The Impact of Social Influence Pressure on the Ethical Decision Making of Professional Accountants: Australian and New Zealand Evidence

This paper reports the results of an online survey examining whether inappropriate social influence pressure, in the form of obedience and conformity pressure generated by superiors and colleagues, influences the ethical decision making of members of four professional accounting institutes in two countries, namely Australia and New Zealand. We also evaluate the effects of organisational and professional commitment and what role, if any, such commitment plays in mitigating inappropriate social influence pressure. The results indicate that despite the members of the professional bodies displaying a high level of ethical judgement, obedience and conformity pressure do influence their ethical decision making. Furthermore, high levels of organisational and/or professional commitment were found to mitigate inappropriate social influence pressure, in that respondents who exhibit high levels of organisational and/or professional commitment are less likely to succumb to inappropriate social influence pressure. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the influences on ethical decision making by professional accountants, which could make workplace environments more conducive for ethical decision making by focusing on reducing inappropriate social influence pressure by taking steps to increase organisational and/or professional commitment.     

Organisational and professional commitment of early career accountants: do mentoring and organisational ethical climate matter?

This study assesses the effects of mentoring and organisational ethical climate (OEC) on the organisational and professional commitment (PC) of early career accountants (ECAs) (i.e. accounting graduate recruits with three or less years of working experience). The empirical data are based on a questionnaire survey from 86 ECAs in Australian public accounting firms, and hypothesis testing utilises partial least squares analysis. Our results indicate when a career development style of mentoring is adopted there is greater organisational as well as PC. By contrast, a social support mentoring style has no significant impact on organisational commitment (OC) and a negative effect on PC. Further, our data also reveal OEC to be positively associated with OC, and OC in turn having a positive impact on PC. The results imply that fostering a career‐focused mentoring environment and an OEC can increase an ECA's OC and PC. These results have various implications for human resource management at both the accounting firm and professional levels.     

Occupational reality shock and organizational commitment: Evidence from the accounting profession

A longitudinal field survey was undertaken to investigate the effects of occupational reality shock on the organizational commitment attitudes, intentions, and behavior of professional accountants. Comparative data was collected over a one year period from a sample of accountants employed in the controller's division of a large (Fortune 100) industrial firm and from a sample of accountants employed by a “Big Eight” public accounting firm. The results portray reality shock as having a significant, asymmetrical impact on the work-related attitudes, intentions, and to a lesser extent behavior of accountants employed in both organizational settings.     

The genesis of professional organisation in English accountancy

The organisation of accountants in Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield during the 1870s has not been subject to exhaustive historical investigation. This paper analyses the first organisations of accountants in England in the context of theories of jurisdictional boundaries, occupational conflict, the creation of labour market shelters and social closure. It is shown that the Bankruptcy Act, 1869 disturbed the division of labour between accountants and lawyers and threatened the status of established accountants by encouraging competition from lesser practitioners. The study illustrates that the organisation of accountants in Liverpool was instigated by lawyers anxious to establish a medium for negotiating the boundaries of bankruptcy work with local accountants. In London, Manchester and Sheffield (and partly in Liverpool) organisation concerned the protection of established accountants from interlopers and was actualised by erecting market shelters and the imposition of exclusionary closure. Organisation was a device for the institutionalisation of occupational difference and protecting market advantage. During the 1870s the occupation of accountant was bifurcated into professional practitioners, marked by the badge of organisational membership, and less reputable individuals who were denied it. It is also contended that inter and intra professional conflict are pervasive themes in professional organisation and that individual actors were significant to engineering formation processes.     

The effects of tax rate changes on tax bases and the marginal cost of public funds for Canadian provincial governments

The efficiency losses from taxation vary directly with the responsiveness of a government??s tax bases to tax-rate increases. We estimate the dynamic responses of tax bases to changes in tax rates using aggregate panel data from Canadian provinces over the period 1972 to 2006. Our preferred empirical results indicate that a one percentage point increase in corporate income, personal income, and sales tax rates is associated with a 3.67, 0.76, and 1.17 percent reduction in their respective tax bases in the short run. The corresponding long-run tax base semi-elasticity estimates are higher: ?13.60, ?3.63, and ?3.18, respectively. We use the tax base elasticity estimates to calculate the marginal cost of public funds (MCF) for the provinces?? three major taxes. Our computations indicate that the corporate income had the highest MCF and that the sales tax had the lowest MCF in all provinces in 2006. The MCF for the personal income tax ranged from 1.44 in Alberta to 3.81 in Quebec. Our results imply that there would have been significant welfare gains in 2006 from reductions in provincial corporate income tax rates. Our computations also indicate that the equalization grant formula may reduce the perceived MCF of the provinces that receive these grants, and that increases in provincial corporate and personal income taxes can cause significant reductions in federal tax revenues.     

