I have discussed about COSO and its components in detail in my previous posts. The first COSO component which is control environment reflects the tone at the top for the organization. It serves as the fuel which runs in the organizational engine and decides the overall control structure. I am listing some of the responses received from clients, in a recent survey on top issues affecting control environment. The responses received were pretty interesting.

1. Board of Directors or "Tone at the Top"
2. Integrity and Ethical Values of the Top management
3. Risk Appetite
4. Organizational Structure
5. Management Philosophy and Operating Style
6. How various roles and responsibilities are defined and allocated
7. And finally, the policies and procedures

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