Basil P. Tucker

In our ivory towers? The research-practice gap in management accounting

This study reports on an investigation of 64 senior management accounting academics from 55 universities in 14 countries about the extent to which academic management accounting research does, and should inform practice. Drawing on the diffusion of innovations theory as a point of departure, and based on evidence obtained from a questionnaire survey and subsequent interviews, our findings reveal the prevalence of two broad schools of thought. One school, represented by the majority of senior academics, holds that there is a significant and widening ‘gap’ between academic research and the practice of management accounting, and that this gap is of considerable concern. In contrast, the other school holds that a divide between academic management accounting research and practice is appropriate, and that efforts to bridge this divide are unnecessary, untenable or irrelevant. From this empirical evidence, we advance a conceptual framework distinguishing between the ‘type’ of academic research undertaken, and the ‘users’ of academic research, and on the basis of this framework, contend that framing the relationship between academic research and practice as a ‘gap’ is potentially an oversimplification, and directs attention away from the broader but fundamental question of the role and societal relevance of academic research in management accounting.

Practitioners are from Mars; academics are from Venus?

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to identify and gain insights into the significance of barriers contributing to the purported “gap” between academic management accounting research and practice. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on diffusion of innovations theory, this study collects and analyses data from a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews with 19 representatives of the four principal professional accounting bodies in Australia. Findings – Professional accounting bodies perceive the gap between academic research and practice in management accounting to be of limited concern to practitioners. The two most significant barriers to research utilisation by practitioners are identified as: difficulties in understanding academic research papers; and limited access to research findings. In acting as a conduit between the worlds of academia and practice, professional bodies have an important role to play by demonstrating the mutual value to both academics and practitioners resulting from a clos...

Out of control? Strategy in the NFP sector: the implications for management control

Purpose - This aim of this study is to explore the relationship between management control systems (MCSs) and the formulation of strategy in not-for-profit (NFP) organisations. Design/methodology/approach - The paper views the relationship between MCS and strategy through the contrasting lenses of new-institutional and contingency theory, using data collected from semi-structured interviews of CEOs and senior executives in 32 Australian NFPs. Findings - Strategy is formulated predominantly by intended means, through structured strategic planning processes. Emergent strategy is typically a rare means by which strategy is developed, and is in fact often actively discouraged in the NFPs investigated. Contrary to expectations, control is predominantly exercised through informal means, rather than by formally designed systems. Originality/value - With strategy and control being central concerns for most NFPs, this sector provides a unique vehicle for exploring the “robustness” of prior MCS strategy empirical findings. Investigating the MCS strategy relationship within a highly complex NFP context is thus an “acid test” of existing understanding of the MCS-strategy nexus. As one of the few studies to investigate the relationship between control and strategy as it may apply in this context, this study refines and further develops extant management control theory.

Comparing the research-practice gap in management accounting

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast perceptions about the research-practice “gap” as it may apply within management accounting, from the perspective of professional accounting bodies in Australia and Germany. Design/methodology/approach - – The findings reported in this paper is based on the collection and analysis of data from interviews with 19 senior representatives from four Australian Professional bodies and 14 representatives of German Professional accounting bodies. Findings - – In Australia and Germany, there exist common as well as unique barriers preventing a more effective engagement of academic research with practice. Common to both countries is the perception that the communication of research represents a major barrier. In Australia, practitioner access to academic research is seen to be a principal obstacle; in Germany, the relevance of topics researched by academics is perceived to represent a significant barrier to academic research informing practice. Research limitations/implications - – This paper directly engages with, and extends recent empirically based research into the extent to which academic research may “speak” to management accounting practice. It extricates both common and specific barriers contributing to the oft-quoted “research-practice gap” in management accounting, and points to the pivotal nature of an intermediary to act as a conduit between academics and practice. Originality/value - – By investigating this issue in two quite different cultural, educational, academic and practice contexts, this paper provides much-needed empirical evidence about the nature, extent and pervasiveness of the perceived research-practice gap in management accounting, and provides a basis for further investigation of this important topic.

Business as Usual? An Institutional View of the Relationship Between Management Control Systems and Strategy

The relationship between management control systems (MCS) and strategy has received considerable attention in the management control literature. Contingency-based approaches, however, have traditionally dominated this research, with limited attention devoted specifically to how MCS and strategy may combine in organisations operating within highly institutionalised environments. Adopting an institutional perspective, the current study is based on interviews with CEOs and senior executives in 32 Australian Not-for-Profit organisations. Our findings indicate a tendency for these organisations to decouple informal control from MCS, producing a ‘business as usual’ mentality via the pervasive informal approach to control, supplanting contingency-based predictions relating to MCS-strategy relations.

