Susan McCracken
Associate Dean, DeGroote School of Business

Dr. McCracken’s research focuses on the decision making process of auditors. Her work focuses on decisions and approaches to negotiation in an audit context. Although her auditor negotiation work began in the audit litigation context, her most recent and extensive work has centred on auditor client management negotiations that take place during the preparation and finalization of financial statements.

This area of research has gained an increased importance given the recent accounting scandals, and thus, her work has been very useful in increasing understanding of the inner workings of the audit profession, and to suggest methods to improve the interpersonal aspects of the audit process.

Dr. McCracken’s new line of research, which is in its early stages, stems directly from the high-profile corporate collapses (Enron, Worldcom) that have occurred over the past few years. This line of research will address calls from regulators and users to increase and improve the transparency of financial reporting such that the needs of financial statement users are met. Specifically, she is investigating what is transparency in accounting reporting and how to achieve it.