Auditor and auditee engagement with public sector performance audit: An institutional logics perspective
Corresponding Author
Lee D. Parker
School of Accounting, RMIT University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Adam Smith School of Business, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Correspondence
Lee D. Parker, School of Accounting, RMIT University, c/o 100 Gover Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia.
Email: lee.parker@rmit.edu.au
Search for more papers by this authorJana Schmitz
School of Accounting, RMIT University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Department of Policy and Advocacy, CPA Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorKerry Jacobs
School of Business, UNSW Canberra, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Lee D. Parker
School of Accounting, RMIT University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Adam Smith School of Business, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Correspondence
Lee D. Parker, School of Accounting, RMIT University, c/o 100 Gover Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia.
Email: lee.parker@rmit.edu.au
Search for more papers by this authorJana Schmitz
School of Accounting, RMIT University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Department of Policy and Advocacy, CPA Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorKerry Jacobs
School of Business, UNSW Canberra, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
In the context of contemporary public sector performance audit practice in Australia, this study provides significant insights into performance auditors’ and auditees’ apparent logics and attitudes to performance audits. Employing a documentary analysis and in-depth semistructured interviews with senior audit leaders from all Australian Auditor-General jurisdictions, performance auditors’ and auditees’ attitudes toward performance audits and their intentions, strategies, and responses were explored through the lens of institutional logics. Empirical evidence reveals that performance auditors’ logics have gradually moved toward greater stakeholder engagement with auditees, parliamentarians, and the media, while preserving their performance audit prerogatives. Auditees appear to become more receptive to performance auditors’ engagement strategies and consultation attempts if auditors maintain a collaborative attitude. Both parties occasionally apply bridging and buffering strategies in situations where their logics are not aligned with those of the other stakeholder group. This study discovered that competing logics held by performance auditors and auditees are in some respects drawn closer together, while differences nonetheless co-exist, although often in an uneasy partnership.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
All documentary data are publicly available in published reports. Interview transcripts are held under confidentiality agreements with all interviewees.
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