The Interaction Between Supply Chain Relationships And Management Accounting: A Literature Review

Abstract

This study explores whether and how supply chain relationships have developed ‘matters of concern’ among researchers regarding the relevance of management accounting practices. A literature review of accounting, operations, and management literature was conducted to identify the ‘matters of concern’ among researchers. ‘Matters of concern’, one of the notions of Actor-Network Theory, was employed as a theoretical framework in this study. The findings of this study highlight the inadequacy of the conventional wisdom of management accounting in managing and supporting supply chain relationships. It shows how researchers focus not only on the issues within management accounting per se but also on the complexities that prevail in managing supply chain relationships and the reciprocal effects between management accounting and such complexities. This study paves the way for researchers to empirically investigate the ‘matters of concern’ and find ways to drive ‘matters of facts’ in the context of management accounting and supply chains.