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- Title
- ORGANIZATIONAL LEGITIMACY AND THE STRATEGIC USE OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION: THREE STUDIES RELATED TO SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE.
- Creator
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Cho, Charles, Roberts, Robin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This dissertation consists of three separate, but inter-related, studies overarching a common theme labeled "the role played by social and environmental accounting disclosures using different methodologies and framed within legitimacy theory." The first study investigates the use of different language techniques in social and environmental disclosures (SED) and tests whether the impression management hypothesis holds when disclosures are measured as such. The second study extends the ...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three separate, but inter-related, studies overarching a common theme labeled "the role played by social and environmental accounting disclosures using different methodologies and framed within legitimacy theory." The first study investigates the use of different language techniques in social and environmental disclosures (SED) and tests whether the impression management hypothesis holds when disclosures are measured as such. The second study extends the "legitimacy on the Internet" arguments of Patten and Crampton (2004) by examining the content and presentation of corporate website environmental disclosure in relation to firm environmental performance of four size-matched sample groups constructed based on industry environmental sensitivity and America's Toxic 100 membership (the top 100 polluters in the US). The third study investigates whether and how Total, one of the world's largest integrated oil and gas companies headquartered in France, utilized legitimation strategies such as social and environmental disclosures, to respond to two significant environmental incidents. Taken together, these three studies build upon prior theoretical and empirical work to substantiate and advance social and environmental accounting research using various methodological lenses and perspectives.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001555, ucf:47155
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001555
- Title
- CHANGE IN THE INDIAN ACCOUNTING PROFESSION: THREE STUDIES RELATED TO THE ENTRY OF THE BIG FOUR ACCOUNTING FIRMS IN INDIA.
- Creator
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Desai, Vikram, Roberts, Robin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation focuses on the globalization of audit markets. In particular, this dissertation is studying the entry of the Big Four accounting firms into India post-economic and political reforms of the early 1990s. The dissertation is comprised of three separate, but related studies. Each study appeals to prior research in accounting and related disciplines to examine the entry of the Big Four accounting firms in India. The first study appeals to audit market and economic research on...
Show moreThis dissertation focuses on the globalization of audit markets. In particular, this dissertation is studying the entry of the Big Four accounting firms into India post-economic and political reforms of the early 1990s. The dissertation is comprised of three separate, but related studies. Each study appeals to prior research in accounting and related disciplines to examine the entry of the Big Four accounting firms in India. The first study appeals to audit market and economic research on incumbent pricing to examine ways in which local accounting firms in India adapted to the competition introduced by the Big Four accounting firms. The second study is an account of the change in the organizational field of the Indian accounting profession caused by the entry of the multinational accounting firms from 1990 to 2005 from a social constructionist perspective using the model of nonisomorphic change. The third study examines the change in the Indian accounting profession from 1990 to 2005 caused by the entry of the Big Four accounting firms in India from a critical perspective. It appeals to the theories of globalization to examine the change. Taken together, these studies attempt to provide the Big Four accounting firms useful information about the pricing strategies likely to be faced by them from local accounting firms in a new market, provide insights into the multiple roles played by professional associations in the process of radical change in the organizational field, and emphasize that globalization of accounting markets has not been accompanied by a level playing field for the local accounting profession in the globalized markets.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001858, ucf:47412
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001858
- Title
- FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING OUTSOURCING: THREE STUDIES RELATED TO THE ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS OF ACCOUNTING OUTSOURCING.
- Creator
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Desai, Renu, Roberts, Robin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation evaluates the economic and ethical considerations underlying the outsourcing of professional services such as finance and accounting. The dissertation is comprised of three separate, but related studies. The first study explores the adequacy of the disclosure rules recommended in the revised ethics rulings regarding disclosure of outsourcing relationships and the resulting ethical and economic repercussions for both, the AICPA members and their clients. The second study...
Show moreThis dissertation evaluates the economic and ethical considerations underlying the outsourcing of professional services such as finance and accounting. The dissertation is comprised of three separate, but related studies. The first study explores the adequacy of the disclosure rules recommended in the revised ethics rulings regarding disclosure of outsourcing relationships and the resulting ethical and economic repercussions for both, the AICPA members and their clients. The second study analyzes the disclosure rules recommended in the AICPA ethics rulings regarding disclosure of outsourcing relationships from an ethical standpoint. The third study adopts the perspective of the third party service provider. The third study analyzes the factors that provide a competitive advantage to leading service providers in accounting outsourcing markets in India. Taken together, these studies address issues that have not been addressed previously in accounting literature and will advance our understanding of a fast-growing phenomenon, the outsourcing of accounting services. Finance and accounting outsourcing may strongly influence the choice of future organizational form and structure thus making it important to develop an early understanding of this industry.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001881, ucf:47402
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001881
- Title
- ACCOUNTING DISCLOSURE AT THE ORGANIZATION-SOCIETY INTERFACE: A META-THEORY AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.
- Creator
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Chen, Jennifer Ching-Kuan, Roberts, Robin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation consists of three studies related to accounting disclosure at the interface of the organization and society. The first study investigates the overlapping perspectives of legitimacy theory, institutional theory, resource dependence theory, and stakeholder theory and integrates these theories into a more cohesive meta-theory of the organization-society interface. The second study examines whether a corporation's charitable contributions represent a corporate social performance...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three studies related to accounting disclosure at the interface of the organization and society. The first study investigates the overlapping perspectives of legitimacy theory, institutional theory, resource dependence theory, and stakeholder theory and integrates these theories into a more cohesive meta-theory of the organization-society interface. The second study examines whether a corporation's charitable contributions represent a corporate social performance strategy or a legitimation strategy. More specifically, study two investigates, from two competing perspectives, how corporate executives rationalize their philanthropic actions. The third study analyzes the relationship between the current tax laws and the fulfillment of corporate foundations' social functions. Taken together, these three studies build upon prior theoretical and empirical work to advance social and environmental accounting research.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000638, ucf:46548
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000638
- Title
- THE PUBLIC POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF AUDIT REGULATION: THREE STUDIES RELATED TO THE PASSAGE OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002.
- Creator
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Thornburg, Steven, Roberts, Robin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation documents and evaluates certain financial and non-financial strategies used by the public accounting profession to influence audit regulation during the policy formation period of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The dissertation is comprised of three separate, but related studies. Each study uses prior research in accounting and related disciplines to investigate significant aspects the profession's strategies. The first study evaluates the rationality and...
