[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-01907933.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

L'associé est-il un auditeur comme les autres ? La construction de l'identité de l'associé dans les cabinets Big 4 en France

Author

Listed:
  • Claire Garnier

    (HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal)

Abstract
The paper operationalizes the concept of identity conversion to account for the process of becoming an audit partner in a Big 4 Firm. So far, literature has sought to document the identity construction of auditors based on field auditors or managers, overlooking the population of partners. The interactionist concept of career enables us to consider cooption as the turning point of a process that began the first day at work, and continues throughout the individual's career inside the firm. Through 25 life stories and 16 in-depth interviews, we show that auditors need an identity conversion to become partners, both from an individual perspective and through other auditors' eyes. It requires from them to solve conflicting expectations and to master informal ways of promotion, to finally complete the process of the making of a partner in a Big 4 Firm.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01907933
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01907933
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-01907933/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Grey, Christopher & Robson, Keith, 2005. ""Helping them to forget..": the organizational embedding of gender relations in public audit firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 469-490, July.
    2. Fogarty, Timothy J., 1992. "Organizational socialization in accounting firms: A theoretical framework and agenda for future research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 129-149, February.
    3. Simunic, Da, 1980. "The Pricing Of Audit Services - Theory And Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 161-190.
    4. Kornberger, Martin & Justesen, Lise & Mouritsen, Jan, 2011. "“When you make manager, we put a big mountain in front of you”: An ethnography of managers in a Big 4 Accounting Firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 514-533.
    5. 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.
    6. Martin Kornberger & Lise Justesen & Jan Mouritsen, 2011. "“When you make manager, we put a big mountain in front of you” : An ethnography of managers in a Big 4 Accounting Firm," Post-Print hal-02311997, HAL.
    7. 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.
    8. Ioana Lupu & Laura Empson, 2015. "Illusio and overwork: playing the game in the accounting field," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1310-1340, October.
    9. 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.
    10. Tan, HT & Libby, R, 1997. "Tacit managerial versus technical knowledge as determinants of audit expertise in the field," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 97-113.
    11. Martin Kornberger & Lise Justesen & Jan Mouritsen, 2011. "“When you make manager, we put a big mountain in front of you” : An ethnography of managers in a Big 4 Accounting Firm," Post-Print hal-02276736, HAL.
    12. Dirsmith, Mark W. & Covaleski, Mark A., 1985. "Informal communications, nonformal communications and mentoring in public accounting firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 149-169, April.
    13. 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.
    14. Viator, Ralph E., 2001. "The association of formal and informal public accounting mentoring with role stress and related job outcomes," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 73-93, January.
    15. Prem Sikka, 2008. "Enterprise culture and accountancy firms: new masters of the universe," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 268-295, February.
    16. Grey, C., 1998. "On being a professional in a "Big Six" firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 569-587.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. Claire Garnier, 2017. "Comment devient-on associé d'audit ? Le fonctionnement des réseaux informels de promotion dans les cabinets Big 4 en France," Post-Print hal-01907518, HAL.
    3. 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).
    4. Lambert Jerman & Pauline Beau & Claire Garnier, 2016. "Le « dividual professional »," Post-Print hal-01902409, HAL.
    5. 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).
    6. François Brouard & Merridee Bujaki & Sylvain Durocher & Leighann C. Neilson, 2017. "Professional Accountants’ Identity Formation: An Integrative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 225-238, May.
    7. Covaleski, Mark A. & Earley, Christine E. & Zehms, Karla M., 2021. "The lived reality of public accounting interns," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    8. Lambert Jerman & Alaric Bourgoin, 2016. "L'identité négative de l'auditeur," Post-Print hal-01902594, HAL.
    9. Daoust, Laurence & Malsch, Bertrand, 2019. "How ex-auditors remember their past: The transformation of audit experience into cultural memory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-1.
    10. 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.
    11. de Vries, Marlies & Blomme, Rob & De Loo, Ivo, 2022. "Part of the herd or black sheep? An exploration of trainee accountants’ suffering and modes of adaptation," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Kornberger, Martin & Justesen, Lise & Mouritsen, Jan, 2011. "“When you make manager, we put a big mountain in front of you”: An ethnography of managers in a Big 4 Accounting Firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 514-533.
    13. Durocher, Sylvain & Bujaki, Merridee & Brouard, François, 2016. "Attracting Millennials: Legitimacy management and bottom-up socialization processes within accounting firms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-24.
    14. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:8:y:2018:i:2:p:166-178 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Daoust, Laurence, 2020. "Playing the Big Four recruitment game: The tension between illusio and reflexivity," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    16. José-Joaquín del-Pozo-Antúnez & Horacio Molina-Sánchez & Francisco Fernández-Navarro & Antonio Ariza-Montes, 2021. "Accountancy as a Meaningful Work. Main Determinants from a Job Quality and Optimization Algorithm Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-14, August.
    17. Guo, Ken H., 2018. "The odyssey of becoming: Professional identity and insecurity in the Canadian accounting field," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 20-45.
    18. Martin Kornberger & Lise Justesen & Jan Mouritsen, 2011. "“When you make manager, we put a big mountain in front of you” : An ethnography of managers in a Big 4 Accounting Firm," Post-Print hal-02276736, HAL.
    19. Haynes, Kathryn, 2017. "Accounting as gendering and gendered: A review of 25 years of critical accounting research on gender," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 110-124.
    20. Kornberger, Martin & Carter, Chris & Ross-Smith, Anne, 2010. "Changing gender domination in a Big Four accounting firm: Flexibility, performance and client service in practice," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 775-791, November.
    21. Dierynck, Bart & Kadous, Kathryn & Peters, Christian P. H., 2023. "Learning in the auditing profession: A framework and future directions," Other publications TiSEM eb74c8e4-bc4a-4b71-b88a-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Audit partners; careers; promotion-to-partner process; identity conversion; symbolic interactionism;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:hal:journl:hal-01907933. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.