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Increasing constraints on personnel and resources have led to a focus on alternative methods of transmitting knowledge to novices, whether university students or newly hired staff. This chapter focuses on one such alternative through the use of a technology-based educational delivery system (TBEDS). Prior research has addressed individual components of technology-supported systems or performed experiments of limited time and direct external relevance to the participants, but has not addressed the effect of a holistic approach to technology-based learning on users. This study capitalizes on a unique, holistically designed TBEDS to longitudinally examine the impact of systems on novices' procedural knowledge acquisition under conditions of actual usage. The longitudinal data also illustrates the role of user-determined experiential practice on achievement as moderated by comfort with technology. The findings indicate a strong relationship between the use of a TBEDS for repeated experiential practice and procedural knowledge acquisition. Individual components of effort (quantity of problems attempted, frequency of practice sessions, and quality of practice) are examined, with quantity being significantly positively related to performance, as is quality when the user is accountable to an external authority for that quality.

From an online survey of 114 participating accountants at staff, senior staff, and supervisor levels from a top-100 U.S. accounting firm, we investigate the effects of the Big Five personality traits (Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness) on the ethical decision-making process of accountants. Within the framework of Rest’s (1986) Four-Component Model of Ethical Behavior, we focus on Component III, the formation of an intention to act upon one’s best ethical judgment. Based on the limited extant literature on the connection between personality and ethical behavior, we expect that accountants high in Conscientiousness and Openness will tend to form an intention to act ethically despite pressure in an ethical dilemma. We develop more tentative hypotheses about the remaining three factors. Controlling for age, gender, education, sole earning status, and experience, we find clear positive statistical effects of only Conscientiousness and Openness. These findings have implications for the human resource departments of accounting firms, as well as contributing to a basic understanding of the relationships between Big Five personality factors and ethical intention.