Knowledge transfer among experts: lessons from audit partner rotation Online publication date: Fri, 10-Apr-2015
by Brian Daugherty; Denise Dickins; Julia Higgs
International Journal of Corporate Governance (IJCG), Vol. 3, No. 2/3/4, 2012
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.
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