Business Partner Role Research Articles

Controllership effectiveness and digitalization: Shedding light on the importance of business analytics capabilities and the business partner role

Digital technologies and related capabilities, such as business analytics capabilities (BAC), are transforming firms and management control (MC). While the development of BAC and its underlying dimensions is currently a top priority for many MC departments, it remains unclear from the existing literature how they can benefit from these capabilities in terms of controllership effectiveness. Against this background, our study examines the relationships between three core BAC dimensions (tangible BA resources, intangible BA resources, and human skills for BA) and controllership effectiveness (in terms of controllership output quality and controllership impact on management decisions), with a particular focus on the mediating effects of the business partner role of the MC department. To do so, we adopt the resource-based view and use partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze survey data from 322 large German firms. The results of our study show that all of the examined relationships are positively mediated by the business partner role, while those between tangible BA resources and both elements of controllership effectiveness, as well as that between human skills for BA and controllership impact on management decisions are even fully mediated by this role. Thus, our results highlight the importance of the business partner role in enabling MC departments to benefit from the development of the BAC dimensions in terms of improved controllership effectiveness. Furthermore, through a series of post hoc analyses, we provide empirical support for our three-dimensional conceptualization of BAC, and for the importance of the business partner role relative to the still dominant scorekeeper role. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Is Management Accounting Education Keeping Pace with Practice? A Study on the Theory-Practice Gap Using Terminology Analysis

ABSTRACT Building on theory by Argyris and Schön (1974) and theory on mental models, we argue that a disconnection between the terminology used in management accounting education and practice may be one of the clearest indicators of a theory-practice gap. For this reason, we examine to what extent practitioners understand and use commonly taught management accounting terminology. Overall, we expect a large gap between terminology taught and used, which we expect to depend on the organizational context of the management accountant and whether (s)he exerts a business partner role. We also expect that this gap may hamper management accountants’ professional identification. Survey results show, in contrast to our expectations, a limited theory-practice gap, even if concepts coming from frameworks and typologies are distinctly underused. Further, we find that the gap is smaller for management accountants performing a business partner role. Data availability: The data are available upon request from the authors.

Human resource business partner role in respect to internal corporate social responsibility: The case of banking sector

BACKGROUND: For last decade, human resource (HR) function has had to move from its traditional operational, administrative role towards a more strategic role. In the light of transformation and drawing upon business partnering concept (the most well-known Ulrich model), a new formal position of an HR business partner, who acts as an HR subject-matter expert for the leaders of that particular business, has been established in some organisations. Although previous literature suggests the involvement of human resource management (HRM) in the development and implementation of socially responsible business activities, there is a lack of evidence on HR professionals’ role regarding internal corporate social responsibility (CSR), which implies behaviour towards employees. OBJECTIVE: To reveal the role of an HR business partner while developing and implementing internal CSR activities. METHODS: Qualitative research; semi-structured interviews with employees working as HR business partners in the banking sector were conducted. RESULTS: The results revealed a significant HR business partner role in addressing internal CSR, in terms of work-life balance (WLB), diversity and inclusion, learning and development, and psychological and physical well-being. CONCLUSIONS: The research results expand the knowledge on the link between HRM and internal CSR. Moreover, the findings have significant implications encouraging organisations to empower HR professionals to act within the internal CSR field.

The role of management accounting in human capital management: Lessons from the services sector

Purpose: The article examines the role of management accounting in managing human capital, a key intangible asset for services sectors. Considering new expectations regarding the role of management accountants and human resource professionals, the article explores the ability of the disciplines to collaborate in becoming more strategic.Design/methodology/approach: The article considers literature on the evolution of the two disciplines, including archetype views on the role of management accountants, and presents case study analysis of a German information technology firm and a Dutch bank. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers from both the companies.Findings/results: From the interviews, it appeared that management accountants play the role of business partner but stop short of acting as comprehensive integrator of human capital information. While both companies have innovated in measuring and valuing human capital, human resources and finance analytics teams tend to work on their own and accountants remain ad hoc advisors.Practical implications: Efforts to refine the business case and value human capital fail to fully mainstream, as collaboration across departments remain loose. Innovations in soft management controls leave an impression of loose coupling between subsystems rather than comprehensively planned and integrated soft management control systems.Originality/value: The study defines complementarity between two disciplines, both seeking to account for and manage intangible assets more effectively. It concludes with lessons for researchers and practitioners on the development action-to-value pathways, improving non-financial metrics and purposefully shaping soft control systems.

