Managing the Offshoring of Audit Work

Description

The offshoring of external audit work to so-called low-cost countries is prevalent among the Big 4 professional services firms. Despite this, our understanding of how this form of offshoring influences audit practitioners and the audit process is limited. This course examines how and why offshoring emerged as an organizational matter that changed the way audit work is organized in a Big 4 firm context. Study findings demonstrate how changes in the design of offshoring processes influence interactions between onshore and offshore auditors. We'll: Uncover how individual ``boundary spanners'' struggle to coordinate audit work across the multiple boundaries that separate onshore and offshore auditors. Show how the institutionalization of ``boundary spanning'' functions in organizational structures and processes can have the unintended consequence of widening the boundaries between onshore and offshore auditors. Offer evidence of the effect of offshoring on the learning process of onshore and offshore auditors.

Objectives

• Apply boundary-spanning strategies in offshoring contexts to enhance coordination between onshore and offshore auditors within Big 4 firms. • Evaluate how changes in offshoring processes impact the structure of Big 4 firms, specifically examining their influence on audit team interactions and effectiveness. • Analyze the effects of offshoring on the learning experiences of onshore and offshore auditors within Big 4 firms, proposing methods to improve collaborative learning despite organizational boundaries.