The proliferation of sustainability reporting has been accompanied with stakeholders’ concerns over the credibility of sustainability reports. This worry has resulted in the assurance of sustainability reports and accordingly, professionals have sought to create a new auditable market and academics to understand this phenomenon. Though previous research has shown that assurers and clients jointly decide the terms of the engagement, assurers’ perceptions of sustainability assurance and assurer–client relationships, in which the engagement takes place, have been overlooked. We try to close this gap by conducting an interview-based study which firstly, examines how assurers view and experience sustainability assurance engagements and secondly, investigates how assurers characterize their relationship with clients. We lead 12 interviews with assurers working for either Mazars, BDO, Grant Thornton, or RSM, covering 11 countries worldwide.   The empirical findings indicate that assurers work with sustainability reports that are unbalanced and inaccurate. Particularly, they view the inaccuracy of nonfinancial data as a challenge to the issuance of sustainability assurance statements. We find that inaccuracy is perceived difficult because assurers lack technical expertise and are unpracticed in auditing qualitative information. Further, when assurers cannot verify the disclosed information, they rather terminate the engagement than issue a presumably misleading assurance statement. The termination of an engagement is, however, the ultimate response and until then, assurers collaborate with the client to be able to issue an assurance statement. Hence, collaboration is considered key to the completion of a sustainability assurance engagement. This research contributes to a better understanding of practitioners’ perspectives on sustainability assurance engagements both practice and relationship-wise. We also develop practical implications and future research avenues.

Title of the thesis: Banking secrecy The paper deals with a traditional instrument dedicated to protection of client's personal data provided to the bank - banking secrecy. The instrument is analysed in connection with breaking of banking secrecy. The ways of breaking the banking secrecy are divided into two groups: (i) manners of breaking the banking secrecy regulated by law and (ii) manners of breaking the bank secrecy not specifically regulated by law where the main role is given to secondary legislation and case law. Regarding the ways of breaking regulated by law, the paper describes the Act on Banks as a general law and also regulation included in specific laws. There are two categories of specific laws: which specify the process of breaking the bank secrecy included in the Act on Banks or which regulate specific case of breaking the banking secrecy. As for the civil procedure, there is a premise of diminution of use of the Civil Procedure Act for gathering client information by authorised persons because of the Central Registry of Accounts. The important type of laws regulating the breaking of the banking secrecy is those regulating registers of client information protected by the banking secrecy. The most important development of legislation is the new regulation of non-banking registers in...

This doctoral thesis investigates the evolution of trust in investment bank(er)-client relationship in mergers and acquisitions by focusing on deals over EUR 1 billion. As sub-areas of research interest, this work explores the reasons responsible for the decline of trust in the research context, and also enquires if trust can be regained. The author’s findings indicate that the investment bank(er)-client relationship cannot exist without trust. The bank(er)-client relationship begins with Performance trust in the introductory phase, evolves to a stronger Experiential Performance trust in the second phase, and reaches at its zenith in the third phase i.e. the last phase of trust evolution. The third phase is quintessentially marked by a situation in which a client is left with the choice of choosing either the investment banker or the bank. The former concludes the evolution of trust in form of Superior Interpersonal trust, while the latter marks the end of the phenomenon with Superior Company trust. Scams, dishonesty and irresponsible behaviour, lack of transparency predictability and performance, can result in termination of trust. The authors’ findings suggest that regaining trust is possible at an organisational level, but not at an interpersonal level.:Chapter I: Introduction Chapter II: The background and motivation 2.1 Trust in investment banks: An overview of the present scenario 2.2 The M&A business, investment banker-client relationship, and trust 2.3 The theoretical view on the research gap, and research questions Chapter III: Literature review 3.1 Defining trust as a concept 3.2 A platform to comprehend the phenomenon of trust 3.2.1 Trust through the lens of transaction cost theory 3.2.2 Trust freedom, and vulnerability – an ethical perspective 3.3 A theoretical framework to study the phenomenon of trust 3.4 Trust vs. time 3.4.1 Relationship life cycle 3.4.2 The model of trust & distrust in relationship building 3.5 Trust and network approach 3.6 Epilogue Chapter IV: Methodology 4.1 Prologue: The choice of qualitative research as a methodological approach 4.1.1 Validity of qualitative research 4.1.2 Reliability, credibility and characteristics of qualitative research 4.2 Phenomenology – studying a phenomenon 4.3 Sampling 4.3.1 Judgement sampling 4.3.2 Snowball sampling 4.4 Questionnaire 4.5 The data 4.6 Epilogue of the methodological approach Chapter V: Analysis 5.1 The coding manual 5.2 Coding technique for the first cycle 5.3 Recoding and categorising – Second cycle 5.4 Post- second cycle coding findings 5.5 Does the research require a third cycle coding? 5.6 Data saturation in qualitative interviews 5.6.1 Factors determining data saturation 5.6.2 Guidelines on the size of the sample Chapter VI: Results 6.1 Prologue 6.1.1 The ‘pre-relationship’ stage in a ‘successful’ bank(er)-client relationship 6.1.2 The constructs of goodwill at the “pre-relationship” phase 6.2 Exordium – The introduction phase 6.3 Incrementum – The growth/build-up phase 6.4 Maturitatem – The maturity phase 6.4.1 Situation 1: Superior interpersonal trust 6.4.2 Situation 2: Superior company trust 6.5 How does trust evolve in an investment bank(er)-client relationship? 6.6 Declino – The decline phase: The sub-areas of research interest 6.6.1 Scams 6.6.2 Living up to the expectations 6.6.3 Issue with additional services 6.6.4 Transparency and predictability 6.6.5 Can trust be regained? – A contextual question Chapter VII: Discussion of results 7.1 A pragmatic approach in relation to the research gap 7.2 Transaction cost theory and a ‘free’ perspective 7.3 Goodwill and resource-based theory 7.4 Stakeholder theory, service/performance quality, and relationship marketing 7.5 The debate on trust and time 7.5.1 The model of trust and distrust in relationship development 7.5.2 Relationship life cycle 7.6 Network approach, recommendation, and 3D negotiation 7.7 Contractual trust and a phase of ‘neutrality’ 7.8 Trust vs. reliance Chapter VIII: Conclusion Publication bibliography Appendices

