What is the concept of separation of duties intended to prevent?

The concept of separation of duties is primarily designed to prevent fraud and ethical breaches in processes by ensuring that no single individual has control over multiple steps of a critical operation. By distributing responsibilities among various individuals or teams, it creates a system of checks and balances that can minimize the risk of unethical behavior or manipulation. For instance, if one person is responsible for both initiating and approving a financial transaction, there is a greater risk of fraudulent activity occurring without detection. Separation of duties requires that multiple individuals be involved in key processes, thereby enhancing accountability and reducing the opportunity for any one individual to commit fraud or violate ethical standards without oversight. This approach is a foundational principle in organizational governance and risk management, especially in financial and operational areas.

In contrast, the other options relate to different aspects of workplace efficiency and security but do not directly address the core purpose of separation of duties. Excessive workload is more about resource allocation, unauthorized access pertains to security measures, and inconsistent product quality focuses on operational processes rather than ethical risk management.