Vinten, Gerald

born 1948 A British academic, author, and *internal auditing specialist. Editor of *Managerial Auditing Journal, and Head of Business as the European Business School in London, Professor Vinten’s written output is vast. He has authored more than 300 articles on various aspects of auditing and management, including a number of contributions to the journal he edits. He has also produced several monographs, and was the contributing editor of the essay collection Whistle-blowing: Subversion or Corporate Citizenship? (Vinten, 1994). With *Laurence B. Sawyer, he coauthored The Manager and the Internal Auditor: Partners for Profit (Vinten, 1996). An indefatigable promoter of internal auditing, Vinten is a former president of the *Institute of Internal Auditors in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He has shared Laurence B. Sawyer’s mission to lift internal auditing from a compliance-focused accounting role into a wider managerial function: "Professional internal auditors are equipped... to evaluate any activity in the organization, both financial and operational. Virtually nothing is immune from their review" (Sawyer and Vinten, 1996, 3). Vinten has not been eager to embrace every innovation in internal auditing theory, however, as indicated by this caution against overemphasis on *risk assessment techniques: "A worry is that over emphasis on risk assessment may perpetuate the traditional culture of the risk-averse internal auditor, with risk being seen as something to avoid rather than being an opportunity to be exploited" (Vinten, 1996, 93). His other areas of interest include *chaos theory, internal auditing research, *whistle-blowing, and (beyond the field of auditing) theological matters. Further reading: Sawyer and Vinten (1996); Vinten (1991); Vinten (1992); Vinten (1994); Vinten (1996); Vinten (2003)