The colonization of adjacent professional fields has been considered as crucial to understanding the success and influence of large accounting firms, such as the Big 4. Yet, given the complexities of managing different professional groups, remarkably little is known about the internal dynamics behind large multidisciplinary accounting firms’ external responses to institutional pressures. In this article, we show how exogenous coercive pressure, such as regulation (in this case Dutch accountancy regulations), not only affect the day-to-day work of accountants, but also that of non-accountants such as tax advisors. From the perception of the tax advisors who confront regulations which are not “theirs”, we show how their internal responses evolve and tread a fine line between contestation and collaboration with their colleague accountants/auditors. Using a boundary work perspective, we examine this shift in responses and explain how tensions between professional groups may be reduced. Overall, our study not only furthers our insights into the internal dynamics behind PSFs’ (Professional Service Firms’) external responses, but also sheds light on why professional groups stay on board despite unfavorable internal conditions.

中文翻译：

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竞争与合作之间：多学科会计师事务所应对制度压力的内在动力

相邻专业领域的殖民化被认为对于了解四大会计师事务所的成功和影响力至关重要。 然而，鉴于管理不同专业群体的复杂性，对大型多学科背后的内部动态知之甚少会计师事务所对制度压力的外部反应。在本文中，我们展示了诸如监管（在本例中为荷兰会计法规）之类的外生强制性压力如何不仅影响会计师的日常工作，还会影响非会计师（如税务顾问）的日常工作。从遇到不属于“他们的”法规的税务顾问的看法来看，我们展示了他们的内部反应如何演变，并在与同事会计师/审计师的争论与合作之间划清界限。使用边界工作的视角，我们研究了这种反应的转变，并解释了如何减少专业群体之间的紧张关系。总的来说，我们的研究不仅加深了我们对 PSF（专业服务公司）外部响应背后的内部动态的洞察，而且还阐明了为什么专业团体在不利的内部条件下仍然留在船上。