Perceptions and experiences of career success among aspiring and early career accountants and the role of organisational support

Positive perceptions of career success are critical among accounting professionals, given their connection with performance, turnover and organisational commitment. Drawing on career stage theory, this study explores the perceptions and experiences of career success among 475 aspiring (Accounting/Finance students), 305 early career accountants (ECAs) and 165 managers/recruiters in Australia. Findings reflected both objective and subjective dimensions of career success alongside notable differences between aspiring accountants and ECAs, highlighting shifting views across the career stages of exploration and establishment. While ECAs were largely positive about their access to career success, managers/recruiters identified ways to create further opportunities for ECAs' career success.     

Informal mentoring relationships and the career processes of public accountants

Research has shown that informal mentoring relationships benefit the protégé, mentor and employing organisation. As such they have been of interest to public accounting firms. The functioning of these relationships in Big Eight/Big Five accounting firms has been investigated in the USA and more recently in Ireland. The career outcome of most interest has been turnover intentions. This paper reports the results of a questionnaire study of mentoring relationships in the Australian state of Queensland. The receipt of mentoring support by accountants is found to be associated with not only lower turnover intentions, but also higher job satisfaction, and lower intentions of female accountants to seek part-time employment. The impact of the organisational context in which these relationships are initiated and cultivated is also investigated. The size of the accounting firm and the national culture of the country in which the firm operates, appear to have some bearing on mentoring experiences.     

Fairness in performance evaluation and its behavioural consequences

A recent paper in Accounting and Business Research by Lau et al. (2008) offers systematic evidence to explain whether managers’ perceptions on fairness of performance evaluation procedures affect attitudes such as job satisfaction; and if it does, the different behavioural processes involved. Our paper re‐examines Lau et al.’s model and hypotheses to assess the external validity of their findings, based on a very different sample of managers. Drawing on recent organisational justice literature, it further develops the model and examines the potential interaction effects of fairness of performance evaluation procedures and other variables on job satisfaction. Finally, it extends the outcome variable to include manager performance. Using survey responses from 165 managers, supported by 24 interviews, drawn from three major organisations in the manufacturing and financial services sectors, we find that Lau et al.’s results on the indirect effects of fairness of performance evaluation procedures on job satisfaction are generalisable to other organisational settings and managerial levels. However, using their model we do not find support for the outcome‐based effects through distributive fairness. Developing a revised model we observe that the effects of distributive fairness on job satisfaction are indirect via organisational commitment. When the model is further developed to incorporate performance as the outcome variable, we observe similar findings.     

The job satisfaction of higher level employees in large certified public accounting firms

This research study is divided into two parts. In the first part differences between audit, tax and management services (MS) specialists holding positions of Senior or higher and employed by large CPA firms are examined on three dimensions: (1) job satisfaction, (2) personal characteristics and (3) job features. Using multivariate analysis several differences between MS specialists and audit tax specialists as a combined group are detected. However, no statistically significant differences were found on the three dimensions between audit and tax specialists. The second part of the study concerned predicting the job satisfaction of audit, tax and MS specialists using personal characteristics and job features as independent variables in multiple regression. Moderate success was achieved in predicting the job satisfaction of audit and tax specialists, but predicting the level of job satisfaction of MS specialists was unsuccessful. The results of this study have policy implications for large CPA firms as well as research implications for job satisfaction researchers.     

Management accounting information and the needs of managers: Perceptions of managers and accountants compared

The study builds on prior research on information user perceptions and the roles of management accountants. Perceptions of management accountants and managers in the same organisations regarding information supplied by the management accounting function were compared and differences highlighted. Perceptions of managers were also sought regarding desired changes in the information supplied and desired future roles of management accountants.Consistent with prior literature in MIS and accounting, the findings showed evidence of preparer–user perception gaps. Major contributors to those perception gaps were identified as an imbalance between technical and organisational validity, functional differentiation and an inherent tension between the simultaneous requirements of independence and involvement. Managers' views of desired future roles for management accountants provided consistent indicators as to how those gaps can be narrowed. The study also exposes inaccuracies in management accountants' perceptions and sets out implications for the design and reporting of future research.     

