An investigation of organizational-professional conflict in management accounting

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1987
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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Abstract

A number of behavioral studies have suggested that, where professionals are employed in bureaucratic organizations, there can be serious conflicts between the norms of one’s profession and those of one’s employing organization. Known as organizational-professional conflict (OPC), this conflict has been associated with dysfunctional organizational outcomes, including increased turnover and decreased job satisfaction among professional employees. Previous studies of this phenomenon have been performed with respect to several professions, including public accounting and internal auditing, as well as engineering and other non-accounting professions. Until now, however, the antecedents and consequences of OPC have not been studied in the emerging profession of management accounting.

Questionnaires were mailed to 599 members of the National Association of Accountants. A 47-percent response provided a usable sample of 281, of whom 201 are management accountants. Variables measured included organizational commitment, professional commitment, and conflict between accountants and their supervisors regarding the professional status of management accounting (SSCON), which are hypothesized antecedents of OPC; OPC itself; and job satisfaction and turnover intent, which are hypothesized consequents of OPC.

The correlation and regression models depicting the hypotheses were supported by the data, and all were significant at alpha=0.05, with the relationships · i in the predicted direction. A path model, which depicts hypothesized relationships as causal linkages was constructed and tested. The model was supported by the data: OPC explained 16 percent of the variance in turnover intent for non·CMAs, 23 percent for CMAS; and it explained 15 percent of the variance in job satisfaction for non-CMAS, ll percent for CMAS.

The hypothesized antecedents of OPC explained 38 percent of the variance in OPC for non·CMAs, 45 percent for CMAS. The variable SSCON, which has not appeared in previous studies, was a significant predictor of OPC (p = 0.004) for CMAS, but it was not significant (p = 0.059) for non-CMAS. The most important predictor of OPC turned out to be organizational commitment, which was highly significant for both groups: p < 0.0001 for non-CMAS, and p = 0.0002 for CMAS.

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