Senior Management Team Stability as a Hidden Factor in Audit Risk

This article examines the role of senior management team stability as a hidden factor in the formation and transmission of audit risk and attempts to clarify the behavioral and institutional dimensions of this variable in risk assessment processes through conceptual analysis. The audit literature shows that managerial stability can act in a dual way: On the one hand, it improves the quality of internal controls, strategic coherence, and reduces unintentional errors, and on the other hand, in the absence of independent oversight, it can intensify the concentration of power, reduce auditors' professional skepticism, and increase the risk of management fraud. The analysis of the Iranian situation suggests that the concentrated ownership structure, the relative weakness of supervisory institutions, and the professional limitations of auditing provide the basis for the emergence of hidden effects of managerial stability, causing auditors to rely on the experience and gradual understanding of the management team to assess audit risk. This paper shows that systematically identifying and analyzing the stability of the senior management team, along with paying attention to the institutional and cultural conditions of the organization, is essential to improve the accuracy of risk assessment, enhance the quality of the auditor's professional judgment, and reduce the likelihood of audit failure. Finally, the results of this literature review emphasize that management stability should not be viewed solely as a structural feature, but rather as a latent and influential variable, playing a key role in assessing audit risk and improving internal control processes, and highlighting the need to integrate it into the conceptual and practical frameworks of auditing in Iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

Senior management team stability ، audit risk ، internal controls