Re: Internal Audit finding leading to 'Punishment' (Disciplinary Action) - Your Thoug
The pity of that movie is the punishments meted out to the officers in the chain of command who gave those commands is only "hinted at," not specifically stated. Didn't the one officer commit suicide rather than face punishment and disgrace? The two gyrenes who were the defendants were cannon fodder, the same soldiers who die when politicians back home send them to war, while the politicians move on to high-paying jobs as lobbyists.
Coming back to the OP's original query
Punishment should never be on the table as a result of an internal audit UNLESS a case of real sabotage (with evil intent) is discovered. The object of an internal audit is to generate a snapshot of the system for presentation to management, along with recommendations:
This discussion of punishment and military is bringing the ghosts of A Few Good Men to mind.
But even though the two marines were following orders... they still got Court Martialed. Hmm.....
You fine gentlemen correct me if I'm wrong, but you were punished for not following orders because the very success of the military depends on unity and chain of command, and not each person deciding to do their own thing. This is... a matter of life and death.
Following QMS procedures are a different matter altogether (no Airplane quote here, please
). Those procedures are ever evolving, improving, getting better. That requires fostering a culture where questions can be asked, and the focus is on the processes; not the people. If you start going after people, any innovation will disappear almost instantly from the system.
But even though the two marines were following orders... they still got Court Martialed. Hmm.....
You fine gentlemen correct me if I'm wrong, but you were punished for not following orders because the very success of the military depends on unity and chain of command, and not each person deciding to do their own thing. This is... a matter of life and death.
Following QMS procedures are a different matter altogether (no Airplane quote here, please
). Those procedures are ever evolving, improving, getting better. That requires fostering a culture where questions can be asked, and the focus is on the processes; not the people. If you start going after people, any innovation will disappear almost instantly from the system.
The pity of that movie is the punishments meted out to the officers in the chain of command who gave those commands is only "hinted at," not specifically stated. Didn't the one officer commit suicide rather than face punishment and disgrace? The two gyrenes who were the defendants were cannon fodder, the same soldiers who die when politicians back home send them to war, while the politicians move on to high-paying jobs as lobbyists.Coming back to the OP's original query
Punishment should never be on the table as a result of an internal audit UNLESS a case of real sabotage (with evil intent) is discovered. The object of an internal audit is to generate a snapshot of the system for presentation to management, along with recommendations:
- The system is running according to plan, no action required
- The system has some nonconformances from the plan, the action should be for corrective action to the nonconforming process.
- The system has some nonconformances, the action should be to change the plan because the plan is flawed
- The system is running according to plan, but we have some suggestions for improvements to make the system more efficient (and more profitable!)