auditing organizational change

[Lisa Sheppard]

I am a student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and  I am writing my thesis on how to effectively audit agencies that are in the process of fundamental organizational change.  My basic premise is this:  The environment government operates in is changing rapidly (due in large part to technological advances).  One component of this changing environment is that government systems are increasingly expected to operate more like buisinesses - to be innovative, flexible, and speedy in meeting complex and diverse customer needs, and to do so with fewer resources. The resulting organizational changes bring with them inherent risks.  Auditors have an obligation to assess the management of these risks and by doing so can add value to the change process. (I plan to develop a change audit program as part of my thesis.)   I've attached a survey because I would really like to hear about your experiences in this area - what kinds of organizational changes you've encountered and how you addressed them in your audits, if you looked at the change process itself, and how your audit results were used.  I also want to hear your views about how the auditing profession itself is evolving.  I know filling out the survey can be time consuming, and I really appreciate the effort.  If you decide to complete the survey, please return it to me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] by August 13, 2001.  I will be glad to share the results with you if you are interested.  Just let me know in your return email.   If the survey is more than you want to tackle, but you still want to weigh in on the topic, that's great too.    Also, please pass this survey along to any of your colleagues you think might be interested in filling it out.   Thank you for sharing your thoughts.   Sincerely,   Lisa Sheppard (eternally grateful graduate student!)

Survey Questions.doc