Show moreThis dissertation documents and evaluates certain financial and non-financial strategies used by the public accounting profession to influence audit regulation during the policy formation period of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The dissertation is comprised of three separate, but related studies. Each study uses prior research in accounting and related disciplines to investigate significant aspects the profession's strategies. The first study evaluates the rationality and effectiveness of political action committee (PAC) contributions paid by the accounting profession to members of Congress. The study finds that the accounting profession rationally allocated more PAC contributions to top congressional leaders and to members of committees having jurisdiction over SOX. The study also finds that the accounting profession allocated more PAC contributions to legislators with a history of pro-business roll call voting behavior and to candidates in close electoral races. This evidence suggests that the profession is motivated to contribute cash to legislators in order to gain access to lobby and to influence the ideological composition of the legislature. A voting model also finds a positive relationship in two instances between PAC contributions and roll call voting favorable to the economic interests of the profession in the House of Representatives. The second study evaluates the effect of these PAC contributions on Committee members' frequency and mode of speech during public hearings related to SOX. Using computerized computational linguistics, the study finds a significant positive association between PAC contributions and speech performance. The study also finds differential uses of modals and certain verbs between legislators depending upon party affiliation. The third paper explores the rhetoric of the accounting profession's public interest ideal and the profession's motivation to invoke public interest arguments in various contexts. I approach my analysis from three different perspectives. The first perspective analyzes the public interest language of the profession as well-intentioned rhetoric. The second approach eschews any well-intentioned motivations on behalf of the profession and casts public interest arguments as propaganda cloaking self-interested action. The third approach deconstructs the public interest ideal as myth, embodying a constellation of elements including cultural values, political doctrine and contingent interests.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000540, ucf:46425
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000540
- Title
- The Expansion of Financial Regulation to Include Humanitarian Issues:An Examination of the Development of Conflict Mineral Reporting Requirements Using Actor-Network Theory.
- Creator
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Tennant, Robert, Roberts, Robin, Robb, Sean, Sutton, Steven, Roberts, Sherron, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This study conceptually and empirically examines the establishment of certain financial regulation that resulted from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009. The crisis led to the establishment of the most extensive change in the regulation of the financial sector since the Great Depression (Green, 2011). During the forty years leading up to the crisis, the United States had engaged in a process of increased deregulation to promote greater efficiency (Yaron (&) Hendershott, 1998). The...
Show moreThis study conceptually and empirically examines the establishment of certain financial regulation that resulted from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009. The crisis led to the establishment of the most extensive change in the regulation of the financial sector since the Great Depression (Green, 2011). During the forty years leading up to the crisis, the United States had engaged in a process of increased deregulation to promote greater efficiency (Yaron (&) Hendershott, 1998). The belief that reduced regulation would improve efficiency and foster innovation became the mantra of many economic advisers to policy setters, to the point that as the regulations were relaxed there tended to be little fanfare or outrage to changes in regulation policy. This is true with both republican and democrat administrations throughout this period. Since 2000, there have been two major legislative actions that can be viewed as antithetical to the principle of deregulation, the first being Sarbanes-Oxley, which occurred as a result of Enron and other accounting scandals. The second, known as the Dodd-Frank Act, resulted in legislation that bailed out various sectors of the economy and fundamentally changed the structure of financial regulation in the United States.Specifically, I examine one part of this regulation related to corporate disclosure of activities that deal with conflict minerals. Within the political debates over regulation of corporate disclosure, an interest in corporate activities in war-torn areas emerged. Ultimately, regulation was adopted that required corporations to disclose operative activities that included mining of minerals in countries affected by political conflict. My research explicates using an actor-network approach, how and why activities in the U.S. political arena led to mandated disclosure of corporate activities dealing with the mining of local mineral deposits eventually referred to as (")conflict minerals.(") My findings show that a confluence of unlikely parties found common ground in their assessment of the issues surrounding the mining of conflict minerals and worked together towards the adoption of disclosure regulation that lead to more transparency in corporate reporting of their involvement in commercializing mineral deposits.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006668, ucf:51234
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006668
- Title
- More Than Money: Corporate Social Performance and Reporting and the Effect on Economic Performance.
- Creator
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Zahller, Kimberly, Roberts, Robin, Arnold, Vicky, Trompeter, Gregory, Folger, Robert, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The three studies in this dissertation explore the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). CSR consists of social, ethical, and environmental performance dimensions that have not traditionally appeared in mandated financial reports and largely reflect societal expectations for corporate behavior beyond legal and regulatory constraints. CSR is reflected in both corporate actions (performance outcomes) and voluntary reporting ...
Show moreThe three studies in this dissertation explore the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). CSR consists of social, ethical, and environmental performance dimensions that have not traditionally appeared in mandated financial reports and largely reflect societal expectations for corporate behavior beyond legal and regulatory constraints. CSR is reflected in both corporate actions (performance outcomes) and voluntary reporting (disclosure), and the two are not necessarily equivalent due to managerial discretion in disclosure. Although the mechanisms remain unclear, the general consensus is that there is a positive relationship between CSR and CFP. In considering the drivers and goals of CSR, two themes emerge and are used to inform these papers: a stakeholder view of organizational relationships and the need to signal legitimacy in the face of changing social norms. A stakeholder view asserts that a wide range of groups across society are important to the long-term success and health of the organization. Legitimacy theory provides the explanation of why the stakeholder view is important to organizational success and can produce significant strategic advantages. The first study utilizes archival data in an exploration of how to model the relationship between Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and CFP. Using independent evaluations of organizational CSP from KLD STATS, I explore the CSP-CFP relationship at four different levels (overall CSP, component CSP, directional component CSP, and issue-based component CSP). I consider the effect of CSP on a range of outcome measures of CFP performance, at different levels of aggregated performance measures and linkage to stakeholder groups. Finally, I explore the pattern of significant CSP components on individual CFP outcome measures to determine if there is evidence for changing associations based on relevant stakeholder groups, in answer to concerns raised by prior research (Wood and Jones 1995; Orlitzky, Schmidt, and Rynes 2003). I find that (a) stock market measures are extremely insensitive to CSP; (b) the appropriate measurement level of CSP varies with the degree to which the CFP measure is aggregated and attributable to a more focused group of stakeholders; and (c) significant CSP aspects and associated CFP outcomes do vary in patterns and sensitivity. The second study examines the role voluntary social disclosure plays in economic performance through an attribute I term resilience. Resilience influences stakeholder resource allocation decisions in the face of unexpected poor performance attributable to an exogenous shock and is associated with perceived organizational legitimacy. To test this model, an experiment is conducted in which participants are asked to assess the perceived legitimacy of an organization based on information characteristics of voluntary CSR disclosure and then to make reallocation decisions in the face of poor performance caused by an industry crisis not involving the underlying organization. I find that high quality disclosure (driven by reporting accuracy) is significantly associated with greater perceived legitimacy. In turn, the legitimacy construct is significantly associated with resilience following an exogenous shock. The final study considers organizational choices in CSR disclosure to preserve credibility in the face of a crisis threatening the legitimacy of the institutional framework. Using qualitative data surrounding the turbulent 2001 (-) 2002 period encompassing the Enron and WorldCom scandals and the fall of Andersen, I examine organizational voluntary disclosure decisions to ascertain how they sought to preserve their own informational credibility and legitimacy in the face of a threat that did not directly involve their actions. I find that organizations responded throughout this period by increasing signals of both transparency (greater CSR disclosure) and credibility (greater use of external sources of assurance of that disclosure). I also find that third-party assurance was not widely used, and remained at a steady, minimal percentage over time. Overwhelmingly, organizations turned to the implementation of an independent, external reporting framework (e.g., the Global Reporting Initiative's widespread guidelines) that provided consistency and comparability in their reporting, made use of standardized measurements and definitions, and required specific items and measures.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004465, ucf:49328
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004465
- Title
- ADAPTIVE SELF-REGULATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS: INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS IN THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION.
