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1 – 10 of 338Marwa Farghaly, Mohamed A.K. Basuony, Neveen Noureldin and Karim Hegazy
This study assesses the perception of academics and practitioners of ramifications that may have impacted audit evidence quality during COVID-19 in Egypt.
Abstract
Purpose
This study assesses the perception of academics and practitioners of ramifications that may have impacted audit evidence quality during COVID-19 in Egypt.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was collected and designed regarding the factors affecting the quality of audit evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic using a five-point Likert scale, and detailed descriptive statistics and regression analyses were conducted.
Findings
The study finds that there is no significant association between social distancing (SD), changing in the economic environment (CEE), time constraint (TC) and stress on audit personnel (SAP) as repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic with the quality of audit evidence (QAE). The disruption in operational results (DOR), changes in the internal control (CIC) and the stress on client personnel (SCP) significantly affect the quality of audit evidence. Moreover, there is a significant difference between Big and non-Big Four audit firms in terms of changes in economic conditions, internal controls, disruption of operational results and time-constraint variables. The latter has significantly affected the audit evidence quality for both academics and professionals.
Practical implications
Due to the implementation of SD and work-from-home policies, audit firms are highly recommended to invest more in digital programs and to be more adaptable to work-from-home, which policy and enhances the effectiveness and flexibility of communication between auditors and their clients.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the foremost papers that provides empirical evidence for the antecedents or variables that may affect audit quality evidence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Avani Shah, Balakrishnan Unny and Samik Shome
This paper aims to conduct a systematic literature review of Socially Conscious Investment (SCI) articles published in premier journals. Its objective is to shed light on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conduct a systematic literature review of Socially Conscious Investment (SCI) articles published in premier journals. Its objective is to shed light on the publication trend, leading authors, journals, countries and themes in contemporary SCI research. The article also provides a conceptual model of SCI to enhance understanding of the knowledge structure and the future research direction.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines and encompasses 264 full-text articles indexed in A* and A category journals listed in ABDC is reviewed. The literature synthesis adopts the theories, contexts, characteristics and methodology (TCCM) framework.
Findings
The article has identified the research trends related to author impact, journal impact, article impact and the outcomes derived from the TCCM framework. Additionally, it highlights three key themes: Performance of SCI, Behavioural issues and SCI development literature.
Originality/value
The insight on various aspects of SCI was explored for a comprehensive understanding. The authors also developed a conceptual model for socially conscious investment.
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Adriana Tiron-Tudor, Waymond Rodgers and Delia Deliu
The paper aims to explore the sided challenges facing the accounting profession in an advanced digitalised future where humans and robots will collaborate in working teams.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to explore the sided challenges facing the accounting profession in an advanced digitalised future where humans and robots will collaborate in working teams.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a qualitative approach, the paper conducts a reflexive thematic analysis to identify challenges and associated socio-ethical risks of digitalisation; it then introduces an ethical decision-making model aimed at addressing these challenges.
Findings
Key professional accountants’ (PAs) sided challenges refer to autonomy, privacy, balance of power, security, human dignity, non-maleficence and justice, each of them possessing multifaceted dimensions that are interconnected dynamically to create a complex web of socio-ethical risks.
Practical implications
The ethical decision-making pathways corresponding to each detected challenges provide a useful reference and guideline for PAs in the digitalised future of the profession.
Social implications
Using an anthropocentric perspective, the research addresses the sided challenges of accounting profession’s accelerated digitalisation; it contributes to fostering accountability and legitimacy of the accounting profession which serves the public interest.
Originality/value
By innovatively intertwining ethical positions with decision-making pathways, the paper offers a potential solution to address digitalisation’s sided challenges that might interfere with practitioners’ professional judgement and identity.
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Tim Kastrup, Michael Grant and Fredrik Nilsson
New digital technologies are reshaping the business landscape and accounting work. This paper aims to investigate how incorporating more data and new data analytics (DA) tools…
Abstract
Purpose
New digital technologies are reshaping the business landscape and accounting work. This paper aims to investigate how incorporating more data and new data analytics (DA) tools impacts the role and use of judgment in financial due diligence (FDD).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports findings from a field study at a Big Four accounting firm in Sweden (“DealCo”). The primary data includes semi-structured interviews, observations and other meetings. Theoretically, it draws on Dewey’s The Logic of Judgments of Practise and Logic: The Theory of Inquiry and distinguishes between theoretical (what is probably true) and practical judgment (what to do).
Findings
In DealCo’s FDD practice, using more data and new DA tools meant that the realm of possibility had expanded significantly. To manage the newfound abundance and to use DA effectively, DealCo’s advisors invoked practical and theoretical judgments in different stages and areas of the data-driven FDD. The paper identifies four critical uses of judgment: Setting priorities and exercising restraint (practical judgment) and forming hypotheses and doing sense checks (theoretical judgment). In these capacities, practical judgment and theoretical judgment were essential in transforming raw data into actionable insights and, in effect, an indeterminate situation into a determinate one.
Originality/value
The study foregrounds the practical dimension of knowledge production for decision-making and contributes to a better understanding of the role, use and importance of accounting professionals’ judgment in a data-driven world.
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Ruba Taleb Alma’aitah, Krayyem Al-Hajaya, Nedal Sawan and Abdulaziz Alzeban
This study aims to investigate the impact of remote auditing on audit quality and explore the moderating role of both the client’s and the audit firm’s technology readiness in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of remote auditing on audit quality and explore the moderating role of both the client’s and the audit firm’s technology readiness in this interaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through a questionnaire survey distributed to 360 audit professionals in Jordan, resulting in 208 valid responses. The data was analysed using SmartPLS – structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results showed that remote auditing significantly and positively affect audit quality. This study found that the technology readiness of both the audit firm and the client greatly influences audit quality. Notably, the technology readiness of the client positively enhances the relationship between remote auditing and audit quality, while the technology readiness of the audit firm does not play such a role.
