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1 – 10 of 289Louise Kippist and Anneke Fitzgerald
This article aims to examine tensions between hybrid clinician managers' professional values and health care organisations' management objectives.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine tensions between hybrid clinician managers' professional values and health care organisations' management objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are from interviews conducted with, and observation of, 14 managerial participants in a Cancer Therapy Unit set in a large teaching hospital in New South Wales, Australia, who participated in a Clinical Leadership Development Program.
Findings
The data indicate that there are tensions experienced by members of the health care organisation when a hybrid clinician manager appears to abandon the managerial role for the clinical role. The data also indicate that when a hybrid clinician manager takes on a managerial role other members of the health care organisation are required concomitantly to increase their clinical roles.
Research limitations/implications
Although the research was represented by a small sample and was limited to one department of a health care organisation, it is possible that other members of health care organisations experience similar situations when they work with hybrid clinician managers. Other research supports the findings. Also, this paper reports on data that emerged from a research project that was evaluating a Clinical Leadership Development Program. The research was not specifically focused on organisational professional conflict in health care organisations.
Practical implications
This paper shows that the role of the hybrid clinician manager may not bring with it the organisational effectiveness that the role was perceived to have. Hybrid clinician managers abandoning their managerial role for their clinical role may mean that some managerial work is not done. Increasing the workload of other clinical members of the health care organisation may not be optimal for the health care organisation.
Originality/value
Organisational professional conflict, as a result of hybridity and divergent managerial and clinical objectives, can cause conflict which affects other organisational members and this conflict may have implications for the efficiency of the health care organisation. The extension or duality of organisational professional conflict that causes interpersonal or group conflict in other members of the organisation, to the authors' knowledge, has not yet been researched.
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William E. Shafer, Margaret C.C. Poon and Dean Tjosvold
The primary objective of this study is to examine the moderating influence of professional commitment (PC) on the associations among ethical climate, organizational‐professional…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary objective of this study is to examine the moderating influence of professional commitment (PC) on the associations among ethical climate, organizational‐professional conflict (OPC) and organizational commitment (OC) among public accountants. It aims to replicate recent findings on the relationships among ethical climate, OPC and OC. It also aims to extend prior research by investigating the association between ethical climate and both functional specialization and organizational rank in an accounting firm.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed all professional employees in the Singapore office of an international accounting firm.
Findings
Significant associations were found between ethical climate, OPC and OC. Participants' degree of affective commitment to their profession moderated the relationship between the public interest (benevolent/cosmopolitan) climate and perceived conflict and OC. Specifically, professionally committed employees reported less conflict and greater commitment when they felt the firm placed more emphasis on the public interest. These relationships were not present for employees with lower levels of professional commitment. It was also found that taxation specialists perceived the least emphasis in the firm on serving the public interest.
Originality/value
No prior study has documented the moderating influence of affective professional commitment on the association between ethical climate and accountants' OPC or OC. This finding has important implications, suggesting that accounting firms' ability to retain professionally committed employees will depend in part on the degree to which the firm upholds professional ideals such as serving the public interest. The fact that tax specialists perceived less emphasis on serving the public interest than other functional areas implies that tax practices may be overemphasizing client advocacy at the expense of public service.
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Sabina Siebert and Carol Costley
The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of reflection as a tool of enquiry within the context of higher education work-based learning. The aim of the study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of reflection as a tool of enquiry within the context of higher education work-based learning. The aim of the study is to investigate how reflection on professional practice brings about a review of the values underpinning that practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from a group of undergraduate students undertaking their studies by work-based learning in the area of management in a Scottish University. An open-ended questionnaire was designed to learn about the participants’ views on their perceived freedom to reflect on their workplace practice in the university, their ability to challenge the organizational values and established practices in the workplace, and on their relationship with the workplace mentor.
Findings
Students on work-based learning programmes are subjected to demands from at least three directions: first, their own expectations, in terms of both what they want to achieve by way of their own development, second, the needs of their organization; and third, expectations of the university in ensuring that the work produced meets the standard for an academic award. These interests can sometimes coincide, but they can also conflict, and such a conflict can reveal tensions that run deeper into the culture of the organization.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on a relatively small sample of learners in one university, hence the findings are of preliminary nature. Despite the small sample size, the conclusions are indicative of a potential problem in the design of work-based learning, and a larger cross-institutional study would allow the validity of these results to be verified.
