April Meeting
Thursday the 5th
Cityplace Conference Center

Internal Audit Research and Partnering

Creating Value WITH Customers … Dominance or Death?
Why You Can’t Serve Two Masters…

Professor Michael Oliff, Director of Enterprise Transformation 2020
University of Texas at Dallas School of Management

Why do 95 percent of enterprises the world over never reach positions of dominance? What is the difference between a truly sustainable company and one already on the road to decline? Based on 20 years of direct experience and research with dominant enterprises worldwide, Dr. Michael Oliff, the founder of IMD’s Manufacturing 2000 Program in Switzerland and UTD’s Enterprise 2020 Initiative will highlight the three keys to building and sustaining influence in your chosen markets. He will argue that Customer Value Creation is the only sufficient goal of the Corporation…and illustrate how dominant firms today are identifying, estimating, measuring and delivering value with customers globally.

Dr. Michael Oliff joined the faculty in the School of Management (SOM) at UTD in the summer of 2002. He is responsible for developing and directing the five-year global consortium program, Enterprise Transformation 2020, and for graduate and executive teaching in the same area of focus. He was recognized as the SOM Outstanding Teacher in 2005.

Dr. Oliff has worked with Fortune 500 enterprises and their top executive teams for the past 20 years, focusing on corporate dominance – establishing and sustaining it. After earning his PhD in management science from Clemson University he became corporate manager of Operations Research at Milliken & Co. in Spartanburg , S.C. He then joined the faculty at USC’s College of Business in Columbia , S.C. , where he was recognized as the Southern Management Association Ascendant Scholar and received the masters in International Business Program Professor of the Year Award.

As an International Fellow, he joined the faculty at IMD in Lausanne , Switzerland , where he published 30 business cases, executive reports and articles. Dr. Oliff established a five-year global consortium- Manufacturing 2000- that included Sony, Nokia, Nestle, IBM, Accenture, Audi, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, BP, Exxon and others. The program led to the establishment of a body of methodology and applications known today as Enterprise Transformation. As professor of Operations and Business Strategy, Dr. Oliff was recognized as Distinguished Fellow by the World Productivity Council and as The Leading Authority On Enterprise Transformation by Management Center Europe. He served as IMD’s Director of Research and Development and member of the Management Committee before founding The Phoenix Group S.A. in 1993.

A “scratch” golfer and Keynote Speaker for the PGA Education Summit, Dr. Oliff wrote From Hacker to Hero in Twelve Months – How to Cut Your Handicap in Half in 1999. The book details his 12-month journey from a 36 – 0 handicap and the individual transformation required.

IIA Advanced Technology Committee
 Ken Askelson and Steve Hunt

Ken Askelson, CIA, CPA, CITP is the Senior IT Audit Manager for JCPenney in Plano, TX. He supervises the IT Audit staff responsible for auditing and monitoring the activities of the IT infrastructure. Previous positions with JCPenney included Audit Manager, Merchandise Manager and Regional Accounting Coordinator.

Professionally, Ken served on several committees for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He currently serves as a commissioner on the AICPA National Accreditation Commission, Vice Chair of the AICPA Privacy Task Force, and on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Accountancy. Other AICPA committees he served on include the Information Technology (IT) Executive Committee, IT Research Subcommittee, IT Practices Subcommittee, and the Business and Industry Executive Committee. Ken also serves on the Advanced Technology Committee for the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Ken is a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Information Technology Professional and Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the AICPA and the Institute of Internal Auditors. He received degrees in marketing and accounting from the University of Northern Iowa.

Steve Hunt, CIA, CISA, CBM is the Director, Enterprise Solutions, for the firm Enterprise Controls Consulting (ECC) and a member of the International Advanced Technology Committee of the IIA. Steve is co-authoring the Global Technology Audit Guide (GTAG8) for the IIA, which will be featured at the IIA International Conference in Amsterdam in July 2007. This guide provides detailed strategic guidance on the audit of application controls.

At ECC, Steve works with Fortune 1000, middle and small market companies across multiple industries, directing the delivery of financial, operational and IT risk management engagements. Steve has over 20 years of combined professional experience in industry and the Big 4 in public accounting, internal audit, and management consulting. Experience includes in-depth Sarbanes-Oxley compliance management, internal and external audit, business process development/reengineering and Big 4 business development. Background also includes several years experience with SAP R/3 configuration, management consulting, business process reengineering and application security and controls consulting.

Steve has been a featured speaker at several universities and organizations across the country and is an active member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA) and the Association of Professionals in Business Management (APBM).

Results of Whistleblower Mechanisms Survey
Mary Curtis, University of North Texas

Mary will present the results of the chapter’s 2006 research project WHISTLEBLOWER MECHANISMS: A Study of the Perceptions of “Users” and “Responders” (which incidentally won 1st place in the National IIA competition!). Input from Chapter members was an integral part of this survey so this will be a great opportunity to hear how other companies in the area are combating fraud!

This project focused on the premise that management and employee frauds are concerns for all organizations and confidential reporting mechanisms, or whistle-blower hotlines, are often proposed as one tool in the organization’s internal control arsenal for dealing with fraud. If communication regarding observed incidents of fraud is to occur, it is vitally important to the organization that these reports be made internally, rather than through external paths. It is only in this way that organizations can meet the challenge of addressing the immediate problem of fraud and correcting the internal controls which allowed the fraud to occur. This gives the entity the ability to report the wrong-doing and associated corrective action to appropriate authorities internally and externally if necessary, rather than suffering the embarrassment and potential legal penalties resulting from learning of the fraud through external channels.

Mary B. Curtis, Ph.D., CPA, CISA has taught accounting and MIS for the last 20 years, the last 9 of these at the University of North Texas. Her professional experience includes MIS and IT audit consulting, preceded by stints as a systems analyst for Cities Service Company and Bank of America, and IT audit manager for Coopers & Lybrand. Mary’s research includes such diverse topics as ethical decision-making and IT auditor expertise.

Mary is also steering the 2007 research project, which is focused on insider trading. She will provide an update on the results to date of this project as well!