The effect of auditing firms' tone at the top on auditors' job autonomy, organizational‐professional conflict, and job satisfaction

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between auditors' perception of their firm's tone at the top and attributes of their professional environment and their job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach - Research hypotheses are developed based on prior research including research on social judgment theory. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data collected through a survey of auditors. Findings - The results show that the tone at the top affects job autonomy and organizational‐professional conflict. Each of these variables directly or indirectly affects job satisfaction. This paper also provides evidence that the tone at the top filters down to at least the senior rank. Research limitations/implications - Limitations include the usual caveats associated with the survey method. Notwithstanding these limitations, the results suggest that a tone at the top that emphasizes audit effectiveness may not only improve the quality of today's audits, but by improving job satisfaction have long‐term benefits for audit firms' culture. Originality/value - This paper empirically measures “tone at the top” and it shows that a tone at the top emphasis on audit effectiveness is consistent with auditors' own professionalism and may not only improve the quality of today's audits, but by improving job satisfaction have long‐term benefits for audit firms' culture.