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The auditor as consigliere in family firm

Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin (School of Business, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden)
Jenny Ahlberg (School of Business, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden)
Karin Berg (School of Business, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden)
Pernilla Broberg (School of Business, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden)
Amelie Karlsson (School of Business, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden)

Journal of Family Business Management

ISSN: 2043-6238

Article publication date: 10 April 2017

744

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a concept of auditor as consigliere in family firms, that captures additional functions to monitoring, those of advice, mediating, and conveying.

Design/methodology/approach

The concept is tested through a survey conducted on 309 Swedish auditors.

Findings

The data indicate that the consigliere role is generally not emphasized, indicating that auditors primarily perform the monitoring role of the audit. However, the authors do find indications of the auditor performing the consigliere role, through performing the advisory and mediating functions and, to a smaller degree, the conveying function.

Research limitations/implications

The survey is limited in response rate and in separating governance situations from consigliere functions.

Practical implications

With reservation for professional independence, the auditor as consigliere could be part of the governance of the family firm, but should be trained for this activity.

Social implications

Regulators should pay attention to the consigliere role when, for example, stipulating compulsory rotation of auditors.

Originality/value

The paper shows that the auditor is more than a monitor in family firms. The consigliere role, even if not at all dominating, has to be considered, at least in family firms.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The project is financed by The Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation. The authors thank the journal editor and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. The authors greatly appreciate helpful comments they received at the EAA Conference, Tallin, 2014. David Harrison at Proper English AB contributed with language editing.

Citation

Collin, S.-O.Y., Ahlberg, J., Berg, K., Broberg, P. and Karlsson, A. (2017), "The auditor as consigliere in family firm", Journal of Family Business Management, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 2-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFBM-08-2016-0019

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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