- Creator
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Howell, Sharon, Peggy D. Dwyer, Robin W. Roberts, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate whether or not perceptions of organizational politics mediate the relationships between accountants' personality and interpersonal traits and their perceptions of a superior's leadership ability and performance. An accountant who has a higher degree of confidence in his or her superior's abilities is more likely to be committed to a given project, resulting in a better project outcome. This benefits the client and ultimately society as a...
Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation is to investigate whether or not perceptions of organizational politics mediate the relationships between accountants' personality and interpersonal traits and their perceptions of a superior's leadership ability and performance. An accountant who has a higher degree of confidence in his or her superior's abilities is more likely to be committed to a given project, resulting in a better project outcome. This benefits the client and ultimately society as a whole. This study contributes to the accounting and psychology literatures because extant research views perceptions of leadership ability and performance from the perspective of the individual agent, with little or no recognition that social action and interaction shape and mold both the individual agent's actions and perceptions of those actions. Perceived leadership and perceived performance are important in accounting for several reasons. First, individuals act in part in relation and response to the expectations of others. Thus, the perception of effective leadership and performance is gained by meeting the expectations of others. Secondly, accountants with reputations for effectiveness have been found to be more successful in their careers. Finally, the reputation for effectiveness in performance and leadership ability has been shown to increase those abilities. This study draws on the adaptive self-regulation framework as well as other theoretical models of perceived performance. The study results indicate that certain manageable personality, interpersonal, and contextual variables affect how accountants view the level of organizational politics within the workplace. In turn, the accountant's view of the organizations' politics is shown to very strongly affect how the accountant perceives his or her superiors' performance and leadership ability.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000507, ucf:46458
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000507
- Title
- THE EFFECTS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE.
- Creator
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Mentor, Marly, Roberts, Robin, Gatchev, Vladimir, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Companies have taken the initiative to be socially responsible over the years. In the past, the focus for companies has been on maximizing wealth. With the growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there has been many debates regarding its benefits. More companies are beginning to realize the value of being socially responsible and how critical it is to business function. This paper researches past studies on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial...
Show moreCompanies have taken the initiative to be socially responsible over the years. In the past, the focus for companies has been on maximizing wealth. With the growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there has been many debates regarding its benefits. More companies are beginning to realize the value of being socially responsible and how critical it is to business function. This paper researches past studies on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. This relationship is then tested using a reliable source of data on corporate social responsibility performance. This study uniquely looks at the accounting and market-based measurements of financial performance. The dataset includes most of the S&P 500 firms and covers years 2005-2014. An empirical model is constructed which includes factors that were found significant in the works of Capon, Farley, and Hoenig (1990). The relationships are tested using cross-sector/panel data time-series regressions. Results indicate that CSR and the accounting measurements of financial performance are positively related. CSR and the market-based measurements of financial performance are negatively related. This suggests that CSR positively affects a company�s profits and negatively affects future stock returns. One interpretation of this result is that socially responsible stocks have a lower required rates of return. The results indicate that since investors are more willing to invest in CSR stocks, these firms end up experiencing lower future stock returns. The results are consistent with past studies and support the hypotheses.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFH2000047, ucf:45506
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000047
- Title
- Three Studies Examining the Potential for Relational Reasoning to Enhance Expertise in Complex Audit Domains.
- Creator
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Holt, Matthew, Sutton, Steven, Arnold, Vicky, Roberts, Robin, Dillard, Jesse, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation consists of three studies that explore the potential for relational reasoning to advance research on the facilitation of expertise in complex audit domains. Study One seeks to explicate the potential that theory and methods from relational reasoning and associated research have to advance the audit expertise research stream. The implications for future research on facilitating auditing expertise are discussed in synchrony with future research questions, including whether or...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three studies that explore the potential for relational reasoning to advance research on the facilitation of expertise in complex audit domains. Study One seeks to explicate the potential that theory and methods from relational reasoning and associated research have to advance the audit expertise research stream. The implications for future research on facilitating auditing expertise are discussed in synchrony with future research questions, including whether or not such strategies will be effective in domains with more than minor relational complexity. Studies Two and Three experimentally examine the use of metacognitive skills intended to enhance relational knowledge, which is considered to be a fundamental component of domain expertise. Study Two investigates the effects of alternate forms of prompting for analogical comparison and Study Three explores the impact of combining analogical comparison with direct instruction on discerning the relational structure of a domain. The results of Study Two do not support the expected positive effects of the analogical comparison interventions. Implementation of effective interventions to prompt the comparison requires further research. Additionally, the results of Study Three do not support the hypotheses, by conventional standards. However, there is some evidence of positive effects associated with the analogical comparison intervention. This dissertation contributes to the literature on audit expertise by describing how relational reasoning can play a role in advancing research in this stream and by providing some preliminary information regarding the effectiveness of specific implementations aimed at enhancing relational knowledge.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007192, ucf:52265
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007192
- Title
- The Impact of Technology on Management Control: Degradation, Empowerment, or Technology Dominance?.
- Creator
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Canada, Joseph, Arnold, Vicky, Roberts, Robin, Sutton, Steven, Benford, Tanya, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The evolution of technology brings with it the evolution of business processes. Without a doubt, technology changes how work is performed. At first glance, workplace technology appears to be a great boon to society. However, research presents opposing views on how workplace technologies impact the individual. One perspective argues that organizations utilize technology to redesign work processes, such that the worker requires less skill, autonomy, and compensation. The opposing perspective...
