Audit firms and disclaimers: is the bar set too low?

The book explores how major audit firms have lowered accountability standards, primarily offering opinions on financial statements while including disclaimers. It delves into institutional theory, illustrating how professional bodies adopt similar strategies that diminish managerial agency, portraying management actions as both products and producers of cultural frameworks. The author critiques the decline of virtue ethics in auditing, suggesting that firms have embraced a form of Social Darwinism, reflecting a broader erosion of professional ethics in the industry.