms, namely board ownership, materiality discipline, target architecture, internal economic linkage and verification, determine whether disclosure becomes consequential or remains ceremonial. The Malaysian case is analytically distinctive because a foreign enforcement agency adjudicated both the initial failure and its remediation, supplying external verification that voluntary disclosure settings rarely provide. The paper contributes a mechanism-level account of when ESG reporting produces accountability, with guidance for boards, preparers and regulators moving to ISSB-aligned reporting.
Z. Sanusi, Nur Aima Shafie, A. Ghazali et al.· International journal of res...· 0 citations
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