Bridging Internal Audit, ERM, and Management Control System in SMEs: A Meta-Analytic Review (1999–2025)

Résumé

This study synthesises 50 empirical and conceptual works published between 1999 and 2025 on the integration of internal audit, enterprise risk management (ERM) and management control systems (MCS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Adopting a systematic review enriched by meta-analytic mapping, the study combines thematic coding, Wilson confidence intervals for prevalence and structured vote-counting to assess five hypotheses, rather than pooling standardised effect sizes. Integrated audit–control systems are positively associated with governance quality, decision-making and resilience, digitalisation through ERP, business intelligence and artificial intelligence amplifies these effects, the ERM–PMS coupling is a promising yet under-tested mediating mechanism, managerial competence and leadership reinforce adoption, and over-reliance on external consultants weakens sustainability without capability transfer. The findings invite SMEs, particularly in emerging economies, to link audit follow-ups to budgeting and dashboards, to build minimal digital infrastructure before piloting artificial intelligence, and to contract for capability transfer. The study contributes an integrated reading of audit, risk and control tailored to resource-constrained firms.