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Article
Publication date: 25 February 2018

Reiner Quick and Florian Schmidt

As a consequence of the global financial and economic crisis, the European Commission recently reformed the audit market. One objective was to restore public trust in the auditing…

Abstract

As a consequence of the global financial and economic crisis, the European Commission recently reformed the audit market. One objective was to restore public trust in the auditing profession and thus to enhance the audit function. This study investigates whether perceptions of auditor independence and audit quality are influenced by audit firm rotation, auditor retention and joint audits, because regulators argue that these instruments can improve auditor independence and audit quality. Therefore, we conduct an experiment with bank directors and institutional investors in Germany. The results indicate a negative main effect for joint audits on perceived auditor independence, and that a rotation cycle of 24 years marginally significantly impairs participant perceptions of audit quality, compared to a rotation cycle of only ten years. Besides the main effects, planned contrast tests suggest a negative interaction between rotation and joint audit on participant perceptions of auditor independence. Moreover, a negative interaction effect is revealed between rotation after 24 years and retention on perceptions of audit quality. It is particularly noteworthy that we failed to identify a positive impact of the regulatory measures taken or supported by the European Commission on perceptions of auditor independence and audit quality.

Details

Journal of Accounting Literature, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-4607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1996

C. Richard Baker and Reiner Quick

Compares auditors’ legal liability to third parties in several major countries, with principal emphasis on comparisons between the USA and the UK. Public accountants claim that…

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Abstract

Compares auditors’ legal liability to third parties in several major countries, with principal emphasis on comparisons between the USA and the UK. Public accountants claim that they are being adversely affected by lawsuits brought by shareholders, creditors and other third parties. It has been asserted, without any specific evidence, that increased exposure to legal liability has caused public accounting firms to cease the practice of auditing or go out of business entirely. Details auditors’ legal liability to third parties in the USA and Europe and, in particular, the UK. Concludes by reviewing certain positions taken by the Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens with respect to auditors’ legal liability in the face of European economic and political union.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 96 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

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Article
Publication date: 22 November 2023

Christian Friedrich and Reiner Quick

Whistleblowers are individuals who detect and report misconduct in an organization. They help to mitigate organizational misbehavior and resulting damages effectively and…

Abstract

Purpose

Whistleblowers are individuals who detect and report misconduct in an organization. They help to mitigate organizational misbehavior and resulting damages effectively and relatively quickly. Whistleblower protection has not been systematically required in the European Union (EU), leaving many large organizations unregulated. This study aims to get in-depth insights into how unregulated organizations design, handle and view whistleblowing with the advent of a novel EU Whistleblowing Directive.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted 17 semistructured interviews with a diverse group of organizations headquartered in Germany and inductively analyzed them following Grounded Theory. Linking the Grounded Theory to the legal endogeneity model, they developed seven perspectives that help to explain how organizations view whistleblowing.

Findings

In trying to make sense of the role of whistleblowing in the organization’s governance, organizations and their managers assume different perspectives. These perspectives guide their approach to whistleblower protection in the context of evolving regulation with little regulatory guidance. Perspectives vary in the degree of supporting whistleblowing regulation, from viewing whistleblowing as a natural, everyday governance tool to denying it and fearing denunciation. Most organizations exhibit several perspectives.

Originality/value

Little is known about day-to-day whistleblowing practices from the perspective of organizations. The authors fill this research gap by providing initial evidence on how organizations approach whistleblowing and the EU Whistleblowing Directive. Identifying organizations’ perspectives may help us understand how ineffective or noncompliant whistleblowing systems emerge and how organizations can improve.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 June 2020

Reiner Quick and Petra Inwinkl

This paper aims to clarify whether assurance on non-financial corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports impacts the perceptions and decisions of banks as capital providers…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to clarify whether assurance on non-financial corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports impacts the perceptions and decisions of banks as capital providers. The authors investigate the effects of the type of assurance provider and the level of assurance provided on decisions by banks to grant credit, make their own personal investments or recommend share purchases to their customers. The study aims to expand the domain of assurance on CSR reports (CSRR) by taking up a call by Cohen and Simnett (2015), who ask for behavioral research on how non-financial report’s intended users interpret and react to assurance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on an experiment case on a fictitious company with a 2 × 2 + 1 between-subjects design. To overcome concerns regarding external validity and to prove results in a real-world setting, the authors selected German bank directors as subjects due to the extremely high relevance of banks to the German economy. The authors investigated the perceptions of 69 bank directors and analyzed the influence of CSR assurance on their decisions.

