Empirical Management Accounting Research Research Articles

Quantitative Empirical Research in Management Accounting: A Proposed Typology and Implications for Internal versus External Validity

Purpose: The purpose of this study is twofold. First, we propose a typology of quantitative empirical research in management accounting based on two design features: presence of control group and sample representativeness. Second, we discuss implications of the methods for trade-offs between internal and external validity.
 Method: Based on previous methodological studies we develop a typology with eight quantitative empirical methods.
 Results: Based on the two design features, we propose eight quantitative empirical methods for management accounting studies: (1) laboratory experiment, (2) crowdsourcing experiment, (3) field experiment, (4) natural experiment, (5) single entity survey, (6) proprietary archival study, (7) large-scale survey and (8) pre-structured archival study. In addition, we critically compare the trade-offs and discuss the implications of these methods for internal and external validity.
 Contributions: The contribution is twofold. First, the proposed typology can help junior management accounting researchers increase the familiarity with the available empirical methods, some of which are still incipient in Brazil. Second, this study states that the choice of an empirical method typically implies benefits in terms of a validity type (e.g. internal validity) at the expense of other validity type (e.g., external validity). Claims of causality and results generalizability depend on which validity type is prioritized and remedies adopted to increase the overall validity of a study’s results.

Whereof one cannot speak … a comment on Vollmer (2019)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual reflection based on the author’s personal research experience, reading of the literature and contact with the academic education of emerging scholars. Design/methodology/approach In this reflection on the paper “Accounting for tacit coordination: The passing of accounts and the broader case for accounting theory” (Vollmer, 2019), the author argues that the silences of the qualitative empirical management accounting research process may preclude research from understanding the silences of accounting practitioners and shape the trajectory of the discipline as a whole. Findings The author presents a slightly exaggerated depiction of the qualitative empirical management accounting research process. From this, the author infers what impedes empirically studying unorthodox phenomena such as the silences of accounting practitioners. Originality/value The author offers a critical perspective on the author’s own research process, using accounting silences as way of reflecting on the potential and limitations of empirical research. Finally, the author makes tentative suggestions for opening up the standard research process.

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Prof. Yoshida - Empirical research in management accounting

Tension in the form of dilemmas, contradictions and conflicts exists in organisations. It can be managed through management controls, including management accounting, thereby optimising organisational performance. Management accounting uses all quantitative and qualitative information in addition to accounting information in assisting managerial decisions, ultimately helping a business to achieve its goals. As part of this, tension management, which is a relatively new research topic, can not only enable long-term business goals to be achieved, but can also help attain the individual wellbeing of employees. This is the premise of the research of Professor Eisuke Yoshida. The research themes of Yoshida, who is based in the Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University, Japan, encompass management accounting, business structure and organisation design and management. This interest stems from a desire to optimise the working environment and ensure that work doesn't come at the expense of other, outside interests. Yoshida says this is because often achieving operational efficiency is associated with negative consequences. Using management accounting, with incorporated tension management, he believes it is possible to avoid these. For example, in Japan targets tend to be difficult to achieve, and failure to achieve targets has become the norm. 'This creates a state of tension, which is not necessarily a negative thing. It will be a trigger for creating new ideas and collaborating with others,' outlines Yoshida. From his perspective, creating a theoretical framework for tension management is an important part of addressing this.

STRONG STRUCTURATION THEORY AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING RESEARCH

Strong structuration theory is a recent development in social theory that, among other attributes, makes the gap between ontological concepts and empirical research easier to negotiate. Giddens’ structuration theory is a developed ontology-in-general explaining at an abstract level how structure and agency are interrelated, being a duality in which neither can exist without the other. Strong structuration is a development of structuration theory that retains duality of structure but has a greater sense of ontology-in-situ (that is, a concern with social processes and events at particular times and places) to counteract the overly abstract and philosophical nature of Giddens’ work. In this essay, I set out three reasons why I believe that strong structuration theory is particularly suited to qualitative empirical research in management accounting. These are that it encourages and reminds researchers to use up to date scholarship from other disciplines in their research; that it refocuses research on agency and the intended and unintended effects that individual people have on structures; and that it encourages research design that have the intention of building new theoretical insights. A review of the small body of accounting research that has so far used strong structuration theory shows that researchers are using innovative approaches, based on Stones’ (2005) and later work, to investigate the relationships between different actors and their knowledge of the contexts which they inhabit to understand why accounting is done in the way it is, and the extent to which change is possible. The next step in this area of research is to consider the concept of active agency within the theory more closely, and in particular, to examine communication in management accounting as active agency.

