The view from inside: Employee perceptions of the large professional services firms

Abstract

This paper presents narrative data collected from seniors and managers/senior managers of five international professional services firms. Participants voluntarily wrote comments on the face of a survey instrument that collected objective format data. Comments discuss a variety of aspects of the work environment. This study provides a view of the accounting workplace that focuses on individual perceptions and experiences. The narrative data is organized into categories addressing the nature of the job, compensation, organizational culture and personal sacrifice. Overall, the environment portrayed by the individual comments is one perceived by the respondents to be difficult and challenging: too much work, insufficient rewards, lack of appreciation, limited control by the individual, and poor-quality management. The paper discusses the comments and relates them to contemporary events, theory and research.

Citation

Hooks, K.L. and Thomas, P.B. (2002), "The view from inside: Employee perceptions of the large professional services firms", Lehman, C.R. (Ed.) Mirrors and Prisms Interrogating Accounting (Advances in Public Interest Accounting, Vol. 9), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 65-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1041-7060(02)09007-7