The impact of the antecedents and consequences of job burnout on junior accountants' turnover intentions: a structural equation modelling approach

This paper examines the impact of the antecedents and consequences of job burnout on junior accountants' turnover intentions. A questionnaire was completed by 368 junior accountants working in public accounting firms. Our results suggest that role ambiguity, role conflict and job‐related tension are important antecedents for job burnout. Role ambiguity and role conflict initially influence employees' perceived levels of job‐related tension, and job‐related tension is associated to job burnout, which, in turn, decreases employees' levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Dissatisfied and uncommitted employees are more likely to seek alternative employment.     

Supervisory Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction in Public Accounting Firms

This paper reports the results of a survey of 350 junior-level accountants working at public accounting firms in Australia. The survey obtained information on their perceptions of the extent to which the supervisory actions recommended in the Accounting Education Change Commission's (AECC)Issues Statement No. 4 were applied in their organisations. We test whether these supervisory actions have an effect on their job satisfaction. The results indicate that each of the three major elements of supervisory actions recommended by the AECC - leadership and mentoring, working conditions and assignments -are significantly associated with overall job satisfaction.     

Perceived uncertainty and job satisfaction in the accounting environment

Perceived environmental uncertainty was hypothesized to impact the level of job satisfaction. Using a sample of staff accountants from two public accounting firms, statistically significant results were obtained indicating that as the level of perceived uncertainty increased the level of job satisfaction decreased.     

Accountants as layoff survivors: A research note

The beginning of the 21st century was witness to a wave of global forces and economic shocks that threatened the job security of accountants. Events such as the bursting of the stock market bubble, outsourcing, restructurings, and 9/11 created a dramatic rise in layoffs of white-collar workers. Drawing from theoretical and empirical research in the management and psychology literatures, the current study employed a field survey in testing a comprehensive model of the relationship among layoff survivors’ perceptions, psychological states, attitudes, and intentions. Our sample consisted of 125 accountants who had survived recent workforce reductions at a United States aircraft manufacturer in the wake of reduced demand following 9/11. The results of our structural equation analyses indicated that accounting survivors’ perceptions of procedural and interactional organizational justice affected their post-layoff stress and job insecurity, which in turn directly and indirectly influenced job satisfaction, affective commitment, and intent to turnover.     

A theoretical and empirical investigation of job satisfaction and intended turnover in the large CPA firm

This research reports on the development and test of a model of job satisfaction and intended turnover in the large CPA firm environment. On an overall basis, the model was generally supported. Satisfaction showed strong significance in a multiple regression equation predicting the probability of turnover. In addition, eleven dimensions of job satisfaction developed through factor analysis, as well as a “career preparation” variable, correlated positively with a measure of overall job satisfaction and negatively with a measure of the probability of turnover.     

上市企业员工满意度与创新——来自“中国年度最佳雇主100强”的经验证据

本文以2011－2017年沪深两市的A股上市企业为研究对象,以是否入选“中国年度最佳雇主100强”榜单衡量上市企业的员工满意度,考察员工满意度对企业创新的影响。研究表明,入选榜单的企业平均而言比其它主要特征相似的匹配企业的专利申请总数高约47%。这一效应主要体现在发明专利和实用新型专利上,而在外观设计专利上不显著。进一步地,员工满意度可以通过提高失败容忍度来提升企业创新。最后,经济后果检验表明,员工满意度的提高可以显著提升员工的创新效率和企业全要素生产率,说明较高的员工满意度有助于企业效率和长期价值的提升。     

Does the Holland model of occupational choice (HMOC) perpetuate the Beancounter-Bookkeeper (BB) stereotype of accountants?

