IBIMA Publishing Journal of Accounting and Auditing: Research & Practice http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/JAARP/jaarp.html Vol. 2012 (2012), Article ID 863257, 8 pages DOI: 10.5171/2012.863257 Copyright © 2012 M. A. Norazlisham, Mariati Norhashim and Noor Aishah Hassan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License unported 3.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that original work is properly cited. Contact author: M. A. Norazlisham E-mail: norazlisham.mohd.amin.my@gmail.com, norazlisham@um.edu.my Do They Think Alike? Perception Analysis on Quality Environment (QE) Audit Effectiveness: A Malaysian Case M. A. Norazlisham 1 , Mariati Norhashim 2 and Noor Aishah Hassan 3 1 University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 Multimedia University (MMU), Selangor, Malaysia 3 Graduate Business School (GBS), University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract Prior studies have shown that Quality Environment (QE) auditing is an effective management tools, i.e. in improving housekeeping and environmental performance. There are limited studies aimed at identifying factors contributing to the effectiveness of QE auditing. Based on the framework studying factors contributing to internal audit effectiveness, this paper attempts to examine such factors in QE context. By identifying the potential differences of priority factors that lead to effectiveness, result of this study contributes to the improvement of quality audit process and management of QE certification auditing. This paper explores the differences of perception between management and executive levels on the prioritization factors that contribute to the audit effectiveness of Quality Environment (QE) audit. The study was conducted at an organization that is responsible for promoting QE certification both in private and government sectors in the Malaysian environment. Although the results show mixed response between the levels, the researchers found there is some similarity of prioritization on the top three factors that contribute to the QE audit effectiveness between management and executive level. Since this study only focuses on perception of the factor that contributes to the effectiveness, another focus such as measuring the effectiveness will be an interesting area to explore for future research. Furthermore, a larger scale of study would contribute to the generalization of quality auditing series. Keywords: Quality Audit, Quality Environment Audit, Audit Effectiveness, Malaysia. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction This paper presents the results of a study carried out in identifying perception of audit effectiveness amongst Quality Environment (QE) auditors. Quality environment audit in Malaysia was first introduced in 1998 and formally refered to as 5S certification audit. 5S is an acronym for five Japanese words that are Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke. In this programme, the driving force for Quality Environment (5S) program comes from people. In this respect, Shitsuke is critical to its success. Shitsuke refers to instilling good habits through training. This component is expected to create a more conducive, clean and tidy workplace. The heart of the concept is the belief that positive change occurs through investing in people as “with every pair of hands comes a free brain”. A successful Quality Environment (5S) Practice programme should contribute to a