Profit sharing in the Big 8 firms: Accommodating the rainmakers

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Supplementary material

Other Title

Authors

Beechey, John
Baskerville-Morley, Rachel

Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)

Degree

Grantor

Date

2003-12

Supervisors

Type

Conference Contribution - Oral Presentation

Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)

Keyword

accounting firm management
income allocation
accounting partnerships

Citation

Baskerville-Morley, R., & Beechey, J. (2003, December). Profit sharing in the Big 8 firms: Accommodating the rainmakers. Paper presented at the 2nd Annual Auckland Regional Accounting Conference, Auckland.

Abstract

Further to a consideration of existing research on income allocation processes in CA partnerships, this report answers the questions: how was income allocated in the Big 8 and their predecessor firms in New Zealand, and why is stability for income allocation systems compromised by the need for these systems to accommodate the 'rainmakers'? The narratives of the views of survey and oral history interviewees participants on income allocation is complemented by a case study comparing and contrasting two firm changes, illustrated by partner narratives from two firms: Coopers & Lybrand and Deloittes Haskins Sells. The variety of income allocation models is attributed to the necessity for partners to undertake multiple roles in each partnership: "professional firms live or die by the rainmakers". It will be suggested that the previous advocacy of agency perspectives and theory of the firm theoretical perspectives do not provide a close fit with the data from this study. Instead, a population ecology approach (as adopted in organisational theory) is invoked to explain the constant flux in the choice of income allocation models in accounting partnerships

Publisher

Link to ePress publication

DOI

Copyright holder

Authors

Copyright notice

All rights reserved

Copyright license

Available online at