Dynamics of human resource department ecosystem in developing human resource role: An ecosystem perspective

Over the last decade, management scholars have paid increasing attention to ecosystems. The ecosystem approach has recently received much attention in business and innovation studies as a comprehensive way of understanding multi-aspect environments. This exploratory study aims to investigate the dynamics of human resource department ecosystem (HRDE) and the role of HRDE in shaping the human resource business partner role. This study employed a mixed-methods approach, following an exploratory sequential design. First, a conceptual model was developed based on qualitative data collected from expert interviews and analyzed through grounded theory. This stage uncovered eight actors and four factors, further organized into three layers of the ecosystem and hypothesis paths. Then, the structural model was measured and validated using PLS-SEM. This study is unique in applying the HRDE to the HR role’s development to deepen our understanding of how a human resource business partner role is shaped by actors’ interactions within and between ecosystem layers (micro, meso, and macro). The results revealed actors and factors supporting the HRDE in developing the HR role from the micro to macro layers of the ecosystem. The results suggest that the macro, meso, and micro layers of the HRDE positively impact the human resource business partner role’s development.

Antecedents of public‐sector auditors’ economic error communication: Evidence from Germany

AbstractTraditionally, public‐sector auditors are concerned with auditing the legality and regularity of government activities (compliance audits). However, such auditors are increasingly expected to conduct “performance audits” and communicate economic errors due to inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and poor economic decisions to the auditee. This type of role change is often accompanied by role stress. This study explores whether role stress—role conflict and role ambiguity—among local public‐sector auditors and their perception of their new business partner role are precursors of their communication of detected economic errors to their auditees. Therefore, survey data from German local public sector auditors (i.e., municipalities and counties) are gathered and analyzed. Our results show that compare to those in other organizations, auditors who work in more formalized public‐sector audit organizations are less likely to experience role ambiguity and role conflict and to communicate auditees’ economic errors more actively. Furthermore, we find that auditors who do not experience role ambiguity find it easier to see themselves as a business partner of the auditee and show more active economic error communication. The present study informs the literature on performance auditing by transferring the business partner concept to the context of public‐sector auditing and applying a role theory perspective to reveal drivers of economic error communication.

Beware of the watchdog! Role communication in job advertisements for management accountants

PurposeJob advertisements are important means of communicating role expectations for management accountants to the labor market. They provide information about which roles are sought and expected. However, which roles are communicated in job advertisements is unknown so far.Design/methodology/approachWith a text-mining approach on a large sample of 889 job ads, the authors extract information on roles, type of firm and hierarchical position of the management accountant sought.FindingsThe results indicate an apparent mix of different role types with a strong focus on a classic watchdog role. However, the business partner role is more often sought for leadership positions or in family businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME).Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation is the lack of an agreed-upon measurement instrument for roles in job offers. The study results imply that corporate practice is not as theory-driven as is postulated and communicated in the management accounting community. This indicates the existence of a research-practice gap and tensions between different actors in the management accounting field.Practical implicationsThe results challenge the current role discussion of professional organizations for management accountants as business partners.Originality/value The authors contribute the first study, which explicitly analyzes the communication of roles in job offers for management accountants. It indicates a discrepancy between scholarly discussion on roles and management accountants' work from an employer's perspective.

How hard can it be? A qualitative study following an HRT implementation in a global industrial corporate group

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically study the implementation and contextualization of the human resource transformation (HRT) management model within the human resources (HR) function of a global industrial company group.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study that includes two data collections.FindingsImplementation of the HRT model led to tensions and conflicting interpretations of the mission of the HR function, and a “tug of war” about the distribution of work both within HR and between HR and line management. Splitting the HR function into three legs made the HR function's learning cycles more difficult. The corporate group had a decentralized and diverse business culture, and contextualization of the HRT model to this setting highlighted the model's embeddedness in the American business culture of centralization and standardization. Implementation of the model also entailed a transition from an employee to an employer perspective within HR.Research limitations/implicationsFor an assessment of HR's total work other parts of the HRT model (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005) need to be involved since HR professionals in the insourced or outsourced shared service center (SSC) and Center of Expertise (CoE) and the e-HR tools are equally important for executing the total HR's mission. Further studies of the problematic human resource business partner (HRBP) role are needed and also what the development of e-HR solutions means for the HR profession.Practical implicationsThe authors argue for a continuous development of HR work, along with closer professional contact both with line managers (LMs) and within the HR function, for improved learning cycles and a need for contextualization when implementing management models.Social implicationsThe paper discusses the HRT model's impact on HR practitioners’ and LMs’ work practice.Originality/valueThis article shows the need for contextualization when implementing management models. The lack of such contextualization led to severe tensions, and the intentions of an efficient and respected HR function were not achieved. The study contributes an evaluation of the tensions between HRT as a normative and standardized model in business settings accustomed to variety and decentralized decision-making.