The effect of the 150-hour requirement on new accountants’ professional commitment,Ethical orientation,and Professionalism

This study examines the professional commitment, ethical orientation, and professionalism of 414 accountants beginning their careers at two Big 5 public accounting firms. After comparing the accountants possessing 5-year degrees with those possessing four-year degrees, we find insufficient evidence to conclude that the 150-hour requirement affects new accountants’ professional commitment, ethical orientation, or professionalism.     

The organizational context of professionalism in accounting

This study analyses the degree to which change in the organizational context, content and location (both of the individual within the organization and the organization within the field) of professional work has contributed to variation in attitudes toward professional ideology and institutions. Through an online survey of Canadian chartered accountants we observe that, contrary to current accusations, a majority of accounting professionals remain committed to their profession, despite profound changes in the context, content and location of their work. We do find, however, that the strongest espoused deviation from core professional values and logics has occurred in traditional work contexts (i.e. public accounting firms), and for the distinctive value of commitment to independence enforcement, the deviation is most pronounced in the elite core of the profession – the Big Four professional service firms. Accountants in higher ranks also tend to identify more with commercialistic values. We speculate on the implications these findings hold for the professional project of accountancy.     

ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT IN THE POLICE SERVICE: EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES,PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AND INTERPERSONAL TRUST

This study aims to investigate whether, and how, the use of performance measures, procedural justice, and interpersonal trust interact to affect organisational commitment of police officers. Drawing on a survey based on a sample of 57 senior officers within a single police force, we find that the use of performance measures, procedural justice, and interpersonal trust are positively associated with organisational commitment. Further analysis reveals that trust between officer and superior mediates the relationship between the use of non‐financial measures and organisational commitment, but procedural justice does not have a mediating effect on commitment. These findings are further explored through selected interviews with respondents.     

Claiming a jurisdiction for the “Public Accountant” in England prior to organisational fusion

This paper exploits the interpretive content of city-based directories to demonstrate the emergence of “public accountants” as a professional grouping in England during the period 1800–1880, and it applies Andrew Abbott’s The System of the Professions (1988) to explain the broader significance of that finding. We reveal that, by the 1870s, “public accountants” in England had achieved public recognition as expert suppliers of services over which they possessed an effective jurisdiction, and we conclude that Abbott’s theory provides a meaningful framework for explaining the history of public accounting prior to organisational fusion in 1880. We also consider why the label “public accountant” failed to satisfy the conditions identified by Abbott’s analytical framework for the continuing success of their professional project, and conclude that the need for a more effective means of occupational differentiation led to the reconstruction of a public accountancy profession based instead on the title “chartered accountant”.     

Conflict,collaboration, fuzzy jurisdictions and partial settlements. Accountants,lawyers and insolvency practice during the late 19th century

Inter-professional conflict over insolvency work in Victorian England and Wales is often considered a formative instance of jurisdictional competition between accountants and lawyers. The paper explores this episode in the context of Abbott's theory of The System of Professions. It is shown that the Bankruptcy Act, 1869 disturbed inter-professional relations and unleashed competition between accountants and lawyers for insolvency work. However, the resultant hostility was substantially conducted through the professional media and did not engage unified occupational communities. In everyday practice accountants and lawyers maintained relations of mutual dependency rather than conflict. Some elements of a jurisdictional settlement between accountants and lawyers over bankruptcy work was achieved during the 1870s and 1880s through an intellectual division of labour, judicial decision making and organisational change. However, these forms of settlement seldom proved conclusive and statutory changes effectively perpetuated inter-professional competition for insolvency work into the 20th century.     

U.K. AUDITORS' ATTITUDES TO EFFECTIVENESS AUDITING

The appropriateness of requiring external auditors to undertake an examination of the effectiveness of many public sector services has been widely debated. This paper seeks to contribute to this debate by reporting on a survey of the attitudes of auditors. A sample of auditors from the National Audit Office, the Audit Commission and a major firm of accountants took part in the survey. The results reveal that the respondents had few misgivings about their involvement with the audit of effectiveness and a majority from each group clearly felt that external auditors should play a prominent role when such audits are undertaken.     

