Evolution of management accountants : an exploratory case study on the role of management accountant in the context of implementing big data analytics in a production environment

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the changes to the role of management accountants in a large energy company following the adoption of big data analytics in the production environment. The theoretical framework, technology power loop by Scarbrough and Corbett (1992), is utilized as a tool for analyzing how the adoption of big data analytics influences the role of management accountants in the production environment. This thesis was an exploratory single case study; therefore, with the opportunity to have a participative observation approach for three-week as an intern in the case company to both interview key employees and gain valuable insight by my mere presence, was essential for my research. This study contributes to the existing literature by filling some of the gaps regarding the importance of management accountants in production settings, while also adding insight on how the role of management accountants may change in the production environment when adopting big data analytics. The changes are mainly a result of a complex productionworld and the management accountants’ increasing ability to adapt to their current context. The prominent view of management accountants having a binary role of being either “bean counter” or “business partner”, and in some case switching between these two, is ignoring the possibility of incoherent role development within different contextual context. My findings show that the management accountants in production environments are evolving; they have a different background, skill and mindset. I labeled this new form as an adaptive form, because they are no longer belonging into either of the role labels, but rather just adapting to their contextual context. Thus, the role of MAs will evidently look differently based on the production environment. This paper also highlights some issues that might provide insight into why management accountant information is perceived as redundant in production environment by operations managers. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of the management accountant role so managers and companies can better accommodate new implementations of technological solutions while minimizing the risk of failure. Keywords: Role of Management Accountants, Adaptive form, Big data analytics, Maintenances, Production environment, Technology Power Loop