Research suggests that professional expertise may be viewed as an attribute of an accounting firm rather than just an attribute of individual experts. One research paper constructs a model that leads to the identification of three strategies applicable to accounting firms. A Knowledge firm develops and sells proprietary knowledge to a selective clientele, whereas a Full Service firm develops and sells general professional knowledge to a broad clientele. A Relationship firm is in-between the other two firm types.
Associations are hypothesized between these strategies and a
variety of firm activities such as client selection, diffusion (or
concentration) of expertise within the firm, sharing of expertise within the
firm, and formalization of quality control processes. A questionnaire was
completed by 219 audit and tax partners and consulting, insolvency and forensic
accounting principals in 15 public accounting firms.
The results are consistent with the existence of three
distinct types of firms. The results also indicate that partners are aware of
local pressures that they personally face (such as the need to sell more services
to clients) and less aware of the effect of broad structural features of the
firm (such as size and decision aids). The key structural features that are
salient to partners involve the need for selectivity in choosing clients and
the need for the firm to develop specialized proprietary technical knowledge.
To learn more about this research on expertise, read the
paper “Expertise Management by Public Accounting
Firms” by Michael Gibbins and Karim Jamal, University of Alberta
(February 6, 2001 Version).
