Artificial intelligence (AI) is a significant challenge for the professions (e.g. auditing, consulting, engineering and law) as techniques hold great promise for improving effectiveness and efficiency of engagement performance, but techniques also pose challenges based on current technologies. Our research focuses on using AI embedded Hierarchical Team Intelligent Systems (HTIS). Engagements are completed traditionally with teams including novices (staff/seniors) and experienced/experts (partners/managers), but contemporary AI systems are designed for individual use. We propose a strategy for implementing AI in teams addressing several critical issues: novices with limited knowledge needing to input quality data, evidence that novices become less skilled when using AI, concerns over unexplainable AI and how to allow partners/managers to understand how decisions are formulated, and complexities over documenting AI inputs and decisions. Design recommendations provide potential solutions for these concerns, and behavioural testing with professionals supports the robustness of the various solution components in our design.

This chapter first explores the viability of using students as participants in research. While students may not be applicable for studies that emphasize external validity, they may be preferred as participants for experimental studies where internal validity is the dominant concern and participants do not need specialized expertise. A number of issues are raised in this chapter and should be carefully considered when making the decision of whether student participants are acceptable and desirable. This chapter also explores the increasing availability and use of online participants. Since the dominant source of online participants is MTurk, the focus herein is on the extensive body of research that examines validity and reliability issues of online participants obtained via that system. This research demonstrates that online participants have proven to be as good as or even better than student participants and general adult populations. This review is critical as a frequent concern posed to researchers using online participant pools relate to the quality, validity and reliability of the data. Contrary to common perceptions, data obtained from online participants have actually proven to be of very high quality – including high validity and reliability.

Recent calls in the information systems research community argue that we know intelligent systems deskill users, and future research should focus on how to design systems that do not deskill, rather than continue to examine whether the phenomenon occurs. This should be a wakeup call for public accounting firms focused on implementing restrictive audit support systems, which leads to de-skilling of novice accounting professionals. Our research focuses on redesigning knowledge-based systems to facilitate expertise development and counteract the deskilling effects that result from use of such systems. Specifically, we manipulate the design of the system interface by providing information cues in a screen format consistent with expert knowledge representations and manipulate automatic provision versus voluntary use of explanations for users during task completion. Results show that after using the knowledge-based system to complete a series of reenacted client engagements over a three-day period, both the interface design manipulation and automatic provision of explanations had a 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.

The Theory of Technology Dominance (TTD) provides a theoretical foundation for understanding how intelligent systems impact human decision-making. The theory has three phases with propositions related to (1) the foundations of reliance, (2) short-term effects on novice versus expert decision-making, and (3) long-term epistemological effects related to individual deskilling and profession-wide stagnation. In this theory paper, we propose an extension of TTD, that we refer to as TTD2, primarily to increase our theoretical understanding of how, why, and when the short-term and long-term effects on decision-making occur and why advances in technology design have exacerbated some weaknesses and eroded some benefits. Recently, researchers have called for reconsideration of how we design intelligent systems to mitigate the detrimental effects of technology; in TTD2 we provide a theory-based understanding for capturing the complexity underlying the occurrence of the effects.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the presence of a value statement (an informal control) alters the effect of differing financial incentives (a formal control) in an environment consisting of both rewarded and unrewarded tasks. Results show that under fixed pay, the presence of a value statement motivates performance on important but unrewarded discretionary tasks. Conversely, under piece-rate compensation, value statements negatively influence performance on unrewarded discretionary tasks. In contemporary work environments, where such discretionary tasks are common and important to organisational effectiveness, these results suggest that informal controls can have an important role in performance outcomes.

The Theory of Technology Dominance (TTD) provides a theoretical foundation for understanding how intelligent systems impact human decision-making. The theory has three phases with propositions related to (1) the foundations of reliance, (2) short-term effects on novice versus expert decision-making, and (3) long-term epistemological effects related to individual deskilling and profession-wide stagnation. In this theory paper, we propose an extension of TTD, that we refer to as TTD2, primarily to increase our theoretical understanding of how, why, and when the short-term and long-term effects on decision-making occur and why advances in technology design have exacerbated some weaknesses and eroded some benefits. Recently, researchers have called for reconsideration of how we design intelligent systems to mitigate the detrimental effects of technology; in TTD2 we provide a theory-based understanding for reimagining how such systems are designed.