Controllers and strategic decision-making: The role of cognitive flexibility in controller-manager collaboration

Extending research about controllers’ different roles, we develop new insights into how controllers collaborate with line managers and thereby shape strategic decision-making quality and speed. We introduce the concept of cognitive flexibility as an important characteristic of the controller-manager collaboration and hypothesize that the business partner role is positively related to cognitive flexibility in controller-manager collaboration, whereas the watchdog and scorekeeper roles are expected to have a negative association. Data collected through three surveys empirically supports these hypotheses for the business partner and scorekeeper roles. Furthermore, our results support the notion that cognitive flexibility in interpersonal collaboration is a key mechanism through which controller roles can influence strategic decision-making. Specifically, we find that the positive (negative) relation between the business partner (scorekeeper) role and the quality of strategic decisions is mediated by cognitive flexibility.

Analisis Kompetensi Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) dalam Mencapai Kesuksesan Organisasi Perguruan Tinggi

<p><em>Human Resource Management (HRM) is one of the most strategic parts in organization. HRM is the art and science of managing the relationship and role of the workforce effectively and efficiently to achieve organizational goals. The development of human resource management changes every time. Currently the role of HRM is becoming more complex and full of challenges. Therefore, the preparation of a strategy in human resource management must be in line with the organization's business strategy. The management of the organization has now realized that employees are a strategic asset and must be developed in order to provide opportunities that the organization can take advantage of. Employee potential development programs that are currently being carried out are by increasing employee competencies. This also applies to educational institutions like University. This study uses a literature study that analyzes the role of Human Resource Business Partner in achieving higher education success. Competency improvement and development programs for lecturers and students have often been held with various activities such as seminars, training, competency tests, etc. It is intended that universities can produce professionals in their respective scientific fields. The employee management model that is considered capable of assisting higher education institutions in improving the competence of academics is to use the Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP). HRBP positions HR practitioners to be partners for organizational managers and as consultants in selecting employee competency development programs. In implementing HR management activities in University HRBP is the right model, especially for lecturers and students who want to improve their competence and develop their knowledge. This HRBP management model is also very helpful in the implementation of the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) program by Higher Education, where the goal of MBKM is in line with HRBP, namely to increase the competence of academics and be able to produce academics who are professional in their fields.</em></p>

Business Partnering in Risk Management: A Resilience Perspective on Management Accountants' Responses to a Role Change*

ABSTRACTThis study uses a resilience perspective to examine the opportunities and challenges that management accountants may experience when they are given a role as a business partner in risk management. Drawing on insights from an in‐depth case study in a large European bank, our study sheds light on management accountants' responses to a change from a compliance‐oriented role to a business partner role. In the bank studied, part of the management accountants' new role was to balance various performance objectives and thereby to incorporate risk considerations in managerial decision‐making. Our findings suggest that this role challenged the management accountants due to the ambiguity inherent in the role and also due to unfavorable conditions that surrounded the role change. We find that these circumstances culminated in a move backward, with the management accountants falling back on practices that were consistent with the values and beliefs they had developed in their previous role. In doing so, they emphasized what the resilience literature labels “well‐learned responses.” These responses contributed to an emphasis on a narrow risk management approach and had implications for the management accountants' long‐term position within the organization. We discuss these findings against the background of previous research that suggests that management accountants move forward to the business partner role by engaging in job crafting (i.e., adapting their work) or identity work (i.e., redefining their role identity). By utilizing the concepts of lingering identities and identity asymmetries to explain the management accountants' move backward, we also shed light on new facets related to role identity.

The susceptibility of management accountants to framing bias

PurposeThe emerging business partner role of management accountants (MAs) results in an increased requirement of MAs to make business decisions. Frame dependence cognitive biases regularly influence decisions made in conditions of uncertainty, as is the case in business decision-making. Consequently, this study aims to examine susceptibility of MAs to frame dependence bias.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted among an international sample of practising MAs. The proportion of MAs influenced by framing bias was analysed and compared to findings in other populations. Logistic regression was then used to determine whether MAs who exhibit a higher preference for evidence-based (as opposed to intuitive) decision-making are more susceptible to framing bias.FindingsDespite a comparatively high preference for evidence-based decision-making, the prevalence of framing bias among MAs is comparable to that of other populations. A higher preference for evidence-based decision-making was found to only be associated with higher susceptibility to endowment effect bias.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively examine framing bias for MAs as a group of decision-makers. Additionally, this study’s sample consists of practising MAs, and not only students.

An empirical study on management accountants’ roles and role perceptions: A German perspective

The ongoing discussion on roles of management accountants (MAs) leads often to perceive the business partner (BP) role as the role of choice. Yet, many scholars and practitioners seem to assume that this role is clear to managers and MAs, that it makes sense for them and that all managers and MAs agree on it and implement it. Inconsistencies between actual roles, perceived, and expected roles might cause identity and role conflicts. However, we lack evidence of whether managers and MAs perceive, expect and act in the BP role and if tensions and conflicts might exist. This paper is based on a quantitative empirical study of a large German high-tech firm in 2019 whose top management decided to implement the BP role. We found several areas of tension in this role discussion and contribute to the literature on MAs’ roles with a more nuanced view of the interaction between managers and MAs regarding MAs’ roles. The study shows that there are mainly differences in business managers’ expectations of MAs to the role of the BP, which the MAs do not know exactly how to fulfill

HR ANALYTICS – EMPOWERING ORGANIZATIONS

The world of business is fast evolving and as the famous Heraclitus saying goes “Change is the only constant in life” which applies to all Organizations, adapting to the new and consistently re-inventing becomes the life line for survival.
 The era we live is one marked by highly competitive corporates who influence the day of every living being in one way or other through the products/services they offer. These Organizations, most of them have a global scale of operations are on a constant vigil regarding their internal mechanisms and is on the lookout for grabbing the best opportunities. The HR Department traditionally considered as a support function has itself in the last decades evolved into a Business Partner role aligning with the Objectives of the Organization. This paradigm shift brings a lot of stress on the Human Resource Management system, who is the vital facilitator in driving the organizations transitions smoothly. The major factors which accentuate the same are diminishing boundaries of trades between nations, increased competition, growing interdependence of the world’s economies, etc. To accommodate for more accuracy in decision making, being a strategic Partner ,HR function has to rely on evidence .Human Resource Analytics (HR Analytics) being a data driven approach is a vital tool in this regard for the Organizations.
 The objective of this paper is to study the importance of Human Resource Analytics in managing the human resource of the organizations and whether it provides a competitive edge. In addition, the exploratory research made gave insights into the competitive edge derived by the organizations and its impact on Business Goals, increasing interest shown by many organizations in HR Analytics and the various methods used by them as evidence based approach for making strategic decisions which in turn has helped them in achieving the set Business Goals.

The influence of power strategies in AIS implementation processes

This study is based on a longitudinal in-depth case study, conducted in a Portuguese public-sector organization, where the accountants adopted a strategic business partner role and promoted the implementation of two new accounting information systems (AIS), under the context of increasing business competition. Given their role, we examined how the implementation processes of such AIS were influenced by the accountants’ power strategies, adopting an organizational power narrative inquiry grounded on the four power dimensions proposed in Hardy’s (1996) framework: power over resources, power over decision-making processes, power over meanings and power of the system. As a result, this study contributes to the literature available on AIS by discussing the strategic business partner role of (management) accountants in a specific case; and by offering new insights into AIS research under the topic of accounting change through the exercise of power. Our research also contributes to the literature on organizational power by providing theoretical developments to Hardy’s (1996) power framework.

Perceptual asymmetries in perceived quality ofHRfunction resulting from ownership transformation: A public‐to‐private scenario

Policymakers use privatization to transform a drowning public sector firm into a profitable institution while ignoring its effects on different organizational members. This study advances HR research on ownership transformation and its human resource implications by exploring potential effects of privatization on changes in perceptions of key HR service providers and service receives (i.e., HR and Non‐HR line managers) about the quality of HR business partnership role. This qualitative investigation is based on in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with eight Non‐HR and three HR line managers of a privatized fertilizer company in Pakistan. We proposed that the transformation of ownership positively affects the line manager's perceptions about strategic partner and change agent role of the HR Function. The line managers' perceptions about the expert administrative role remained almost unaffected, while their perceptions about employee champion role of HR Function are negatively affected after privatization. This study has contributed to the existing knowledge by highlighting the role of ownership transformation, particularly privatization in employees' perceptions about the business partner role of HR Function in a fertilizer firm.

