According to Francis (1994), firms that adopt formalized audit approaches assume that audit
tasks are routine and subject to simplification. Increasing complexity in the business world suggests
that many audit tasks are not amenable to standardization but are more complex, demanding less
formalization and a greater degree of professional judgment for effective performance. Arnold et al.
(2000) find that in group decision making, a task that is sometimes formalized through the use of
Group Support Systems (GSS), the use of GSS may impede decision quality. Asare and Wright
(2004) evaluate fraud risk assessments made by auditors using a standard risk checklist and auditors
using no checklist. They conclude that the use of a checklist was associated with a less-effective
diagnosis of fraud. They also find that auditors who used a checklist designed a less-effective fraud
program than those without checklists. They suggest that standard audit tools may not be effective
in fraud settings. Dirsmith and Haskins (1991) evaluated risk assessments made by professionals
from firms with different levels of formalization. They found that professionals in less formalized
firms considered more relevant cues in formulating risk assessments than did auditors in highly
formalized firms and conclude that formalized audit methodologies can have a negative impact on
professional judgment and decision making. One possible reason for this is that formalizing a
decision process explicitly outlines the process as a specific sequence of activities. Such
formalization may cause complex decision tasks to be oversimplified, removing or hiding dynamic
interplays and process nonlinearities. If the complex decision task is inherently nonlinear,
formalization would adversely impact a decision maker’s ability to cope with the task.