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur socialarbetare på socialtjänsten upplever att organiseringen av arbetet utifrån New Public Managements (NPM) kännetecken påverkar den professionella relationen mellan socialarbetare och klient. För att undersöka detta användes kvalitativa intervjuer med fem respondenter. Intervjuerna analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. För att analysera resultatet användes fyra teorier: Relationskompetens, omsorgsprofessionalitet, nyinstitutionell teori och systemteori. Resultatet visade en både positiv och negativ påverkan av NPM på relationen. Respondenterna upplevde en ökad rättssäkerhet och kvalitet med ökad standardisering genom dokumentation och evidensbaserad praktik. De upplevde ökad dokumentationsbörda och ett arbetssätt om tids- och kostnadseffektivitet genom organiseringen utifrån NPM. Detta har påverkat relationen genom att socialarbetarna inte upplevde att de kunde tillgodose klienternas behov och se till klienternas intressen så som de önskade. Det krävs mer resurser för socialarbetarna. Socialarbetarna upplevde att de behöver mer tid för att kunna skapa goda relationer till sina klienter. Effektivitet är fördelaktigt om klienten sätts i fokus, en utredning kan göras i god tid och då får klienten hjälp i rätt tid. Effektivitet på fel sätt gynnar inte klienten och därmed inte den professionella relationen mellan socialarbetare och klient. / The purpose of this study was to examine how social workers at social services experience that the organisation of the work from the characteristics of New Public Management’s (NPM) affect the professional relationship between social worker and client. To examine this, we used qualitative interviews with five interviewees, which were analysed with a qualitative content analysis. Four theories were used to analyse the result: relationship competence, care professionality, new institutional theory and system theory. The result showed that the effect of NPM on the relationship is both negative and positive. The interviewees experienced an increased legal security and quality with increased standardisation through documentation and evidence-based practice. They experienced an increased documentation burden and they also experienced that a way of thinking about time- and cost efficiency came from the organisation from NPM. This affected the relationship by the social workers not experiencing that they could meet the clients need and interests in the way they wished. The social workers are in need of resources. The social workers experienced that they needed more time to create good relationships to their clients. Efficiency is favourably if the client is in focus, the investigation can be made on time and the client receives help in the right time. Efficiency in the wrong way does not favour the client and thereby not the professional relationship between social worker and client.

Inledning: Revisor-klient-relationen är viktig både för revisorn och revisionsarbetet, men också för klienterna och deras upplevda mervärde av en revision. Digitaliseringen och Covid-19 tycks medföra nya förutsättningar för denna relation som inte undersökts i tidigare forskning. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att utforska hur revisorer och representanter för små och medelstora klientföretag upplever att deras relation påverkats av den ökade digitaliseringen och pandemin orsakad av Covid-19. Syftet är vidare att utforska hur nämnda parter upplever konsekvenserna av eventuella förändringar. Metod: Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med flerfallstudiedesign. Forskningsansatsen är i huvudsak deduktiv men med induktiva inslag. Datainsamling har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med revisorer och representanter för små- och medelstora klientföretag. Slutsats: Vår studie visar att revisor-klient-relationen, mer eller mindre, beroende på kontextuella faktorer, utvecklats till ett distansförhållande till följd av Covid-19 och digitaliseringen. I det fall där klientföretaget drabbats hårt av pandemin upplevs en närmare relation, annars tyder resultatet på att relationen i många av de studerade fallen inte förändrats, trots nya förutsättningar. Det kan konstateras att det initiala relationsbyggandet försvårats men att befintliga relationer klarat övergången bra. Klienternas upplevda mervärde förefaller samvariera med hur relationen förändrats. Överlag kan revisorns professionella bedömning argumenteras bli än viktigare i en digitaliserad revisionsbransch, samtidigt som digitaliseringen minskar risken för att revisorns oberoende äventyras.

