Investigating the Factors Affecting the Silence of Internal Auditors Using the Hierarchical Component Model

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the silence of internal auditors and to investigate the effect of the construct of professional commitment on the silence of internal auditors by considering the moderating variable role of the perceived climate of silence.

This study is a descriptive and correlational study. The statistical population of this study includes internal auditors who are members of the Iranian Association of Internal Auditors who work in internal audit departments or independent auditors working in audit firms who have experience working in the internal audit profession or providing internal audit outsourcing services. The information required for this research has been collected by completing a standard questionnaire by 212 auditors in 2021. In this study, in order to test the hypotheses, structural equation modeling was used using the least-squares method, and the constructs of internal auditor silence, professional commitment, and the perceived climate of silence were measured using the second-order reflective-reflective hierarchical component model.

The results of testing the hypotheses indicated that professional commitment has a negative and significant effect on the silence of internal auditors and the perceived climate of silence moderates the effect of professional commitment on the silence of internal auditors.

These results indicate that the fear of negative consequences and being recognized as troublesome, lack of communication opportunities, and lack of supportive leadership style to exchange information and ideas in the organization affect the decision of internal auditors to remain silent. In addition, it is important to pay attention to promoting the professional commitment of internal auditors in reducing their silence in the organizational hierarchy.

Contribution:

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the factors affecting internal auditor silence.