Inferior Decisions Research Articles

Do tax decision support systems affect the accuracy of tax compliance decisions?

Tax complexity has increased over the years as laws and regulations have been consistently added to the existing code sections. This complexity directly affects taxpayer compliance; complexity reduces taxpayer compliance. Along with the rise in complexity has come an increased use of tax preparation software such as TurboTax to combat the rising intricacy. This software is designed to help users properly complete a tax return and, as a result, increase taxpayer compliance. These software packages represent sophisticated tax decision support systems (TDSS) used by both professional tax preparers and individual taxpayers alike. While the availability and use has risen dramatically over the past few years, little research has been conducted to determine the impact of TDSS on tax preparers' decisions. The purpose of this study is to examine whether tax preparers manually preparing a tax return make the same decisions as tax preparers aided by a TDSS. The Theory of Technology Dominance suggests (1) that less experienced users will not be able to adequately use the TDSS and will make inferior decisions when compared to more experienced users and (2) that more experienced decision-makers using a TDSS will make better decisions than their counterparts preparing a return manually. The results support the propositions of the theory and show that less experienced tax preparers using a TDSS make inferior decisions when compared to more experienced tax preparers. The less experienced tax preparers report higher taxable income and higher tax liability. The results also indicate that using a TDSS can help both experienced and novice tax preparers make better decisions even though the novices cannot perform at the level of experienced tax preparers. This study concludes tax compliance is improved with the use of a TDSS.

New project management principles for the conception stage: outline of a new ‘generation’

Conventional project management (PM) principles — used to handle well defined projects — have proved inadequate at the conception stage of projects when objectives are fuzzy. Many inferior decisions have been taken and problems arisen from the use of such techniques. This paper outlines a new ‘generation’ of PM principles. These were born two decades ago from the increasing complexity, turbulence and social impact of projects. These principles have now matured, having already been used in projects involving more than £30 000M, and they have led to a significant increase in quality of PM, not least in the conception stage. The principles and general procedures behind this new form of project management are discussed.