Workplace Mindfulness in Accounting Practice: Issues, Opportunities, and Challenges

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 167-185
Author(s):  
Yu-Tzu Chang ◽  
Dan N. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Practice Opportunities ◽  
Reducing Stress ◽  
Jel Classifications

SYNOPSIS Research suggests that individual, secular mindfulness can improve work outcomes, including reducing stress and increasing attention, wellness, and job performance. This paper discusses the construct and efficacy of mindfulness and explores opportunities for and challenges to integrating workplace mindfulness in professional accounting. Evidence from websites suggests that most large accounting firms promote workplace mindfulness to their clients and that some (e.g., EY and PWC) promote its practice among their accounting professionals. While a review of literature indicates support for some claimed benefits, workplace mindfulness is no panacea. Challenges to workplace mindfulness include the unwillingness of some accounting professionals to practice mindfulness and that some claimed benefits, e.g., improved leadership and teamwork, are not well-supported by research. The paper concludes by proposing a set of workplace mindfulness issues and practice opportunities and discussing impediments to and the limits of mindfulness in professional accounting. JEL Classifications: M40; M41; M42.

scholarly journals Impact of Organizational Commitment on Accounting Professionals’ Performance: Case of Accounting Firms

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Lassaad Abdelmoula ◽  
Sami Boudabbous
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Normative Commitment ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
The Impact

Purpose–This study examines the impact of organizational commitment(OC)on job performance. Two hundredforty professionals participated in this study. Design/methodology/approach–Our methodology has been applied toof 240 professional accountants who work in accounting offices in Tunisia. Findings–The results show that both affective and continuity dimensions have a positive and significant impact on performance, whereas the normative commitment has a positive but not significant effect. Originality/value–our knowledge, very little research has been conducted to investigate the accounting profession. our study aimed to fill this gap by studying the impact of OC on job performance of accounting professionals in the Tunisian context.

A Contemporary Analysis of Accounting Professionals' Work-Life Balance

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Buchheit ◽  
Derek W. Dalton ◽  
Nancy L. Harp ◽  
Carl W. Hollingsworth
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Important Distinction ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Public Accounting Firms

SYNOPSIS In recent years, work-life balance surpassed compensation as the most important job satisfaction factor among AICPA members (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA] 2004). Despite the continued importance of this issue in the accounting profession (AICPA 2011), prior research has not examined work-life balance perceptions across different segments of the profession. We survey 1,063 practicing CPAs in order to assess the comparative work-life balance perceptions across (1) Big 4 versus smaller public accounting firms, (2) audit versus tax functions, and (3) public accounting versus industry work contexts. Consistent with predictions based on institutional logics theory, we find that work-family conflict and job burnout perceptions (our proxies for work-life balance) are highest in the Big 4. We are the first study to measure both support-for and viability-of traditional alternative work arrangements (AWAs), and we report an important distinction between these two constructs. Specifically, while CPAs across all public accounting firms (i.e., Big 4, national, regional, and local firms) report similar levels of organizational support-for AWAs, Big 4 professionals report significantly lower perceived viability-of AWAs (i.e., the ability to use AWAs and remain effective at one's job) compared to accounting professionals at smaller public accounting firms. Further, we find no differences between audit and tax professionals' perceptions across any of our work-life balance measures. We also document nuanced differences regarding work-life balance perceptions in public accounting versus industry. For example, contrary to conventional wisdom, work-life balance is not uniformly “better” in industry (e.g., burnout is actually lower in smaller public accounting firms compared to industry). Finally, we use open-ended responses from a follow-up survey to provide several recommendations for firms to improve their work-life balance efforts.

Clients' Workplace Environment and Corporate Audits

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjie Huang ◽  
Adi Masli ◽  
Felix Meschke ◽  
James P. Guthrie
Keyword(s):  
Audit Fees ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Audit Report ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Workplace Environment ◽  
Workplace Satisfaction ◽  
Going Concern ◽  
Corporate Executives ◽  
Workplace Environments ◽  
Jel Classifications

SUMMARY We obtain a novel dataset of workplace satisfaction ratings submitted by about 100,000 employees working for large public U.S. companies. We document that lower workplace ratings are associated with higher audit fees and longer audit report lags. Lower workplace ratings also increase the likelihood of firms receiving modified going concern opinions. Our study shows that organizational workplace environments affect auditor risk assessments and auditing outcomes and provide insights for practicing auditors and corporate executives. Our interviews with practicing auditors at large U.S. accounting firms also provide insights as to how workplace quality affects the corporate audit. JEL Classifications: G3; J28; M14; M42.

Determinants and Consequences of Firms' Derivative Accounting Decisions

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Earnings Volatility ◽  
Hedge Accounting ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACTFinancial accounting standards require derivatives to be recognized at fair value with changes in value recognized immediately in earnings. However, if specified criteria are met, firms may use an alternative accounting treatment, hedge accounting, which is intended to better represent the underlying economics of firms' derivative use. Using FAS 161 disclosures, I examine determinants of hedge accounting use and the effects of hedge accounting on financial reporting and capital markets. I find variation in firms' hedge accounting use and provide evidence that compliance costs of applying hedge accounting affect firms' decision to use hedge accounting. Firms decrease their reported earnings volatility via derivatives that receive hedge accounting and could further decrease their earnings volatility if hedge accounting were applied to all their derivatives. Inconsistent with arguments given for using hedge accounting, I fail to find a decrease in investors' assessments of firm risk from using hedge accounting.JEL Classifications: M40; M41; G32.