What can(not) a flat and local structuration ontology do for management accounting research?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on “Structuration theory: reflections on its further potential for management accounting research”, a paper by Coad et al. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents, discusses and challenges the critique that Coad et al. direct towards the notion of a flat and local structuration ontology in management accounting research. Findings This paper offers a number of reflections upon Coad et al.’s key arguments against a flat and local structuration ontology in extant accounting research. Based on the authors’ understanding of such an ontology, they also elaborate on what they believe a flat and local structuration ontology “can do” and “cannot do” for accounting research. Overall, the authors agree with Coad et al. that there is indeed an ontological divide between their different views on a flat and local ontology; a divide largely related to whether researchers have an essentialist view on social phenomena. However, the authors believe that Coad et al. exaggerate how this ontological divide has affected, and may affect, future empirical management accounting research. Originality/value This paper expands the current understanding of a flat and local structuration ontology in management accounting research.

Contingency theory, performance management and organisational effectiveness in the third sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework that explains how performance management (PM) affects the organisational effectiveness in the third sector. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopt a two stage process in developing the theoretical framework; a systematic review of literature and theoretical developments of the framework. The underlying principles for developing the theoretical framework are mainly based on prior theoretical justification and empirical research in management accounting and international development fields. Findings – Drawing upon contingency theory, the authors propose a theoretical framework explaining how the contingency variables affect PM and organisational effectiveness in the third sector. The authors discuss the justification for contingency theory as well as its weaknesses in the PM research. The authors also highlight how a modified Performance Management and Control Framework could be used to identify PM practices in the third sect...

Conceptualisations of ‘controlling’ in German-speaking countries: analysis and comparison with Anglo-American management control frameworks

Management control systems (MCSs) as formal, routine-based systems that help to maintain or alter organisational activities and guide the behaviour of a firm’s employees are in the focus of normative and empirical management accounting research. This article explores the different MCS conceptualisations, named ‘controlling’ approaches, that have been developed over more than 40 years in German-speaking countries. After investigating the underlying theoretical foundations, five major approaches are analysed and compared with each other. This enables readers to perceive and understand the MCS frameworks developed in a non-Anglo-American setting. The common traits and differences between these German frameworks are derived and discussed. Finally, the commonalities and differences in comparison with Anglo-American frameworks are analysed, helping scholars to understand the different traditions and practises of MCSs. The paper intends to inspire future research on common traits of MCSs across cultures and regions and to explore the impact of different national cultures or regions on the design of MCSs.

Performance outcomes in empirical management accounting research

PurposeThis paper seeks to further the understanding of the rather fragmented research in the area of quantitative management accounting research. The purpose of this study is to provide a synthesis and an extended discussion of the literature from the performance outcome standpoint and to foster future research in this area by identifying promising recent developments in the assessment of performance outcomes and gaps in the literature.Design/methodology/approachA literature analysis was adopted based on empirical studies and literature reviews published in a wide range of journals.FindingsThe overall conclusion of this study is that future management accounting research can still make progress in the measurement of performance outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsResearch published in English, and the period of the past decade was emphasized to examine recent frontiers of knowledge. The results imply that increasing and simultaneous analysis of various kinds of performance outcomes could be conducted, ranging from accounting‐based to social and environmental outcomes and relative‐to‐peers assessments in different settings. If possible, development of performance outcomes could be investigated with longitudinal and panel, in addition to cross‐sectional, research designs. Attempts could be made to analyze the nature of causality to advance both management accounting literature and social science research.Practical implicationsThis study furthers understanding of behaviorally‐, organizationally‐ and strategically‐oriented management accounting research that has played a central role in assessing to what extent people are likely to succeed with their management accounting and control systems in various settings.Originality/valueThis paper presents a theoretical framework and several examples potentially useful for both academic scholars and practitioners.

