Final answer:
The conduct of Avon's internal audit staff should be evaluated against the IMA's ethical standards of competence, confidentiality, and integrity, ensuring that their investigation into APC's questionable payments is thorough, information is kept confidential, and findings are reported honestly.
Step-by-step explanation:
When evaluating the conduct of Avon's internal audit staff during the company's initial investigation of the questionable payments made by APC, it is vital to consider the ethical standards of competence, confidentiality, and integrity as outlined by the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice. Competence entails having the requisite skills and knowledge to perform the audit effectively and ethically.
Confidentiality involves safeguarding any information obtained during the audit process and not using it for personal gain.
Lastly, integrity requires being honest, fair, and impartial, and not allowing bias or conflict of interest to influence the audit outcomes.
In light of these standards, the internal audit staff should have conducted a thorough and accurate audit of the payments, ensuring no details were omitted or misrepresented. They should have kept all sensitive information concerning the investigation strictly confidential unless required by law to disclose it. Regarding integrity, the audit staff was expected to report all findings truthfully, without succumbing to internal or external pressures to alter the results to make the company appear in a more favorable light.