University at Buffalo School of Management

Overworked employees are less likely to produce quality audits "Finding and retaining qualified staff poses serious concern for large audit firms, and employees have been dissatisfied with the long hours associated with their careers. These high workloads can impair auditors' judgments and lead to compromised procedures, resulting in decreased audit quality." — Joshua Khavis, assistant professor of accounting and law, on his research that found accounting firms that overwork their employees are less likely to produce high-quality audits. The study was published in Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory. Read more at bit.ly/overworked-auditors. The problem with doctor rating websites Online rating sites for doctors are growing in popularity and influence, but the accuracy of the information they contain can be lacking, according to new School of Manage- ment research. "The phrase 'doctors near me' is now searched almost nine times more than it was five years ago, and more than 30% of consumers compare physicians online before choosing a provider," says Pavankumar Mulgund, clinical assistant professor of management science and systems. "But physician-rating websites are less popular than similar sites for consumer goods because users don't trust the accuracy of the data." In a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the authors analyzed 49 papers and identified 18 data quality issues affecting physician-rating websites. They classified the issues into categories, measuring such details as accuracy, objectivity, reputation, relevance, timeliness, completeness and believability of the source. In addition, they evaluated the role of the systems that store the data, interfaces that present the data and the safety and security of the data systems. Their conclusions show a range of issues across all cate- gories, particularly the impact of inline advertise- ments and the positioning of positive reviews on the first few pages, which is usually deliberate and results from the business model of the sites. "The main hurdle affecting the accuracy of reviews and rating data was the glaring absence of negative ratings," says Raj Sharman, professor of management science and systems. "These sites can even allow physicians to become premium subscribers with an option to hide up to three negative comments, which can mislead consumers and raise ethical questions." Mulgund and Sharman collaborated on the study with UB master's students Priya Anand, Priya Karadi and Shashank Shekhar. Mulgund Khavis Autumn 2021 Buffalo Business 21 Sharman

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