Performance on the right hand side

Purpose – This paper aims to provide insights into how organizational performance in a prior period may influence the nature of control subsequently used by senior not-for-profit (NFP) managers. Design/methodology/approach – This investigation is based on data collected from semi-structured interviews of CEOs and senior executives in 32 Australian NFPs. Findings – Although performance has a considerable influence on the subsequent use of control, the findings point to a broad conceptualisation of performance as it is perceived to apply within a NFP context. Moreover, the roles of formal management control systems and informal control are quite distinct, with the latter predominating in responding to prior performance. Originality/value – Despite recognition in the management accounting literature of the likely influence of organizational performance in previous periods on control, empirical studies investigating organizational performance as an antecedent to the use of control have been surprisingly limit...

Current Understandings of the Research–Practice Gap From the Viewpoint of Complementary Medicine Academics: A Mixed-Method Investigation

Context: Research plays an important role in advancing health and healthcare. However, much research evidence is not reflected in contemporary complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practice. Understanding and addressing the reasons for this research–practice gap may have positive implications for quality of care. Objective: To shed light on the gap between research and CAM practice. Design: Descriptive cross‐sectional, mixed‐method study. Sample and Setting: A total of 126 senior CAM academics across Australasia, Europe, UK, and North America. Outcome Measures: Participants completed a 30‐item online survey and a semi‐structured interview; both of which explored the research–practice gap in CAM. Results: A total of 43 (34%) academics completed the survey, with 29 (67%) respondents undergoing an interview. There was general agreement among respondents that CAM research should be informed by practice, and practice informed by research; however, most agreed that this did not reflect the current situation. Translational issues were perceived to be the primary reason for the research–practice gap in CAM. Suggested strategies for closing the gap focussed mostly around improving CAM student/practitioner education and training, and researcher–practitioner engagement and collaboration. Conclusions: Study findings point toward the presence of a research–practice gap in CAM, with several factors likely to be instrumental in sustaining this gap. Attention now needs to focus on understanding the views of CAM clinicians on this issue. Insights gained from this research will help inform the development of a multi‐modal strategy that will effectively target the barriers to change in order to bring CAM research and practice closer together.

Figuratively speaking: analogies in the accounting classroom

ABSTRACT One of the foundational subjects comprising most Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs is an introductory accounting course, in which students are exposed to the study of financial and management accounting at a basic level. For many students accounting is arguably the most feared subject in the MBA program. Although some students embrace the challenge and opportunity to develop an appreciation of accounting, the part it plays in organisations, and its role in management decision-making, for others the prospect of entering the world of accounting is one fraught with apprehension. Frequently described as ‘the language of business’, for students with limited experience or prior instruction in accounting, engaging with this language is formidable, and the demystification of the accounting lexicon represents a major challenge to accounting educators. This paper advocates the use of analogies, metaphors, and similes in helping MBA students understand accounting principles and engage with the conceptual underpinnings of the discipline.

Heard it Through the Grapevine: A Small-Worlds Perspective on Control as a Package

The investigation of management control has attracted the increasing attention of management accounting researchers over the past three decades. As a result of this burgeoning inventory of knowledge, the evolution of management control theory has progressed from Anthony’s primarily formal, quantitative and accounting-based view of control, to one that embraces a more holistic perspective incorporating formal management control systems (MCS), informal controls and the combination of formal MCS and informal controls collectively operating as a ‘package’. Despite this accumulated body of literature however, empirical studies which explicitly investigate the relative influence of formal and informal controls, as well as the interaction of these two broad control modes in an organizations’ overall control package, have been limited. This paper argues that this empirical gap in our knowledge may be partly explainable by the intrinsic difficulties associated with operationalizing informal control and in particular, the absence of an established framework to conceptualize and analyze the role of informal networks and relationships in the control efforts of organizations. Such a framework, it is contended, would contribute to our understanding not only of the ways in which informal control is propagated and diffused throughout an organization, but also, how informal controls interact with formal MCS. This paper advocates the adoption of social network theory and particularly, ‘small-worlds phenomenon’, as a means to provide insights into how informal control may be promulgated within organizations, how researchers may operationalize the ways in which this form of control is transmitted, and, as an aid to practitioners involved in the design and use of control systems.

Unpacking the package: Management control in an environment of organisational change

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which both formal and informal control, operating as a package, are implicated in responding to organisational change arising from the introduction of the Australian Federal Government’s Clean Energy Act (2011). Design/methodology/approach - – This investigation is based on a review of archival data, and semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 staff at different hierarchical levels within an Australian renewable energy company. Findings - – Although formal management control systems and informal control both played important roles in the organisation’s reorientation to organisational change, it was the latter form of control that predominated over the former. The influence of the prevailing organisational culture, however, was pivotal in orchestrating both formal and informal control efforts within this organisation. Originality/value - – This study contributes to management control theory and practice in two ways: first, it provides much needed empirical evidence about the ways in which management controls act as a package; second, it offers insights into the relative importance of the components of a management control package in the context of a particular organisational change. In addition, it responds to Laughlin’s (1991) call for empirical “flesh” to be added to the skeletal framework he advocates to make this conceptualisation of organisational change, “more meaningful”.