Characterizing Mobile-Enhanced Cognitive Abilities: Implications for Accounting Jobs

The purpose of this research paper is to characterise mobile-enhanced cognitive job requirements and analyse implications on accounting jobs for performance improvement and human resource management. This paper first develops a mobile cognitive task analysis (MCTA) model based on the human information processing theory, which identifies the cognitive abilities that can be enhanced by mobile devices when performing cognitive-intensive jobs. Second, these mobile cognitive abilities are decomposed into 52 measurable items and assessed by surveys. Data were collected for 50 cognitive-oriented jobs from 400 surveys with 368 valid surveys (92% of valid survey). Third, results from factor analysis indicate that there are nine dimensions of mobile-enhanced cognitive abilities. Fourth, the mobile-enhanced cognitive ability topographies on three accounting jobs (Accountant, Auditor, and Tax Accountant) were constructed based on the weighted factor score analysis, which indicate that the accounting jobs have different requirements on the derived mobile-enhanced cognitive ability intensities. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are also presented in this paper.