SUBORDINATE PARTICIPATION IN AUDIT BUDGETING DECISIONS - A COMPARISONOF DECISIONS INFLUENCED BY ORGANIZATIONAL-FACTORS TO DECISIONS CONFORMING WITH THE VROOM-JAGO MODEL

This study examines the role of subordinate participation in the effec tiveness of audit hours budget decisions in accounting firms. The stud y compares decisions influenced by organizational factors (such as org anizational policies or the preferences of the superior) to decisions that conform to the Vroom-Jago (VJ) model. Our results indicate that a ctual level of participation used in budget decisions appears to be ba sed primarily on perceived preferences of superiors and participation styles available under the circumstances of the individual audit. Howe ver, results also indicate that decisions consistent with the Vroom-Ja go model are characterized by higher decision quality and increased su bordinate development. Since managers are apparently reluctant to use decision styles that conflict with organizational factors, accounting firms may wish to gather information regarding the attributes of the d ecision context and use the VJ model to establish their available deci sion styles and determine the preferences of superiors. Doing so has t he advantage of considering decision-specific attributes while enhanci ng the probability of manager compliance with a desired decision style .