Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine organizational commitment within the context of important antecedents, correlates, and consequences for auditors in public accounting. Specifically, to explore the relationships among the constructs of experience, role ambiguity, organizational commitment (affective and continuance), job satisfaction, and turnover intentions.

An integrated model is developed and tested using structural equation modeling techniques. A sample of 334 auditors working for international and regional public accounting firms in a major metropolitan area of the USA is used to test the model.

The findings support nearly all of the hypothesized relationships. Auditors with more experience have less role ambiguity, have more affection for their organization, and are less inclined to leave their organization. Continuance commitment plays a less important role in the integrated model. However, the study lends support to the notion that the two dimensions of continuance commitment, high sacrifice and low alternatives, are distinct and have different patterns of relationships with other important variables.

The sample was taken from one geographic area of the US and may not be representative of all auditors. Auditors from the regional public accounting firms may not be representative of other regional firms.

Despite the fact that auditors with higher levels of affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction are less likely to leave their organizations, the findings also indicate a direct link with more experience and the desire to leave the firm. Role ambiguity and continuance commitment do not have direct links to turnover intentions, but deserve consideration for their indirect influence on important job outcomes.

This study contributes to the study of organizational commitment by using auditors from all job levels and from public accounting firms from varying sizes. Few studies have examined the sub‐dimensions of continuance commitment for auditors.

Highlights the role played by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Treadway Commission, and other professional organizations in furthering the establishment of audit committees in the USA. In the international arena, the UK Cadbury Committee, the Australian Borsch Committee, and the Canadian Macdonald Commission have influenced the widespread use of corporate audit committees in their respective countries. The guidelines on audit committees set by the IIA, AICPA, SEC, and the Treadway Commission have had a tremendous impact worldwide. Cultural differences may, however, limit the formation and effectiveness of audit committees globally even though auditing is a relatively homogeneous profession. The Institute of Internal Auditors, as an international professional association, may wish to consider the cultural dimensions of corporate governance in formulating professional internal auditing standards dealing with the structure and functions of audit committees internationally.

This paper aims to argue that enterprise culture is producing negative effects. Companies and major accountancy firms are increasingly willing to increase their profits through indulgence in price fixing, tax avoidance/evasion, bribery, corruption, money laundering and practices that show scant regard for social norms and even laws.

The paper locates business behaviour within the broader dynamics of capitalism to argue that hunger for higher profits at almost any cost is not constrained by rules, laws and even periodic regulatory action.

The paper uses publicly available evidence to show that accountancy firms are engaged in anti‐social behaviour. Evidence is provided to show that in pursuit of higher profits firms have operated cartels, engaged in tax avoidance/evasion, bribery, corruption and money laundering.

The paper seeks to bring the anti‐social activities of accountancy firms under scrutiny and thus extend possibilities of research in social responsibility, ethics, accountability, claims of professionalism, social disorder and crime.

It is rare for accounting scholars to examine predatory practices of accounting firms. It shows that predatory practices affect a variety of arenas and stakeholders.

Offers information to CPA firms which realize that restructuring and downsizing would be the prudent move for their client. Transition is the phase in which displaced persons can move forward to address the situation. Outplacement provides the mechanism for communicating the methods and options to the individual or to help them through the period of adjustment. Discusses the changing nature of organizations dealing with the emotional impact of career job change and loss in the transition, a model for understanding loss, assessments in outplacement counselling, job search strategies, options for managers seeking re‐employment, how outplacement helps the individual, and beneficial services provided for every level of outplacement. Statistical results overwhelmingly show career growth for both men and women receiving outplacement services. Concludes, therefore, that CPA firms will want to consider an outplacement firm when restructuring and downsizing is the chosen option for revitalization of their client’s organization.

The learning outcomes of this paper are to understand the supply side of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) model and how a firm can develop and capture a new market using Blue Ocean Strategy principles; understand how to use the four actions framework and eliminate/reduce/raise/create (ERRC) grid to develop a Blue Ocean market; evaluate three strategic alternatives available to a firm along with the benefits and challenges of each; map out the current strategy to inform possible future strategies and envision how one can use the BMC to re-invent the execution strategies of a disruptor; and discuss the opportunities for growth and the challenges therein in a dynamic global business environment.

Sri Rao, President of Market Development and Strategy of Quatrro Business Support Services (Quatrro), a BPO firm, weaved through the bustling streets of Gurgaon, India, to get to work early on a blistering summer day. It was the beginning of the new 2017 fiscal year and there was a sense of anticipation and uncertainty in the office to which he was headed. Quatrro offered outsourced finance, accounting and payroll solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises across the world, but mainly the USA. Arriving at his desk, Rao gazed out the window and reflected on Quatrro’s journey so far, the ups and the downs and the strategy for moving forward. Growth had been moderate with small deals. Local and regional Certified Public Accountant firms continued to provide stiff competition and the cost of acquiring new clients was high. There was a need to rethink Quatrro target markets and business development strategy. Quatrro’s annual board meeting was coming up in three weeks and Rao wanted to present a credible plan to accelerate Quatrro’s growth. He was worried that if the plan was not accepted by the board, any further investments in the business would be challenging and could even lead to the board directing Quatrro to divest. He believed they had run out of patience with a business that had a lot of potential but was not growing. He had one last opportunity to get Quatrro’s strategy right before his planned departure from the company in just a year’s time. Rao waited for his team to discuss their recommendations based on a presentation he had made to them two days ago.

