IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v20y2007i6p825-854.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Discourse and audit change

Author

Listed:
  • Rihab Khalifa
  • Nina Sharma
  • Christopher Humphrey
  • Keith Robson

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to develop understanding of how the pursuit of practice change in auditing, especially in relation to audit methodologies, is conveyed, presented, reflected in and enabled (or hindered) through discursive, textual constructions by audit firms. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses an extensive series of interviews with audit practitioners, educators and regulators and a textual study of the content, concordances and narratives contained in two key audit methodological texts published by KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms. Findings - Major discursive shifts in audit methodologies are identified over the last decade, with the dominant audit discourse switching from one of “business value” to one of “audit quality”. Such shifts are analysed in terms of developments in the wider, organisational field and discursive (re)constructions of audit at the level of the audit firm. Originality/value - The identified shifts in auditing discourse are important in a number of respects. They demonstrate the significance of discursive elements of audit practice, contradicting influential prior claims that methodological discussions and developments in audit over the last decade had focused consistently on notions of “audit quality”. Methodologically, they demonstrate the importance and opportunities for knowledge development available by combining institutional, field‐wide analysis with a detailed discursive study of individual interviews and texts.

Suggested Citation

  • Rihab Khalifa & Nina Sharma & Christopher Humphrey & Keith Robson, 2007. "Discourse and audit change," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(6), pages 825-854, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:20:y:2007:i:6:p:825-854
    DOI: 10.1108/09513570710830263
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513570710830263/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513570710830263/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/09513570710830263?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pentland, Brian T. & Carlile, Paul, 1996. "Audit the taxpayer, not the return: Tax auditing as an expression game," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(2-3), pages 269-287.
    2. Carpenter, Brian & Dirsmith, Mark, 1993. "Sampling and the abstraction of knowledge in the auditing profession: An extended institutional theory perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 41-63, January.
    3. Pentland, Brian T., 1993. "Getting comfortable with the numbers: Auditing and the micro-production of macro-order," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(7-8), pages 605-620.
    4. Covaleski, Mark A. & Dirsmith, Mark W. & Rittenberg, Larry, 2003. "Jurisdictional disputes over professional work: the institutionalization of the global knowledge expert," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 323-355, May.
    5. Barrett, Michael & Cooper, David J. & Jamal, Karim, 2005. "Globalization and the coordinating of work in multinational audits," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-24, January.
    6. Robson, Keith & Humphrey, Christopher & Khalifa, Rihab & Jones, Julian, 2007. "Transforming audit technologies: Business risk audit methodologies and the audit field," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(4-5), pages 409-438.
    7. Peecher, Mark E. & Schwartz, Rachel & Solomon, Ira, 2007. "It's all about audit quality: Perspectives on strategic-systems auditing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(4-5), pages 463-485.
    8. Pentland, Brian T., 2000. "Will auditors take over the world? Program, technique and the verification of everything," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 307-312, April.
    9. Curtis, Emer & Turley, Stuart, 2007. "The business risk audit - A longitudinal case study of an audit engagement," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(4-5), pages 439-461.
    10. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Grey, Christopher & Robson, Keith, 2001. "Tests of time: organizational time-reckoning and the making of accountants in two multi-national accounting firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 99-122, March.
    11. Fogarty, Timothy J., 1996. "The imagery and reality of peer review in the U.S.: Insights from institutional theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(2-3), pages 243-267.
    12. McNair, C. J., 1991. "Proper compromises: The management control dilemma in public accounting and its impact on auditor behavior," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 635-653.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maroun, Warren & Solomon, Jill, 2014. "Whistle-blowing by external auditors: Seeking legitimacy for the South African Audit Profession?," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 109-121.
    2. Sue Llewellyn & Markus J. Milne, 2007. "Accounting as codified discourse," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(6), pages 805-824, October.
    3. Flint, Christine & Fraser, Ian A.M. & Hatherly, David J., 2008. "Business risk auditing: A regressive evolution?—A research note," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 143-147.
    4. Beattie, Vivien & Fearnley, Stella & Hines, Tony, 2010. "Factors Affecting Audit Quality in the 2007 UK Regulatory Environment: Perceptions of Chief Financial Officers, Audit Committee Chairs and Audit Engagement Partners," SIRE Discussion Papers 2012-29, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    5. Dumitru MatiÅŸ & Alina Beattrice Vladu & Dan Dacian Cuzdriorean, 2012. "Creative Disclosure - Feature Of Creative Accounting," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 1(14), pages 1-6.
