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This paper explores employee experiences of induction in the Big Four accountancy firms to understand how induction influences new recruits' career aspirations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores employee experiences of induction in the Big Four accountancy firms to understand how induction influences new recruits' career aspirations.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Bourdieusian sociology, this article adopts an interpretivist multi-method approach through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 28 newly appointed accounting professionals. The study defines newly appointed as those who have experienced induction within the last two years of their employment.
Findings
The study's findings challenge the authenticity of induction from a shared employee consensus. It cites contagious spin, regarding career progression opportunities espoused during induction, at odds with the reality of work, ultimately contributing towards unfulfilled employee aspiration. As current strategies suggest that the intersection between employee aspiration and employer provision in the accountancy profession, is too broad, this study argues for more collaborative inductions. In addition, it proposes that accountancy firms should re-evaluate their current strategies and co-construct more authentic inductions that benefit all stakeholders to develop a stronger psychological contract that positively influences employee aspiration.
Research limitations/implications
The paper posits action-learning as a solution to address employee aspiration in induction campaigns in the accountancy profession.
Practical implications
As aspiration is the genesis of motivation and engagement, this study’s findings suggest that the use of an action-learning ethos in induction activities may provide an opportunity to explore the complexities of employee socialisation and provide a voice to new recruits attempting to influence any tensions or disappointment that may arise, as unmet career aspirations emerge.
Originality/value
The paper posits action learning as a solution to address employee aspiration in induction campaigns in the accountancy profession.
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The purpose here is to show how the “shadow” economy has grown in scale and impetus in recent years, though even before modern times it has been present (e.g. the City of London…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose here is to show how the “shadow” economy has grown in scale and impetus in recent years, though even before modern times it has been present (e.g. the City of London, Shaxson, 2011) since at least the middle ages. The reasons for this have become complicated, but we can identify some “deep structures” that are common. Firstly, “globalisation” made it easier for multinationals to escape national regulatory regimes. Secondly, one of the ways neoliberal trading regulations allowed such actors to augment their assets was by means of what they initially called “transfer-pricing” but which now is officially known as “profit shifting” through tax havens. Thirdly, the growth in international trade in legal and illegal ways caused money laundering – even by otherwise respectable banks – to grow across borders. Conversely, from the supply-side, tax haven status was increasingly accessed by jurisdictions that sought to achieve economic growth by supplying tax haven services, both Delaware and Ireland as exemplars of a “developmental” fiscal policy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a “pattern recognition” design, an approach that is abductive, meaning interpretive, as shown in the observation that explanation can be valid or reliable without direct observation. This is shown in the indirect observation that “rain fell because the terrace has puddles” or “ancient glaciers once carved this valley”.
Findings
Reviewing the European Union’s (EU) list of non-co-operating jurisdictions in support of the OECD’s review of base erosion and profit-shifting activity, Collin concluded the EU’s listing “moved the needle” somewhat but was only a modest success. This is because of its reluctance to sanction its own members or large economies like the USA. Data on foreign direct investment and offshore banking assets suggest listed jurisdictions did not suffer notably from being named and shamed. In all cases studied, this contribution found legally damaging, fraudulent, conflict of interest and corrupt practice activities everywhere.
Originality/value
The originality is found in three spheres. Firstly, the pattern recognition method was vindicated in yielding hard to research results. Secondly, the “assemblage-thirdspace” theory was found advantageous in demonstrating the uneven geography of tax haven clusters and their common history in turbocharging economic development. Finally, the empirics showed the ruses executed by cluster members in tax havens to circumvent the law from global management consultancies to micro-firms consisting of tax lawyers and other experts interacting in knowledge supply chains of dubious morality.
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Ennio Lugli and Federico Bertacchini
The differences between Big audit firms (BigN) and non BigN (nBigN) have been discussed at the international level from various points of view, focusing in particular on issues…
Abstract
Purpose
The differences between Big audit firms (BigN) and non BigN (nBigN) have been discussed at the international level from various points of view, focusing in particular on issues regarding the different quality of the services offered. This study aims to analyze the impact of digitalization on audit firms in the Italian context, seeking to understand how this phenomenon has influenced the quality differences already studied in the scientific literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews. A total of 16 professionals working in the legal audit world were interviewed. The firms involved were PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst and Young and Deloitte in the BigN category and BDO Italia Spa, MooreAxis Srl and Analisi Spa in the non Big class. The data collected via the interviews underwent thematic analysis. This analysis allowed the identification of three topics, on which the presentation of the results concentrated.
Findings
The findings of this research reveal that the digitalization of companies has widened the quality gap between Big and non BigN. BigN have been better able to exploit the benefits of the new digital technologies due to their greater investment capacity. At the same time, stakeholders’ expectations of the audit process in terms of quality have increased sharply, also in relation to nBigN.
