An examination of reduced audit quality practices within the beyond the role stress model

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role stress model originally developed by Fogarty et al. (2000) using more refined measures, a context-specific performance metric and a targeted respondent group. The investigation uses a sample of working professional auditors to investigate the associations between job stressors, burnout and job outcomes using an industry-specific measure of job performance. Design/methodology/approach The analyses use structural equations modeling procedures to examine a model that postulates that burnout will mediate the relations between job stressors and job outcomes. The data for the study come from 293 survey instruments completed by auditors working at the offices of 11 public accounting firms. A parsimonious job satisfaction scale based on Churchill et al.’s (1985) 27-item scale is developed using classical test-item analysis and is incorporated into the analysis. Findings The results suggest three significant items of note. First, although prior research has found that burnout partially mediates relations between job stressors and job outcomes, this study shows that burnout fully mediates these associations. Second, the study provides support for the reduced audit quality practices (RAQP) scale as an audit-specific construct for job performance. Finally, results show that the 27-item job satisfaction scale can successfully be reduced to a six-item scale. Research limitations/implications While this study is subject to the limitations inherent to all cross-sectional studies that use self-report instruments, the results further the knowledge related to the role stress paradigm in auditor work settings. Practical implications This study’s findings provides a cogent argument for human resource managers at public accounting firms to monitor staff burnout levels and implement interventional strategies (Jones III et al., 2010) when these levels become excessive. Efforts to mitigate staff burnout levels may decrease the likelihood of staff engagement in dysfunctional audit practices and the associated costs to the firm and the individual(s) involved. Originality/value The findings also demonstrate the superiority of the RAQP scale in terms of explaining variance in auditor performance when compared to the modified performance measures utilized in prior research.

Flexibility and job stress in the accounting profession

“…According to Chong and Monroe (2015), when junior accountants suffer from role ambiguity and role conflict, their level of job burnout increases. In addition, Smith et al (2018) reported that conflict and ambiguity have a positive association with burnout. Recently, Cooper et al (2019) found that role conflict and role overload are related to exhaustion, which is a core dimension of job burnout.…”

Role Stress, Supervisor Support and Burnout in Local Government Internal Auditors

“…Several studies have examined the relationship between role stress and burnout in auditors. Several studies have shown a consistent relationship between role ambiguity and burnout (Fogarty et al, 2000;Jones et al, 2010Jones et al, , 2012Mnif & Rebai, 2021;Shbail et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2018), but the study results related to the relationship between role conflict and role overload and burnout are still inconsistent. The study result of (Fogarty et al, 2000;Shbail et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2018) showed that role conflict was positively related to burnout, however (Jones et al, 2010(Jones et al, , 2012Mnif & Rebai, 2021) showed no relationship between role conflict and burnout.…”

“…Several studies have shown a consistent relationship between role ambiguity and burnout (Fogarty et al, 2000;Jones et al, 2010Jones et al, , 2012Mnif & Rebai, 2021;Shbail et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2018), but the study results related to the relationship between role conflict and role overload and burnout are still inconsistent. The study result of (Fogarty et al, 2000;Shbail et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2018) showed that role conflict was positively related to burnout, however (Jones et al, 2010(Jones et al, , 2012Mnif & Rebai, 2021) showed no relationship between role conflict and burnout. The study result of (Smith et al, 2018) showed that role overload is not associated with burnout, but the results (Fogarty et al, 2000;Jones et al, 2010Jones et al, , 2012Mnif & Rebai, 2021) showed that role overload is positively related to burnout.…”

“…Most previous studies have shown that job stress is one of the antecedents of burnout in the auditor profession (Fogarty et al, 2000;Jones et al, 2010Jones et al, , 2012Mnif & Rebai, 2021;Shbail et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2018). Based on role theory, job stress is known as role stress, namely the inadequacy between individual skills and job demands ( French et al, 1974 as cited Mnif & Rebai, 2021).…”

Diagnóstico del síndrome de burnout en los contadores públicos de la región Andina en Colombia

“…En palabras de Forgarty et al (2000), el síndrome de burnout se encuentra directamente relacionado con la práctica contable, por lo cual se plantea la necesidad de ampliar y profundizar los estudios dependiendo del sector, el área de desempeño y el género, entre otros aspectos, como una herramienta que permita encontrar soluciones (Smith, Emerson, y Boster, 2018). En síntesis, se requiere fortalecer las acciones preventivas que permitan reducir el estrés laboral y de esta manera propiciar el bienestar de los profesionales, lo que debe redundar en salud física y mental, en mejoras en las condiciones de trabajo, la calidad de vida, entre otros aspectos.…”