Formalization. Three additional variables (Problem-Solving Ability, Motivation, and Experience)
are also considered in the performance model to control for potential individual differences in
professionals from the two firms. Complexity is manipulated at two levels by having participants
perform four tasks of varying complexity—two high-complexity tasks and two low-complexity
tasks.3 The level of Formalization is manipulated by selecting auditors who had experience at only
one auditing firm, such that their audit experience was based exclusively on a particular audit
methodology. The two firms are classified at the extreme ends of the structured/unstructured
continuum established by Cushing and Loebbecke (1986) and confirmed by Prawitt (1995) and
Lemon et al. (2000). Based on our informal review of the firms’ policy documentation, the original
classification remains valid for the two firms used in this study.4 Measures for participants’
Problem-Solving Ability and Motivation were also included in the material. The participants’
months of Experience were self-reported. All participants received the same background material
and responded to the same instrument.