Undergrad/MBAs. While most growth strategy cases focus on firms seeking to outsource services for efficiency and concentrate on value added to the core functions and competences, this case centers on the supply side and examines the BPO firm itself. It focuses on the technology service industry (as opposed to product/manufacturing), which while growing and significant is not often written about in cases, and finally, the case integrates an understanding of the Blue Ocean Strategy along with the Business Model Canvas allowing students to envision how one can use the BMC to re-invent a business strategy. It does so with a traditional Ansoff Matrix as the backdrop.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Over the past decade, the accountability of nonprofit organizations has been a concern. Our paper reports one form of accountability, the "A-133" or "single" audit, which is required for nonprofits receiving substantial federal funding. We report on 11,841 audits from 1997 to 1999. Overall, compliance appears to be quite high. Our study indicates that smaller nonprofits, those that are new to government grants, and those with prior audit findings have a significantly higher rate of adverse audit findings. One policy implication of our work might be to provide federal funding specifically for Single Audit Act compliance to these nonprofits.

‘Human resource accounting’ (HRA) is a term of relatively recent origin: research on HRA only began during the 1960s. Initially, the objective was to improve corporate financial reporting by accounting for ‘human assets’ and, in turn, to increase the representational validity of income and asset numbers. A related purpose was to prevent prevailing accounting conventions from motivating suboptimal treatment of people — specifically, to reduce the likelihood that liquidation of human resources would not be revealed in financial reports because of the failure to account for investments in people as assets.

This paper aims to examine the link between audit(or) type and restatements in Egypt, a complex and multifaceted auditing market. The usual big 4 versus non-big 4 comparison is insufficient as Egypt has a unique mix of private audit firms, one governmental agency (Accountability State Authority) and mandatory/nonmandatory audit services, including single, joint and dual audits.

The study uses a sample of listed companies in Egypt and analyzes the impact of auditor type and audit type on explicit, implicit and total restatements. The study uses logistic regression model to examine the underlying relationship.

Results show no relationship between auditor type and audit quality, positive association between non-big foreign CPA firms and total/implicit restatements and mixed results for the impact of dual audits on audit quality. The study found no link between auditor type and audit quality in Egypt. Egyptian audit firms linked to non-big 4 foreign Certified Public Accounting firms were positively linked to total and implicit restatements. Joint audits did not improve audit quality and were directly related to total and explicit restatements. Dual audits showed mixed results, positively associated with implicit restatements but inversely associated with explicit restatements.

The study provides valuable insights into the complexities of the auditing market in emerging markets and offers valuable insights for stakeholders in the financial statement users, audit firms and governmental agencies.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of service-related independence impairments on perceptions of local and regional non-Big 4 Firms’ financial reporting reliability. This study is motivated by recent public policy, which proposes that service-related independence impairments may improve financial reporting reliability.

Commercial lending officers respond to a within-subjects experiment. The variables of interest are client importance, expertise and their related interaction. These variables are regressed on the perceived reporting reliability of local and regional firms.

Client importance is positively and significantly associated with the lenders’ selection of non-Big 4 firms, which supports Taylor et al.’s (2003) assertions that service-related independence violations improve financial reporting reliability. However, client importance is negatively associated with regional firms.

Client importance is significantly associated with regional firms only, which suggests that cross-sectional differences exist among non-Big 4 firms. The negative association between regional firms and client importance confirms Goldman and Barlev’s (1974) concerns that large firms are not exempt from client pressure. Client importance is also significantly (and positively) associated with lenders’ selection of the type of non-Big 4 firm to perform the engagement, which supports recent public policy’s proposal for joint attest and non-attest services (Exposure Draft for Statement for Accounting and Review Services No. 18).

The study overcomes within-subjects design limitations to provide a natural environment to understand lending officers’ perceptions of non-Big 4 firms. The results continue to fill the void in the literature which examines cross-sectional differences in non-Big 4 firm quality.

This paper discusses the contribution and value of research into human resource management issues as they affect auditors and audit firms, and to identify areas for future research. The contribution and areas for future research are identified in terms of four areas, namely career development, staffing patterns, the multi‐disciplinery global firm, and the management structure and practice as they relate to audit firms. This is followed by a discussion about the value of this research. In the conclusion the paper argues for future research to adopt a greater sociological and organizational perspective, including studies which work shadow auditors and audit teams, and longitudinal studies.