Multiperspective Representation of Internal Controls in Business Processes

Iheb Abdellatif, Alain April

Department of Software Engineering and Information Technologies, Ecole de Technologie Supérieure, Montreal, Canada..

DOI: 10.4236/jsea.2012.512112                

Abstract

The internal control process, which is designed to help an organization accomplish specific control objectives, is one of the most important processes, as it can determine whether or not the organization is in compliance with its internal or external requirements. Internal controls emerge from different perspectives. Currently, experts view and act on one control perspective at a time, which creates inefficiencies and duplication. This software engineering research is aimed at proposing a multiperspective framework for representing internal controls, in order to obtain a centralized and comprehensive view of all internal control mechanisms. To carry out this research, we also needed to represent the many different stakeholder perspectives of internal controls. Based on a literature review of mathematical and psychological analysis, we searched for the most suitable multiperspective representation of internal controls, and assessed the many representation options using the AHP (analytical hierarchical process) sensitivity analysis approach. This approach has been applied to a study group which has been called to answer to a questionnaire.

Keywords

Business Process Management (BPM); Internal Control; Multiperspective Control Representation; Internal Control Perspectives

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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