FINANCIAL AUDIT IN AN ARENA CONTEXT. AN ANALYSIS AT THE MESO-LEVEL

Research has generally focused either on the auditors’ decision-making process atmicro-level or on the financial audit environment at macro-level. The present paper’s contributionto knowledge consists in filling in this research gap by performing an analysis of the financial auditenvironment at meso-level and by pointing out the significance of strategic thinking in managingfinancial audit companies. The research method consists in applying to the financial audit field theso-called arena concept , a metaphor that describes in a symbolic manner the location of actionswhich influence collective decisions or policies. The main strength of the applied model is that itstructures and represents participants, communication, patterns of interaction, and decision-making processes. The authors conclude that there is a variety of interactions in the financial auditfield and that each group of participants may change the business dynamics.