Management accounting research in the lab – method and applications

Although empirical methods have gained momentum in the business research community lately, there has been little effort, so far, to utilize laboratory experiments for advancing the field of management accounting research. This article presents the state of the art in experimental management accounting research. First, the method’s current popularity amongst researchers in this field is established via a review of existing literature analyses covering empirical management accounting research. Second, a description of potential uses, designs and methodological limitations of laboratory experiments is given. Third, a comprehensive review of the relevant literature body, based on a specifically developed conceptual model, resulting in a map of topics and variables follows. Internationally there is evidence for the use of laboratory experiments for gaining further insights into both classical management accounting functions, decision influencing and decision facilitating. Furthermore, a wide body of research is available to further exploitation by the management accounting research community, emanating from the fields of individual decision making, decision support systems and management information systems.

Heurística para a composição de referencial teórico

O processo de fazer e documentar um referencial teórico é usualmente idiossincrático. Luft e Shields (2003) apresentaram um processo de mapeamento da pesquisa empírica em contabilidade gerencial. Propõe-se um método heurístico formal para o processo de elaboração do referencial teórico que complementa o processo de mapeamento proposto por Luft e Shields (2003). A heurística apresentada, aqui, é baseada no conceito de camadas e visa à redução dos erros de inclusão e exclusão que podem ocorrer durante a seleção de estudos anteriores. Esses erros impactam na validade interna e na validade do construto, já que o referencial teórico suporta a operacionalização das variáveis, as escolhas das proxies e a seleção dos métodos. É apresentado um exemplo real da aplicação da heurística na condução de uma Dissertação de Mestrado em Ciências Contábeis. Conclui-se que a aplicação da heurística permite ao pesquisador identificar os autores de destaque no tópico de pesquisa escolhido, a aceitação da comunidade científica com relação a uma ou outra corrente teórica no que diz respeito à explicação do fenômeno, além das teorias mais utilizadas em uma área de conhecimento. Por meio dessa heurística, a operacionalização do estudo exemplificado identificou nos estudos empíricos anteriores, 199 proxies ao longo de 58 variáveis relacionadas, 8 diferentes teorias, 57 autores, possibilitando um mapeamento do tema com uso de critérios mais objetivos de revisão.

Integration of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Management Accounting Research: A Critical Realist Approach

Empirical management accounting research increasingly mix qualitative and quantitative methods and combine theories generally associated with entrenched and arguably incommensurable paradigms. This type of research has received considerable criticism in the wider social sciences for failing to present a convincing case for the use of mixed methods research as a means of validation, pivoting around the possibilities of triangulation. However, little explicit attention has been paid to this critique in the management accounting literature. This paper responds to this critique and advances a modified notion of triangulation based on critical realism. The applicability of this conception of triangulation is then illustrated based on two empirical studies straddling between the functionalist and interpretive paradigms. We discuss how this responds to the aforementioned critique and how it may contribute to the advancement of mixed methods research in management accounting.

A Heuristic Method for Composing a Literature Review

The process of doing and documenting a literature review is usually quite idiosyncratic. Luft and Shields (2003) presented a compelling process to map theory-consistent empirical research in management accounting. However, their mapping process depends on a reliable selection of works. Although Luft and Shields (2003) present some criteria of selection of empirical works, we propose a formal heuristic method for the process of literature reviewing that integrates their mapping process. The heuristic is based on the concept of layers, and it is aimed at mitigating inclusion errors and exclusion errors which might occur when selecting papers for a literature review. These errors impact internal validity and construct validity, since a literature review defines operationalization of variables, choices of proxies and selection of methods. By mitigating errors, we contend that threats to internal validity and construct validity that can happen in a study's literature review phase are controlled. The process proposed here consists of a cycle with three phases: building a bibliographic database; mapping extant works and writing up the literature review. By using the heuristic process, a researcher can clearly demonstrate that he or she has made the best efforts to mitigate errors that could reduce a study's validity. Thus, the literature review of an empirical work could be evaluated in addition to the empirical section. Routine use of literature review protocols with open criteria for inclusion or exclusion of works, along with the use of processes of mapping extant research, will contribute to the celerity of consolidation of theory and methods in management accounting.

