Strategic thinking and accounting: potentials and pitfalls from a managerial perspective
This study explores the strategic thinking of managers from an accounting perspective. By building on interview data from managers working with strategic roles in various organizations, an understanding is offered of the experienced potentials and pitfalls of accounting in strategic thinking. The results are elaborated into a framework presenting the dual nature of accounting in strategic contexts. This study suggests that the benefits and pitfalls of accounting for strategic thinking constitute a paradoxical duality, which cannot be fully solved, but must be addressed by practising managers. The observed role of accounting in managers’ strategic thinking also offers implications for manage…
Investing in strategic development : Management control of business model and managerial innovations
Purpose This paper aims to explore management control in the strategic development of business model and managerial innovations. The issue is approached from the perspective of managerial work, aiming to outline what managers consider as essential elements of management control in these often iterative and learning-intensive developmental activities. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on the views of 20 managers engaged in strategic development and its control in various organisations. The interview data consist of the respondents’ experiences and project cases involving non-technological innovations. Qualitative content analysis is used to identify three key concepts of manage…
Narratives on the Accounting Worldview of Practising Managers
This paper examines management accounting from the perspective of its most important user: practising managers. We seek to enhance the understanding of the relationship between managerial work and accounting. This interpretative and qualitative study takes a unique approach by using narrative texts for building an understanding of how managers view accounting in their work. First, a deeper understanding of accounting and managerial work is sought on the basis of learning experiences of managers. Second, a wider point of view is achieved by looking at managers’ perspectives on organizational development. Third, the study addresses managers’ objectives for building their personal competence i…
Drawing the premises for personalized learning : illustrations of management and accounting
This paper reports on a teaching innovation using participant-generated drawings. Experienced managers were asked to produce a drawing to illustrate their work from an accounting perspective. The drawings were then used to make the managerial context of the participants the explicit starting point for personalized executive learning. This study is the first in the sphere of accounting education and research to take drawing seriously as a learning method. The results of the experiment show how drawing can be further used as a tool in management education by facilitating the visualization of the managerial contexts participants work within. peerReviewed