Show moreThe evolution of technology brings with it the evolution of business processes. Without a doubt, technology changes how work is performed. At first glance, workplace technology appears to be a great boon to society. However, research presents opposing views on how workplace technologies impact the individual. One perspective argues that organizations utilize technology to redesign work processes, such that the worker requires less skill, autonomy, and compensation. The opposing perspective argues that organizations utilize technology to empower employees to improve efficiency and profits. This dissertation consists of three interrelated studies examining workplace technology's impact on decision makers. The first study examines the capability of an enterprise system to increase the application of scientific management techniques to middle management and, consequently, to degrade middle management's work by limiting their autonomy. The second study investigates the capability of an enterprise system to facilitate the empowerment of managers via mutual monitoring and social identification. The third study builds upon the first study by examining how limiting autonomy through technology impacts the intrinsic motivation of decision makers and, as a result, affects the decision making process. Study one applies labor process theory to explain how enterprise systems can degrade the work of middle management via scientific management techniques. The purpose of this study is to test if the expectations of labor process theory can be applied to enterprise systems. In order to test this assertion, a field survey utilizing 189 middle managers is employed and the data is analyzed using component based structural equation modeling. The results indicate that enterprise system integration increases two scientific management techniques, formalization and performance measurement, but do not reveal a significant relationship between enterprise system integration and routinization. Interestingly, the results also indicate that routinization is the only scientific management technique, of the three studied, that directly limits the autonomy of the middle managers. Although performance measurement does not reduce autonomy directly, performance measurement interacts with routinization to reduce autonomy. This study contributes to the enterprise system literature by demonstrating enterprise systems' ability to increase the degree of scientific management applied to middle management. It also contributes to labor process theory by revealing that routinization may be the scientific management technique that determines whether other control techniques are utilized in a manner consistent with labor process theory. The ability of an enterprise system to facilitate the application of Mary Parker Follett's managerial control concepts are investigated in the second study. Specifically, Follett theorizes that information sharing facilitates the internalization of group goals and empowers individuals to have more influence and be more effective. This study employs a survey of 206 managers to test the theoretical relationships. The results indicate that enterprise system integration increases information sharing in the form of mutual monitoring, consequently, leading to social identification among peer managers. Additionally, social identification among peer managers empowers managers to have more influence over the organization. The study contributes to empowerment research by acknowledging and verifying the role that social identification plays in translating an empowering work climate into empowered managers. The study's conclusion that enterprise system integration facilitates the application of Follett's managerial control concepts extends both enterprise system and managerial control literature. The third study builds upon study one by examining the affect that autonomy has upon the decision maker. This study marries self-determination theory and technology dominance theory to understand the role that self-determination, intrinsic motivation, and engagement have upon technology dominance. Self-determination theory asserts that higher degrees of self-determination increase intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, self-determination research finds that intrinsic motivation increases engagement, while technology dominance research indicates that lack of engagement is an antecedent of technology dominance. Thus, applying self-determination theory as a predictor of technology dominance suggests that autonomy and relatedness associated with a task increase the intrinsic motivation to complete that task and consequently increase engagement in the task. Task engagement, in turn, reduces the likelihood of technology dominance. The proposed theoretical model is tested experimentally with 83 junior level business students. The results do not support the theoretical model, however the findings reveal that intrinsic motivation does reduce the likelihood of technology dominance. This indicates that intrinsic motivation as a predictor of technology dominance should be further investigated. Additionally, the study contributes to technology dominance literature by exhibiting a more appropriate operationalization of the inappropriate reliance aspect of technology dominance. This dissertation reveals that various theories concerning workplace technology and management control techniques have both validity and limitations. Labor process theorists cannot assume that all technologies and management control techniques are utilized to undermine the employee's value to the organization, as Study 2 reveals that enterprise systems and mutual monitoring lead to empowered managers. Likewise, proponents of enterprise systems cannot assume that the integrated nature of enterprise systems is always utilized in an empowering manner, as Study 1 reveals the increased performance measurement through enterprise systems can be utilized to limit managers in a routinized job environment. While the third study was unable to determine that the control features in technology affect the intrinsic motivation to complete a task, the findings do reveal that intrinsic motivation is directly related to technology dominance. The findings and theoretical refinements demonstrate that workplace technology and management control have a complicated relationship with the employee and that the various theories concerning them cannot be applied universally.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004980, ucf:49569
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004980
- Title
- Three Studies of Stakeholder Influence in the Formation and Management of Tax Policies.
- Creator
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Chen, Jason, Roberts, Robin, Schmitt, Donna, Robb, Sean, Patten, Dennis, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This dissertation consists of three separate but interrelated studies examining the formation and management of tax policies. The first study uses stakeholder theory (ST) to investigate the strategic management practices of the Transport for London (TfL) during discrete stages in the adoption, implementation, and amendments of the tax policy reform known as the London Congestion Charge (LCC). Results indicate that TfL has utilized power, legitimacy, and urgency as its main policy management...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three separate but interrelated studies examining the formation and management of tax policies. The first study uses stakeholder theory (ST) to investigate the strategic management practices of the Transport for London (TfL) during discrete stages in the adoption, implementation, and amendments of the tax policy reform known as the London Congestion Charge (LCC). Results indicate that TfL has utilized power, legitimacy, and urgency as its main policy management tactics with a significant emphasis on legitimatizing the LCC and its subsequent policy amendments.The second study draws on social exchange theory (SET) to reexamine the relationship between corporations and legislators during tax policy processes. Data for the study come from publicly available political action committee (PAC) contribution activities surrounding the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA07). By examining the endogeneity between legislators' voting patterns and PAC contributions by corporations, this study aims to refine empirical work on corporate political strategy, especially as it relates to crucial tax provisions embedded within an intensely debated policy proposal. Using simultaneous equations modeling (SEM), results are consistent with SET showing that an implicit and reciprocal relationship exists between corporations and legislators. This relationship affects the interdependence of how legislators vote for public policies and the amount of corporations' financial contributions to legislators.The third study investigates and aims to validate the empirical applicability of Dahan's (2005) typology of political resources in explicating the political interactions between stakeholder groups and legislators in the development of EISA07. I discuss how and why the mode of operations and various political resources employed by stakeholder groups affected the final EISA07 language concerning domestic production deduction tax credits for the oil and gas industry. Publicly available data show that both supporting and opposing stakeholder groups employ tactics consistent with Dahan's (2005) typology. However, both stakeholder groups tend to use an interactive or positive political approach to gain access and favor of legislators instead of an adversarial approach. Ultimately, the tax credits were preserved. Taken as a whole, the three studies advance the tax and public policy research literature in accounting by studying how and why relevant stakeholders affect the formation and ongoing management of public and tax policies.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004343, ucf:49423
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004343
- Title
- An Examination of Issues Related to Professional Skepticism in Auditing.
