BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC KINH TÉ THÀNH PHÓ HÒ CHÍ MINH BÁO CÁO TỐNG KẾT ĐỀ TÀI NGHIÊN CỨU KHOA HỌC THAM GIA XÉT GIẢI THƯỞNG “NHÀ NGHIÊN CỨU TRẺ UEH” NĂM 2024 FACTORS INFLUENCING UEH STUDENTS’ DECISION TO WORK AT BIG4 AUDITING FIRMS IN THE CONTEXT OF IFRS INTEGRATION Thuộc nhóm chuyên ngành: 01 - Kinh tê: Kê toán - Kiêm toán TP. Hồ Chí Minh, tháng 02/2024 ABSTRACT The research was conducted by the authors to find out the factors affecting students' decision when choosing to work at the group of Big4 auditing companies with the desire to bring practical values to students, educational and training institutions as well as the Big4 group of companies. The study was carried out in two phases: secondary data studies and quantitative studies. The data was collected through a questionnaire that surveyed 300 students from different disciplines at ƯEH, and processed through IBM SPSS Statistics 25.
The results of the study determined that Company Policy, Career Desire, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Self-characteristics affacted in the same direction, while Subjective Norm did not affect UEH students' decision to choose Big4. Keywords: decision, work options, Big4, UEH University. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES INTRODUCTION.1 Motivation for the Research.5 Scope, subject and duration of the Study.6 Contribution of the Study.7 Structure of the topic. OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH.1 Overview of Domestic Studies.2 Overview of Foreign Research.
8 Conclusion of chapter 1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ANH THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.1 Overview of students' career choices in the field of Accounting - Auditing.1 Current situation of employment options of students today:.3 Overview of the IFRS integration process in Vietnam.3 Big4 Auditing Firms.1 Theory of planned behavior.2 Theory of self-determination.3 Consumer behavior theory.4 Theory of professional social development.6 Social Exchange Theory. 24 Conclusion of chapter 2.1 Research Framework and Hypotheses Development.2 Data analysis method.1 Scope of research.2 Scale reliability verification using Cronbach’s Alpha.3 EFA Discovery Factor Analysis.3 Multivariate regression analysis.1 Study sample design.2 Data collection method.4 Data analysis on SPSS.35 Conclusion of chapter 3. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.1 Description of the survey sample.2 Descriptive statistical analysis.2 Scale reliability verification using Cronbach's Alpha and EFA factor analysis.1 The independent variable.2 The dependent variable.4 Multivariate regression analysis.1 Testing the polyploid regression model.2 Residual Standard Distribution Test.3 Linear Contact Testing.5 Discuss influencing factors.
48 Conclusion of chapter 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS.1 The accessibility and difficulties towardaccessing IFRSby students.2 The influence of IFRS on UEH students' choice to work at Big4.2 Contributions of the topic.4 Limitations of the topic.5 Future research directions. 58 Conclusion of chapter 5. 65 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AICPA American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Big4 Group of 4 largest auditing firms in the world EY Ernst & Young Company FTSE Financial Times and Stock Exchange Group Gen z (Generation Z) Group of people with birth years from 1995 to 2012 GPA (Grade Point Average) Cumulative average index HCMC Ho Chi Minh City IT Information Technology ITRA (Information Technology Control of information technology risks Risk Assurance) KPMG Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler PBC (Perceived Behavior Cognitive control of behavior Control) PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers QH Congress SDT (Self-determination theory) Self-determination theory TPB (Theory of Planned Intended behavior theory Behavior) TRA (Theory of Reasoned Rational action theory Action) UEH University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City VACPA Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants VIF (Variance inflation factor) Variance inflation coefficient LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Summary of influencing factors from previous studies Table 4.1: Description of survey sample Table 4.2: Descriptive statistical results Table 4.3: Cronbach’s alpha and EFA factor analysis of the independent variable Table 4.4: Cronbach's alpha and EFA factor analysis of the dependent variable Table 4.5: Assessment of the suitability of the regression model Table 4.6: Model conformity testing Table 4.7: Partial correlation testing of regression coefficients Table 4.8: Hypothesis test results LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Model of Planned Behavior Theory Figure 2.2: Research models from Self-Determination Theory Figure 2.3: Consumer behavior model Figure 2.4: Theoretical Model of Professional Social Development Figure 2.5: Expectation Theory Model Figure 3.1: Qualitative research model Figure 3.2: Quantitative Research Model Figure 3.3: Proposed Research Model Figure 4.1: Histogram Redundancy Frequency Chart Figure 4.2: Normalized P-P Plot Redundancy Chart Figure 4.3: Scatter Plot Graph 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Motivation for the Research: Accounting labor is one of the necessary and important jobs of any organization or enterprise.
Accordingly, the positions that bachelors of Accounting can hold such as specialists in financial management - accounting departments of service, manufacturing and trading enterprises (financial institutions, administrative units and careers); Internal audit specialist, internal control in manufacturing and trading enterprises, financial institutions, foreign-invested enterprises, enterprises of countries in Southeast Asia,. When you accumulate enough experience, you can advance in many senior positions such as manager of accounting department, general accountant, chief accountant, chief financial officer, team leader, audit director, finance director. For the strong and steadfast GenZ, self-starl-up to establish financial services - tax - accounting and auditing companies,. can absolutely become a choice.