The relationship between counsellor and client has been extensively researched ever since the founding of psychotherapeutic treatment. Subsequently, it has been established as an integral and essential part of successful therapy. Yet, in regards to substance use treatment aforementioned research is still lacking. Few studies shed light on such relationships – even fewer on relationships formed within the unique settings of live-in treatment centres. Furthermore, the emotional handling of inter-relational work from the perspective of the professional is still remarkably absent from the scholarly world. Notably, professional perspectives are mainly presented in situations of boundary breaking behaviour and ethical misconduct. The aim of the present study was, consequently, to research how professionals conduct, care, and convey the phenomena of counsellor-client connections that are constituted within the above stated context. In order to fully capture the lived experiences of addiction counsellors, a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach was applied throughout – acting as both theoretical and methodological ground. Accordingly, a total of five semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out and analysed through a hermeneutic-phenomenological lens. The result presents several significant findings in regards to how the professionals view boundaries, closeness and control in substance use treatment settings, which primarily include a certain all-encompassing duality: role changing is perceived as beneficial, albeit debilitating; closeness is seen as imperative, yet distance as integral; working with the self equates to working on the self. Overall, professional progression appears to echo that of the client’s – a supporting network, along with being earnest and daring, presents itself as keys for facilitating conducive change. Implications of above-mentioned co-occurrences are discussed, including suggestions for future research.

The focus of this study was the unconscious dynamics in the consultant-client relationship as industrial and organisational psychologists seek to achieve change in client organisational systems. Twelve psychodynamic themes were used to interpret a journal maintained by the consultant throughout one consulting assignment, in an effort to understand the unconscious processes influencing the effectiveness of the consulting relationship. Analysis found that the client system imported the consultant to carry nurturing and healing on behalf of the system, but projected onto and into him the confusion, pain, hostility and incompetence in the system, stripped him of authority and manipulated him out of his role as change agent. The consultant unconsciously accepted the projections, failed to contain the system’s anxiety, gravitated towards the paranoid-schizoid position and was unable to effect meaningful change. Recommendations where made for the use of this form of psychodynamic analysis as a self-evaluative tool in the consulting context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:21:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Angelica Silva Marden Coppede.pdf: 457794 bytes, checksum: 56310c6941ea120340d1b63da23fc609 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-14 / In the present research, we verified how eight behavior therapists with differing age, experience and from different geographical regions deal with closeness and intrusiveness by the client in their personal life. The occurrence of questions or comments by the clients that make the therapist talk about particularities of his or her life: The effects these have on the therapist and the therapist-client relationship, what variables control the therapist s behavior of responding to these questions, or, summing up: possibilities for coping and clinical intervention. The study uses a qualitative, explanatory approach, using semi-structured interviews for data-collection. The interviews were transcribed for analysis according to the Grounded Theory model, an inductive strategy that consists in organizing, categorizing and interpreting data that lead to the construction of a theory that explains the studied phenomenon. The results indicate that therapists make intentional use of emerging clinical situations, like questions by the therapist about his or her private life. The reaction of the therapist to questions about his or her private life can, depending on the therapist, be converted in interventions and make the relationship more intimate; and this may be directly linked to the professional repertoire the therapist has in coherence with what is proposed by treatment models like Functional Analytical Psychotherapy (FAP) and Therapy through the Contingencies of Reinforcement (TCR). FAP facilitates the comprehension and classifications of behaviors emitted by the client as clinically relevant behaviors and promotes the acceptance by the therapist of the byproducts of the interaction, not evaluating them as negative, but as opportunities in the session for the development of the relationship. TCR prioritizes the consciousness both therapist and client have, concerning the contingencies that are operating in the different contexts of the client s life, and emphasizes the importance of the therapist to be able to describe the adopted strategies. / Na literatura concernente ao relacionamento terapêutico há considerações importantes sobre o papel central da intimidade, apesar de não serem investigados os determinantes dos comportamentos íntimos dos terapeutas. Buscou-se investigar nessa pesquisa a ocorrência, na sessão, de perguntas ou colocações dos clientes que levam o terapeuta a falar de particularidades de sua vida, o efeito que elas têm sobre o terapeuta e a relação terapêutica, o que controla o comportamento do terapeuta de responder a essas questões (se é considerada a relevância clínica), possíveis reações (espontâneas ou planejadas) que podem reforçar ou enfraquecer esses comportamentos, enfim, possibilidades de manejo e atuação clínica diante do fenômeno intimidade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa e de caráter exploratório cuja coleta de dados se deu através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, feitas com oito terapeutas comportamentais. Para efeito de análise, as entrevistas foram gravadas e depois transcritas. Os dados foram analisados segundo os princípios da Grounded Theory. Os resultados encontrados demonstraram que os terapeutas comportamentais têm seus estilos próprios de prevenir, manejar e aproveitar situações que envolvem intimidade no relacionamento com o cliente e, no geral, os terapeutas que falam sobre aspectos da sua vida (emitem comportamentos íntimos) o fazem com intenção terapêutica. Verificou-se que a intimidade pode tornar a relação mais intensa, mas é a consciência do terapeuta das variáveis envolvidas no processo que converte o que ocorre entre ele e o cliente numa intervenção. Observa-se coerência entre o que é proposto pelos modelos de terapia apresentados - Psicoterapia Analítica Funcional (FAP) e Terapia por Contingências de Reforçamento (TCR) - e o que os terapeutas entrevistados na sua prática clínica fazem. Porém, não se pode negar a influência direta de outras variáveis, como características pessoais do terapeuta. A atuação do profissional está estreitamente ligada com seu estilo. Estes resultados apontam para a importância de se analisar repertórios pessoais e profissionais do clínico no estudo do relacionamento terapêutico.

