Exploring the associations of auditors’ personal values and perceived organizational culture with ethical thinking and scenario-based ethical evaluations

Purpose
This study aims to examine how auditors’ personal values and perceived organizational culture are associated with ethical thinking (the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility [PRESOR]) and scenario-based ethical evaluations (multidimensional ethics scale [MES]) in resource-constrained non-Big 4 audit firms in Hong Kong.

Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 504 Chinese auditors (52.2% women) from non-Big 4 firms in Hong Kong completed validated self-report measures: Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-21), organizational culture assessment instrument PRESOR and MES. This study conducted hierarchical regressions to test the incremental explanatory contributions (ΔR2) of personal values and organizational culture, controlling for demographics. This study addressed common method variance using procedural remedies and post hoc diagnostics (Harman’s single-factor test; confirmatory factor analysis one-factor vs multi-factor comparison and full-collinearity variance inflation factors). Given the cross-sectional, single-source design, results are interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.

Findings
Conservation and openness to change were positively associated with stakeholder-oriented ethical thinking and selected MES dimensions, whereas self-enhancement was negatively associated with stakeholder orientation and moral equity. Clan culture showed strong positive associations with stakeholder-oriented ethical thinking and moral equity. Market-oriented culture was positively associated with contractualism, consistent with the possibility that accountability cues in competitive climates can be linked to obligation-based reasoning.

Research limitations/implications
In non-Big 4 firms, resource-feasible routines aligned with clan culture may strengthen ethical deliberation. Regulators and professional bodies could support small and medium-sized practices through standardized consultation documentation templates and ethics escalation pathways.

Originality/value
The study extends auditing ethics research to Hong Kong non-Big 4 firms and advances a values–culture complementarity account by testing incremental explanatory contributions (ΔR2) that link individual value priorities with cultural reinforcement and accountability cues.