Defense Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Business
First Advisor
Dr. Lindsay Andiola
Second Advisor
Dr. Alisa Brink
Third Advisor
Dr. T. Bowe Hansen
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Mayoor Mohan
Fifth Advisor
Dr. Kimberly Westermann
Abstract
Just five years ago I was working as an Audit Manager in person (in the office or at the client site), amongst each of my subordinates, which made common work practices like knowledge sharing, responding to questions, and building team morale easy. Since then, remote work has become the new norm, which has significantly changed the communication dynamics between supervisors and subordinates. This dissertation is my personal pursuit to understanding how supervisor and subordinate auditors are currently interacting to achieve desired work outcomes, and identifying specific areas where challenges may exist. I accomplish this objective through four papers, including a literature review, two qualitative interview analyses, and an experiment. The literature review synthesizes audit literature examining contextual factors affecting downward communication between supervisors and subordinates. The qualitative papers provide an in-depth analysis of how communication between supervisor and subordinate auditors unfolds in the remote audit environment. In particular, the first qualitative paper examines the specific types of computer-mediated communication (e.g., video calls, email, instant messaging) that support interactions between supervisors and subordinates, and their perceptions of each medium. The second qualitative paper is an interpretive piece leveraging self-determination and communication accommodation theories to understand how supervisors and subordinates use communication to meet work goals when working remotely. The final paper is an experiment investigating two communication strategies (supervisor expression and psychological ownership) supervisors may strategically use to motivate subordinates’ proactivity in the remote audit environment.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-5-2024