The task is of relatively low complexity, and participants from both firms have had numerous
experiences during their three years of audit work to develop the knowledge required to identify
internal control deficiencies (see Abdolmohammadi 1999; Bonner and Pennington 1991; Tan and
Kao 1999). Thus, we expect that on low-complexity tasks, professionals from a highly formalized
firm will perform similarly to professionals from firms with low levels of formalization.