Group Judgment and Decision Making in Auditing: Research in the Time of COVID-19 and Beyond

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the ways auditors work and interact with team members and others in the financial reporting process. In particular, there has been a move away from face-to-face interactions to the use of virtual teams, with strong indications many of these changes will remain post-pandemic. We examine the impacts of the pandemic on group judgment and decision making (JDM) research in auditing by reviewing research on auditor interactions with respect to the review process (including coaching), fraud brainstorming, consultations within audit firms, and parties outside the audit firm such as client management and the audit committee. Through the pandemic lens and for each auditor interaction, we consider new research questions for audit JDM researchers to investigate and new ways of addressing existing research questions given these fundamental changes. We also identify potential impacts on research methods used to address these questions during the pandemic and beyond.

Modified EDAS Method for MAGDM Based on MSM Operators with 2-Tuple Linguistic T -Spherical Fuzzy Sets

“…], and the vaccines are ranked as 7,11,13] by utilizing the 2TL T-SFWMSM operator. We can also see that the vaccines are ranked in the order of importance as…”

“…when q 5, and the vaccines are ranked as 7,11,13] by utilizing the 2TL T-SFWDMSM operator. So as the parameter q varies, the ranking order of vaccine shifts, while the best vaccine (ℷ 1 ) remains unchanged in the procedure.…”

“…Score functions and ranking results by 2TL T-SFWMSM operator (t � 3 and q � 2,3,5,7,11,13).Parameter Ξ ⋆ (ℷ 1 ) Ξ ⋆ (ℷ 2 ) Ξ ⋆ (ℷ 3 ) Ξ ⋆ (ℷ 4 ) Ξ ⋆ (ℷ 5 ) Ξ ⋆ (ℷ 6 ) Ξ ⋆ (ℷ 7 ) Ranking > ℷ 3 > ℷ 4 > ℷ 2 > ℷ 5 > ℷ 6 > ℷ 7 > ℷ 3 > ℷ 4 > ℷ 2 > ℷ 5 > ℷ 6 > ℷ 7 > ℷ 3 > ℷ 2 > ℷ 4 > ℷ 6 > ℷ 5 > ℷ 7 > ℷ 3 > ℷ 2 > ℷ 4 > ℷ 6 > ℷ 5 > ℷ 7 > ℷ 3 > ℷ 2 > ℷ 4 > ℷ 6 > ℷ 5 > ℷ 7 > ℷ 3 > ℷ 2 > ℷ 4 > ℷ 6 > ℷ 5 > ℷ 7…”

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on audit fees and audit delay: international evidence

“…Given a periodic deadline to issue an audit report, some audit procedures must be performed at certain time or without advanced notice, making it difficult for auditors to collect audit evidence amid the pandemic (Hay et al , 2021). Lockdown and travel restrictions have forced auditors to conduct remote audits and alter their audit procedures (Bauer et al , 2021).…”

The effects of person‐specific, task, and environmental factors on digital transformation and innovation in auditing: A review of the literature

“… The COVID‐19 pandemic dramatically changed how auditors perform their daily audit tasks—including interactions with clients and team members within the firm (see also Bauer et al, 2021). How has the pandemic accelerated or inhibited the digital transformation journey?…”