Position a is placed above the President. However, a systems audit is an in-house activity carried out on the instructions or request of management (the President), with the results reported back to management. The question likewise asks about the positioning of the in-house systems audit department, so placing it above the President does not match the instruct-and-report relationship it has with the President. What sits above the President on an organizational chart are bodies that supervise the President, such as the shareholders meeting or the board of directors; that is not the place for a department that conducts audits under the President.
○イ
正解What matters most in a systems audit is that the auditing side is independent of the side being audited. If the auditor is under the command of the department being audited, it becomes hard to point out inconvenient facts, and the audit report loses its credibility. In the organizational chart, position b reports directly to the President and belongs to none of the operating departments: Accounting, Sales, or Information Systems. In other words, whichever department's operations or systems it audits, it is free from instructions or pressure from that department's manager. In addition, a systems audit is carried out on the instructions of management, and its results are reported to management so that improvements follow; therefore, reporting directly to the President also backs the audit department with the authority to pass its findings to management as they are and have management order the necessary corrections company-wide. Position b is what satisfies both conditions at once, independence and direct reporting to management, so the correct answer is イ.
×Incorrectウ
Position c is inside the box of the Accounting Department, so it falls under the command of the accounting manager. In that state, auditing the business systems used by the Accounting Department means auditing the very department one belongs to, so independence cannot be maintained. Even when auditing other departments, the audit results could be swayed by the interests of the Accounting Department, and since reports can reach the President only through the accounting manager, there is also a risk that findings are buried. Being placed inside a specific operating department is inappropriate in itself.
×Incorrectエ
Position d is inside the box of the Information Systems Department. That department handles the planning, development, and operation of systems, and is exactly the main department subject to a systems audit. Placing the audit department inside it makes the work a self-audit, auditing oneself, and independence is lost completely. Of the four positions, this is the furthest from the independence requirement, and even if the audit finds problems, they may be dealt with inside the department and never reach management, so it is inappropriate.
ここがポイント
A systems auditor must be independent of the departments being audited. Placing the audit department inside a department that is itself an audit target (especially the information systems department), or under a specific operating department, turns the work into a self-audit and the objectivity of its findings cannot be kept. When judging independence from an organizational chart, look at whether that position falls under the command of a department being audited.
A systems audit is carried out on the instructions of management, and the audit report is submitted to management, which then issues improvement instructions. The standard positioning of the audit department is therefore an organization reporting directly to the President (management), neither above the President nor inside any of the operating departments.