Designing an Auditors’ Employability Model Based on Organizational Learning Using an Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) Approach

Authors

Keywords:

Auditors’ Employability, Organizational Learning, Interpretive Structural Modeling, MICMAC, Professional Skills

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and explain a structural model of auditors’ employability based on organizational learning and to determine the hierarchical relationships among its principal dimensions within the professional auditing environment. This applied-developmental study employed an exploratory mixed-methods design with a qualitative emphasis. In the qualitative phase, data were obtained through a systematic review of the literature and semi-structured interviews with 15 academic and professional experts in accounting, auditing, financial management, and human resource management. Participants were selected through purposive and chain-referral sampling, and interviewing continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The data were analyzed through combined deductive–inductive content analysis using open, axial, and selective coding. Content validity of the extracted indicators was assessed through expert judgment and the content validity ratio. In the quantitative phase, Interpretive Structural Modeling and MICMAC analysis were applied to identify interrelationships among the dimensions, establish their hierarchical levels, and determine their driving and dependence powers based on the final reachability matrix. The ISM results indicated that cognitive and specialized skill learning occupied Level III and functioned as independent driving dimensions, whereas emotional skill learning was positioned at Level II as a linkage and mediating dimension. Occupational skill learning occupied Level I and represented the dependent and ultimate outcome of the model. MICMAC analysis corroborated this hierarchical configuration, demonstrating the highest driving power for cognitive and specialized skills and the greatest dependence for occupational skills. The effects of cognitive and specialized learning on occupational skills were predominantly transmitted through the emotional dimension, while emotional skills exerted the strongest direct influence on the development of occupational competencies. Auditors’ employability is a progressive, multidimensional process that originates in cognitive and specialized learning, is reinforced through emotional and interpersonal capacities, and ultimately manifests as occupational competencies. Audit firms and professional accounting bodies should therefore design professional learning and development programs in accordance with this hierarchical sequence.

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Dehnavi, M. A. ., Moradi, M., Jafaei Rahni, M. ., & Karami, A. . (1406). Designing an Auditors’ Employability Model Based on Organizational Learning Using an Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) Approach. Accounting, Finance and Computational Intelligence, 1-26. https://www.jafci.com/index.php/jafci/article/view/499

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