    6. Humphrey, Christopher & Loft, Anne & Woods, Margaret, 2009. "The global audit profession and the international financial architecture: Understanding regulatory relationships at a time of financial crisis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 810-825, August.
    7. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Edgley, Carla & Robson, Keith & Sharma, Nina, 2022. "Organizational responses to multiple logics: Diversity, identity and the professional service firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    8. Maroun, Warren & Atkins, Jill, 2014. "Section 45 of the Auditing Profession Act: Blowing the whistle for audit quality?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 248-263.
    9. Brivot, Marion & Cho, Charles H. & Kuhn, John R., 2015. "Marketing or parrhesia: A longitudinal study of AICPA's shifting languages in times of turbulence," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 23-43.
    10. Claire France Picard & Sylvain Durocher & Yves Gendron, 2013. "From Meticulous Professionals To Superheroes Of The Business World: A Historical Portrait Of A Cultural Change In The Field Of Accountancy," Post-Print hal-00993019, HAL.
    11. Genevé Richard & Elza Odendaal, 2020. "Integrated reporting assurance practices—a study of South African firms," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(4), pages 245-266, December.
    12. Ian Fraser & Chris Pong, 2009. "The future of the external audit function," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 24(2), pages 104-113, January.
    13. Genevé Richard & Elza Odendaal, 2021. "Credibility-enhancing mechanisms, other than external assurance, in integrated reporting," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(1), pages 61-93, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guénin-Paracini, Henri & Malsch, Bertrand & Paillé, Anne Marché, 2014. "Fear and risk in the audit process," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 264-288.
    2. Power, Michael K., 2003. "Auditing and the production of legitimacy," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 379-394, May.
    3. Namrata Malhotra & Timothy Morris, 2009. "Heterogeneity in Professional Service Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 895-922, September.
    4. Carrington, Thomas, 2010. "An analysis of the demands on a sufficient audit: Professional appearance is what counts!," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(8), pages 669-682.
    5. Power, Michael, 1996. "Making things auditable," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(2-3), pages 289-315.
    6. Christopher Humphrey, 2008. "Auditing research: a review across the disciplinary divide," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 170-203, February.
    7. Gendron, Yves & Spira, Laura F., 2010. "Identity narratives under threat: A study of former members of Arthur Andersen," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 275-300, April.
    8. Olivier Herrbach, 2001. "Audit quality, auditor behaviour and the psychological contract," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 787-802.
    9. Bitbol-Saba, Nathalie & Dambrin, Claire, 2019. "“It’s not often we get a visit from a beautiful woman!” The body in client-auditor interactions and the masculinity of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3505 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Daniel VILSANOIU & Mihaela SERBAN, 2010. "Changing Methodologies in Financial Audit and Their Impact on Information Systems Audit," Informatica Economica, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(1), pages 59-65.
    12. Pernilla Broberg & Torbjörn Tagesson & Daniela Argento & Niclas Gyllengahm & Ola Mårtensson, 2017. "Explaining the influence of time budget pressure on audit quality in Sweden," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(2), pages 331-350, June.
    13. Pentland, Brian T., 2000. "Will auditors take over the world? Program, technique and the verification of everything," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 307-312, April.
    14. Beau, Pauline & Jerman, Lambert, 2022. "Bonding forged in “auditing hell”: The emotional qualities of Big Four auditors," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    15. Claire Garnier, 2018. "L'associé est-il un auditeur comme les autres ? La construction de l'identité de l'associé dans les cabinets Big 4 en France," Post-Print hal-01907933, HAL.
    16. Kohler, Hervé & Pochet, Christine & Gendron, Yves, 2021. "Networks of interpretation: An ethnography of the quest for IFRS consistency in a global accounting firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    17. Williams, James W., 2013. "Regulatory technologies, risky subjects, and financial boundaries: Governing ‘fraud’ in the financial markets," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 544-558.
    18. Samsonova, Anna, 2009. "Local sites of globalisation: A look at the development of a legislative framework for auditing in Russia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 528-552.
    19. Mennicken, Andrea, 2010. "From inspection to auditing: audit and markets as linked ecologies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 27054, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Fabien Cerruti & Christelle Richard, 2008. "Qualité de l'audit et Satisfaction de l'audité : Chronique d'une Innovation Ordinaire," Post-Print halshs-00522438, HAL.
    21. Bottausci, Chiara & Robson, Keith, 2023. "“He Hears”: An essay celebrating the 25 year anniversary of The Audit Society," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:20:y:2007:i:6:p:825-854. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.