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The accounting professional of the future : never mind the quality check the look! Jackling, Beverley and Watty, Kim 2010, The accounting professional of the future : never mind the quality check the look!, International journal of critical accounting, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 170-190. Title The accounting professional of the future : never mind the quality check the look! Author(s) Jackling, Beverley Watty, Kim Journal name International journal of critical accounting Volume number 2 Issue number 2 Start page 170 End page 190 Publisher Inderscience Place of publication Olney, England Publication date 2010 ISSN 1757-9848 Keyword(s) public interest graduate skills stakeholders legitimacy theory organisational culture professionalism accounting profession critical accounting recruitment practices society expectations responsibilities professional accountants Summary Using legitimacy theory this paper contrasts the values portrayed by public accounting firms via their recruitment practices and society's expectations of the responsibilities of a professional accountant. Society confers on organisations legitimacy when the value system of the organisation is congruent with the value system of the larger social system (Deegan, 2006). It is argued that there is increasing incongruence between the value system of public accounting firms (that employ accounting graduates) and society's value system that includes an expectation of accountants to act in the public interest. This study draws on evidence from recent corporate collapses, to question whether the attributes/skills displayed by accountants have reduced their capacity to act in the public interest. Interviews with employers show that preferences for employment are given to graduates who 'fit the culture' of the organisation and have the ability to 'market' the firm to clients. Attributes that define the professional accountant appear to be less highly valued. It is concluded that the attributes valued in the workplace today have the potential to increase the risk of 'severing the social contract' between the accounting profession and society. Language eng Field of Research 150199 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 970114 Expanding Knowledge in Economics HERDC Research category C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2010, Inderscience Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30032663 Document type: Journal Article Collections: School of Accounting, Economics and Finance Higher Education Research Group Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Mon, 14 Feb 2011, 09:22:54 EST Mon, 14 Feb 2011, 09:27:11 EST Mon, 14 Feb 2011, 09:27:59 EST Thu, 04 Aug 2011, 09:36:22 EST Thu, 04 Aug 2011, 09:38:56 EST Filtered Full Access Statistics: 347 Abstract Views, 0 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 14 Feb 2011, 09:22:53 EST by Leanne Swaneveld

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