Practical implications
The findings emerging from this study have implications for the facilitators of work-based learning in higher education. Although university work-based learning programmes differ significantly from corporate learning and development efforts, this paper suggests that work-based learning providers should co-operate more closely with the learners’ employing organizations towards creating an environment for learning at work. More co-operation between the university and the employer might be more beneficial for all stakeholders.
Originality/value
The literature on work-based learning focuses in the main on the use of reflection as a tool of enquiry into workplace practice. Drawing on the study of contemporary work organizations, this paper explores the tensions arising from reflection on the learners’ practice, and possible conflict of values that reflection exposes.
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Hugh P. Gunz and Sally P. Gunz
There has long been an “ideal” model of the profession in the sociology of the professions. Our point of departure is that the independent professional is something of a vanishing…
Abstract
There has long been an “ideal” model of the profession in the sociology of the professions. Our point of departure is that the independent professional is something of a vanishing species, and professional practice is increasingly carried out within non-professional organizations (organizations not managed nor largely staffed by fellow professionals). Indeed, can we expect to recognize our “ideal” professional at all whether in the multi-disciplinary professional service practice or more focussed large private practices? Might in fact there be something fundamentally flawed about both in this model? This chapter explores these issues and their implications for how ethical dilemmas are resolved.
William E. Shafer, L. Jane Park and Woody M. Liao
This study examines the relationships among professionalism, organizational‐ professional conflict and various work outcomes for a sample of Certified Management Accountants. We…
Abstract
This study examines the relationships among professionalism, organizational‐ professional conflict and various work outcomes for a sample of Certified Management Accountants. We assessed professionalism using Hall’s Professionalism Scale, and tested the relationships among professionalism, organizational‐professional conflict, organizational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions using a structural equations model. The results indicate that two dimensions of professionalism (dedication to the profession and autonomy demands) were positively associated with perceptions of organizational‐professional conflict. As hypothesized, individuals who perceived higher levels of organizational‐professional conflict were less committed to the organization, had lower levels of job satisfaction and also had higher turnover intentions.
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The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of the ethical climate in Chinese certified public accounting (CPA) firms on auditors' perceptions of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of the ethical climate in Chinese certified public accounting (CPA) firms on auditors' perceptions of organizational‐professional conflict (OPC) and affective organizational commitment (OC). We also test for differences in the perceived ethical climates of local and international CPA firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey of 167 professional auditors (seniors and managers) employed by local and international CPA firms operating in the People's Republic of China.
Findings
Certain dimensions of the perceived ethical climate are significantly related to OPC, and to affective OC. As anticipated, there was also a strong negative relationship between OPC and OC. There was no clear pattern of differences in the perceived ethical climates in local and international CPA firms. Impression management was highly correlated with OPC, OC, and three of four ethical climate dimensions, suggesting that Chinese auditors bias their reports of these variables in a socially desirable fashion.
Originality/value
To our knowledge, this is the first study to address the relationship between ethical climate and OPC, and the first to examine OPC and OC among auditors in Mainland China. The findings support our contention that the perceived ethical climate is a key determinant of OPC, suggesting that future research on OPC should place more emphasis on organizational characteristics. In addition, the apparent tendency of auditors to bias their reports of OPC, OC, and ethical climate stresses the importance of controlling for social desirability response bias in surveys of professional accountants.
This paper seeks to investigate the relationships between organizational‐professional conflict (OPC), organizational commitment (OC), professional commitment (PC), job…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to investigate the relationships between organizational‐professional conflict (OPC), organizational commitment (OC), professional commitment (PC), job satisfaction (JS), and job resignation intention (JR) in the Jordanian and Kuwaiti auditing firms. In addition, the paper examines the impacts of demographic and nationality variables on the previous variables.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a survey questionnaire for a sample of 308 auditors from Jordan and Kuwait.
