PurposeThe goal of this paper is to use a coherent conceptual framework to discern variables (triggers) that affect a management accountant's role in an organization, thereby generating a comprehensive empirical picture of the management accountant profession in The Netherlands. Similar research was conducted in 2004, which allows a comparison of the data to see if, and to what extent, developments in the profession have taken place.Design/methodology/approachUsing survey data, groups of management accountants are distinguished based on coherent combinations of activities. Factor and cluster analyses are applied to obtain a segmentation of the data. By doing this, it is established if homogeneous groups of management accountants can be distinguished, how many groups there are and what the characteristics of these groups are in terms of activities.FindingsIt was found that controllers either operate as “reporting business analysts” or “business system analysts”. Whether someone is found to be a reporting business analyst or business system analyst is among other things affected by personality traits, a person's experience in finance and accounting, the financial status of an organization and changes in laws and regulations.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual framework proposed integrates several previous studies on the roles of management accountants. It allows an analysis of their activities, yielding an empirically founded classification of management accountants in groups. In addition, possible factors underlying this classification can be discerned. As this is a generally applicable framework, it can, at a later stage, be used to make a comparison between countries, for instance in Europe.Practical implicationsThe resulting picture of the management accountant profession provides information on how to form or even design the financial function in an organization. Apparently, the developments in the profession reflect changes in the business environment and society as a whole, as it seems that internal analysis and risk management have become more fundamental to the profession.Originality/valueThis research uses an original framework covering several previous studies to generate a comprehensive empirical picture of the management accountant profession in The Netherlands. The framework is used to track changes over a three‐year period.
Purpose -The research goal was to trace behavioural patterns of management accountants, comprising activities and courses of action, in order to enhance understanding of the management accounting profession. Design/methodology/approach -Protoscripts were derived, using interview techniques and a research method called "interpretive interactionism". These protoscripts depict observable, recurrent activities and patterns of interaction characteristic for a group of persons, and can be used in various types of situations. Findings -The paper describes the procedure and outcome of the collection of behavioural protoscripts used by management accountants and controllers, as well as their possible ordering.Research limitations/implications -The findings enlarge understanding of the controller profession, but are limited solely to controller activities. The protoscripts collected are stereotypical, at least for the controllers interviewed. Of course, all human experience is interpretation and it should be acknowledged that interpretations are never complete. Practical implications -The control mechanisms and instruments that emerge in an organisation are the result of several interrelated factors and processes. Of special interest here is the behaviour of management accountants and controllers in shaping, maintaining and exerting control. Behavioural protoscripts can show how management accountants give contents to their role and structure their daily work. Originality/value -Scripted behaviour of management accountants has received little prior research attention, especially in combination with the research method of interpretive interactionism.
PurposeIn accounting literature, there is a strand of thought that is founded on the old institutional economics. One of the problems is that institutional theory can demonstrate resistance to change, not the formation of change. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to theory formation, in particular to enrich the institutional framework for understanding change, by showing how medical specialists in hospitals, in particular urologists, shape change processes in organizations as reflected in behavioral routines. The results will also contribute to the empirical understanding of medical specialists' behavior. This could generate dynamic accounts of organizational change and help to find a way towards an enhanced framework.Design/methodology/approachIn Dutch hospitals a new management control tool is implemented, which is the diagnose treatment combinations (DTC) system. A DTC is a way to describe the required medical procedures for a specific illness in a hospital. Here, an investigation is carried out on how and if the behavior of medical specialists changes because of this introduction.FindingsAfter analyzing interviews with urologists, four common themes are distinguished and scripted behavior is described. The individual tracks in scripts can be distinguished, but there is more. This is the story that gives coherence to the various behaviors and shows how the arrangement of behavioral routines in an organizational context forms organizational change through time.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was based on the institutional perspective. Another view on management control would emphasize other aspects of behavior. In addition, this was only based on one specialism in three hospitals, so generalizability of the results will be low.Practical implicationsThe results contribute to empirical understanding of medical specialists' behavior.Originality/valueThe results will contribute to the empirical understanding of medical specialists' behavior and it will contribute to theory formation in management control literature, in particular by enriching the institutional framework for understanding change.
In theory, action learning programs should lead to personal growth, and thereby also to organizational growth. Especially the occurrence of organizational growth can be questioned however. Three explanations are offered to explain the lack of organizational growth that seems to result when action learning programs are evaluated in practice: differences in perspectives, group problems, and hold-up effects. They all turn out to serve as valuable explanations.
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