Big data and HR analytics in the digital era

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on how the HR function takes advantage of human resource analytics (HRA), including big data (BD), and discuss factors hindering HRA and data utilization. Moreover, the authors discuss the implications of the HRA-induced role transformation of the human resource (HR) function.Design/methodology/approachThis is an explorative case study based on qualitative interviews in nine leading Finnish companies.FindingsThe results indicate that both technical and human obstacles, operating with very basic HR processes and traditional information systems and poor data quality, hinder adoption of advanced HRA. This, combined with lacking skills in analytics and business understanding, inability to go beyond reporting, misconceptions related to BD and traditional compliance-oriented HR culture pose further challenges for the data analytics capacity and business partner role of the HR function. Senior executives expect no significant advancements of HRA, while HR professionals saw potential value in BD, although skepticism was not uncommon. The results point toward a need for increased cooperation with data analysts and HR professionals in provision and understanding the HR-related data for business-related decision making. Furthermore, cultural change and organizational redesign may be called for, in addition to overcoming technological obstacles related to BD, for it to have an impact on HR practices. HRA utilization and role transition of the HR function seem closely related and this transformation can be mutually reinforcing.Originality/valueThis study provides and theorizes explorative data on HRA within a group of some of the largest Finnish companies, pointing toward an immature state of the art in BD and HRA utilization and there being a relationship between HRA and the role transition of the HR function in organizations.

Educating management accountants as business partners

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a paradigmatic foundation for educators to prepare students of management accounting for the new demands of the role of trusted business partner in practice. Design/methodology/approach The paper argues for the use of pragmatic constructivism as a basis for development of a paradigmatic foundation for educating advanced students of management accounting. Furthermore, it contains an empirical insight through a case example of how pragmatic constructivism can be used as a pedagogical tool in different management accounting educational situations. Findings The analysis shows how pragmatic constructivism can be used as a less reductionist paradigm than realism to tackle the research-teaching-practice deficiencies found in conventional thinking on accounting education. Pragmatic constructivism is shown to provide important methodological and conceptual elements in developing, understanding and guiding the application of management accounting techniques in dynamic business practices. Placing an emphasis on teaching methodological skills relevant for management accountants is shown to have an important impact on students and their ability to act as business partners. Research limitations/implications The analysis is exploratory in the sense that a new paradigmatic framework for educating students of management accounting to be business partners is outlined and illustrated through its implementation in a specific master’s degree programme. However, this analysis should be viewed as only a first step towards developing pragmatic constructivism as a paradigmatic foundation for teaching management accounting as a basis for a business partner role. Originality/value The proposed use of research on pragmatic constructivism as a basis for management accounting education to support a future business partner role is novel in the literature on management accounting. The value of its application lies in its potential to create successful utilisation of the practices of management accounting.

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

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.

Transforming HR as Agile Business Partner: The Case of Accenture

Organizations are increasingly pursuing agility and flexibility by working across and beyond conservative boundaries of time and place. The role of human resources can contribute to building a culture of high performance and innovation. That's because HR is no longer just about operations and people management. It's a strategic unit that delivers business value in terms of cost savings, efficiency gains, and growth capability-all of which are key aspects of agile organizations. If our organization is going to become agile, it needs to start with its human resources. The HR's contribution in the agile transformation is considered a necessity. In any organization, HR can be playing fundamentally different roles. There can be three possible roles HR can play in an agile organisation. One is a kind of “administrator” acting principally as agent implementing processes on behalf of the top management. A second is that of a “moderator,” who seeks to be responsive to the needs of all stakeholders-managers, staff, shareholders; in this role, when HR refers to customers, it is usually referring to internal customers. And third is where HR is acting as “Agile business partner” in a role that is focused on delivering value for external customers. Their competence with people and soft skills is of great interest in making the transformation smoother. To be able to deliver and develop products and services more efficiently and with better quality it is claimed that an organisation must adopt the Agile philosophy and becomes fastest in realising an opportunity and connecting it to a customer need wins, and will also become a leader on the market. In this study, the researcher explores: what does the Agile business partner role look like in practice? And how Accenture is using HR in transforming itself into an agile organisation.