Discussion
Power distance is quite clearly inversely associated with the QIA. These results support the
hypotheses that higher QIA is expected in organizations with lower power distance. Sarens
and Abdolmohammadi (2010) found that power distance is negatively associated with uniformity
of internal audit practice. As can be seen that Saudi Arabia attracts a large power
distance ranking, the level of QIA can be understood as being low. Saudi Arabia has strong
cultural traditions, including familial allegiances and pervasive and core traditional beliefs,
and this has promoted a heavily centralized system of governance that in itself reinforces
the power distance existing between different strata in society, although there have been
some changes in recent years.