Introduction:

The accounting profession is exposed to increasing amounts of institutional pressure due to the process of financial globalization along with heightened expectations from heterogeneous groups of stakeholders which give rise to institutional complexity. In The Netherlands, this tension within the profession is amplified by local regulators such as the AFM which exacerbated the institutional complexity within the field by openly condemning the consolidation of the commercial logic in the BIG 4 accounting firms. This study aims to contribute to the growing body of literature on neo-institutionalism by developing an understanding of the internal processes that are constructed within a specific type of organization confronted with institutional complexity. Furthermore, this research endeavor addresses current societal conundrums regarding the current state of the audit profession and its potential future in a Dutch setting. The main questions are: How did BIG 4 firms develop processes in order to improve the quality of their audits? Why is their progress deemed unsatisfactory by the AFM?