Power and the Audit Senior Associate

• In Event: The Audit Production Process

Abstract

Audit senior associates play a critical role in the audit process, yet we know comparably little about how modern seniors define their organizational role. In an analysis of interview data from 22 US-based audit seniors, we identify three key sub-roles that seniors occupy that vary in the control seniors have over the valued resources of time and information. We apply recent theoretical work on the psychology of power that characterizes power as “asymmetric control over valued resources” to analyze how each sub-role’s conflicting behavioral norms and motivations influence auditor behavior, with downstream consequences for audit quality. By applying this theoretical lens to analyze how seniors view their day-to-day work as essential to the audit, we contribute not only to distinguishing the senior role as one where seniors juggle competing expectations and motivations while establishing themselves as knowledgeable professionals, but also to a broader understanding of the psychology of power in a rich organizational context.

Authors

• Emily Sokolosky Blum, Texas A&M University

• Kris Hoang, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa

• Kyrre Kjellevold, Norwegian School of Economics