This article investigates the Holland model of occupational choice's (HMOC) development, influence, and validity in relation to its classification of bookkeepers, accountants, and business professionals. Study 1 reanalyzes published data and provides evidence that the Beancounter-Bookkeeper (BB) stereotype, which is promoted in the HMOC, is partially predictive of the personality characteristics of individuals who choose to enter professional accountancy. Study 2 investigates the influence of HMOC training, and exposure to accounting education, on perceptions of the personality type needed for accounting work; results indicate that: (1) HMOC training is associated with perceptions that accounting work requires a BB personality, and (2) the importance of investigative skills to accounting work increase with accounting education. Following this, we review evidence that suggests low validity in the HMOC's claims of greater job success and satisfaction among BB accountants. Finally, we consider three possible processes that may explain Holland and colleagues’ conjoining of accountants with bookkeepers. Together, the analysis promotes skepticism regarding whether the HMOC's claim that professional accounting success demands a passive, compliant, subservient, i.e., BB, personality supports the public interest obligations of professional accountants.     

The effects of microcomputers on the work of professional accountants

A model of the interrelations between perceptions, anxieties, attitudes, microcomputer use and work outcomes of professional accountants is developed and tested on 157 Big Six accountants. The results show that job satisfaction of professional accountants is directly affected by their attitude toward using microcomputers and by microcomputer use itself. Job performance appears to be only directly affected by microcomputer attitudes, but microcomputer use does not directly affect job performance. Along with perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, computer anxiety is shown to be an important determinant of microcomputer attitudes—higher levels of computer anxiety negatively affect these attitudes. Conversely, higher levels of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness heighten individuals' positive attitudes toward using microcomputers. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness also indirectly affect microcomputer attitudes through their effect on computer anxiety. The results show that higher levels of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness result in lower levels of computer anxiety. A surprising result from the study is that while perceived ease of use is shown to directly affect the level of microcomputer usage, perceived usefulness and attitude toward using microcomputers do not.     

Australian Rural Accountants’ Views on How Locally Provided CPD Compares with City-based Provision

Abstract

This paper analyses Australian rural accountants’ attitudes and levels of satisfaction with continuing professional development (CPD), based on whether the CPD was delivered by a professional accounting body in a rural or metropolitan area. The paper responds to prior research that finds rural accountants are dissatisfied with professional accounting bodies [Rural and regional Australian public accounting firm services: Service provision, concerns and tensions. Australian Accounting Review, 23(23), 163–176]. Findings of a survey to which 156 rural accountants responded were that when CPD is delivered into the rural areas, there are greater levels of CPD satisfaction. The study also found that cost was significantly better for rural-delivered CPD and that when more rural-based CPD was attended differences became more significant across a number of satisfaction measures. The findings have important implications for both rural accountants and professional accounting bodies.     

THE PERSONALITY,JOB SATISFACTION AND TURNOVER INTENTIONS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALE AND FEMALE ACCOUNTANTS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE HUMAN CAPITAL AND STRUCTURAL/CLASS THEORIES

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has made minority recruitment a major goal. Minorities, and especially African-Americans, have not been entering the accounting profession in proportion to their numbers in either the general population or the population of college graduates. Two competing explanations have been advanced that attempt to explain this failure@8ihuman capital theory, and structural/class theory. This paper reports on the results of a survey of a sample of 445 African-American accountants that attempts to test the validity of these two theories by assessing the respondents' personality characteristics, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. The distribution of personality type for the sample of African-American accountants was found to be similar to the results of a previous study conducted on groups of Anglos and Hispanics. Additionally, the job satisfaction and turnover intention results for the sample were found to be similar to those reported in previous studies. As a result, the findings fail to support the human capital theory, and implicitly lend support to the structural/class theory. Finally, anecdotal evidence from the respondents in two open-ended questions was examined. It indicated that African-American accountants' failure to advance in the profession was perceived to be attributed to a less than total commitment to diversity and the existence of glass ceilings in many organizations.     

