Audit Resource Planning Success in B2B E-Commerce: Development and Testing of a Measurement Scale

Abstract

The e-commerce audit engagement scenario makes audit resource planning (ARP) an activity full of technological complexities. These complexities generally involve both e-commerce technologies and enterprise information integration, putting real pressure on the audit organization's scarce human and financial resources. However, the success (or effectiveness) of such complex audit resource planning activity is not well understood or easily measured. This paper attempts to develop and diagnostically test measurement scales using classical measurement development framework and contemporary structural equation modeling methods.

This study is motivated by prior studies in the conventional (non e-commerce) audit resource planning, and audit-planning domain published in the accounting and management information systems discipline. The prior studies suggest that audit resource planning in a B2B (business-to-business) e-commerce engagement is a multi dimensional construct consisting of four latent dimensions. The four latent dimensions of ARP success are reflected through several manifest variables obtained from various relevant studies.

The results confirm that audit resource planning success is operationalizable as a measurement scale with the four dimensions. The results of the study are tools for benchmarking future efforts by audit organizations. Accounting scholars can also use this study as a base for operationalizing audit resource planning success as a key dependent variable in future research.

Keywords:

• electronic commerce (e-commerce)
• audit resource planning
• auditing
• assurance

Notes

1. This group was comprised of two US universities based academic scholars who had more than 20 years of research and professional experience in IS auditing aspects holding professional certifications in public accounting and IS auditing and having published related researches in the Accounting Review/Journal of Accounting Research and MIS Quarterly (a pre-condition for selection). In addition, ten professionals from the industry had minimum fifteen years of IS audit experience and held significant positions in industry and associations of auditors. All had professional credentials and have had experience of audit and consulting in B2B e-commerce environment in North America.

2. Q-sorting technique helps in identifying a priori the potential understanding of the items of the instrument. Here either an expert panel or a group of potential respondents are provided with the information about the constructs and the items of that construct to identify whether those match correctly or not. This exercise substantially improves the content validity a priori of the instrument where new scales are being developed. Given the limited empirical work done in the area of e-commerce auditing, this technique was used as a means of precisely defining the theorized construct space of ARP success.

3. These five professional bodies were personally contacted at the level of senior management, as these associations are have membership involved in e-commerce audit in general and B2B audit in particular. Particularly AICPA and CICA are extremely active in this field of audit.