The growing use of Information Technology (IT) systems in businesses necessitates the hiring of auditors who have IT knowledge and abilities. An external auditor’s competence in IT ensures that the audit is run professionally and effectively. Consequently, the objective of this study was to ascertain the current state of IT knowledge among external auditors. This study followed a quantitative descriptive research design. Data was collected using a questionnaire, and analysed using descriptive statistics. A total of 62 external auditors from three small to medium-sized audit firms completed the questionnaire. The results reported in the study show that the respondents believed that the IT proficiency of external auditors is currently low, including the identification of IT technologies (cognitive technologies, data analytics, smart digital platforms, and blockchain systems) that are growing in importance for external auditors. The results of this study are important, as they provide insight into the perspectives of external auditors with regards to their IT knowledge and skill when conducting audits. As such, a number of recommendations are provided to audit firms, regulators, and professional accounting bodies.
Received: 21 January 2023 / Accepted: 13 May 2023 / Published: 5 July 2023
Gratitude or the appreciation of being given something of value, is an important element in positive emotions within positive psychology. Gratitude has been linked to wellbeing and gratitude in the workplace is positively associated with constructs such as performance and organizational citizenship behavior. The pandemic brought on many negative experiences but employees could still find things to be grateful for during this time. The purpose of the study was to understand what aspects of work and the organization employees were grateful for during the pandemic. A generic qualitative approach was used. Participants were sourced from various industries in South Africa using purposive sampling. Data were gathered through 21 semi-structured interviews of working people in South Africa. Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis revealed five themes, namely, (1) gratitude for no negative work-life changes; (2) gratitude for a caring workplace; (3) gratitude for a new way of working; (4) gratitude for the ability to put oneself first; and (5) gratitude for having resilience, optimism and spirituality as a psychological buffer. Managers should deliberately engage in behaviors that will bring about gratitude from their employees. Employees should reflect on the positive things at work that they are thankful for as a way of enhancing gratitude and thereby, wellness, performance, and commitment. The study combines existing knowledge on gratitude during the pandemic with gratitude in the workplace.
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