RELLIS Business Professors Receive Southeast Region Research Award

Bryan, TX – RELLIS Business Professors Dr. Katherine Taken Smith and Dr. Lawrence Murphy Smith from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, recently received a research award for the Best Public Interest Paper from the 2019 American Accounting Association Southeast Region. Their paper titled, “Do United States Accountants’ Personal Values Match the Profession’s Values?” received the award at the Southeast Region’s annual meeting in April in Savannah, Georgia.

“Our study examines the person-organization fit, also referred to as P-O fit, of accounting leaders, which is the congruence of their personal values to the organizational values of the accounting profession,” Taken Smith said. “Research shows that P-O fit contributes to job performance, job satisfaction, and ethical behavior.”

The Smiths, who teach at the RELLIS campus in Bryan, Texas teamed up with Dr. Don Ariail of Kennesaw State University in Georgia for their paper.

The accounting profession has a lengthy history of contributing to the effectiveness of business activities, the financial markets, and the economy overall. In those roles, ethical values are of paramount importance and the study shows that people with the right personal values continue to fill the ranks of the accounting profession, according to the authors.

“Our findings indicate that the highest ranked personal values are honesty, responsibility, capable, courage, love, and independence,” Murphy Smith said. “For each highly prioritized personal value, we found that there is one or more parallel with the profession’s values, as represented by the American Institute of CPAs ethics code.”

Taken Smith is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s College of Business who teaches at the RELLIS Campus. Her research interests include corporate social responsibility, green marketing, and impact of social media on life satisfaction. In spring 2018, she received an Outstanding Author Award and presented her work in the Bell Library Speaker Series at A&M-Corpus Christi.

Murphy Smith is a Professor of Accounting at A&M-Corpus Christi’s College of Business who also teaches at the RELLIS Campus. His research examines ethics, international accounting, and the impact of religiosity on business and society. His work has been reported in various news media, including National Public Radio, Fortune, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal.