An Institional Inquiry into the Mission Statements and Core Values of Public Accounting Firms in the US.

The prevailing managerial wisdom suggests that organizations must have some statement that expresses what they are about and what they believe. Public accounting firms are no exception with each entity possessing a highly visible expression of their core or central values. The leaders of the firms seldom miss an opportunity to cite these statements as ways in which their entities should be appreciated. Guided by institutional theory and using the statements chosen by the leading organizations in this industry to describe themselves, a content analysis was performed. I sought to determine if these statements were unique individually or by industry segment (Big Four vs. non-Big Four). The results show that similarity is the rule in public accounting. This is particularly true when the major segments are considered separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]