An Exploration of Accountants, Accounting Work, and Creativity

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Bryant ◽  
Dan Stone ◽  
Benson Wier
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Systematic Relationship ◽  
Governmental Accounting ◽  
Department Of Labor ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
The Common

ABSTRACT: In two studies, we explore whether creativity is essential—or antithetical—to professional accounting work. In Study 1, archival analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data indicates that: (1) professional accounting work requires no less creativity than do three competing professions and a diverse sample of U.S. occupations, and (2) greater creativity may be required in financial than in auditing and taxation accounting work. In Study 2, a survey contrasts the self-assessed and number-of-uses creativity of governmental accounting professionals and Master’s of Accountancy (M.Acc.) students with that of M.B.A. students. Results indicate lower creativity among accountants and M.Acc. students compared with M.B.A. students, and no systematic relationship between ethics and creativity. We conclude that while creativity matters to accounting work—more to some areas of accounting practice than others—accountancy education and work may attract or reward entrants with less than desirable levels of creativity, perhaps due to the common belief that creativity is unneeded in, or even deleterious to, professional accountancy work.

scholarly journals Reducing Stress from Workload Compression: Coping Strategies That Work in CPA Firms

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig R. Ehlen ◽  
G. R. Cluskey, Jr. ◽  
Richard A. Rivers
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
Job Stress ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Job Stressors ◽  
Accounting Practitioners ◽  
Workload Compression ◽  
Reducing Stress

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: &quot;CG Times&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Workload compression is characterized by the AICPA (Padwe 1994) as a condition of excessive job demands caused by the 1986 Tax Reform Act (TRA).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The TRA severely limited the ability of businesses to elect other than a calendar year-end reporting for tax purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Consequently, professional accountants find their tax and audit work compressed into the first quarter of each year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In an earlier study Cluskey and Vaux (1997a) found job stressors, such as excessive job demands, to be contributing factors in causing job stress, which ultimately leads to degraded job performance. Cluskey and Vaux (1997b) also found workload compression to be a possible contributor to occupational stress in professional accountants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The current study surveyed public accountants in both October (slack season) and February (busy season).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The study found that standard indicators of job stress were no greater in February than in October, indicating that workload compression does not contribute additional occupational stress in accounting practitioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Subsequent interviews with the participants revealed that the firms in this study have incorporated specific management practices to help their employees cope with the extremely high job demands during this period of workload compression, which may help explain these unexpected results.</span></span></p>

scholarly journals Personality and work outcomes: A moderated mediation model of self-leadership and gender

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1292-1304
Author(s):  
Jessie Ho ◽  
Paul L Nesbit
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Internal Locus ◽  
Internal Locus Of Control ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between personality traits (conscientiousness and internal locus of control) and self-leadership. Specifically, we tested a moderated mediation model with self-leadership as the mediator between personality traits and job performance and job satisfaction and with gender as the moderator in influencing the mediations. Data were collected from a variety of organizations from 341 supervisor-subordinate dyads located in China and Hong Kong. Our analyses revealed that: (1) conscientiousness and internal locus of control were positively related to self-leadership in Chinese contexts; (2) self-leadership mediated the relationships of conscientiousness and internal locus of control with both job performance and job satisfaction; and (3) the mediating effects of self-leadership were not moderated by gender.  

Influence strategies and work outcomes: effects of attributions

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-984
Author(s):  
Melody P.M. Chong ◽  
Xiji Zhu ◽  
Pingping Fu ◽  
Ling Ying Sarinna Wong
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Influence Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Authoritarian Leadership ◽  
Influence Strategy ◽  
Positive Effect

Purpose Previous research on influence strategies has almost exclusively indicated negative relationships between assertive influence and employee work outcomes; the purpose of this study is to argue that an assertive influence strategy can also lead to both positive and negative work outcomes, when subordinates hold different attributions towards the leaders’ motive of using assertive influence (hereafter “the cause”). Design/methodology/approach The empirical study was based on data collected from 930 employees in China. The authors developed hypotheses to test the mediating effects of three types of perception in the relationship between an assertive influence strategy and five outcomes, and additional analyses on persuasive and relational influence strategies are also conducted. Findings Results show that when subordinates attribute the cause to their ability (internal attribution), an assertive influence has indirect positive effect on felt obligation, organizational commitment, job performance and organizational citizenship behavior; when subordinates attribute the cause to the poor relationship with their superiors (relational attribution), an assertive influence has indirect negative impact on most outcomes except for job performance; when subordinates perceive that the cause is to the superiors, such as authoritarian leadership (external attribution), an assertive influence has indirect positive effect on job performance. Practical implications The study highlights the importance of subordinates’ perceptions during the leadership influence processes. Originality/value This study was the first to examine the mediation relationship between three types of influence strategies and five organizational outcomes based on a large sample of front-line staff in China. The findings of the study also enrich the literature of leadership and attribution theories.

Motivational Strategies in Effective Management of Day-to-Day Job Performance

1981 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Burke ◽  
William Weitzel ◽  
Tamara Weir
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Nursing Staff ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Motivational Strategies ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Important Work ◽  
The Way

This investigation studied the relationships of various motivational strategies used by supervisors to the day-to-day contributions and experiences of subordinates. 141 nursing staff completed questionnaires examining (1) 13 aspects of the way their supervisors were seen responding to their day-to-day job performance and (2) 6 performance-related work outcomes. The majority of the motivational strategies were significantly related to most of the outcomes. Their superiors' characteristic ways of managing day-to-day subordinates' job performance were linked to important work outcomes. Particularly important in this regard were participative behaviors and immediate application of rewards but not punishments.

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