Why do controls fail? Results of an Italian survey

This paper deals with the theme of the audit society and reasons for the recurrent control failures affecting organisations in different sectors. The theoretical structure stems from an analysis of managerial literature and pays particular attention to research carried out after the Enron crisis. This structure identifies six control failure factors that are used to conduct an empirical, comparative analysis of Italian organisations with an in-depth examination of the viewpoints of auditors and managers. The outcome of the survey affirms a basic theme in audit society; that is, that organisations with very different histories, institutional and structural features, aims and missions, differentiated rules, and norms of reference have similar problems that can be analysed by focusing on governance and conflicts of interest.