There is a growing perception that employees generally evade their responsibilities. What impact will an internal auditor most likely see during an engagement?

Question

Options

• ASupervisors are likely to reduce their level of supervision and increase span of control.
• BEmployees are likely to be supervised closely and given little freedom.
• CPeer employees are likely to trust one another, but distrust management.
• DEmployees are likely to join forces to accomplish their duties as teams.

• A
  12% (3)
• B
  4% (1)
• C
  8% (2)
• D
  77% (20)

Explanation

When there is a widespread organizational perception that employees shirk their duties, employees tend to respond by rallying together - forming tighter teams to demonstrate collective accountability and protect themselves from blame, which is the behavioral pattern an internal auditor would most likely observe during an engagement.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A is wrong because low trust in employees leads to more supervision and a narrower span of control, not less - managers tighten oversight, not loosen it.
• B is partially intuitive (Theory X management prescribes close supervision), but it describes management's response, not the impact on employees themselves, and close surveillance typically generates resentment rather than the cooperative dynamic auditors encounter.
• C is wrong because a peer-vs-management divide would fragment, not unify, the workforce - and it doesn't describe a constructive behavioral outcome an auditor would document as a control dynamic.

Memory tip: Think of it as the "blame reflex" - when employees sense they're collectively distrusted, they instinctively circle the wagons and collaborate to prove the perception wrong. If the whole group is accused, the whole group works together. Associate perception of evasion → team formation for the exam.

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