Abstract
Public accounting firms have characteristics which set them apart from other professional organizations. These characteristics, which create a unique organizational setting, are a high percentage of professionalization, large size and market competition coupled with expected adherence to professional standards. Public accounting firms face special problems such as intense competition, a complex and uncertain environment, and staff retention. These unique features and special problems raise questions of how the organizational content influences the structure of public accounting firms and in turn how that structure affects the professional employees. Previous studies have taken a narrow or fragmentary approach to these questions. This paper develops a model based on organization theory and organizational behavior, that integrates the relationships between organizational context, organization structure and individual outcomes. The model is tested through a field study of three large public accounting firms. Using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients to describe the nature and strength of the relationships between the variables of interest, little support is found for the relationships between the macro variables of perceived environmental uncertainty, size, technology routineness, centralization of decision making and structuring of activities. Strong support is found for the relationships between the micro variables of job scope, role conflict, role ambiguity, job satisfaction, performance and turnover intentions. Support for the relationships between the macro and micro variables is mixed. A Kruskal - Wallis analysis of variance indicates that the variables of perceived environmental uncertainty, technology routineness, variety, feedback, job satisfaction and performance varied by functional division. This finding was anticipated through previous accounting research. The relationships in the model were further tested through the use of hierarchical regression analysis. The model almost sixty-three percent of the variation in job satisfaction. The model was less effective in explaining variation in turnover intentions, accounting for only forty-two percent of the variation.
Mitchell, Elizabeth Ann (1987). An integrative model for the study of public accounting firms. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -26906.