Accounting Professionals’ Interpersonal Skills: effectiveness, conflicts, and job satisfaction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17524/repec.v17i4.3324Keywords:
Conflict between managers, Accountants, Effectiveness, Interpersonal Skills, Job SatisfactionAbstract
Objective: Considering the changes in the role of accounting professionals in organizations, this paper
aims to investigate the relationships between the characteristics of accounting professionals, specifically
interpersonal skills, effectiveness, job satisfaction, and conflict with managers.
Method: This cross-sectional study adopted a quantitative approach and the survey research technique.
A questionnaire was applied to a sample of 74 accounting professionals.
Results: The interpersonal skills of accounting professionals are positively associated with their
effectiveness at work. Additionally, their interpersonal skills are positively associated with conflict between
organizational managers and accountants, and accountants’ effectiveness is positively associated with job
satisfaction, while conflicts decrease such satisfaction.
Contributions: This study provides three contributions. First, it discusses the importance of interpersonal
skills for accounting professionals to be effective and influence management; second, it presents empirical
findings to support the current discussion about the accounting profession based on the combination of
technical and non-technical skills; and finally, it suggests that there is a “dark side” to the development of
the accountant’s interpersonal skills.
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