《（2002）an innovation characteristics approach to the study of the adoption of continuous assurance.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《（2002）an innovation characteristics approach to the study of the adoption of continuous assurance.doc（21页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、、Presentation to the 5th Continuous Assurance Symposium, November 2002Mary B. CurtisDepartment of AccountingUniversity of North TexasOctober 30, 2002Because this is a proposal for future research, please do not reference, quote or employ without the authors permission. Your comments and suggestions
2、are gratefully accepted. 11An Innovation Characteristics Approach to theStudy of the Adoption of Continuous AssuranceStill in its infancy, very little continuous auditing is currently conducted. Possible explanations include difficulties in analyzing costs and benefits of this approach for those who
3、 might adopt CA, technological difficulties in implementing CA, lack of or unidentified demand for CA, or perceptions of excessive litigation risk if it doesnt perform as expected or needed. I contend that most of these problems are due to a shortage of information about CA in the business world, an
4、d most importantly, the auditing profession. It is thought that the push to adopt continuous auditing could come from any of three different parties: The Securities and Exchange Commission could make CA a legal requirement in order to reduce audit lag, external users such as analysts and suppliers c
5、ould require access to CA reports as a condition of doing business with the organization, or auditors could initiate the use of CA as a way to facilitate and enhance their fiduciary duties. It is my belief that, while CA is in its infancy, regulators and users are not likely to take the drastic step
6、 of demanding a particular audit approach. Instead, the initiative must come from auditors, both internal and external. Thus, in order for CA to move from infancy to common practice, it must first gain auditors acceptance. If auditors assert that CA is both possible and necessary, I believe the inno
7、vation will be successful. However, as with any technological advance, this acceptance will be a gradual process, initiated by a few who then demonstrate its benefits toward an eventual wider acceptance. Therefore, the first steps in the evolution of CA must be taken by those who are herein called “
8、innovators” - individuals who identify a new solution to an existing problem and actively promote its implementation. The research study proposed here is designed to examine the decision process whereby an individual auditor would chose to become an innovator, by promoting continuous audit to their
9、organization. The theory regarding the determinants of innovation is discussed in the next section and a proposed experimental design follows.PRIOR RESEARCHTHEORETICAL FOUNDATIONThe theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein 1980; Jackson et al. 1997) is employed to guide the develop
10、ment of a model which will predict individual auditors promotion of continuous auditing (Exhibit 1). The theory is based on the notion that behavior achievement depends jointly on motivation (intention) and ability to act (behavioral control). Intention is assumed to capture the motivational factors
11、 of attitude toward the behavior, the subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. The justification for asserting that intentions lead to actions is that, to the extent that a person has the required opportunities and resources (perceived behavioral control), and intends to perform a behavior
12、, then it is likely that he or she will perform that behavior. Ajzen (1991) cites numerous studies reporting strong correlations between intent to perform an act and actual performance of that behavior.Each of these components is discussed in more detail below. Ajzen states that perceived behavioral
13、 control is most compatible with Banduras (1977) concepts of self-efficacy, including an individuals confidence in their ability to perform and in their organizations ability to support the performance. Thus, the factors described below as Individual Inclination to Innovate and Organizational Orient
14、ation Toward Innovation represent the individuals perceived behavioral control. The attitude toward the behavior, referring to the degree to which a person has a favorable appraisal of the behavior in question, is addressed by the Experience Characteristics and Level and Importance of Assurance fact
15、ors. Subjective norm is addressed in this model through the Innovation Characteristics of the technology.This and similar theories have been employed to address technology acceptance. For example, Karahana et al. (1999) asserted that the key constructs in an innovation decision process are the innov
16、ations perceived attributes, the key decision makers individual attitude and beliefs, and communications received by the individual from his/her social and business environment about the innovation and innovation in general. The constructs discussed previously can be mapped to Karahana et al.s theory as follows: the innovations perceived attributes are repr
