Is auditor participation in developing electronic commerce systems: The impact on system success

In the modern day business environment, organizations are under increasing pressure to develop new electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems in order to remain competitive. Under this pressure to produce new systems, the potential exists for organizations to compromise their traditional internal control systems. To date, very few empirical studies have been conducted to investigate information systems (IS) auditor participation in the development process of e-commerce systems. Most of the studies that have been conducted simply identify the determinants of internal or IS auditor involvement in the systems development process. While many authors state that IS auditor involvement or participation in the systems development process is a foregone conclusion, few venture to quantify the results.; Organizational data are becoming increasingly vulnerable with recent advances in technology and the increasing use of e-commerce systems. Control procedures are essential to help safeguard valuable organizational assets such as data. IS auditor participation in the development process is one way to ensure that adequate control procedures are considered from the beginning of the systems development process.; An organization's IS auditors are in a unique position to help ensure that the changes in business models, processes, or systems support the organization's business objectives and that adequate control procedures are an integral component from the beginning of the systems development process. In many organizations, in order to mitigate the risks associated with an information system, the internal audit department is assigned the responsibility of implementing a system of internal controls. Because of the additional risks inherent in e-commerce systems and the resulting need for strong controls, it is important that management appreciates the significance of having IS auditors participate in the e-commerce systems development process.; This study developed a framework to assist management in gauging the effectiveness and necessity of IS auditor participation in the e-commerce systems development process with regards to the effectiveness of internal controls and system success. Prior research had not examined the relationships between IS auditor participation in the development process, its antecedents, and the impact on the effectiveness of internal controls and system success from the organizations perspective. The model developed in this study and an understanding of the factors determining IS auditor participation in e-commerce systems development have the potential to impact future management decisions concerning the allocation of IS audit resources in developing these systems as well as other systems in the organization.