Managing Quality Control System Changes: How Audit Firm Leaders Experience and Navigate Conflicting Institutional Demands
通过对27位审计事务所质量控制体系领导者的访谈，研究他们如何应对体系变革中的内部冲突，发现领导者通过寻求部分遵从或改变需求框架来应对矛盾，对审计实务和监管有参考价值。
ABSTRACT Although rapidly evolving, quality control (QC) systems are a poorly understood determinant of audit quality. We interview 27 QC system leaders to understand how they navigate the challenges they face in changing QC systems. We find that many challenges—including obtaining buy-in, evaluating costs and benefits, and advancing proactive over reactive changes—are caused by conflicting demands arising internally. Consistent with institutional theory, our data reveal that leaders respond to conflicting demands by seeking partial conformity (e.g., negotiating among stakeholders) or by altering the framing of the demands (e.g., using scientific logic to legitimize a QC change). Interviews of eight QC system users complement and corroborate our main results and suggest opportunities for future research. Our study sheds light on how firms update QC systems and informs practitioners, regulators, and academics of the forces that shape the evolution of QC systems. Data Availability: Our data are not publicly available to preserve participant anonymity.