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The current study investigates the specific factors associated with internal audit effectiveness in the Greek business environment. Empirical evidence was collected by means of a mailed survey. Factor Analysis and regression analysis are used in order to illustrate the gathered information. The findings indicate that the main factors affecting internal audit effectiveness are: (1) quality of internal audit, (2) competence of internal audit team, (3) independence of internal audit and (4) management support. The results also reveal that independence of internal audit is the foundation of internal audit effectiveness, as it is the most crucial factor in our model. Finally, the paper concludes that internal audit is of major importance for Greek business. Key words: Internal audit, Auditing, effectiveness of internal audit, Accounting, Greece.

There is currently considerable interest in the topic of internal audit and its contribution to exact management of any business economic resources. Within this framework of extremely fluid business environment, the research tested the hypothesis about the role of internal auditing for the business success. The main purpose of the present paper is not only to examine the issue in a theoretical level, but also to present empirical evidence for the interaction between components of internal control system and performance of internal auditing in Greek hotel business. According to up-to-date theoretical and empirical literature, the results point out that all components of internal audit are vital for the effectiveness of internal audit and consequently in the business survival and success.

This paper is an attempt to explore the relationship of CSR and firms’ financial performance in Greek firms. Based on stakeholder theory and mainly on the theory of “good management”, we try to find out if an improvement in CSR actions results in higher stock returns. Our empirical analysis will test whether there is an impact of CSR performance on stock returns, using voluntary disclosures, based on a sample of Greek listed companies. The findings show that there is a positive correlation among stock returns and CSR performance in Greek companies. In operational level, these results aim at persuading managers to implement CSR actions in a greater extent in order to enhance firm market efficiency., peer-reviewed