Findings

The findings suggest that assurance positively influences confidence in CSRR and that, consequently, bankers are more likely to make favorable decisions toward the reporting companies, such as approving applications for credit, investing themselves in the company or recommending the purchase of shares to their clients. These effects are stronger when an accounting firm provides the assurance and when the assurance level is reasonable rather than limited.

Research limitations/implications

The arguments presented are, strictly speaking, limited to the case in the experiment and the views held by the bank directors at the time the authors sent out the questionnaires. Moreover, the cell sizes are quite small. Nevertheless, the authors were able to find highly significant results.

Practical implications

The main implication of the paper is that the purchase of CSRR assurance services has a positive effect on bank directors’ perceptions and decisions. They favor the provision of such services by accounting firms and they prefer a reasonable assurance level. Thus, it can be concluded that bank directors perceive quality differences between assurance providers, are able to recognize the difference between reasonable and limited assurance and that the related information is relevant for their decisions.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils an identified need to study the influence of CSRR assurance on decisions by bank directors. The observation of a high decisions-usefulness of CSRR assurance suggests that regulators should consider mandating some form of assurance on non-financial reports throughout the EU member states.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 January 2024

Ewald Aschauer and Reiner Quick

This study aims to investigate why and how shared service centres (SSCs) are implemented as well as how they affect audit firm practice and audit quality.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate why and how shared service centres (SSCs) are implemented as well as how they affect audit firm practice and audit quality.

Design/methodology/approach

In this qualitative study guided by the theoretical framework of institutional theory, the authors conducted 25 semi-structured interviews in seven European countries, including 16 interviews with audit partners from Big 4 firms, 6 with audit team members, 2 with interviewees from second-tier audit firms and 1 with a member of an oversight body.

Findings

The authors show that the central rationale for audit firms to implement SSCs is economic rather than external legitimacy. The authors find that SSC implementation has substantial effects on audit practices, particularly those related to standardisation, coordination and monitoring activities. The authors also highlight the potential impacts on audit quality.

Originality/value

By exploring the motivation for and effects of SSC implementation amongst audit firms, the authors offer insights into the best practices related to subsequent change processes and audit quality.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 37 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2013

Reiner Quick, Matthias Sattler and Daniela Wiemann

The aim of the present paper is to examine the impact of agency costs on the demand for non‐audit services (NAS) in Germany.

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present paper is to examine the impact of agency costs on the demand for non‐audit services (NAS) in Germany.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses data from German listed companies to test whether audit clients vary their purchases of NAS according to agency costs over time. The paper used multiple regressions and included ownership composition, performance‐based management compensation, and leverage as proxies for agency conflicts.

Findings

Overall, the hypothesis that agency costs influence the demand for NAS was not confirmed. None of our proxies for agency conflicts were significantly associated with the purchase of NAS. These findings remain stable when alternative NAS fee measures were applied.

Research limitations/implications

Findings cannot be generalised for smaller, private companies. Particularities of the German setting might have caused the insignificance of agency costs, but this cannot be tested statistically. The contrast between these insignificant results and the significant impact of agency costs on the demand for non‐audit services revealed by many previous studies, in particular from the US and the UK, raises important questions for future research.

Practical implications

This paper concerns management's perceptions on how stakeholders perceive the effect of NAS provision on auditor independence. Thus, its findings should be of interest to German, European and international regulators when evaluating the impact of the provision of NAS on independence in appearance.