Findings
The study finds that there is a significant impact of OC and PC on OPC and negative correlation between OC and PC. Additionally, the results show a negative correlation between OPC and JS and positive correlation between JS and OC. The nationality variable that dichotomizes Jordan and Kuwait sub samples has a significant effect on OPC and JR.
Research limitations/implications
The sample is limited to auditing firms that have five or more auditors. Thus, the results are not generalizable to all audit firms working in these two countries.
Practical implications
OPC in large audit firms is more than that in small audit firms and the OC in large audit firms is less than that in small audit firms. This finding suggests that large auditing firms would do well when managing these factors.
Originality/value
Prior research is not extensive in this area, specifically that which compares the attitudes of the auditors in Jordan and Kuwait.
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E. Michael Bamber and Venkataraman Iyer
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between auditors' perception of their firm's tone at the top and attributes of their professional environment and their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between auditors' perception of their firm's tone at the top and attributes of their professional environment and their job satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Research hypotheses are developed based on prior research including research on social judgment theory. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data collected through a survey of auditors.
Findings
The results show that the tone at the top affects job autonomy and organizational‐professional conflict. Each of these variables directly or indirectly affects job satisfaction. This paper also provides evidence that the tone at the top filters down to at least the senior rank.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations include the usual caveats associated with the survey method. Notwithstanding these limitations, the results suggest that a tone at the top that emphasizes audit effectiveness may not only improve the quality of today's audits, but by improving job satisfaction have long‐term benefits for audit firms' culture.
Originality/value
This paper empirically measures “tone at the top” and it shows that a tone at the top emphasis on audit effectiveness is consistent with auditors' own professionalism and may not only improve the quality of today's audits, but by improving job satisfaction have long‐term benefits for audit firms' culture.
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Grace Mubako and Tatiana Mazza
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that are associated with internal auditors’ professional turnover intentions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that are associated with internal auditors’ professional turnover intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyzes data from responses to the Institute of Internal Auditors’ (IIA) (2015) Common Body of Knowledge global survey and uses a multivariate approach to identify factors that influence internal auditor turnover intentions.
Findings
Results show that internal auditor turnover intentions are negatively associated with an academic background in accounting, possessing internal audit professional certification, and having access to more training opportunities. Turnover intentions are positively associated with organizational-professional conflict, restricted access to documents and personnel, and the existence of a program of using the internal audit function as management training ground. Differences by IIA global region highlight the diversity in the turnover challenges that face the professional globally.
Originality/value
Results from this study are important because they bring attention to issues that potentially lead to internal auditors leaving the profession. This can help the profession and organizations take measures to motivate internal auditors to remain in the profession and alleviate the current staffing challenges faced by the profession.
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William E. Shafer and Zhihong Wang
The purpose of this paper is to addresses the impact of organizational ethical context (ethical climate and ethical culture) and Machiavellianism on organizational‐professional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to addresses the impact of organizational ethical context (ethical climate and ethical culture) and Machiavellianism on organizational‐professional conflict (OPC) and affective organizational commitment (OC) among Chinese accountants. The paper also aims to test for interactive effects of ethical context and Machiavellianism.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a field survey of 89 professional accountants employed by companies operating in Mainland China.
Findings
Two aspects of the organizational ethical culture, expectations of obedience to authority and strong ethical norms/incentives, emerged as the dominant influences on both OPC and affective commitment. Strong negative correlations are observed between OPC and OC, and between Machiavellianism and OC. Contrary to expectations, the organizational ethical context had the greatest impact on OC among high Machiavellians. For low Machiavellians, OPC fully mediated the relationship between ethical context and OC, but no such mediation effects are found for high Machiavellians.
Originality/value
This is the first study of the relationships among ethical context, OPC and OC among industry accountants in China, and the first study of the effects of Machiavellianism on these relationships. The results generally support our contention that organizational ethical context will be a key determinant of OPC and OC. The fact that weaker ethical cultures were strongly associated with increased conflict and decreased commitment suggests that managers of accounting/auditing departments should take a proactive approach to developing and nurturing positive or supportive cultures. The differences in results for high and low Machiavellians also raise interesting questions that should be addressed in future research.
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