ROLE AMBIGUITY AND CONFLICT IN AN ALIEN AUDIT ENVIRONMENT.
Item
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Title
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ROLE AMBIGUITY AND CONFLICT IN AN ALIEN AUDIT ENVIRONMENT.
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Identifier
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AAI8023733
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identifier
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8023733
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Creator
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SLAVIN, NATHAN S.
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Contributor
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Martin Mellman
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Date
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1980
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Business Administration, Accounting
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Abstract
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This study was undertaken to ascertain what factors comprising the independent auditor's working environment contributed to his perceptions of role ambiguity and conflict. A conceptual model was developed where role ambiguity and conflict were positioned as intervening variables between ten antecedent constructs and four personal outcomes. Any independent variable that was unfavorably evaluated by the auditor was indicative of an alien audit environment.;Auditors from various national and local accounting firms responded to a research questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 307 auditors who were employed in three organizational positions. Using a series of parametric correlation and regression procedures, various observations were found. Contrary to what was anticipated but consistent with the general role theory literature, conflict, and not ambiguity, had a larger number of significant relationships. This was particularly evident at the lower organizational positions. Both role ambiguity and conflict were significant contributors to personal outcomes even after all of the independent variables were considered. When examining all of the auditors as a single sample, only ten role strain interaction terms had significant relationships with the personal outcomes. There were forty-one significant interactions where each organizational level was analyzed separately, suggesting that information was lost when the single sample was used. Depending on the personal outcome and organizational position that were investigated, role ambiguity and conflict did not always lead to dysfunctional results. This indicated that general patterns of role strain were not evident across all organizational levels. Another explanation offered was that public accountants, particularly at the lower positions, are extremely tolerant of role ambiguity and conflict regardless of their working environment.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Business
