Knowledge‐Based Process Assurance: A Stakeholder‐Driven Framework for Internal Control

ABSTRACT UK corporate governance remains on a largely “comply or explain” basis, despite continuing control failures. This paper proposes a Self‐Assurance (SA) paradigm—a decentralised, stakeholder‐centred, knowledge‐management process that embeds control ownership and testing within business operations. Using a conceptual governance lens, a portable SA framework is posited based on role identification within processes and key routines. This is developed through designing process maps and controls that identify risk and align control design with stakeholder needs and their risk ‘appetite’. Drawing on field applications when implementing a Financial Self Assurance process (FSA), observations are made on implementation challenges (culture, capability, systems, reporting) and practical countermeasures (explicit ownership, authority delegation, process mapping, targeted training, and dashboards). This leads to the view that FSA may be characterised as a knowledge‐led business‐friendly route to stronger internal control. The paper's contribution lies in the development of a pragmatic, scalable methodology for organisations to generate defensible control assurance while improving process performance and KM.