Improving work outcomes in audit firms: the mediating role of perceived organizational support

Abstract

This study analyses the influence of role overload on organizational commitment and job satisfaction in audit firms, as well as the mediating role of perceived organizational support on these job outcomes. This study is based on 122 survey responses from Spanish auditors. The results show that role overload has a negative relationship with organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that perceived organizational support mediates both the relationship between role overload and organizational commitment, and the relationship between role overload and job satisfaction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyse the role played by organizational support in the relationship between role overload and auditors’ critical work outcomes. Time constraints and heavy workloads are often perceived as inherent features of an auditor’s job. This particular organizational context makes it necessary to identify variables within a firm’s purview, such as organizational support, which may contribute to mitigating the negative effect of role overload on auditors’ job attitudes.

Keywords

• Auditors
• Perceived organizational support
• Role overload
• Organizational commitment
• Job satisfaction