Design of 'Management-Level Control Questionnaire' based on insights from Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa

Abstract

Management controls, also called 'Entity-Level Controls (ELC)', represent the 'tone at the top' of an organisation. Existing questionnaires used by auditors to assess the effectiveness of Management Controls do not include essential cultural aspects. This qualitative inductive study explores the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) to obtain insights into the Management Controls' assessment. Based on a systematic textual study, the 100th Chapter from Ayodhya Kanda of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa has been selected as the pilot source for developing the questionnaire.

Initial findings provide 158 questions spanning well-being, happiness, deep competency, finance, legal, and sustainability. These leading enquiries help initiate an open-hearted conversation between the auditor and the managing executives. This would help auditors to determine the nature, timing, and extent of audit procedures and to form an audit opinion.