On hypocrisy,the phronemos,and kitsch: A reply to our commentators

The commentators expressed a number of concerns regarding our paper and they provided useful insights by reframing our findings from a more exacting Kunderian perspective as well as from yet other, theoretical points-of-view. In our reply we address the three commentaries in turn, and we do so using a Kunderian lens. We conclude by highlighting a number of useful research directions to which the commentators alert us.     

Organizational legitimacy,conflict, and hypocrisy: An alternative view of the role of internal auditing

This article provides a commentary on Everett and Tremblay's (2014) analysis of ethics and internal audit by further exploring the role of the internal audit function within Nils Brunsson's model of organized hypocrisy (Brunsson, 1986, Brunsson, 1993, Brunsson, 2002). Specifically, we extend Everett and Tremblay's discussion of internal auditors as ‘moral’ actors and propose that the counter-coupling of an organization's primary outputs–talk, decision and action–provides internal auditors with the necessary tools to carry out conflicting ethical roles within the organization.     

Ethics and internal audit: Moral will and moral skill in a heteronomous field

This paper examines ethics in the field of internal audit. A set of in-depth interviews, the autobiography of ex-Vice President of Internal Audit of World Com, Cynthia Cooper, and the documents of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) are all analyzed to shed light on the ethics—deontic, teleic, and aretaic—that characterize this weakly autonomous field. The paper further employs work in the field of economic sociology and Milan Kundera's literary ideas to highlight how internal auditors actively moralize markets and embrace a moral will that is ambiguous, if not conflicted. The paper further raises questions about the IIA's present offering of ethics-related resources and its ability to effectively develop moral skill in this field. In addition, and in keeping with our phronetic research approach, the paper provides suggestions aimed at improving the Institute's ethics resources.