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On March 29, 2019, Prof Dr Henk Langendijk said goodbye as a professor at Nyenrode Business University. In Nyenrode’s Pfizer room, he delivered his farewell speech titled: ‘The (un)true and fair view of the annual financial statements and the position of the auditor.’ His most important advice is to have auditors appointed and paid by umbrella organizations in order to create more impartiality.

Data-driven auditing is giving rise to new dynamics and working methods within audit and risk departments. However, the large auditing firms in the Netherlands will feel the effects of these changes as well. This is what led PA and Nyenrode Business University to enter into a partnership.

Employee loyalty in the traditional sense is losing ground. Organizational commitment, based on social exchange, is not strong enough to create attachment within work relationships in today’s changing nature of work. This is one of the conclusions by Dr. Ali Fenwick’s dissertation titled ‘Creating a Committed Workforce: Using Social Exchange and Social Identity to Enhance Psychological Attachment within an Ever-changing Workplace’, for which he received his doctorate from Nyenrode Business Universiteit on December 12, 2018.

“The field of Auditing & Assurance is about people and trust”, says Prof. Dr. Joost van Buuren. However, according to Van Buuren, the field has not been innovative enough in recent years and is failing to adequately fulfill users’ wishes. Van Buuren therefore calls upon the sector to develop a new active approach: one in which innovation is aimed at meeting users’ needs and boosting their trust in the accountant through scientific validation of audit methodology. Van Buuren: “Accountants must start thinking differently and seize opportunities with an open mind in order to increase the relevance of the accounting position.”

Prof. Ruud Wetzels has been appointed as a professor at Nyenrode Business Universiteit as of 1 July to hold the chair in Data Science. In this chair, Wetzels will be conducting research focused on applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), mathematics and statistics in the business world.

Young professionals within the accountancy sector experience high levels of work pressure, which compromises their professional skepticism and thus the quality of their work.

Measures regarding compensation incentives for auditors have a different effect on their judgment and decision-making. This effect depends on factors such as various personality traits. This is one of the conclusions reached by Herman van Brenk in his dissertation titled “Compensation Incentives and Personality Traits: Three studies on their Joint Effects on Auditor Judgment and Decision Making”, for which he received his doctorate from Nyenrode Business Universiteit on Wednesday 6th of December.