- Creator
-
Nickell, Erin, Trompeter, Gregory, Arnold, Vicky, Roberts, Robin, Cohen, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The third general standard of fieldwork requires auditors to maintain a skeptical mindset with regards to the collection and critical assessment of audit evidence. While professional skepticism is frequently referenced by professional standards, a lack of precision in defining the concept presumably leads to variation in how skepticism is exercised in practice. Drawing on theories from the fields of psychology, economics and organizational justice, this dissertation considers different...
Show moreThe third general standard of fieldwork requires auditors to maintain a skeptical mindset with regards to the collection and critical assessment of audit evidence. While professional skepticism is frequently referenced by professional standards, a lack of precision in defining the concept presumably leads to variation in how skepticism is exercised in practice. Drawing on theories from the fields of psychology, economics and organizational justice, this dissertation considers different perspectives of what constitutes sufficient professional skepticism and examines how those perspectives differ between audit practitioners and regulators.First, I consider competing perspectives of professional skepticism (-) neutral versus presumptive doubt (-) and whether asking auditors to adopt alternative perspectives of skepticism may have implications for audit efficiency and effectiveness. While, too little skepticism may endanger audit effectiveness and lead to audit failure or enforcement action, too much skepticism may arguably lead to unnecessary costs and inefficiency.Second, I consider whether the nature of the auditor-client relationship threatens an auditor's ability to maintain an attitude of professional skepticism. For example, theoretical perspectives from the fields of psychology and economics suggest that auditors may, consciously or unconsciously, be less skeptical of clients with whom they have developed close, positive working relationships or financial dependencies. More specifically, I consider whether skeptical behavior is impeded by management who display low-risk attitudes towards fraud or by client's who are considered to be highly important to the profitability of the local office.Finally, I examine how professional skepticism is defined from a regulator's perspective. When a public company is accused of fraudulent financial reporting, regulators may determinethat the audit performed on the fraudulent financial statements was deficient. Prior research has suggested that in such cases, insufficient skepticism is often a leading cause of alleged audit failure. Within a fairness theory framework, this study examines enforcement actions against auditors between 1999 and 2009, and identifies certain factors that are associated with a citation for a lack of professional skepticism. Overall, results suggest that regulators approach the issue by determining whether auditors should have been more skeptical. Factors found to affect this determination include whether the auditor was perceived as having been aware of an elevated risk of fraud or whether the client was accused of having provided the auditor with false or misleading information during the course of their investigation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004417, ucf:49385
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004417
- Title
- Under-Researched Areas of Audit Quality: Inputs, Firms, and Institutions.
- Creator
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Eutsler, Jared, Trompeter, Gregory, Roberts, Robin, Robb, Sean, Krishnamoorthy, Ganesh, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Francis (2011) lists three under-researched units of analysis that affect audit quality: inputs, firms, and institutions. This dissertation analyzes how each of these units of analysis contributes to audit quality. Study 1 examines audit inputs, specifically, characteristics of the individual auditor that affect professional skepticism. Study 2 examines how firm staffing decisions affect audit quality. Study 3 examines how the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ((")PCAOB(")), as a...
Show moreFrancis (2011) lists three under-researched units of analysis that affect audit quality: inputs, firms, and institutions. This dissertation analyzes how each of these units of analysis contributes to audit quality. Study 1 examines audit inputs, specifically, characteristics of the individual auditor that affect professional skepticism. Study 2 examines how firm staffing decisions affect audit quality. Study 3 examines how the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ((")PCAOB(")), as a regulatory institution, promotes audit quality through their risk-based inspection program. The first study reports the results of two experiments that examine professional skepticism as a function of moral agency. Consistent with the theory of moral disengagement (through moral agency), the results suggest that common audit firm human resource practices used to promote audit quality (i.e. hiring creative individuals, and advertising public accounting's role as protecting the capital markets) may unintentionally decrease professional skepticism through increasing moral disengagement. Results of Experiment 1 demonstrate creative auditors are more skeptical. However, they are also more prone to engage in less skeptical behavior as they fabricate more creative moral justifications (a specific method of moral disengagement) when working under time pressure. Further, Experiment 2 suggests that moral disengagement is increased when firms frame their public interest responsibilities as protecting the 'capital markets.' The use of this label unintentionally dehumanizes the individuals that make up the public, and as a result, it decreases professional skepticism. Alternatively, altering the frame of the public interest responsibilities to protecting individuals (such as more familiar individual investors) increases humanization and increases professional skepticism. The second study examines how firms affect audit quality. Audit regulators view audit firm staffing as key input affecting audit quality and have suggested that it has value as a potential indicator of audit quality. Further, regulators (such as the IAASB) have called for audit firms to avoid cutting staff (including in periods of economic contraction), as reductions in staff could have a negative impact on audit quality. However, little empirical evidence exists to support how firm-level staffing maps into engagement-level audit quality. This study evaluates the extent to which firm-level staffing affects audit quality. Audit firm employment is obtained from the 1991-2014 rankings of the top 100 U.S. public accounting firms and analyzed across multiple measures of audit quality. In multivariate tests, firm staffing (such as number of partners) and firm leverage (as measured by total partners divided by total professional staff) are associated with audit quality. This analysis provides support for claims made by regulators, about the value of potential labor related audit quality indicators proposed by the PCAOB. Further, decreases in partners or staff (from year to year) are negatively associated with audit quality supporting regulatory claims that audit firm staff cuts have a detrimental impact on audit quality. The third study examines the relationship between the PCAOB, as an institution, and audit quality. The PCAOB uses a risk-based selection process to identify engagements for inspection and states that their inspection findings are an indicator of audit quality. However, critics argue that the risk-based selection program produces reports that are not representative of the overall audit quality for the firm. This study creates a selection model, investigates the extent to which inspection findings are representative of overall firm audit quality, and examines the extent to which the inspection process may improve audit quality. Inspection reports of annually inspected firms from 2004 to 2012 are analyzed in combination with the financials of their issuer clients. Results suggest that inspection report findings can be generalized to the audit quality of those deficient accounts for the issuer client base exhibiting the highest levels of selection risk. Specifically, when audit firms have increased levels of revenue related to inspection deficiencies, their high selection risk clients have higher average discretionary revenues for the year inspected. Further, the analysis suggests that the PCAOB risk-based inspection process is effective in improving audit quality of deficient accounts for clients exhibiting the highest levels of selection risk in the subsequent year. The results indicate a negative association between prior levels of revenue specific inspection deficiencies and future levels of discretionary revenues for high selection risk clients.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006297, ucf:51590
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006297
- Title
- Regulation and the Auditing Profession.
