What You Will Learn

1. Introduction to Auditing Ethics
 - Definition, importance, and types of ethical reasoning
 - Link between ethics and compliance
 - Characteristics of healthy and effective ethical cultures
 - Soft controls and their importance in preserving ethics in the work place
 - Using the COSO ICF, COSO ERM, and CoCo Frameworks to enhance ethics
 - Techniques for assisting the organization to maintain effective control
    over ethics

2. Entity Level Controls
 - Definition, types, characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses
 - Importance of leadership, competence, and the tone from the top
 - How to assess their presence, condition, and how to positively influence
    the corporate culture
 - Deterrence, prevention, and detection of unethical practices

3. Ethical Decision Making
 - Different approaches to decision making
 - Ethics training to help employees improve their ethical decision making skills
 - Making decisions based on what is legal, ethical and what cultural
    mores allow

4. GRC, CSR, and Ethics
 - The elements of GRC and their link to workplace ethics
 - Roles and responsibilities for effective GRC and ethics programs
 - Link between GRC, Corporate Social Responsibility, and ethics
 - Identifying and managing stakeholder interests
 - Building ethics into key management and HR activities

5. Using Surveys
 - Advantages and disadvantages of surveys
 - Survey design, administration, and reporting results
 - Key considerations and mistakes to avoid
 - Best practices for conducting effective surveys to audit ethics in the workplace

6. Data Analytics
 - Benefits of using data
 - Ways of obtaining relevant data and using it to assess ethics
 - Obtaining objective evidence to assess an otherwise subjective topic
 - Using data to identify unethical practices

7. Whistleblowing Programs
 - Importance of ethics hotlines
 - Characteristics of effective whistleblowing programs
 - Key components of a whistleblowing program audit

8. Ethics and Operational Objectives
 - Role and impact of corporate culture on compliance requirements
 - Linking the Seven E’s, apathy, and morale to ethics
 - Relationship between organizational values, mission, and practices and
    their role creating an ethical organization
 - Establishing effective antifraud programs and ways to deter fraud

9. Promoting an Ethical Culture
 - Role of the Board of Directors, senior and middle management, and others
    promoting ethics in the workplace
 - Ethical derailers
 - Ethics training: best practices
 - Rules and values-based approaches
 - Key factors affecting the tone throughout the organization and entity
    level controls

10. Ethics and Fraud
 - Responding to improprieties, fraud, and other misconduct that warrants
    an investigation
 - Value proposition of ethics: compliance, altruism, and beyond
 - Dealing with ethics breakdowns
 - Minimizing the risk of fraud through ethics programs

11. Auditing Ethics
 - Performing a risk assessment and creating a risk matrix
 - Sample ethics audit program
 - Examination of tools to evaluate ethics
 - Key considerations during the planning, fieldwork, and reporting phases