Determinants of leader behavior in an audit environment

Although leader or supervisory behaviors are generally thought to have a significant effect on subordinate performance, motivation and job satisfaction, the variables which affect an auditor's approach to supervision have not been investigated. In this paper we examine two categories of variables (situational variables and leader-person variables) which determine an auditor's use of key leader behavior. The determinants of leader behavior are examined in the context of an audit team composed of an accountant in charge (leader) and one or more staff assistants (subordinate). The results of our empirical tests provide some evidence that leader behavior is related to three variables: (1) the match between the accountant in charge's perception of the complexity of the task assigned to the staff assistant and the staff assistant's job experience, (2) the staff assistant's intolerance of ambiguity and (3) the accountant in charge's personality dominance.