Practical implications
The findings are of value to policymakers in terms of the positive impact of remote auditing on audit quality, and the role of technology readiness in this regard. In particular, they allow policymakers and regulators of audit profession to make informed and relevant decisions pertaining to the adoption of remote auditing. The findings also indicate the significance for audit firms and business institutions to pay special attention to developing their technology capabilities to keep abreast of rapid technology advancements, ensuring the maximum benefits for auditing profession, thereby enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness.
Originality/value
The importance of this study lies in its unique contribution to bridging the research gap related to understanding the pivotal role of technology readiness in enhancing the relationship between the use of remote auditing and the achievement of high audit quality.
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Silu Cheng and Wenyao Hu
This study explores how auditors' emotions, specifically negative moods triggered by flight delays, impact auditing quality.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores how auditors' emotions, specifically negative moods triggered by flight delays, impact auditing quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing flight delays during audit assignments as a mood indicator, weather conditions at departure airports serve as an instrumental variable to provide a robustness check between flight delays and audit outcomes, employing a two-stage least squares model.
Findings
The findings suggest that such negative moods improve auditing effort and quality, as evidenced by reduced future accounting restatements and increased audit fees. The positive effect of flight delays on auditing quality is consistent across different tests and measures.
Originality/value
This study highlights the significance of auditors' emotional states on their professional performance, indicating a unique angle on auditing quality research by focusing on the emotional well-being of auditors as influenced by external factors such as flight delays.
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Antonio Samagaio, Paulo Morais Francisco and Teresa Felício
This study aims to identify the effect of soft skills as a driver of audit quality and their moderating role in the relationship between stress and the propensity for auditors to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the effect of soft skills as a driver of audit quality and their moderating role in the relationship between stress and the propensity for auditors to engage in reduced audit quality practices (RAQP).
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a sample of 130 auditors, whose data were collected through an electronic questionnaire. The results were derived from the partial least squares-structural equation modelling method.
Findings
The findings show that the propensity to incur RAQP increases when auditors are under job stressors but decreases when individuals have resilience and time management skills. Moreover, the results suggest that the moderating effect of these two soft skills can effectively reduce the auditors’ propensity to engage in dysfunctional actions and judgments in auditing. Emotional intelligence and self-efficacy skills are shown not to affect RAQP.
Originality/value
This study adds to previous research on auditors’ drivers for supplying audit quality, by providing evidence of auditor characteristics as a critical input to audit quality. The results emphasize the importance of researchers including in models the moderating effect of soft skills on the relationship between audit quality and determinants associated with audit firms, clients or the regulatory framework.
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This study aims to examine the direct influence of workplace bullying (WB) on internal auditors’ independence using the nexus between the agency theory and social exchange theory…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the direct influence of workplace bullying (WB) on internal auditors’ independence using the nexus between the agency theory and social exchange theory. From the internal auditors’ perspective, the investigation covered both government and private colleges and universities in one of the Middle East countries.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was administered and delivered to internal auditors at each of the 85 educational institutions. A total of 267 valid questionnaires were analysed. The study’s measurement and structural models were tested and evaluated by using SmartPLS v.4 and partial least squares-structural equation modelling.
Findings
The study results indicated that bullying is common among senior managers, and that it has a significant, negative, high-level and direct effect on the independence of internal auditors in the higher education sector.
Practical implications
Regulators and other stakeholders should make a deliberate effort to promote positive behaviours and abandon negative ones regarding the independence of internal auditors and the performance of audit teams, which play a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency of audit units. For example, enhancing coordination and communication internally and externally. In addition to providing the internal auditors with equitable advancement and learning opportunities, senior management should also support their professional development.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between WB and the internal auditor’s independence in the context of government and private organisations in Southwest Asian countries.
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Rasha H. Majeed and Alaa A.D. Taha
This paper seeks to investigate the factors influencing auditors' behavioural intentions towards blockchain technology (BT) adoption in Iraqi government banks. It also highlights…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to investigate the factors influencing auditors' behavioural intentions towards blockchain technology (BT) adoption in Iraqi government banks. It also highlights the relationships between these factors to determine if the proposed model can provide a more comprehensive means of comprehending how auditors in government banks have adopted BT.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and expands it by incorporating five external constructs: “system trust”, “cost”, “transparency”, “security” and “auditor's skill.” This study employed a quantitative and exploratory methodology through the gathering and examination of data from 300 auditors. For the evaluation of the measurement and structural models, the authors adopted the partial least squares structural equation modelling approach with SmartPLS v4.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that “auditor's skill and four government features of BT adoption” are major factors in government bank auditors' adoption of BT. Additionally, the findings indicate that social influence is a potent indicator of one's intention to adopt BT in the banking industry.
Research limitations/implications
One limit of this study is the selection of governmental perspective. This study is limited to auditors' opinions, who work at the government banks. Further studies may consider other perspectives in order to provide an in-depth analysis of blockchain.
Practical implications
This paper offers valuable insights into the factors influencing the adoption of blockchain technology in Iraqi governmental banks. It provides empirical evidence supporting auditing units and internal auditors in enhancing their job performance through the adoption of such technology.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature on technology adoption within the audit profession, specifically examining the use of blockchain technology. By exploring the features of technology adoption within government institutions in the auditing field, it introduces a new perspective, emphasizing the importance of auditor skills.
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