Originality/value

This study is the first to provide evidence on the relationship between agency conflicts and the demand for non‐audit services from Germany and thus from a continental European country. Moreover, it provides evidence for periods after the introduction of stricter standards on the provision of non‐audit services. In addition, it applies a new proxy for agency costs (i.e. performance‐based management compensation).

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2014

Mohammed Nasser Al-Suqri

This paper aims to extend the use of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to faculty acceptance of e-books at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in the Sultanate of Oman. Electronic…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to extend the use of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to faculty acceptance of e-books at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in the Sultanate of Oman. Electronic books (e-books) are becoming increasingly important in society in general and among academic faculty, concomitant with the growth of portable electronic devices that facilitate the reading of e-books.

Design/methodology/approach

The effects of language and personal characteristics (gender, age and field of study) in relation to perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use and usage of e-books for academic work among respondents are examined using data derived from a survey of 332 faculty members at SQU.

Findings

Findings were that participants who perceived that electronic books were easier to use also tended to be those who used them more; younger male faculty whose first language was Arabic tended to have higher levels of usage than females, older faculty or faculty whose first language was not Arabic. Faculty in the social sciences and the life and health sciences tended to have lower levels of usage behaviour than those in the arts and humanities, business or law or physical sciences or engineering.

Practical implications

Implications are that e-book acceptance among faculty at SQU is similar to that of faculty in Western universities and that the TAM is a relatively good predictor of e-book usage regardless of geographical location.

Originality/value

The value of the present study is that identification of factors affecting scholars’ e-book usage behaviours may provide library managers with a better understanding of the way in which they can support faculty. Further, by focusing on e-book adoption by faculty in a non-Western country, results of the research help to fill a gap on an under-researched population.

Abstract

Details

And Now What?
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-525-4

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2012

Pauline Ramshaw

This article seeks to look at the police officer on patrol. It aims to explore three categories of work undertaken during periods of un‐tasked patrol where officers can…

1018

Abstract

Purpose

This article seeks to look at the police officer on patrol. It aims to explore three categories of work undertaken during periods of un‐tasked patrol where officers can self‐direct their work.

Design/methodology/approach

Informed by empirical data from an ethnographic study of front line community policing in Britain, the categories of work are illustrated through the profile(s) of officer(s) whose actions best support each style.

Findings

The coming together of officers with different skills and the propensity to undertake different types of police work can broaden the community policing philosophy as well as the practice itself. While an expansive policing mandate can be used to justify and explain the pursuit of preferential areas of police work by the patrolling officer, findings also uncover evidence of the persistence of police practices and attitudes that alienate certain community groups.

Research limitations/implications

Given the sustained popularity of localized policing models, further ethnographies are needed to broaden the analysis of patrol work particularly as additional research of this kind conducted with different groups of officers may well reveal evidence of different patrol styles.

Practical implications

If the full potential of community policing is to be recognized then the police service needs to encourage front line officers to devise ways of learning about, making contact with, and working with, the diverse groups that comprise local communities. However, introducing new policies and working practices needs to be accompanied by attitudinal and behavioural change.

Originality/value

The paper presents a new and original set of patrolling styles of the police officer.

Details

Journal of Organizational Ethnography, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2014

Nina Sormunen

The purpose of this study is to provide insights into the perceptions and uses of qualified audit reports in financial statements of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide insights into the perceptions and uses of qualified audit reports in financial statements of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As there is a long-standing debate on the usefulness of auditor’s going-concern reports, this study aims to provide insights into the factors that affect how banks perceive and use going-concern reports.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews with bank officers were conducted.

Findings

The study findings demonstrated that bank officers considered that the going-concern report provided information, although they did not regard the information as being particularly useful. The main factors affecting the usefulness of information are use of other information sources and bank officers’ perceptions of auditing. Other factors are also presented and discussed in the current research paper.

Practical implications

Regulators have taken the action to improve the auditor’s reporting model, and the findings provided by this study are important because they provide a deeper understanding of the perceptions and uses of audit reports from smaller companies. The study also contributes knowledge about the role of audit reports in the context of SMEs finance.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to use a qualitative approach to examine factors that affect the use of going-concern reports.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

1 – 10 of 506