However, prospective GenZ accountants and auditors find it difficult and stressful to face their career path choices and find their first job in their career path. Facing those choice crossroads, the Big4 group of companies is often considered the first choice. Students in the Accounting major (Auditing, Public Accounting, Corporate Accounting) seek to work at Big4 because they believe that the job here is more demanding than other companies. However, they also see that this is an opportunity for them to learn and expand their knowledge and improve their expertise.
This helps GenZ students develop their professional knowledge, skills and move further on their own career ladder. Thus, working at Big4 - a professional and ideal working environment, is considered the dream and top goal for Accounting - Auditing students, but does Big4 really attract GenZ students who do not study this major at UEH University? So far, there have been many authors conducting research related to students' decision to choose to work at Big4. However, the research paper of authors Nguyen and Nguyen (2014) pointed out gaps from previous research papers and also affirmed that "major" has an important influence on students' decisions. Recognizing the importance of this aspect, the authors conducted the study "Factors influencing UEH students’ decision to work at Big4 Auditing firms in the context of IFRS integration" and used actual data to verify these factors at UEH University.
The research 2 is conducted with the desire to bring practical values to students, educational and training institutions, and the group of Big4 auditing firms.2 Research Objectives: The study focused on assessing and determining the influence of factors that influence UEH students' decision to choose to work in the Big4, including students of the Faculty of Accounting and students in other economic groups who wish to develop their future careers in the Big4. The influencing factors presented by the research team included factors of (1) Self-characteristics, (2) Career desires, (3) Perceived Behavioral Control, (4) Subjective norm and (5) Company policy, with specific research objectives as follows: - Create a premise for universities to improve the quality of education and innovate in accordance with students' capacity and development aspirations. - Forecast the status, level of development, abilities and desires of students in order for employers to adjust recruitment policies and programs. - Create a basis for students to orient and improve themselves to match the recruitment programs of companies.3 Research Questions: Question 1: What are the factors involved in the decision to work at Big4 and how much impact do they have? Question 2: What is the solution to create attractiveness for students when choosing to work at leading companies in the "Big 4" group, especially in the context of IFRS integration in Vietnam? 1.4 Research methodology: The topic applies qualitative research methods combining quantitative and synthesizing, comparing and contrasting secondary data.
In particular, the subject inherits previous studies of students' selection and work decisions to refer to the independent variables drawn from these studies and the scales used for the variables in question. After considering and assessing the suitability with students as well as actual conditions at Vietnamese educational and training institutions, the study will identify, select and propose more appropriate and feasible independent variables to conduct the next phase of research. 3 Collecting data from a questionnaire that surveyed 300 UEH students from different disciplines based on random, fortuitous factors, ensuring representation for UEH students. Topics using analytical tools: Qualitative research methods collect information according to survey questionnaires, hand-to-hand discussions and study of various sources.
The purpose of this method is to supplement and adjust the scale in accordance with the degree of influence of factors on UEH students' decision to choose a workplace in the Big4 group of companies. Quantitative research methods seek to describe and analyse the factors influencing workplace decisions and measure these effects by building research models, developing questionnaires and using questionnaires to collect information from students. The collected data will be processed using SPSS 25. The data analysis method goes through two stages: validating the reliability of Cronbach's Alpha scale for EFA discovery factor analysis.
Multivariate regression analysis aims to verify the correlation between independent variables and dependent variables in terms of impact, verify the model suitability that the authors propose, from there, it is possible to conclude about the question of linear polyaddition.5 Scope, subject and duration of the Study: Scope of research: Students of UEH University courses 46, 47, 48. Research subjects: The topic focuses on the subjects that influence students' decision to work at Big4 companies. Duration: The study will be conducted from June to August 2023.6 Contribution of the Study: Firstly, in the research works that have been carried out before, the authors found that the surveyed subjects are mainly students majoring in Accounting - Auditing. In this study, the authors expanded the scope of the survey to include students in Accounting and other disciplines at UEH, to have a more general view of the factors affecting the choice to work at the Big4 group of companies.
On the basis of expanding the survey audience besides students from the major of Accounting - Auditing, the study will find reasons why non-industry students want to work at the Big4, or even the group of Non-Big4 companies. 4 Secondly, the results of the study will provide a document for students in deciding whether to work at Big 4 Auditing firms, especially for students in year 3 and year 4 in recognizing, upgrading and developing themselves in the situation of competition for jobs between incoming and recent graduates. Thirdly, based on the survey opinions as well as the aspirations of incoming and recent graduates, the study will be a reference for companies to adjust their strategies as well as the scale of recruitment. From there, it creates conditions for companies to adjust their recruitment strategies accordingly, in addition to recognizing and maximizing the capacity and career abilities of upcoming and recent graduates.
Finally, from the results of the study, companies can change, innovate training processes as well as add policies that meet the needs and aspirations of upcoming and recent graduates - the company’s new human resources.7 Structure of the topic: In addition to the cover page, abstract, table of contents, list of acronyms, list of tables, list of figures and charts, the research paper includes the following main contents: Introduction: The urgency of the topic, research objectives and research questions, research methods, subjects, scope and duration of research, novelty and contribution of research, and structure of the topic. Chapter 1: Overview of previous research This chapter summarizes and presents a summary of the research models and hypotheses of previous research works related to the choice to work at Big4. From there, give the gaps of the research and the proposals of the author team.