The effect of internal control system on corporate governance: An educational foundation example

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of COSO's internal control system, comprised of five core components, on corporate governance principles through the example of an educational foundation. The study investigated whether there was a significant relationship between the foundation employees' perceptions of the impact of the internal control system components on corporate governance. It also investigated whether these perceptions differed based on demographic characteristics such as gender, age, education, seniority (years of service), and position. Methodologically, a descriptive online survey method was used to collect data. The survey consisted of questions on a 5-point Likert scale regarding demographic characteristics, COSO's core internal control components, and corporate governance principles. The survey was sent to 234 participants working in various departments and positions at the foundation, and 197 employees responded. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 statistical software. Reliability values for the scale used using Cronbach's Alpha were found to be above 0.70 across all subscales, and the selected sample corresponded to a 95% confidence interval and a 5% sampling error margin. In addition to the necessary general statistical tests and frequency distributions, correlation analyses, factor analyses, and nonparametric tests were also included in the relevant details. Consequently, it was concluded that all components of COSO have a significant and positive relationship with corporate governance principles. Accordingly, the main hypothesis H1, including all its subhypotheses, was accepted. vii The study is limited to the selected sample of educational foundations, the number of participants, the survey questions and answers, the applied statistical analysis method, and the tests. Therefore, to reach more general conclusions, it is recommended that the study be expanded with a wider and more diverse number of educational foundations, employees, survey questions, and statistical methods/tests.