Local-cosmopolitan and bureaucratic perceptions in public accounting firms

The growth of the accounting profession has been accompanied by changes in the organizational structure of public accounting firms. Firms vary from one-man offices to large multinational firms containing thousands of employees. This study attempts to partially assess the impact of firm size and hierarchical position on accountants' loyalty to the profession and their firms. Additionally, accountants' perceptions of the “bureaucratic” structure of their firms were surveyed. Differences were found on the loyalty question by position and on the bureaucracy question by firm size.