- Creator
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Lubimov, Alexei, Trompeter, Gregory, Roberts, Robin, Robb, Sean, Soo, Billy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The dissertation consists of three studies examining three different regulatory issues that affect the auditing profession. The first study has two main foci. First, the study investigates the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on the Big 4 fee premium. Second, the study investigates the relationship between the size of an audit client and annual fee change. The results show that in the post-SOX environment, clients of non-Big 4 firms have experienced greater increases in audit fees than the...
Show moreThe dissertation consists of three studies examining three different regulatory issues that affect the auditing profession. The first study has two main foci. First, the study investigates the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on the Big 4 fee premium. Second, the study investigates the relationship between the size of an audit client and annual fee change. The results show that in the post-SOX environment, clients of non-Big 4 firms have experienced greater increases in audit fees than the clients of the Big 4 firms, resulting in a diminishing Big 4 premium. This is consistent with the notion that non-Big 4 clients had to make significant adjustments to meet post-SOX quality requirements by increasing their effort (and consequently audit fees). The results also show audit firms' large clients experience the largest percentage increase in audit fees. This is consistent with the theoretical view of consumer surplus, where the large clients, with more resources, have greater levels of consumer surplus, which is being captured by the audit firms. The study contributes to our understanding of the impact of SOX on audit fee premium and the economics of audit market competition in different client segments. The second study is focused on three main areas: 1) the relationship between audit fees and audit market concentration on a country level; 2) the effect of a country's litigation regime on the relationship between audit fees and market concentration and 3) the inter-relations between competition, fees, and quality in the market for audit services. The study is motivated by the current debate in the United States and the European Union about the possible problems associated with the current oligopolistic structure of the audit market. The contribution of this study lies in the fact that it provides a multi-national empirical investigation of the audit competition-fee relationship, and examination of how country-level fees affect the competition-quality relationship, while controlling for country level factors. Results show a negative relationship between country-level market concentration and audit fees but only in highly litigious countries, suggesting that the firms are able to obtain economies of scale in more concentrated markets and are willing to pass savings down to their clients. However this relationship only holds for the clients of the Big N firms. Analysis of audit quality suggests that audit quality is higher in more concentrated markets but mediation analysis did not show that the fees mediate the relationship between audit quality and market concentration. The third study addresses current regulatory debate about the responsibility of the principal auditor in the group audit environment. Current United States standards allow the principal auditor to disavow responsibility for parts of the audit which were performed by a third party auditor by referencing them in the auditor's opinion and then indicating the part of the audit which was performed by them. This disclaimer of responsibility is prohibited under the international auditing standards, which require the principal auditor to be responsible for the entire group audit. Specifically, this study examines 1) audit quality implications related to such opinions, and 2) the relationship between having a shared opinion and audit fees. The results show that the audit quality is significantly lower for the firms whose audit opinion referenced a third party auditor. The results also provide some evidence that audit fees are lower in shared responsibility situations.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004882, ucf:49650
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004882
- Title
- Three Essays on Compensation and the Board of Directors.
- Creator
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Cherry, Ian, Gatchev, Vladimir, Turnbull, Geoffrey, Schnitzlein, Charles, Roberts, Robin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In my first essay, I find a statistically and economically significant director-specific component in CEO pay following the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). In the cross-section of firms, directors that award relatively higher (lower) CEO pay in one firm also award relatively higher (lower) CEO pay in other firms of whose boards they are members during the year. Based on my estimates, the director-specific component is responsible for around (&)#177;3.5% of total CEO pay or...
Show moreIn my first essay, I find a statistically and economically significant director-specific component in CEO pay following the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). In the cross-section of firms, directors that award relatively higher (lower) CEO pay in one firm also award relatively higher (lower) CEO pay in other firms of whose boards they are members during the year. Based on my estimates, the director-specific component is responsible for around (&)#177;3.5% of total CEO pay or around (&)#177;$230,000 per CEO-year on average. In addition to affecting CEO pay levels, the director-specific component also has a significant effect on the changes and the composition of CEO pay, thus affecting CEO incentives. I pursue two potential explanations for our findings(-)changes in board composition and changes in director behavior after SOX. I do not find evidence that the director-specific component in CEO pay is due to changes in board composition. Instead, I find evidence that the director-specific component in CEO pay is due to changes in director behavior related to the additional risks and employment concerns imposed on directors after SOX. My findings are consistent with the view that SOX discourages directors from taking risks when awarding CEO pay and so directors award CEO pay that they can more easily justify through direct experiences in other firms. These findings have wide implications about the importance of directors in setting CEO pay, the existence of agency problems within the board, and the consequences of regulation in general and SOX in particular.My second essay concerns the compensation of directors themselves. I find that institutional ownership is positively related to the level of director compensation and the proportion of equity based compensation that directors receive. These results are consistent with the interpretation that institutions prefer stronger links between firm performance and board compensation and are willing to pay higher levels of compensation for better governance. I also investigate the difference between the effects of active versus passive institutional investment and find that active institutions appear to have a larger economic impact on director compensation. However, I do not find a statistical difference between the effects of active and passive ownership.My third essay studies the strategies that firms follow when apportioning incentive compensation within the board of directors. Firms tend to preserve the structure of director incentives over time so that firms using equal (variable) incentives in one year are more likely to use equal (variable) incentives in the following year. I further examine whether the structure of director incentives within the board affects acquirer performance in corporate acquisitions. I find that the five-day announcement returns of firms awarding equal director incentives are around 1% higher than the returns of firms that award variable director incentives within the board. These results are robust to standard controls related to acquirer returns, to different lengths of the announcement window, and to alternative incentive strategy classification schemes. Overall, my findings are consistent with the idea that director incentives play a significant role in corporate performance and with the idea that equal director incentives dominate variable incentives in circumstances where the success of the outcome is likely to depend on the board as a whole.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005588, ucf:50265
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005588
- Title
- The Diffusion of Digital Dashboards: An Examination of Dashboard Utilization and the Managerial Decision Environment.
