Root Cause Analysis Methodologies

Master the critical technique now mandated by Global Internal Audit Standards. The IIA GIAS requires internal auditors to implement systematic Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodologies and report root causes plus best practices to senior leaders and the board. This foundational course moves beyond the limited '5 whys' approach to equip you with a sophisticated RCA toolkit that delivers genuine insight without slowing your assignments.

Discover how to distinguish immediate, contributing, and root causes while understanding the eight common failure modes across governance, risk, and control environments. Learn to leverage AI-powered causal analysis tools that can rapidly map cause-effect relationships, identify systemic patterns across multiple findings, and generate sophisticated fishbone diagrams and fault trees at scale. You'll see how effective RCA actually accelerates audit work through smarter scoping, focused testing, and more insightful thematic reporting to audit committees.

Who Should Attend?

Experienced auditors, audit managers, and heads of internal audit seeking to elevate analytical depth and satisfy new GIAS requirements.

What Will You Learn?

• Navigate new IIA requirements for root cause analysis and thematic reporting with confidence
• Master key RCA techniques favoured by leading internal audit teams worldwide
• Enhance your audit methodology to deliver robust, consistent root cause insights—recognizing that every issue has multiple root causes (typically spanning detection and prevention failures)
• Accelerate rather than slow assignments by focusing testing through RCA-informed scoping and analytics
• Unlock insight and foresight by revealing themes explaining recurring issues and enabling internal audit to champion GRC maturity
• See how AI tools can help to analyse patterns across audit findings, automatically suggest root cause categories, and generate visual causal diagrams

Course Programme

IIA Guidance and GIAS Requirements

• Decode the latest GIAS requirements and understand strategic intent

Five Essential RCA Techniques

Learn when and how to apply:

• 3-Way 5 Whys—structured questioning for complex scenarios
• Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagrams—categorical cause mapping
• Fault Tree Analysis—systematic deductive reasoning
• Bowtie Diagrams—preventive and detective control visualization
• FMEA Boundary Diagrams—process failure mode mapping
• Causal Loop Analysis—dynamic systems thinking for complex interactions

Methodology Integration

• Embed RCA into your audit methodology for consistent application
• Sharpen your scoping process to identify high-probability root causes before fieldwork begins
• Align work programs with GIAS topical requirements through causal thinking

Reporting Excellence

• Craft shorter, more impactful audit reports infused with insight and foresight
• Use AI-generated visualizations to communicate complex causal relationships clearly

Themes and RCA Categories

• Establish appropriate RCA taxonomies for effective thematic analysis
• Connect GRC best practices with root cause patterns—understand where excellence prevents problems

CPE Competency Areas Covered

• Performance (Organizational governance | Risk management | Internal control | Engagements)
• Environment (Organizational strategic planning and management)

About

James was formerly Chief Audit Executive for AstraZeneca PLC from 2002-2009. Prior to that he had various corporate and commercial finance roles, culminating as Head of Group Financial Reporting for AstraZeneca PLC and - after working on a Masters Degree In Management - seconded into HR to be head of Global Leadership Development programmes.  

He set up a consulting business in 2010 providing training, development and coaching in the following key areas:

• Risk Assurance Mapping
• Lean/Agile Auditing
• Auditing Culture,
• Root Cause Analysis for Internal Audit,
• Influencing and Political Savvy for Internal Audit

He runs open courses with 12 IIA institutes across Europe, including Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Lithuania and the UK. 

He was a speaker at the IIA International Conferences in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2023, and Chair of the EU IAS conference 2017 and 2018 and speaker at the US GAM conference in 2019 on lean/agile auditing. He facilitated the IIA UK conference in 2020 and IIA Ireland conference in 2021.

He has a Masters Degree in management, McGill University, Canada, specialising in organisational effectiveness and culture change. He is CIA qualified.

He is the author of Lean Auditing (published by Wiley in 2015) and “Beyond the Five Whys” (on root cause analysis and systems thinking) (published by Wiley in 2023).

LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-paterson-2749b612/