Management control in audit firms: A qualitative examination

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal

Volumn 17, Issue 5, 2004, Pages 779-812

  Sweeney, Breda ^a   Pierce, Bernard ^b  

^a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND   (Ireland)

^b DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY   (Ireland)

Author keywords

Auditors; Behaviour; Control

Indexed keywords

EID: 84986131530     PISSN: 09513574     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/09513570410567818     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Abernethy, M.A. and Brownell, P. (1997), “Management control systems in research and development organizations: the role of accounting, behavior and personnel controls”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 22 No. 3/4, pp. 233-48.
2. Alderman, C.W. and Deitrick, J.W. (1982), “Auditors' perceptions of time budget pressures and premature sign-offs: a replication and extension”, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 54-68.
3. Argyris, C. (1952), The Impact of Budgets on People, The Controllership Foundation, New York, NY.
4. Beattie, V. and Fearnley, S. (1998), “Auditor changes and tendering: UK interview evidence”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 72-98.
5. Briers, M. and Hirst, M. (1990), “The role of budgetary information in performance evaluation”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 373-98.
6. Brunsson, N. (1993), “Ideas and actions: justification and hypocrisy as alternatives to control”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 489-506.
7. Carcello, J.V., Hermanson, D.R. and Huss, H.F. (1996), “Inappropriate audit partner behavior: views of partners and senior managers”, Behavioral Research in Accounting, Vol. 8, supplement, pp. 245-68.
8. Chapman, C.S. (1997), “Reflections on a contingent view of accounting”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 189-205.
9. Chenhall, R.H. (2003), “Management control systems design within its organizational context: findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 28, pp. 127-68.
10. Cook, E. and Kelley, T. (1991), “An international comparison of audit time-budget pressures: the United States and New Zealand”, The Woman CPA, Spring, pp. 25-30.
11. Cooper, R. (1995), When Lean Enterprises Collide: Competing through Confrontation, Harvard, Boston, MA.
12. Coram, P., Ng, J. and Woodliff, D. (1999), “A survey of time budget pressure on Australian audit seniors – a preliminary study”, paper presented to the Asian Pacific conference on International Accounting Issues, Melbourne, November.
13. DeZoort, F.T. and Lord, A.T. (1997), “A review and synthesis of pressure effects research in accounting”, Journal of Accounting Literature, Vol. 16, pp. 28-85.
14. Denzin, N.K. (1994), “The art and politics of interpretation”, in Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds), Handbook of Qualitative Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
15. Dirsmith, M.W. and Covaleski, M.A. (1985), “Informal communications, nonformal communications and mentoring in public accounting firms”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 149-69.
16. Eden, D. (1982), “Critical job events, acute stress, and strain: a multiple interrupted time series”, Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, Vol. 30, pp. 312-29.
17. Emmanuel, C., Otley, D. and Merchant, K. (1990), Accounting for Management Control, Chapman & Hall, London.
18. Fisher, J. (1995), “Contingency-based research on management control systems: categorisation by level of complexity”, Journal of Accounting Literature, Vol. 14, pp. 24-53.
19. Gendron, Y. and Bedard, J. (2001), “Academic auditing research: an exploratory investigation into its usefulness”, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 339-68.
20. Govindarajan, V. (1984), “Appropriateness of accounting data in performance evaluation: an empirical examination of environmental uncertainty as an intervening variable”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 125-35.
21. Herrbach, O. (2002), “(Maybe) not that dysfunctional after all: audit quality reduction behaviours and the evolution of auditing methods”, European Accounting Association 25th Annual Congress, Copenhagen, 25-27 April.
22. Hirst, M.K. (1981), “Accounting information and the evaluation of subordinate performance: a situational approach”, The Accounting Review, Vol. 56 No. 4, pp. 771-84.
23. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (1997), “Beyond budgeting … Breaking through the barrier to the third wave”, Management Accounting, Vol. 75 No. 11, pp. 20-3.
24. Hope, J. and Fraser, R. (1999), “Beyond budgeting, building a new management model for the information age”, Management Accounting, January, pp. 16-21.
25. Hopwood, A.G. (1972), “An empirical study of the role of accounting data in performance evaluation, empirical research in accounting”, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 10, supplement, pp. 156-82.
26. Hopwood, A.G. (1974), Accounting and Human Behaviour, Haymarket Publishing Limited, London.
27. Hopwood, A.G. (1989), “Organizational contingencies and accounting configurations”, in Fridman, B. and Ostman, L. (Eds), Accounting Development – Some Perspectives: A Book in Honour of Sven-Erik Johansson, Economic Research Institute, Stockholm, pp. 23-44.
28. Kaplan, S.E. (1995), “An examination of auditors' reporting intentions upon discovery of procedures prematurely signed-off”, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 90-104.
29. Kelley, T. and Margheim, L. (1987), “The effect of audit billing arrangement on under-reporting of time and audit quality reduction acts”, Advances in Accounting, Vol. 5, pp. 221-33.