Attitudinal Barriers to Women's Career Progression in Accounting in Australia

The literature on women's career progression in the professions has suggested a number of categories of factors that may explain the observed gender differences. This study uses data from a survey of Australian accountants to show the extent of differences between male and female accountants in their attitudes towards their careers. There are some differences between the genders in their ideas about requirements for promotion (although these are generally small) and in aspects of job satisfaction. Males aged more than 30 have higher levels of ambition and place more emphasis on career planning than do females over 30.     

Job perceptions and turnover behavior of tenure-track accounting educators

This paper compares the job-related need fulfillment of academic accountants in 1994 with that reported nearly a quarter of a century earlier by Carpenter and Strawser (1971. A study of the job satisfaction of academic accountants. The Accounting Review (July), 46, 509-518). We also investigate whether job dissonance (dissatisfaction resulting from unmet needs) foreshadowed turnover of faculty respondents during the 2-year period following our survey. Results suggest that fulfillment for most job-related needs was lower for 1994 accounting educators than for their 1970 counterparts. Within the 1994 sample, certain perceptual differences were attributed to both race (black versus non-black) and gender. Regardless of demographics, however, reported job dissonance in 1994 was strongly associated with subsequent job turnover, particularly among assistant professors. Taking steps to reduce or eliminate job dissonance is arguably more important in today's environment than in 1994. Accounting faculty members today enjoy a greater number of opportunities and thus can more readily remove themselves from situations that create perceived job dissonance.     

Job perceptions and turnover behavior of tenure-track accounting educators

This paper compares the job-related need fulfillment of academic accountants in 1994 with that reported nearly a quarter of a century earlier by Carpenter and Strawser (1971. A study of the job satisfaction of academic accountants. The Accounting Review (July), 46, 509-518). We also investigate whether job dissonance (dissatisfaction resulting from unmet needs) foreshadowed turnover of faculty respondents during the 2-year period following our survey. Results suggest that fulfillment for most job-related needs was lower for 1994 accounting educators than for their 1970 counterparts. Within the 1994 sample, certain perceptual differences were attributed to both race (black versus non-black) and gender. Regardless of demographics, however, reported job dissonance in 1994 was strongly associated with subsequent job turnover, particularly among assistant professors. Taking steps to reduce or eliminate job dissonance is arguably more important in today's environment than in 1994. Accounting faculty members today enjoy a greater number of opportunities and thus can more readily remove themselves from situations that create perceived job dissonance.     

Organizational justice and turnover in public accounting firms: a research note

This study investigates the links between organizational justice and turnover at large public accounting firms. The primary justice issue discussed in the study is the perceived fairness of decisions involving pay and promotions. Fairness is examined in terms of the consistent application of standards across individuals in the firm's decision-making. To explore these issues, a survey was distributed to three large accounting firms in a major Canadian metropolitan area. Survey results from 76 accountants suggest that fairness perceptions influence turnover intentions through the intermediaries of organizational commitment and job satisfaction.     

The effect of performance feedback on prior budgetary participative research using survey methodology: An empirical study

Prior research examining the relation between budgetary participation and job performance explicitly or implicitly posits budgetary participation and intervening variables such as role ambiguity, motivation, job satisfaction, and job-relevant information as independent variables; job performance as the dependent variable. However, these studies are often based on correlated data in which the direction of causation is unknown. This paper uses attribution theory to examine whether job performance affects perceptions of budgetary participation and/or intervening variables (e.g. role ambiguity). Using a laboratory experiment and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), the findings of this study show that knowledge of performance, obtained through performance evaluations and/or external cues, affects individuals’ perceptions regarding budgetary participation, job satisfaction, role ambiguity, motivation, and job-relevant information. The results of the study may undermine correlations between self-reported data on individual characteristics (e.g. motivation) and performance data, as well as correlations between self-reported data on organizational variables (e.g. budgetary participation) and performance data. The study provides suggestions how researchers could overcome problems associated with causal directions in future budget participation studies that link self-reported individual and organizational characteristics to job performance.