Title: Knowledge transfer among experts: lessons from audit partner rotation

Authors: Brian Daugherty; Denise Dickins; Julia Higgs

Addresses: Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, P.O. Box 742, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0742, USA ' Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, P.O. Box 742, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0742, USA ' Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, P.O. Box 742, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0742, USA

Abstract: Given the complexity of the transfer of tacit knowledge, the presence of robust knowledge transfer practices are particularly critical when experts transfer knowledge to other experts (e.g., when companies newly-appoint members of the board of directors, or during the succession of key executives). Accounting firms are unique in that in many jurisdictions partners assigned to audit publicly-traded companies are mandated to periodically rotate their client engagement responsibilities, and these rotations in the US have become more frequent following passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The purpose of this study is to learn more about the knowledge transfer practices of partner-experts in public accounting firms to better understand this critical element of the audit process. As similar between-expert knowledge transfer techniques may be appropriate for use in other business contexts, lessons learned from audit partner rotation may help to mitigate knowledge transfer risks in other organisations.

Keywords: knowledge transfer; accounting firms; management strategy; Sarbanes-Oxley Act; audit partner rotation; audit quality; auditing; tacit knowledge; client engagement responsibilities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCG.2012.051877

International Journal of Corporate Governance, 2012 Vol.3 No.2/3/4, pp.210 - 224

Published online: 10 Apr 2015 *

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