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.     

Accountants as Emotional Wellbeing Counsellors in Rural Areas

The role of accountants in dealing with the social, emotional and stress‐related problems of their clients is explored using semi‐structured interviews with owner‐accountants and regional development workers. Findings indicate the importance to rural communities and the related public of accountants acting as ‘emotional wellbeing counsellors’; a role they are pressured to accept by their clients and community, and for which they are neither formally educated nor trained. Implications are drawn for effective counselling preparation of accounting graduates and practising accountants by educators and professional associations.     

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.     

Effects of Employee Support on Junior Accountants' Job Attitudes and Intention to Quit

This study examines the effects of four types of employee support on a sample of 231 junior accountants' organisational commitment, job involvement and intention to quit. The four types of support include organisational, supervisory, psycho-social and career development support. Results of path analysis suggest that only organisational support and psycho-social support influence organisational commitment which, in turn, increases job involvement and reduces intention to quit.     

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.     

Women accountants: Is the grass greener outside the profession?

Studies of professional accountancy firms have indicated a complex process of internal socialisation which shapes the professional and organisational identities of the chartered accountants working within them. These processes have acted as a mechanism for excluding women, hindering their progress and facilitating their exit. Previous evidence suggests that women leave professional accountancy firms in order to accommodate more flexibility, experience less pressure, achieve consistency of hours and hence attain a better work/life balance.In this paper we seek to examine whether the gendered work practices of professional accountancy firms influence female choice to seek alternative employment outside the professional accountancy firm environment. Specifically the paper seeks to answer two research questions (1) why and when do women leave professional accountancy firms? (2) is the working environment outside professional accountancy firms less gendered?Data was collected by means of a postal questionnaire distributed in 2005 to women who had qualified in the years 1990–1995 (n = 1022). Responses were received from 370 women, of whom 100 were employed with professional accountancy firms and 270 employed within industry. In depth interviews were also conducted with 7 partners in professional accountancy firms and 6 women who had left the professional accountancy environment to pursue employment elsewhere.Whilst there was evidence that professional accountancy firms continue to reflect gendered working norms practices, rather than compound the dominant view, this study suggests that the primary reason women leave professional accountancy firms is to seek more interesting work as opposed to obtaining more flexibility in their working lives. In addition, the experiences of the women, the working patterns, and rates of progression were similar irrespective of employment type.     

CAP Forum on Enron: Professional Insecurity and the Erosion of Accountancy's Jurisdictional Boundaries*

This study examines attitudes about professionalism in accounting shortly before the debacles of Enron and Andersen. Interviews with experienced Canadian chartered accountants (CAs) conducted mostly in late 2000 and early 2001 indicate significant doubts about the notion of auditor independence and a relatively high degree of uncertainty about the future of the profession. Accountants also expressed significant difficulties in describing the basic features of what it means to be a professional accountant. On the basis of these observations, we introduce and detail the construct of “professional insecurity". Relying on Giddens's theoretical developments on the role of trust and systems of expertise in today's society, we reflect on the significance and implications of the professional insecurity of CAs, particularly its impact on accountancy's ability to hold on to its jurisdictional boundaries. Our thesis is that the difficulties that accountants experienced in their day‐today lives in sustaining a coherent sense of self‐identity were particularly stressful to them given people's fundamental need for coherence, and this significantly affected the capacity of their profession to hold jurisdiction.     

The construction of the professional accountant: the case of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants,Victoria (1886)

Set in colonial Australia, this study examines the professionalisation trajectory of a group of accountants in Melbourne culminating in organisational fusion on the formation of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants, Victoria (IIAV) in 1886. The study portrays professionalisation as a dynamic process involving a diversity of “signals of movement” towards occupational ascendancy that arise in periods before as well as after the formation of occupational associations. It employs the prosopographical method of data collection to interrogate the occupational and commercial backgrounds of the 45 founders of the IIAV in the pre-1886 period and is also informed through the critical-conflict analytical framework. The findings reveal that intraprofessional rivalries fuelled by international relations of power and nationalist self-interests provided the impetus to organisational assembly in this case.