Originality/value
This study’s main contribution is its analysis of the impact of digitalization on the audit quality of BigN and nBigN. This paper contributes to the existing literature by studying the consequences of digitalization on nBigN, a topic previously unexplored in the scientific literature (Manita et al., 2020), and the impact of new technologies in the context of audit firms in general.
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Kavita Pandey, Surendra S. Yadav and Seema Sharma
The present research identifies a total of nine factors influencing tax avoidance under the international taxation regime of the developing countries and establishes a…
Abstract
Purpose
The present research identifies a total of nine factors influencing tax avoidance under the international taxation regime of the developing countries and establishes a hierarchical relationship through modeling of the identified factors using modified-total interpretive structural modeling (M-TISM).
Design/methodology/approach
Due to “scale without mass” properties of the digital economy, businesses reduce their physical presence in the countries of economic activities. Aided with digital features, multinational enterprises (MNEs) avoid, abolish, or adopt flexible tax burden in the developing nations through by-passing the permanent establishment condition for company taxes or the income characterization prerequisite for royalty taxation. The present research endeavors to identify the drivers of tax avoidance in the developing countries, especially exacerbated due to digital technologies (economy). In addition, the authors also examine the hierarchical relation between the extracted drivers of tax avoidance.
Findings
This research presents a considerable driving force of elements like historical foundation of tax-treaties, dominance of the developed countries, influence of trade bodies in policy matters and finally information and communications technologies (ICTs).
Originality/value
Identified elements drive the actors like professional enablers, tax havens, international organizations, and intangible assets in the form of intellectual properties (IPs) which act upon tax arbitrage situations both under the domestic and treaty regulations, finally culminating into profit shifting, tax manipulations or avoidance.
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Matthew Egan and Barbara de Lima Voss
Big 4 professional services firms increasingly lay claim to recruiting and including staff of diverse genders, cultures, ages and sexualities. Drawing on Foucauldian insights…
Abstract
Purpose
Big 4 professional services firms increasingly lay claim to recruiting and including staff of diverse genders, cultures, ages and sexualities. Drawing on Foucauldian insights, this study explores how LGBTIQ+ staff navigated shifting technologies of client power, at the time marriage equality was legislated in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
This article explores changing experiences of LGBTIQ+ staff and allies, through 56 semi-structured interviews undertaken through 2018–2019.
Findings
Technologies of client power were central to shaping workplace experiences for LGBTIQ+ staff. However, each firm was also keen to carve unique and bold responses to changing societal attitudes regarding sexuality and gender. These progressive moves did not sit comfortably with all clients, and so this article provides insight into the limitations of client privilege within professional services firms. For staff, this increasing complexity of sometimes opaque, contradictory and shifting technologies of client and firm power, enabled agency to explore a sense of self for some, but continued to exclude others.
Originality/value
Little attention has been directed to exploring challenges for staff of sexual and gendered diversity within professional services firms, or to exploring how staff navigate changing perceptions of client power.
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Saarce Elsye Hatane, Livia Sondak, Josua Tarigan, Hendri Kwistianus and Sany Sany
This paper aims to give broad insights into what components can significantly influence the adoption of Metaverse from the perspective of internal auditors and their firms in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to give broad insights into what components can significantly influence the adoption of Metaverse from the perspective of internal auditors and their firms in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used primary data from questionnaires. Relying on the empirical view of 202 internal auditors in Indonesia, this research’s framework is executed using structural equation model. Company’s intention in adopting the Metaverse technology intervenes in the influence of perception of external control and usefulness on the internal auditor’s intention to adopt that technology.
Findings
The perception of external control and perceived usefulness of Metaverse significantly influenced the adoption intention of Metaverse by internal auditors and their firms in Indonesia. This paper is helpful for practitioners who would like to know what factors are needed to make the internal auditors in Indonesia able to adopt Metaverse.
Research limitations/implications
Results might be varied from country to country as each country has different technology development. Therefore, upcoming research can compare similar studies in another country. This paper can contribute to further empirical development for the theory of acceptance model of the third version. Many researchers use the theory to study advanced technology adoption intention.
Practical implications
The paper is also essential for future research and could enhance companies' knowledge about staying updated in the market with the advanced technology that keeps developing.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to an integrated view of the intention of internal auditors and firms in Indonesia to adopt Metaverse. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this topic is relatively new in Indonesia.
