Audit judgment performance: assessing the effect of performance incentives, effort and task complexity

Mohd‐Sanusi, Zuraidah; Mohd‐Iskandar, Takiah

doi:10.1108/02686900710715639

Cited by 43 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Complex tasks require a greater degree of attention and cognitive processing than do simple tasks (Bonner & Sprinkle, ). The general literature on the subject is fairly consistent that task complexity is an important moderator: the more complex the task, the less responsive individuals are to financial incentives (e.g., Bonner, Hastie, Sprinkle, & Young, ; Mohd‐Sanusi & Mohd‐Iskandar, ). As task complexity increases, successful performance requires a high degree of both skill and effort, which may discourage individuals from pursuing the incentives (Bonner & Sprinkle, ).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial incentives, professional values and performance: A study of pay‐for‐performance in a professional organization

Young

Beckman

Baker³

2012

J Organ Behavior

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Summary We investigated the effect of financial incentives on performance in a professional organization. Whereas agency theory treats tangible rewards such as money as a potentially powerful motivator for improving performance, the professional control perspective posits that the motivational effects of financial incentives will depend on the intended recipients attitudes toward the incentives relative to their professional values. The study setting was a large network of physician practices that adopted a financial incentive program to improve physician performance in the management of diabetic patients. Consistent with agency theory, performance did improve following the introduction of the incentive. However, consistent with the professional control perspective, physicians' psychologically based attitudes toward the incentive program regarding its impact on their own work autonomy and the importance of the performance goals moderated the effect of the incentive on performance. Study findings indicate that agency theory and professional control are complementary theoretical perspectives for understanding how professionals will respond to the imposition of performance‐related financial incentives. In terms of practice, pay‐for‐performance programs aimed at professional organizations should be designed to take into account the values and goals of an organization's professionals to maximize the effect of financial incentives on performance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial incentives, professional values and performance: A study of pay‐for‐performance in a professional organization

Young

Beckman

Baker³

2012

J Organ Behavior

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“…Mohd-Sanusi and Iskandar (2007) investigate the effect of two performance incentives (i.e. feedback and reward) on audit judgment performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing auditors' performance

Iskandar

Sari

Mohd‐Sanusi

et al. 2012

Managerial Auditing Journal

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Purpose-The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of effort on the relationship between both accountability pressure and self-efficacy, and auditors' performance. Design/methodology/approach-The paper uses a between-subjects experimental research design with accountability pressure manipulated randomly to two groups, accountable and non-accountable. Each participant is required to perform internal control tasks. Findings-Based on partial least square (PLS) analysis, results indicate that both variables, i.e. accountability pressure and self-efficacy, are positively related to audit judgment performance through the process of high level of effort. High self-efficacious participants who received accountability pressure would have high levels of effort, which in turn increase audit judgment performance. Research implications/limitations-This study provides further evidence on the effect of motivational factors on auditors' performance. Understanding the mediating role of some motivational variables is crucial in designing a continuous development program to enhance auditors' performance. The proposed framework of effort as a mediating variable is consistent with Libby and Lipe and Chang et al., who argue that accountability pressure and self-efficacy would cause individuals to increase their effort in order to perform better. Originality/value-The paper contributes to the literature on motivational factors that would explain the variability in audit judgments in coping with complex audit tasks.

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“…The inability of public accounting practices to retain female auditors is of significant concern to the auditing profession. First, staff turnover, which involves exit and recruitment interviews, additional training for new staff, and a reduction in audit quality due to the loss of expertise (Hill et al, 1994;Sanusi and Iskandar, 2007), is costly for firms. Second, the inability to retain a sufficient number of women hinders firms' goals of creating a gender-diverse workplace (Dalton et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of the actual turnover decisions of female auditors in public accounting

Law

2010

Managerial Auditing Journal

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The inability of public accounting practices to retain female auditors is of concern to the profession. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors associated with the actual turnover decisions made by female auditors in the public accounting profession. Design/methodology/approach -Multinomial logistic regression is used to analyze survey data from 247 female auditors who were formerly employed by public accounting firms in Hong Kong. About 20 semi-structured interviews are conducted to supplement the findings. Findings -The results reveal that role conflict has the highest explanatory power among the independent variables. Social comparison with peers, stress and age are also influential factors in the turnover decisions made by female auditors in the public accounting field. These results support social comparison theory, which asserts that individuals are driven to evaluate their abilities and opinions through social comparison with others. A particularly interesting finding is that neither physical appearance nor gender discrimination is an influential factor, which contradicts the findings of research carried out in the USA and Japan. Originality/value -According to human capital theory, the departure of female auditors from the public accounting profession represents a significant loss in human capital. Public accounting firms should thus take immediate measures to retain this valuable source of human capital and achieve the goal of a gender-diverse workplace.

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Audit judgment performance: assessing the effect of performance incentives, effort and task complexity

Cited by 43 publications

References 40 publications

Financial incentives, professional values and performance: A study of pay‐for‐performance in a professional organization

Financial incentives, professional values and performance: A study of pay‐for‐performance in a professional organization

Enhancing auditors' performance

Examination of the actual turnover decisions of female auditors in public accounting

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