Anoush Hakopyan Dr. Fernando Parra - PowerPoint Presentation

Anoush HakopyanDr. Fernando ParraCalifornia State University, FresnoCraig School of Business, Department of Accountancyanoushh@mail.fresnostate.edu(559) 278-8071 Expectations vs Reality: A Comparison of Employer and Student Perceptions Regarding Necessary GRC Skills in Accountancy

What is GRC?GRC is the “integrated collection of capabilities that enable an organization to reliably achieve objectives, address uncertainty and act with integrity”

BackgroundRegulation is not going away Accounting professionals will be expected to demonstrate the use of GRC principles and practices, including the application of transparency and accountability There has not been sufficient attention to identifying skills that would prepare students to fulfill the GRC functions in an organization, despite a growing demand for GRC professionals

Research QuestionsWhat regulatory compliance knowledge and skills are perceived by potential employers to be critical for undergraduate students?Is the students’ perceived importance of the knowledge and skills aligned with the accountancy job market? Does an industry internship/work experience mitigate gaps in student-employer perceptions?

MethodologyPhase 1 develops the instrument that properly measures the skills necessary to support the GRC needs of an organization grounded in academic theory and the principles supporting the 2013 Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)’s framework; pilot interviews were conducted with eleven accountancy recruiters, which helped finalize our survey instrumentPhase 2 collects more than 200 responses from Fresno State students and recruiting employers in the area - descriptive statistics highlight and rank the importance of the different GRC skills; T-test statistics identify the significance of the difference of both panels Phase 3 will expand data collection across the United States with the support of academic, student and professional associations

Ability to exercise professional skepticism, independence and due careEnvironment 88% Commitment to integrity and ethical values Environment 100% Ability to adhere to policies, practices and procedures Environment 100% Results - Employers

Results - Students Ability to communicate properly through relevant methods to support internal controls Information, Comm. & Monitoring 89% Commitment to integrity and ethical values Environment 91% Ability to adhere to policies, practices and procedures Environment 92%

Results - Comparison Ability to conduct risk analysis on business transactions, processes or assets Students - Very Significant Employers - Moderately Significant

Spread between student-employer perceptions was on average 7% larger when the student had some kind of field experience Results

DiscussionStudents being taught conservative accounting overestimate the requirements of the fieldEmployers perceived student candidates’ values more important than technical skills Focus groups revealed training is considered when making hiring decisions

Future ResearchTo make better conclusions about observed gaps and the effects of experience, more participants are needed across the U.S. Focus on whether students actually have the GRC skills they perceived as important

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Thank youCalifornia State University, FresnoCraig School of Business, Department of Accountancyanoushh@mail.fresnostate.edu (559) 278-8071