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This study aims to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of auditor mandatory suspicious activity reporting versus the exercise of professional judgement in the anti-money…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of auditor mandatory suspicious activity reporting versus the exercise of professional judgement in the anti-money laundering regimes of the UK and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws upon the following sources. Firstly, statistics provided by the UK National Crime Agency, 2019 (NCA) regarding suspicious activity report (SAR) filing rates. Secondly, anti-money laundering legislation in the USA and UK. Thirdly, statements made in the political domain in the USA, particularly those which raised constitutional concerns during the progress of the Patriot Act 2001. Finally, statements and recommendations by a UK Parliamentary Commission enquiring into the effectiveness of the suspicious activity reporting regime.
Findings
The UK reporting regime does not accommodate professional judgement, resulting in the filing of SARs with limited intelligence value. This contrasts with discretionary reporting in the USA: voluntary reporting guides and influences auditor behaviour rather than mandating it. Defensive filing by UK auditors (defence to anti-money launderings [DAMLs]) has increased in recent years but the number of SARs filed has declined.
Originality/value
The study evaluates auditor behavioural responses to legislative regimes which mandate or alternatively accommodate discretion in the reporting suspicion of money laundering. Consideration of constitutional and judicial activism in this context is a novel contribution to the literature. For its theoretical framework the study uses Foucault’s concept of discipline of the self to evaluate auditor behaviour under both regimes.
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Dewan Mahboob Hossain, Md. Saiful Alam and Mohammed Mehadi Masud Mazumder
The purpose of this article is to explore the impression management practices in Covid-19 related discourses in the annual reports of the insurance companies in Bangladesh.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore the impression management practices in Covid-19 related discourses in the annual reports of the insurance companies in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
To fulfil this objective, the authors have conducted a discourse analysis of the Covid-19 related corporate narratives in the latest annual reports of listed insurance companies. The findings are then interpreted through the lens of impression management theory, following the impression management strategies identified by Caliskan et al. (2021).
Findings
It is found that companies tried to manage the impression of the stakeholders through the strategic use of language. There is evidence that the companies used assertive and performance-oriented tactics to impress their stakeholders. In few cases, defensive strategies were applied.
Practical implications
This study will facilitate improving the understanding of corporate communication during the Covid-19 crisis. Policymakers will be able to understand the current status of Covid-19 related disclosures and consider the necessity to provide guidance that may lead to better accountability during the crisis.
Originality/value
This study will contribute to the limited literature on Covid-19 related disclosure from the context of developing economies. This research is methodologically novel as it applies discourse analysis and interprets the findings through the lens of impression management.
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David Yates and Muhammad Al Mahameed
Through this reflexive, theoretically informed polemical piece, this paper aims to seek to reflect on the role of accounting education in United Kingdom Higher Education (UKHE)…
Abstract
Purpose
Through this reflexive, theoretically informed polemical piece, this paper aims to seek to reflect on the role of accounting education in United Kingdom Higher Education (UKHE). The authors reignite an old, but pertinent debate, whether accounting graduates should be educated to be accountants or receive a holistic, critical education.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a theoretical position drawing on the work of Slavoj Žižek and Mark Fisher, and their fusion of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Marxism, in particular Fisher’s (2009) conceptualisation of “capitalist realism” to take a critical standpoint on the effects that UKHE marketisation is having on the teaching of accounting and other business-related disciplines.
Findings
The authors outline four key aspects of where accounting education in UKHE is influenced by capitalist realism, as a result of the marketisation of UKHE.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is a reflexive polemic and so is limited by this written style and presentation.
Social implications
The authors argue that capitalist realism is a dominant theme that influences accounting education. They propose that universities now, more than ever, must focus on their societal duty to foster critical viewpoints in their graduates and dispose of a model that is subject to capitalist realism ontology.
Originality/value
The theoretical stance allows for a potentially deeper consideration of issues surrounding marketisation of higher education, from the micro level of social interaction (that of the accounting academic and their impact/perceptions of the reality).
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Manaf Al-Okaily, Dmaithan Al-Majali, Aws Al-Okaily and Tha’er Majali
The recent progress of digital accounting has significantly affected businesses’ sustainable production process. Businesses generally use digital accounting applications to…
Abstract
Purpose
The recent progress of digital accounting has significantly affected businesses’ sustainable production process. Businesses generally use digital accounting applications to automate their operational procedures and increase their corporate efficiencies through improved output quality and sustainability. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to look into the antecedent factors that directly and indirectly influence blockchain technology adoption in the context of digital accounting systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The data of the current study were obtained from 346 accountants working in information technology companies. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the research proposal model.
Findings
The empirical results confirmed that the adoption of blockchain technology is most considerably impacted by perceived usefulness, whereby it was also revealed that perceived ease of use has a direct and indirect effect on blockchain technology adoption.
Originality/value
According to the researchers’ knowledge, this study addresses a vital research gap in the literature by suggesting a comprehensive research model that can help garner enhanced usage of blockchain technology and its implications in digital accounting systems in the Jordanian context.
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