Accountability in the accounting profession in Samoa: exploring the influence of Fa'aSamoa

This research study explores the impact of fa’aSamoa (Samoan culture) on accountability in the accounting profession in Samoa. This study also explores the influence that culture has had on the development of the accounting profession in Samoa. Samoa is a Pacific Island nation characterised with a collective social ideology that contrast with the individualistic paradigm associated with western countries and in particular the discipline of accounting. This study is a qualitative work and adopts a naturalistic or constructivist inquiry approach. The data was collected through a series of seventeen talanoa sessions conducted in early 2010 with participants from the accounting profession, standards regulators, entrepreneurs and community leaders. The findings support the view that fa’aSamoa represents a collective form of accountability that contrast with that associated with the accounting profession. The implication is that fa’aSamoa has hindered the adoption of western forms of accountability resulting in a hybrid status that is the product of both