- Creator
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Reinking, Jeffrey, Arnold, Vicky, Roberts, Robin, Sutton, Steven, Hampton, Clark, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation consists of three related studies examining the diffusion of digital dashboard technology throughout today's organizations. Dashboards, once reserved for the executive level, are now available to managers at the lower levels of the organization. For these managers, dashboards have become an integral part of their work life to support their decision environment, to provide consistency in measures, to monitor performance, and to communicate information throughout the...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three related studies examining the diffusion of digital dashboard technology throughout today's organizations. Dashboards, once reserved for the executive level, are now available to managers at the lower levels of the organization. For these managers, dashboards have become an integral part of their work life to support their decision environment, to provide consistency in measures, to monitor performance, and to communicate information throughout the organization. Prior research in the practice literature has shown that dashboards improve managerial performance and organizational performance as well as communicate organizational goals and objectives; however, empirical research has not been conducted in this area to confirm this anecdotal evidence. Using three theories, the phenomenon surrounding the diffusion of dashboards to the lower levels of the organization are examined based on 1) dashboards as a source of interactive management control and strategy alignment, 2) the impact of dashboard quality on strategy alignment, decision environment, and performance, and 3) the impacts on dashboard utilization from the antecedents of information content and task uncertainty and the consequences of user satisfaction and managerial performance. The first study investigates why dashboards have been diffused to the lowers levels of today's organizations. The primary focus of this study is to develop an understanding about the extent of dashboard utilization by decision-makers and the antecedents and consequences of utilization that is responsible for the widespread acceptance of this technology. The data for this study is collected and analyzed through an explanatory cross-sectional field study utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. Using data from interviews with 27 managers, a framework is developed that indicates strategy alignment and dashboards associated with interactive management control are the primary antecedents that drive dashboard diffusion. The dimensions of dashboard system quality and dashboard information quality mediate the relationship between an interactive dashboard and the extent of dashboard utilization, which leads to higher levels of managerial performance and organizational performance. This study contributes to the dashboard, strategy, and MCS literature by revealing that dashboards are not isolated technologies, rather they play an important role in the execution of strategy at the operational levels of an organization. In addition, dashboards can also function as an interactive management control, which leads to high levels of diffusion of dashboards throughout organizations. Prior strategy literature has examined strategy alignment at the higher levels and this study extends this research stream by investigating strategy alignment at the lower operational levels of the organization.The second study utilizes the IS Success Model to explore the impacts of the antecedents of dashboard system quality and dashboard information quality on the managerial decision environment in addition to the resulting consequences or 'net benefit' of managerial performance and organizational performance. A field survey is used to collect data from 391 dashboard using managers to enable the analysis of the relationships predicted in the theoretical model. The theoretical model is analyzed utilizing PLS. The results show that two dimensions of dashboard quality, system flexibility and information currency, have a positive effect the managerial decision environment. The model indicates support for the consequences of managerial performance and organizational performance resulting from higher levels of decision quality in the managerial decision environment. The model also reveals that when the dashboard measures are strategy aligned, lower levels of dashboard system flexibility are associated with improved managerial decision environment. Therefore, when organizations design their dashboard systems to support strategy alignment, managers should not be afforded high levels of system flexibility to maintain their attention on the key performance indicators selected to align with strategy. This result is a primary contribution to the strategy literature that reveals that strategy aligned dashboards are more effective in environments where the dashboard flexibility is lower. Additionally, study two also extends the strategy literature by examining strategy alignment at the lower levels of the organization, since prior research has concentrated on the higher level strategic outcomes.As dashboards become highly diffused and more managers utilize the technology, the likelihood that dashboard designers cannot provide dashboard content that fits the tasks performed by managers is higher. The third study investigates this fit between dashboard information content and task uncertainty to understand if the fit between the technology and task impacts the extent of dashboard utilization by managers based on the theory of task-technology fit (TTF). TTF predicts higher levels of utilization will increase user satisfaction and managerial performance. Data is collected from 391 managers that utilize dashboards in their weekly work life to analyze the relationships predicted in the theoretical model. PLS is utilized to analyze the theoretical model and indicates weak support of TTF impacting the extent of dashboard utilization. The model supports the hypotheses for the links between the extent of dashboard utilization and user satisfaction and managerial performance. Based on the weak findings from this theoretical model, a second model is developed and analyzed. The second model measures TTF through the mediation of task uncertainty between dashboard information content and the extent of dashboard utilization, while the first model measured TTF through interacting task uncertainty and dashboard information content. The results of the second model show strong support that TTF, as measured through mediation, increases the extent of dashboard utilization. This study contributes to the literature by empirically showing that more extensive levels of dashboard utilization are achieved through the antecedent of TTF, resulting in increased managerial satisfaction and managerial performance.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005052, ucf:49969
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005052
- Title
- Two Studies Analyzing The Effects of Business Case and Paradoxical Cognitive Framing on Sustainability Decision Making.
- Creator
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Pencle, Nadra, Roberts, Robin, Libby, Theresa, Baudot, Lisa, Cho, Charles, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
These two companion studies theoretically and empirically examine managers' use of different cognitive frames in decision-making related to corporate sustainability. Study I is a theoretical undertaking aimed at highlighting potential zones of investigation arising from the introduction of paradox theory into managerial accounting. First, I examine extant literature on paradoxes to garner an understanding of its evolution and application in the management and psychology domains. Second, I use...
Show moreThese two companion studies theoretically and empirically examine managers' use of different cognitive frames in decision-making related to corporate sustainability. Study I is a theoretical undertaking aimed at highlighting potential zones of investigation arising from the introduction of paradox theory into managerial accounting. First, I examine extant literature on paradoxes to garner an understanding of its evolution and application in the management and psychology domains. Second, I use current constructs and typologies to identify multiple sustainability and managerial accounting tensions as paradoxical. Third, I make recommendations on how to apply paradox theory more effectively to the corporate sustainability tensions I identified. I conclude the first paper with research questions pertaining to managerial accounting in corporate sustainability. Study II is a behavioral experiment. In this study I examine the effects of business case and paradoxical case cognition on managers and seek to uncover which organizational performance measures better support each cognition. Scholars suggest that the tensions in corporate sustainability arise from the complicated and interdependent relationship among its dimensions. and oftentimes progress towards any single dimension, might have unintended consequences on the other dimensions Hence, the empirical question becomes, amid such tensions, how do managers make decisions that are not solely driven by the financial dimension of corporate sustainability? Applying paradox theory, with its emphasis on acknowledging and working through tensions, holds the potential to elucidate how managers can further explore the tensions inherent in management accounting and sustainability. Study II results show that managers operating in a paradoxical case cognition with broad performance measures made more sustainable decisions relative to their counterparts operating in a business case cognition with narrow performance measures. Together these companion studies generally support the use of paradox theory in studying sustainability decision-making and its use in moving beyond short-term economically focused organizational processes.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007703, ucf:52440
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007703
- Title
- System justification theory: Synthesizing and applying its theoretical motivations in behavioral accounting research.