Public sector reforms have led to risk management gaining prominence as a means for effective service delivery and a tool for accountability. The public sector has seen regulatory changes intended to empower managers to engage in appropriate risk management practices. The authors present a framework for effective enterprise-level risk management in public sector organizations. The framework includes three essential enablers of risk management and provides conceptualizations for guiding future empirical research. IMPACT This article addresses an important public sector management issue-what and how organizational capabilities can be mobilized for effective deployment of enterprise risk management (ERM) in public sector organizations. The authors present a framework providing insights to public sector managers for enhancing risk management practices

PurposeRecent research and policy reports indicate public sector organizations struggle to leverage information technology-based performance measurement systems and fail to effectively evaluate performance beyond financial metrics. This study aims to focus on organizational factors that influence the assimilation of business intelligence (BI) systems into integrated management control systems and the corollary impact on improving business process performance within public sector organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe complete Australian client list was acquired from a leading BI vendor; and the authors surveyed all public sector organizations, receiving 226 individual responses representing 160 public sector organizations in Australia. Using latent construct measurement, structural equation modeling (SEM)-partial least squares is used to test the theoretical model.FindingsWhen top management promotes knowledge creation among the organization’s operational level employees and support their activities with strong BI infrastructure, the same knowledge and infrastructure capabilities that are critical to assimilation in private sector hold in the public sector. However, public sector organizations generally have difficulty retaining staff with expertise in new technologies and attracting new innovative staff that can leverage smart systems to effect major change in performance measurement. When top management effectively manages knowledge importation from external entities to counteract deficiencies, public sector organizations effectively assimilate BI knowledge into performance measurement yielding strong process performance.Research limitations/implicationsWhen top management promotes knowledge creation among the organization’s operational level employees and support their activities with strong BI infrastructure, the same knowledge and infrastructure capabilities critical to assimilation in the private sector hold in the public sector. However, public sector organizations generally have difficulty retaining staff with expertise in new technologies and attracting new innovative staff that can leverage smart systems to effect major change in performance measurement. The research extends the theory behind organizational absorptive capacity by highlighting how knowledge importation can be used as an external source facilitating internal knowledge creation. This collaborative knowledge creation leads to affective assimilation of BI technologies and associated performance gains.Practical implicationsThe results provide guidance to public sector organizations that struggle to measure and validate service outcomes under New Public Management regulations and mandates.Originality/valueThe results reveal that consistent with the philosophies behind New Public Management strategies, private sector measures for increasing organizational absorptive capacity can be applied in the public sector. However, knowledge importation appears to be a major catalyst in the public sector where the resources to retain skilled professionals with an ability to leverage contemporary technologies into service performance are often very limited. Top management team knowledge and skills are critical to effectively leveraging these internal and external knowledge creation mechanisms.

For over two decades, information systems researchers have grappled with defining what constitutes good design science research. With too many older papers simply documenting the development of systems without a clear message of the contribution to science, design science fell out of favor with the information systems discipline. With the emergence of intelligent systems and the re-shaping of knowledge work, substantial effort has recently focused on articulating what constitutes a design science research contribution. In recent years, however, the discussion on the role of behavioral theory and behavioral research in complementing design science research has faded away. In this paper, we argue for a broader view on the synergies of behavioral and design science research with an emphasis on the greater role that behavioral science can take in shaping and validating design science research and motivating future research. We use the INSOLVE program of research as a proof of concept for how this synergistic relationship can be leveraged.

ABSTRACT Recognizing the need for effective cyber risk management processes across the supply chain, the AICPA issued a new SOC in March 2020 for assuring cyber supply chain risk management (C-SCRM) processes. This study examines supply chain relationship factors and cyber risk issues to better understand the demand for C-SCRM assurance. Resource-Advantage Theory of Competition provides the conceptual foundation for assessing the dual drivers of relationship building and cyber risk management on demand for assurance. We use a field survey to collect data from 205 professionals enabling evaluation of the complex relationships in the theoretical model. Results support all hypotheses, provide satisfactory model fit, and support the underlying theory. Trust and cyber supply chain risk both positively influence demand for assurance over C-SCRM processes. This study expands the literature on cyber assurance by auditors and elaborates on overall supply chain processes that help drive value from auditors providing such assurance.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the interactive effects of integrated information systems (IIS) and business intelligence (BI)-enabled management control system (MCS) lead to the assimilation of integrated management control information into business processes and whether this assimilation enhances organisational performance. Data were gathered through a large survey and included 419 senior and middle managers representing 347 Australian organisations. The respondents were from organisations that use a single international vendor’s BI software designed to provide integrated MCS capability. As hypothesised, the results confirm the positive influence of the interaction between IIS and BI-enabled MCS on assimilation of integrated management control information at the business process level, the positive relationship between business process level assimilation and business process performance, and finally the positive relationship between business process performance and overall organisational performance. The results also show that the interaction term has a significant indirect relationship with business process improvement and organisational performance.

Strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS) are employed by senior management as a means of translating strategy into performance measures. Recent research suggests that this translation can lead managers to focus on personal performance measures as opposed to overall organizational strategy—a phenomenon referred to as strategy surrogation. Emerging technologies are increasingly used to operationalize SPMS via smart phone/tablet/laptop formats that inherently promote the use of small subsets of performance measures and have the potential to exacerbate strategy surrogation effects. This study explores executive managers' motivations in deploying dashboards and the resulting effect on operational managers' focus on associated performance measures. An exploratory cross-sectional field study is conducted with 27 executive to mid-level managers to establish a theoretical model explaining how and why organizations deploy dashboards and why managers use dashboards to facilitate their activities and decisions. Despite concerns over the propensity of managers to focus on performance measures and lose sight of strategic objectives (i.e. strategy surrogation), the interview data indicate that executive management intentionally designs dashboards to achieve strategy surrogation. The impact of this intentional surrogation appears to arise through operational managers' beliefs that dashboard measures align with organizational strategy and lead to improved managerial and organizational performance. However, this relationship between perceived alignment of performance measures and managerial and organizational performance is mediated by dashboard quality and information quality. These findings have important implications as the effects of SPMS on strategy surrogation are further explored by researchers, and as system designers consider the side effects of emerging technologies on effective strategic performance measurement.