30. Kelley, T. and Margheim, L. (1990), “The impact of time budget pressure, personality, and leadership variables on dysfunctional auditor behavior”, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 21-42.
31. Kelley, T. and Seiler, R.E. (1982), “Auditor stress and time budgets”, The CPA Journal, December, pp. 24-34.
32. Lillis, A.M. (1999), “A framework for the analysis of interview data from multiple field research sites”, Accounting and Finance, Vol. 39 No. 1, pp. 79-105.
33. Lin, K.Z., Fraser, I.A.M. and Hatherly, D.J. (2003), “Auditor analytical review judgement: a performance evaluation”, British Accounting Review, Vol. 35, pp. 19-34.
34. Lincoln, Y.S. and Guba, E.G. (1985), Naturalistic Inquiry, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
35. Llewelyn, S. (2003), “What counts as ‘theory’ in qualitative management and accounting research? Introducing five levels of theorizing”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 662-708.
36. McCracken, G. (1988), The Long Interview, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
37. McDaniel, L.S. (1990), “The effects of time pressure and audit program structure on audit performance”, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 267-85.
38. McKinnon, J. (1988), “Reliability and validity in field research: some strategies and tactics”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 34-54.
39. McNair, C.J. (1987), “The effects of budget pressure on auditors”, unpublished PhD dissertation, Columbia University, New York, NY.
40. McNair, C.J. (1991), “Proper compromises: the management control dilemma in public accounting and its impact on auditor behaviour”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 16 No. 7, pp. 635-53.
41. Malone, C.F. and Roberts, R.W. (1996), “Factors associated with the incidence of reduced audit quality behaviors”, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 49-64.
42. Margheim, L. and Pany, K. (1986), “Quality control, premature sign-off, and under-reporting of time: some empirical findings”, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 50-63.
43. Miles, M.B. (1979), “Qualitative data as an attractive nuisance: the problem of analysis”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 24, pp. 590-601.
44. Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. (1994), Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
45. Morrison, E.W. and Robinson, S.L. (1997), “When employees feel betrayed: a model of how psychological contract violation develops”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22, pp. 226-56.
46. O'Neill, M. (2000), “Top firms report year of exceptional growth”, Accountancy Ireland, October, pp. 18-20.
47. Otley, D.T. (1978), “Budget use and managerial performance”, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 122-49.
48. Otley, D.T. (1980), “The contingency theory of management accounting: achievement and prognosis”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 5, pp. 413-28.
49. Otley, D.T. (1994), “Management control in contemporary organizations: towards a wider framework”, Management Accounting Research, Vol. 5, pp. 289-99.
50. Otley, D.T. and Pierce, B.J. (1995), “The control problem in public accounting firms: an empirical study of the impact of leadership style”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 405-20.
51. Otley, D.T. and Pierce, B.J. (1996a), “The operation of control systems in large audit firms: an empirical investigation”, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 65-84.
52. Otley, D.T. and Pierce, B.J. (1996b), “Auditor time budget pressure: consequences and antecedents”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 31-58.
53. Ouchi, W.G. (1979), “A conceptual framework for the design of organizational control mechanisms”, Management Science, Vol. 25 No. 9, pp. 833-48.
54. Patton, M.Q. (1990), Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd ed., Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
55. Pierce, B. and Sweeney, B. (2004), “Cost-quality conflict in audit firms: an empirical investigation”, European Accounting Review, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 415-41.
56. Power, M.K. (2003), “Auditing and the production of legitimacy”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 379-94.
57. Rhode, J.G. (1978), “The independent auditor's work environment: a survey”, CAR Research Study No. 4. summarised in Commission on Auditors' Responsibilities (CAR): Report, Conclusions and Recommendations, AICPA, New York, NY.
58. Robinson, S.L. and Morrison, E.W. (1995), “Organizational citizenship behavior: a psychological contract perspective”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 16, pp. 289-98.
59. Robinson, S.L. and Rousseau, D.M. (1994), “Violating the psychological contract: not the exception but the norm”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 15, pp. 245-59.
60. Schiff, M. and Lewin, A.Y. (1970), “The impact of people on budgets”, The Accounting Review, Vol. 45, pp. 259-68.
61. Shields, J.F. and Shields, M.D. (1998), “Antecedents of participative budgeting”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 49-76.
62. Silverman, D. (2000), Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook, Sage, London.
63. Simons, R. (2000), Performance Measurement and Control Systems for Implementing Strategy, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
64. Smith, J.M. (1972), Interviewing in Social and Market Research, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, London.
65. Walker, R. (1985), Applied Qualitative Research, Gower, Aldershot.
66. Willett, C. and Page, M. (1996), “A survey of time budget pressure and irregular auditing practices among newly qualified UK chartered accountants”, British Accounting Review, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 101-20.