Investigation of internal audit activities in terms of family companies: A research on family companies operating in Bursa

Turkish family companies are established on the basis of ownership and develop in a way that is concerned in and give importance to hold the ownership within the company. Family businesses have purposes such as transferring the family heritage to the next generation, keeping siblings together, providing dignity to the family, and creating economic security. The reason for focusing on internal control and internal audit in family companies is sustainability. The main feature that distinguishes family companies from other types of companies is that the company can be transferred to the next generation. In family companies internal control and internal auditing is not important(necessary) in general due to their small scale. Company founder; By making predictions with its knowledge and experience, it realizes the continuity of the business with hearsay information. Family companies will need an internal control system and an internal audit system, as their own experience in trading processes is insufficient. The descriptive survey model used in the research; It is an approach that aims to describe a situation in the past or present and in line with this approach, a current situation analysis was arried out regarding internal auditing activities in family companies. Using a 5-point Likert scale, statements about the structure of family companies, internal audit process and internal auditing activities were created and the level of participation of the participants in these statements was measured. In the study, the data to be obtained from the application of the questionnaire will be evaluated with descriptive statistics (Frequency analysis), cross tables, non-parametric statistical methods, Kruskal Wallis test, Chi-square test and Spearmean's Rank Order tests. The results of the research support that the internal audit system in family companies is affected by internal auditing activities. It is seen that the establishment of an internal auditing system in family companies that can apply corporate governance principles ensures sustainability of the companies.