Can Knowledge Based Systems Be Designed to Counteract Deskilling Effects?

• In Event: IT Adoption and Implementation

Abstract

The major public accounting firms are increasingly implementing restrictive audit support systems, which theoretically lead to de-skilling of novice accounting professionals. Research provides some evidence that such affects are present from the use of these systems. Our research focuses on redesigning knowledge based systems in order to facilitate knowledge acquisition by system users in an effort to mitigate potential de-skilling effects from use of such systems. Specifically, our research manipulates the design of the system interface to provide information cues in a screen format consistent with expert knowledge representations and manipulates the automatic provision versus voluntary use of explanations for users during the task completion stage in order to better understand how the decision is framed and how information is aggregated for expert like judgment processes. The results show that after using the knowledge based system to complete a series of reenacted client engagements over a three-day training period, both the interface design manipulation and the automatic provision of explanations had a significant positive effect on novice accounting professionals development of expert like knowledge structures. The results of the study have important implications for the development of knowledge based systems intended to support accounting professionals’ (and other knowledge workers’) expertise development processes.

Authors

• Vicky Arnold, University of Central Florida

• Phil Collier, The University of Melbourne

• Stewart Andrew Leech, The University of Melbourne

• Jake Rose, Bentley University

• Steve G Sutton, University of Central Florida