Balancing the Dual Responsibilities of Business Unit Controllers: Field and Survey Evidence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Maas, Victor S.; Matejka, Michal
• 署名单位: University of Amsterdam; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
• 刊物名称: ACCOUNTING REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4826
• DOI: 10.2308/accr.2009.84.4.1233
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 1233-1253
• 关键词: role-conflict; nonaudit services; auditor independence; data manipulation; ROLE AMBIGUITY; Meta-analysis; management; INFORMATION; creation; SLACK

摘要

We examine how business unit (BU) controllers balance their dual roles of providing information for both local decision-making (local responsibility) and corporate control (functional responsibility). The existing literature suggests that organizations can improve the quality of financial reporting and internal controls by increasing the emphasis on the functional responsibility of BU controllers. In this study, we rely on prior literature and insights from field interviews to argue that such an increase also leads to role ambiguity and conflict, which in turn can lead to an increased tolerance of data misreporting. We test our predictions using survey responses of 134 BU controllers. As predicted, we find that the emphasis on the functional responsibility of BU controllers is positively associated with role conflict and role ambiguity, both of which are related to data misreporting at the BU level.