Based on a cross-sectional field study, Reinking et al. (2019) propose a complex theoretical model for understanding the characteristics of dashboards that promote use and lead to individual and organizational performance gains. This study tests the theoretical model using survey data collected from 323 middle and upper level managers with experience using corporate dashboards. The data were analyzed using components based structural equation modeling, and the results provide strong support for the external validity of the Reinking et al. (2019) theoretical model. The results show that two primary constructs, strategy alignment and interactive management control, are important factors impacting the extent of dashboard use, perceived managerial performance, and perceived organizational performance. Prior research has expressed concerns over the tendency of managers to lose sight of strategic objectives (i.e., strategy surrogation) and focus solely on performance measures. However, our results indicate that operational managers perceive that dashboards focused on specifically tailored KPIs lead to both improved managerial and organizational performance. This study contributes to management control and strategy research in two important ways. While prior research has examined strategy in the executive level context through evaluations, changes, or initiative implementations, this study investigates strategy alignment at the operational levels of the organization. Second, the results suggest that intentional strategy surrogation may have beneficial effects at the lower operational levels in an organization.

ABSTRACTThis study extends recent research on the interaction of formal and informal controls that may create divergence between economic self-interest and social norms consistent with organizational belongingness. We use a sequence of two experiments to explore the interactive effects of performance incentives and a contemporary value statement promoting organizational belongingness. Experiment 1 focuses on the moderating effect of a general value statement, showing that a value statement increases (decreases) productivity associated with fixed pay (piece-rate) incentives. Experiment 2 further extends the work on value statements by reinforcing the value statement to increase the statement's saliency with employees. The results of the second experiment confirm that enhancing the saliency of the value statement through active delivery increases its moderating effect on productivity. On an overall basis, the results support our theorized disordinal interaction between formal and informal controls. Most notably, a value statement enhances productivity when incentivizing employees using fixed pay.

In an era where the pace of change continues to escalate, behavioural research provides an ongoing avenue for explaining the likely effects of emergent changes on decision-making by providers, users and assurers of accounting information, and for providing ex ante enlightenment for policy-makers. The purpose of this discussion is to identify contemporary changes affecting the accounting environment, discuss the potential impact to individual and organisational decision-making, and explore how behavioural research can be utilised to examine these changes. Specifically, this discussion focuses on the impact that technological changes have had on financial reporting, external auditing and managerial accounting, with an eye towards the potential for these changes to radically alter the future of accounting and auditing research.

With the rapid advances in data analytics, machine learning, and continuous monitoring along with other related advances in artificial intelligence-based technologies, our solution as researchers to many of today's business problems increasingly becomes one of, "Can I fix the problem through automation?" However, as we find that artificial intelligence increasingly provides us with the power to replace knowledge workers with automated systems, rarely is the question asked, "Should we automate knowledge work?" There are a host of questions that should be addressed including (1) whether automation is the most effective solution, (2) if there are ethical dilemmas associated with replacing the human element, and (3) if there are societal implications of displacing large numbers of knowledge workers. The focus of this discussion is on understanding the impact of knowledge-based systems on human users' knowledge acquisition and retention and outlining an alternative research strategy that centers more on transferring knowledge to the user during the work production process in order to maintain human expertise and relevance in professional decision making. Contemporary research still argues that human-computer collaboration may outperform either on their own; but, to limit the deskilling effect of knowledge-based systems and alternatively promote skill development, we call upon academic researchers to seek better ways to keep the human relevant in a broad range of knowledge work fields. Further, we suggest that expanding the philosophical discussions of the ethics of artificial intelligence-based technologies and the corollary impact on the rapid decline of the professions is necessary.

This paper proposes a reinterpretation of the agency of information system (IS) as relational. It explores how the agency of IS has been articulated in the extant stream of accounting information system (AIS) research and explains how a relational view of agency can enhance our understanding of IS in its organizational context. This reinterpretation highlights the limitation of viewing IS as technology (technocentric view) with predefined functionality and predictable effects. Attention is also shifted away from an anthropocentric conceptualization of IS; where the technology is seen as a tool and agency is attributed only to humans. We argue in the paper that both the technocentric and anthropocentric views of IS limit what can be learned about the agency of IS. Drawing on actor-network theory (ANT), this study conceptualizes IS as a relational network and proposes a relational view of the agency of IS. This relational view suggests that the social and material entities that make up IS have no absolute essence when viewed in isolation; rather, their collective force defines the agency of IS. The implications of the relational view of agency for AIS research are also highlighted.