Tasks, interaction and role perception of management accountants: evidence from Germany

Rieg, Robert

doi:10.1007/s00187-018-0266-0

Cited by 54 publications

(79 citation statements)

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“…There are three potential contributions to the literature. First, this study adds to literature on the determinants of the business partner role of management accountants (Goretzki et al 2013;Goretzki and Messner 2018;Hartmann and Maas 2011;Järvenpää 2007;Rieg 2018;Wolf et al 2015;Zoni and Merchant 2007) by showing that differentiation strategy is an important driver of the BPMA role. This has practical consequences for firms concerned for example with the selection of the "right" management accountants during the recruitment process, or with the development of certain roles internally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…However, the way in which management accountants and their use of management accounting information for different purposes are involved in the connection between differentiation strategy and exploratory innovation remain unclear. 1 Prior qualitative literature suggests that the roles of management accountants are moving toward a "business partner" model, generally distinguished from the more traditional "bean counter" model (Rieg 2018;Windeck et al 2015), by taking a more active role in the decision making processes of organizations (Byrne and Pierce 2007;Hughes and Pierce 2006;Jørgensen and Messner 2010;Rabino 2001;Rieg 2018). The "bean counter" role is defined as focusing on the provision of routine financial analysis, transaction processing and/or statutory reporting (Burns and Baldvinsdottir 2005, 726;Lambert and Sponem 2012, 566).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Strategy and innovation: the mediating role of management accountants and management accounting systems’ use

Pasch

2019

J Manag Control

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This study contributes to understanding how firms pursuing differentiation strategy enhance exploratory innovation outcomes through business partner management accountants and their use of management accounting systems. Separate streams of literature analyzed the relationship between strategy and the role of management accountants in firms; and the relationship between the role of management accountants and new product innovation. Drawing on this evidence, I hypothesize that the relationship between differentiation strategy and exploratory innovation is mediated by two factors: a greater business partner orientation of management accountants and their subsequent use of the management accounting systems for attention focusing and decision making purposes. I find empirical support for the proposed three-path mediated effect using a structural equation model with survey data from 244 firms from German-speaking countries. In total, these findings reveal that management accounting department can be part of the strategy implementation mechanism in firms that emphasize exploratory innovation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategy and innovation: the mediating role of management accountants and management accounting systems’ use

Pasch

2019

J Manag Control

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“…In both theory and practice, a business partner is supposed to have moved beyond traditional and rational management accounting techniques to become a capable provider of rich, forwardlooking information for strategic decisions (Granlund and Lukka 1998;Emsley 2005;Baldvinsdottir et al 2009). The notion of the business partner remains a popular template for practicing management accountants and a vibrant stream of literature in academic business research (Rieg 2018). Indeed, research shows that employers hire management accountants based on business partner characteristics (Lepistö and Ihantola 2018), possibly as a result of their social orientation and their emphasis on communication and interaction rather than rational technical skills (Lepistö and Ihantola 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such empirical evidence points to a hybrid accountant with some business partner characteristics (Burns and Baldvinsdottir 2005;Weber 2011;Graham et al 2012;Lambert and Sponem 2012). Hence, the hybrid accountant can be seen as a step toward the role of a business partner but not a complete transformation (Mouritsen 1996;Granlund and Lukka 1997;Rieg 2018). In contrast to the business partner, the hybrid accountant does not sacrifice the traditional and hierarchical stewardship role (Byrne and Pierce 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid accountants in the age of the business partner: exploring institutional drivers in a mining company

2019

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This paper addresses the question of how it is possible, despite the persuasive characteristics of the business partner role, to explain the prevalence of hybrid accountants in management accounting practice. This research question is addressed from an institutional theory vantage point, suggesting that institutional drivers exist in every organization that shape the role of the practicing actors. The empirical evidence presented is drawn from a case study of a mining company pursuing a change program to transform its management accountants into business partners. The results illustrate how the hybrid accountant role is formed through an interplay among regulative, normative, and cognitive institutional drivers that influence the role of the management accountants in opposing directions. Because of the tension between facilitating and impeding institutional drivers, the change program toward business partnering results in a hybrid accountant role which is characterized by a combination of traditional and business partner traits. Hence, the conclusions suggest that the prevalence of hybrid accountants in management accounting practice can be explained by tensions between opposing institutional drivers that contribute to a compound role.

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“…Heretofore, a strand of literature has discussed the role of management accountants (e.g. : Rieg, 2018;Vechalekar et al, 2017;Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2007) and also some studies have highlighted the key factors that lead to the changing role of management accountants including harmonization of accounting standards (Vechalekar et al, 2017), organizational restructuring (Pietrzak and Wnuk-Pel, 2015) and rapid changes in technology (Zainuddin et al, 2016) for instance the existence of the new industrial revolution.…”

Section: Role Of the Management Accountant In A Business Firmmentioning

confidence: 99%

The eminence of the 4th industrial revolution: how it transformed management accountants

Rasid¹,

Saruchi²,

Tamin³

2019

Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Management (INSYMA 2019)

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The awakening of modern technologies in the era of this 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) has tremendously affected the whole landscape around the globe including the business sector. To be aligned with the technological advancements, management accountants have to keep proactive and prepare for any unexpected changes to ensure that their business remains lucrative and stays relevant in the industry. Nonetheless, the changing role of the management accountant due to the presence of 4IR is imminent. As a result, this paper deliberates on how the 4IR changes the role of management accountants, including what knowledge and skills are crucial for them to grasp in order to adapt adequately in this 4IR era. In addition, this paper also reviews the challenges that they have to face. The study can be of prime importance to business firms in identifying the role of the management accountant in this 4IR era and to prepare for the ubiquitous challenges that may perturb their efficacies.

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Tasks, interaction and role perception of management accountants: evidence from Germany

Cited by 54 publications

References 100 publications

Strategy and innovation: the mediating role of management accountants and management accounting systems’ use

Strategy and innovation: the mediating role of management accountants and management accounting systems’ use

Hybrid accountants in the age of the business partner: exploring institutional drivers in a mining company

The eminence of the 4th industrial revolution: how it transformed management accountants

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