The Competitive Advantage of Management Accounting

Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Robert S. Kaplan; The Competitive Advantage of Management Accounting. Journal of Management Accounting Research 1 December 2006; 18 (1): 127–135. doi: https://doi.org/10.2308/jmar.2006.18.1.127 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest Search

Assessing the quality of evidence in empirical management accounting research: The case of survey studies

This study addresses the quality of survey research in management accounting. Specifically, we use a framework containing the five key elements of a well-designed survey to assess the quality of all mail surveys in management accounting published in eight accounting journals over a 20-year period (1982–2001). Our analysis shows that over time survey research in management accounting has improved. However, more attention to improving the ways in which the survey method is deployed is essential if credibility of the data is desired.

Zimmerman's contentious conjectures: describing the present and prescribing the future of empirical management accounting research

We provide a discussion of three of Zimmerman's (2001) conjectures about, and prescriptions for improving, the current unsatisfactory state of empirical management accounting research: its focus on describing practice instead of testing theories; its focus on decision-making instead of control; and reliance on social sciences other than economics. We suggest that these conjectures are based on inaccurate descriptions of current empirical management accounting research and the prescriptions offer potentially misleading guidance for future research. In contrast to Zimmerman (2001), we believe that the current research is guided by theory from a variety of social sciences (primarily economics, psychology and sociology) and that this diversity is appropriate for the applied field of management accounting. We argue that while economics provides a good basis for much empirical research in management accounting, other social sciences offer more potential to explain important features of management accounting such as understanding people's preferences, how they think, how they interact with other people and the process of change. Our conclusion is that empirical management accounting research will be better off if it appeals less to disciplinary identity and instead uses a variety of theoretical frameworks from the social sciences to provide more complete explanations of management accounting practice.

'If only there were simple solutions, but there aren't': some reflections on Zimmerman's critique of empirical management accounting research

Although having some sympathies with Zimmerman's critique of Ittner and Larcker's review of the empirical management accounting research literature, this analysis points out how Zimmerman has too easily allowed his own prejudices to influence both his assessment of the empirical management accounting literature and his recommendations for improvement. Particular emphasis is put on analysing Zimmerman's classification of the accounting research literature and his unproblematic optimism in the potential of economic modes of understanding.

The role for empirical research in management accounting

The dominant research methods in management accounting are a priori reasoning, deductive analysis from well-specified models, and controlled laboratory experiments. None of these methods puts researchers in the field attempting to understand how accounting information is developed or used in actual organizations. As a consequence, the vast majority of management accounting research papers are neither informed by data nor tested on data. A review of the literature on the process of scientific inquiry reveals that observation and description must be the starting points for scientific research. Observations are the building blocks for subsequent scientific activities, such as classification, measurement and theory building. Observations are also necessary for testing the generalizability and limits of any theory. Cost accounting and management control procedures function in complex organizational settings. Any empirical research method would need to capture this complexity. Field research methods, including case studies, field studies and field experiments or process tracing studies, provide an opportunity to study management accounting systems in their organizational context. Initially, case studies can provide the basis for a taxonomy of cost accounting and management control practices. Subsequently, field studies and process-tracing studies can lead to a more informed basis for modeling, theory-building, and hypothesis-formation activities, activities that today occur in the absence of data and observations. Finally, these empirical studies can be used to test the validity and limits of our theories. In a theory testing mode, empirical studies can not only test predictions on the existence of certain practices but also to confirm “how” and “why” these practices, or have not, been implemented. Therefore, empirical research methods provide a rich, but virtually untapped, research method for the study of management accounting phenomena.

Commentary on R.S. Kaplan “the role for empirical research in management accounting”

Commentary on R.S. Kaplan “the role for empirical research in management accounting”