Different scandals around the globe during the past, in specific during the last decade, have intrigued the stakeholders to question the roles of both auditors and management. But most of the fingers since then have been raised on the role of auditors, because it is the auditors who are entrusted with the responsibility to detect any errors or frauds in the financial reports of the client-firm. Apart from this, the long-term auditor client relationship has been the center of attention in most of the discussions and debates as well. Numerous studies have been conducted by the academic researchers, financial and professional analysts, regulatory authorities and governing bodies, and in some cases by the auditors and the firms as well regarding the effects of long-term auditor-client relationship on audit quality, equity risk premium, financial reports quality, audit pricing etc. These studies provide us with different results, both with the positive and negative associations and effects of long-term auditor-client relationship on the basis of different factors and contexts. For long, auditing has been discussed in different studies and research areas but mostly in association with publicly listed companies. Less attention has been paid to the relationship of auditors and clients as far as clients in SMEs are concerned. In any country around the globe, SMEs are of major contribution in terms of backing the economy, giving it both the boost and the stability, as they collectively form the major chunk of the economy. If we specify our study to the SMEs in Sweden, then 99% of the enterprises in Sweden represent the SME sector; in addition they employ around 60% of the manpower. Based on these facts, and due to less attention given to auditor-client relationship in terms of SMEs, instead of; we have directed our concerns towards the study of effects of auditor-client relationship on audit quality in SMEs in this particular research study. In this study, we have opted for qualitative research with semi-structured interviews to be used as the tool for data collection. Interviews were conducted with two different groups of interviewees, one group representing the auditors and the other group representing the client-firms (SMEs). A total of seven interviews were conducted in order to strengthen and validate the results for our research question. Due to the limitations of this study, mostly in terms of cost and time, samples were selected from Umeå, Sweden. The data interview structure, data analysis and discussion, and conclusions were all made based on existing theories summarized in the theoretical review of this study. The results of this study suggests that (1) long-term audit tenure is beneficial for the audit quality if certain risk factors like risk of auditor independence and risk of developing complacency are controlled; and (2) factors such as NAS, industry specialization, knowledge and experience of the auditor, internal control in the client-firm, professional ethics, proper audit plan, providence of unbiased information by the client, and appointment of the auditor by the client-firm itself enhances the audit quality.

The focus of this study was the unconscious dynamics in the consultant-client relationship as industrial and organisational psychologists seek to achieve change in client organisational systems. Twelve psychodynamic themes were used to interpret a journal maintained by the consultant throughout one consulting assignment, in an effort to understand the unconscious processes influencing the effectiveness of the consulting relationship. Analysis found that the client system imported the consultant to carry nurturing and healing on behalf of the system, but projected onto and into him the confusion, pain, hostility and incompetence in the system, stripped him of authority and manipulated him out of his role as change agent. The consultant unconsciously accepted the projections, failed to contain the system’s anxiety, gravitated towards the paranoid-schizoid position and was unable to effect meaningful change. Recommendations where made for the use of this form of psychodynamic analysis as a self-evaluative tool in the consulting context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A.