Study On Professional Competence Of Environmental Auditors Based On Belbin’s Team Role Theory

The environmental problem receives people’s extensive concern, all walks of lifeare considering how to improve and protect environment. Environmental auditingemerges with the environmental problems becoming critical. Environmental auditingshould play its role in environmental protection. In order to ensure implementationeffect of environmental auditing, the international community attaches more and moreimportance to auditors’ professional competence. Environmental auditing as a branchof auditing, methods and procedures of traditional auditing apply to the environmentalauditing as well, however, compared with the traditional auditing, environmentalauditing has its specific features，mainly reflects in the audit subject, object, andobjective of environmental auditing. Based on this, the paper carries out research onprofessional competence of environmental auditors.Environmental auditors generally undertake audit work in terms of teamwork. Ateam making up of persons of ability probably not necessarily result in a favorableoutcome, but a team needs capable persons to succeed. Belbin deems that each teammember has a dual role: functional role and team roles. Different member prefers todifferent team roles, each team role has its own unique behavioral characteristics. Thepaper based on Belbin’s team roles, studies environmental auditors’ professionalcompetence in functional role and team roles respectively.The paper adopts Capabilities Approach to study professional competence offunctional role of environmental auditors, which can be summarized as professionalknowledge, professional skills and professional morality and attitude, then, the paperanalyzes each kind of professional competence in detail. Therefore, the framework ofprofessional competence of functional role of environmental auditors is established.The paper adopts Job Analysis Approach to analyze the main responsibilities andbehavior features of team nine roles—Coordination, Shaper, Plant, Resourceinvestigator, Monitor evaluator, Team worker, Implementer, Completer and Specialist.And on this basis, the paper analyzes competence of each team role. Then, based onthe framework of professional competence of functional role of environmentalauditors, the paper uses Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate professionalcompetence of functional role of environmental auditors. Based on the analysis of thecompetence of each team role, the paper uses360degree feedback to evaluateprofessional competence of team roles of environmental auditors. The evaluation ofprofessional competence of environmental auditors and the team is followed. In theend, the paper puts forward measures to maintain and improve the environmentalauditors’ competence, also in functional role and team roles respectively.The innovation of the paper lies in the application of the Belbin’s team roletheory in studying professional competence of environmental auditors, in separatelystudying environmental auditors’ competence from the functional role and team roles, and establishing the competence framework of each. And then evaluating professionalcompetence in functional role and team roles respectively and also evaluatingprofessional competence of the team. All of these enrich the study of theprofessional competence of environmental auditors to a certain extent. In addition,these provide a guide for the development of the environmental auditing staff, andpromote the cognition and understanding of the public for environmental auditors’professional competence.