- Creator
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Olczak, Wioleta, Roberts, Robin, Libby, Theresa, Tian, Yu, Patten, Dennis, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation consists of two studies on System Justification Theory, hereafter SJT. SJT (Jost and Banaji 1994) is a psychology theory stating that individuals justify the status quo even if doing so is against their own or their group's interest (Jost et al. 2004). Comprised of twenty propositions, SJT attempts to explain social and psychological factors driving individuals to perceive the social system as legitimate. These factors also drive individuals to support and maintain the...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of two studies on System Justification Theory, hereafter SJT. SJT (Jost and Banaji 1994) is a psychology theory stating that individuals justify the status quo even if doing so is against their own or their group's interest (Jost et al. 2004). Comprised of twenty propositions, SJT attempts to explain social and psychological factors driving individuals to perceive the social system as legitimate. These factors also drive individuals to support and maintain the social system. The synthesis and application of this psychological theory in behavioral accounting research is limited, but could provide explanatory evidence on individual decision-making in accounting. The first study of this dissertation synthesizes SJT's four foundational theories (-) cognitive dissonance, social identity, social dominance, and belief in a just world (-) in behavioral accounting research, specifically focusing on two predominantly used theoretical motivations, cognitive dissonance and social identity theory. Behavioral accounting and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have increasingly become more complex as interest in these two areas continues to grow. The first study reviews prior behavioral accounting research that applied cognitive dissonance or social identity theory, and then demonstrates how the application of SJT in behavioral accounting research addresses more complex research questions that cannot be addressed solely from one or a combination of SJT's four foundational theories. The second study then applies SJT's theoretical motivations in a complex managerial accounting setting by investigating whether maintaining the status quo is a factor explaining managers' decisions to overstate environmental capital expenditure (ECE) projections. This study uses an experimental design to understand whether the presence of an overstatement status quo and a system threat affects managers' decisions to overstate environmental projections. The results indicate that managers are more likely to overstate ECE projections when the industry exhibits an overstatement status quo. Additionally, this propensity to overstate ECE projections is further exacerbated when managers face a stakeholder threat, suggesting they (")dig in their heels(") and maintain the status quo. This study extends environmental accounting research by demonstrating that the societal status quo affects managers cognitively and psychologically as they make environmental disclosure decisions. Results also contribute to practice by shedding insight as to why managers make certain environmental disclosure decisions. Specifically, the results show that the social system impacts managers' willingness to use environmental disclosures as a legitimating tool. Overall these two studies contribute to behavioral accounting research by exploring and applying a psychological theory in a managerial environmental accounting setting. It demonstrates how a commonly used psychology theory that has never been utilized in accounting research could address broad and complex accounting topics
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007697, ucf:52447
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007697
- Title
- The Effects of Risk and Trust on the Achievement of Sustainable Competitive Advantage from B2B E-Commerce Trading Relationships.
- Creator
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Hampton, Clark, Sutton, Steven, Roberts, Robin, Arnold, Vicky, Khazanchi, Deepak, Benford, Tanya, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This dissertation consists of three interrelated studies focusing on the use of business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (e-commerce) to facilitate supply chain transactions. B2B e-commerce enabled supply chains produce substantial savings for organizations by reducing the amount of time and money necessary to negotiate contracts, processes orders, and pay suppliers. However, doubt exists as to whether reduced transaction costs are a sustainable competitive advantage for organizations....
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three interrelated studies focusing on the use of business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (e-commerce) to facilitate supply chain transactions. B2B e-commerce enabled supply chains produce substantial savings for organizations by reducing the amount of time and money necessary to negotiate contracts, processes orders, and pay suppliers. However, doubt exists as to whether reduced transaction costs are a sustainable competitive advantage for organizations. The advent of widespread and cost effective B2B e-commerce enabled supply chains coupled with increasingly complex, dynamic, and global competitive markets are encouraging organizations to form long-term relationships with their trading partners to achieve sustainable competitive advantage from improved supply chain performance. Competition is no longer restricted to large firms and end-product producers, but now encompasses the extended organizational supply chain. Using three separate, but related theories, these studies investigate 1) the factors affecting satisfaction with B2B e-commerce trading relationships, 2) the antecedents and effects of risk and trust on assurance desirability in B2B e-commerce partnerships, and 3) the impact of enterprise risk management procedures on the achievement of sustainable competitive advantage from B2B e-commerce enabled transnational alliances. Critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage from B2B e-commerce capabilities is the existence of long-term mutually satisfying buyer(-)supplier relationships. The first study examines the antecedents of relationship satisfaction between B2B e-commerce trading partners. Using the relational view of the firm, a theoretical model is developed to investigate the direct and countervailing effects of trust and risk on relationship satisfaction. In addition, the indirect effects of justice and commitment on relationship satisfaction are also investigated. A field survey is used to collect data from 205 industry professionals concerning B2B e-commerce trading partnerships. Structural equation modeling is used to evaluate the hypothesized model relationships. The results support all hypotheses and indicate good model fit with strong explanatory power. This study contributes to the accounting information systems and strategic management literature by investigating the interactive but independent roles of risk and trust within B2B e-commerce trading relationships. The second study examines the integrative effects of power, risk, and trust, along with their antecedents, on the desirability of assurance over a trading partner's e-commerce processes. Using the resource advantage theory of competition as a foundation, a research model is developed to examine the relationships among the various trading partners and organizational factors that drive demand for a high information governance structure such as assurance. A field survey is used to collect data from 205 industry professionals to enable the evaluation of the complex relationships in the overall research model using structural equation modeling. The results support all hypotheses and provide good model fit, strong explanatory power, and strong support for the theory. This study expands the literature on management control systems within interorganizational relationships by addressing three contemporary concerns in the literature: (1) the minimal consideration of the impact of information technology in these relationships, (2) the minimal consideration of the impact of variances in the relative power of the trading partners, and (3) the need to consider the dual influence of risk and trust. Globalization places greater emphasis on the development of transnational alliances. The greatest benefits from alliances are derived from high-level information sharing, but risk escalates with information sharing. The purpose of the third study is to examine the influence of enterprise risk management (ERM) on risk and trust associated with transnational alliances and the resulting impact on interorganizational information sharing. Survey data is gathered from 200 senior-level managers monitoring transnational alliances. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results provide strong support for the hypothesized relationships and the overall research model, showing that high ERM leads to decreased risk, increased trust, and improved information sharing.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0004117, ucf:49108
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004117
