RESEARCH_FILE
Timothy J. Fogarty
Case Western Reserve University
Known for:Organizational researcher in public accounting who documented the occupational stress architecture of audit work — showing that role conflict between independence and client service, not personality or skill gaps, drives burnout and turnover in Big-4 environments
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“People think I'm boring because I do taxes”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I handle systems that move money and catch mistakes before they spread.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
In under ten minutes, write three plain facts about your tax work on a note card or in a phone note, then reread them once without editing the wording.
Key findings
- 2000
Using a validated occupational stress inventory applied to public accounting staff, Fogarty, Singh, and colleagues found that role conflict (independence vs. client service), role ambiguity (unclear standards), and work overload were the three dominant stressors — and that role conflict was the strongest independent predictor of both emotional exhaustion and voluntary turnover intent, controlling for compensation and firm size. Antecedents and consequences of burnout in accounting: Evidence from the public accounting environment ↗