Date of Graduation
2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
College of Business and Economics
Department
Economics
Committee Chair
Barbara A Apostolou
Committee Co-Chair
Naomi E Boyd
Committee Member
Jack W Dorminey
Committee Member
Ludwig C Schaupp
Abstract
One way of maintaining the quality of an accounting firm's practice is for its professionals to speak up when violation of policies and procedures is perceived or observed. Accounting firms operate as a high performance workplace, which can produce an abusive supervisory environment. I employ a quasi-experimental methodology to explore how accountants respond to a violation of policies and procedures when an abusive supervisor is present. I examine how the presence of a mentoring relationship independent of the supervisory assignment influences the protege's willingness to voice a perceived violation. The findings indicate that abusive supervisory behaviors suppress voicing behaviors of professionals. However, the mentor relationship does not influence voicing intentions in this case. Additionally, the mentor relationship does not moderate the abusive supervision voicing relationship. I contribute to both the accounting, management, and psychology literatures by demonstrating that abusive supervision lowers voicing, which can compromise quality in an accounting context.
Recommended Citation
Festa, Mackenzie Michael, "An Investigation of Factors Affecting Willingness to 'Introduce the Elephant in the Room'" (2017). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 5595.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/5595