Abstract
Since the 1980s, management accounting has evolved significantly in terms of tools and systems, but the role of management accountants (MAs) in these changes has been less emphasized. The field has moved away from viewing MAs as mere ‘bean counters,’ aiming for a more business-oriented approach. Yet, mainstream research may have neglected discussions on how MAs align with business goals.
MAs’ roles are increasingly seen as shifting towards a ‘business partner’ model, focused on proactive and strategic involvement. However, recent studies challenge this view, highlighting the importance of context and suggesting that MAs’ traditional roles may still hold strategic value and may not be entirely replaced by the ‘business partner’ concept. This challenges the assumed superiority of the 'business partner' role across all business settings.
Research on MAs’ business orientation often comes from specific case studies, which might not fully capture MAs’ roles across different institutional contexts. While institutionalism has guided management accounting research, detailed analysis of MAs’ roles at the micro-level remains limited. This gap indicates a need for a deeper exploration of MAs’ business orientation.
This study responds to the demand for a better understanding of the institutional dynamics of MAs’ service orientation, starting with a comprehensive review of their roles and business orientation as outlined in Chapter 2. The review synthesises trends, theories, methods, and regional studies, and delves into MAs’ business orientation, examining role changes, contextual influences, and the competencies needed for MAs to effectively align with business objectives.
Having discussed the focus of current research and potential gaps, this study explores the interplay between MAs’ roles and institutional dynamics, using a case study from New Zealand’s tertiary education organisations. It applies practice-driven institutionalism to examine normative, regulative, and cognitive dimensions of institutional dynamics, aiming to understand MAs’ experiences and how they navigate their roles within their institutional settings. This approach responds to calls for more insight into the “evolving nature” of MAs’ business orientation.
The study’s findings reveal that the service orientation of MAs is not a binary distinction. This understanding guides the research to consider the extent to which MAs orient their roles towards service, discussing this orientation in light of the case findings and prior research. Further examination of the MAs’ roles shows that advisory MAs, being more (re)active, have brought about greater consistency and standardisation in local management accounting services. They support local decision-makers (i.e., divisional managers and budget holders) with matters like resource allocation and the financial performance of services (e.g., courses and programmes) offered by departments. However, their contribution is more technical. On the other hand, strategic MAs, being more proactive, operate at the organisational level and support senior management by holding responsibility in areas such as resource management, performance management, long-term planning, and quality assurance reviews. Their contribution, through practices that directly fulfil the regulatory agency’s requirements for funding decisions, is more influential in organisational decision-making.
This study also delves into why and how the service orientation of MAs could be both enabled and constrained. Enabling factors are discussed in terms of, but not limited to, professional networks, career management, function hybridisation (normative), policy development, financial delegation procedures (internal regulation), borrowing mechanisms and financial monitoring (external regulation), and business intelligence systems and market strategies (cognitive). Meanwhile, constraints are discussed in terms of, but not limited to, slackness and bureaucracy, professional conflicts (normative), non-customised policies, mismatches between regulations and the new structure (internal regulation), lack of feedback from the regulatory agency (external regulation), and limited autonomy and passive tasks (cognitive).
This study contributes to research in several ways. These include presenting a comprehensive literature review on the business orientation of MAs; implementing a theoretical approach that delves into the micro-foundations of institutional dynamics associated with the roles of MAs; extending research into public-sector management accounting, which has been less explored; discussing role identities beyond the archetypes; and, finally, offering insights into the enabling and constraining factors, each of which adds to the relevant area in the field of MAs’ roles research.