EDEN CIMA Course on. Doing management accounting research: Towards Excellence

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1 EDEN CIMA Course on Doing management accounting research: Towards Excellence Kuala Lumpur, October 20-22, 2015 Chris Chapman, Copenhagen Business School Wai Fong Chua, University of New South Wales PROGRAMME OBJECTIVE AND CONTENTS This course will focus on establishing the domain of management accounting as a topic for research. As well as seeking to provide a grounding in the kinds of issues that typically comprise management accounting research a significant emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding the diversity of research approaches that may be undertaken in seeking to understand management accounting phenomena. A key learning objective of the programme is to develop a sensitivity to issues of method and methodology that underpin the knowledge claims at stake in academic research in management accounting. This course will consist of: Pre-class readings Lectures Discussions Team work groups Participant & team presentations Post-class assignment

2 Each participant is expected to keep a free-form learning diary covering the entire process from preparing for the course beforehand through the end of the course. The learning diary should be divided into three sections: Learning before the course, Main learning points during the course, Learning after the course. COURSE PRE-READING We will be covering a lot of material in class. The list below outlines a range of references that you should comprehensively follow up on in detail after the event to secure your learning around the topics covered during the course. Your ability to keep up during the course will be significantly enhanced if you have read as much of the following readings as possible in advance however. Ahrens, T., & Chapman, C. S. (2004). Accounting for flexibility and efficiency: A field study of management control systems in a restaurant chain. Contemporary accounting research, 21(2), Chapman, C.S. (2012) Framing the Issue of Research Quality in a Context of Research Diversity, Accounting Horizons 26(4), Chapman, C. S. (1998). Accountants in Organizational Networks. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23(8), Chapman, C. S. & Kern, A. (2012) What do Academics do? Understanding The Practical Relevance of Research, Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management 9(3) Chenhall & Chapman (2006) Theorising and Testing Fit in Contingency Research on Management Control Systems In Z. Hoque (Ed.) Methodological Issues in Accounting Research: Theories and Methods London: Spiramus, Baxter, J., & Chua, W.F. (1998). Doing Field Research: Practice and Meta-Theory in Counterpoint. Journal of Management Accounting Research 10, Baxter, J., & Chua, W.F. (2008). The field researcher as author-writer. Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management 5, Dambrin, C., & Robson, K. (2011). Tracing performance in the pharmaceutical industry: Ambivalence, opacity and the performativity of flawed measures. Accounting, Organizations and Society 36, Golden-Biddle, K., & Locke, K. (1993). Appealing work: An investigation of how Ethnographic Texts Convince. Organization Science 4, Golden-Biddle, K., & Locke, K. (2007). Composing Qualitative Research: Sage Publications. Grabner, I. & Moers, F. (2013) Management Control System as System or Package? Conceptual and Empirical Issues, Accounting, Organizations and Society, 38(6-7), Luft, J., & Shields, M. (2003). Mapping management accounting: graphics and guidelines for theory-consistent empirical research. Accounting, Organizations and Society 28, Marginson, D. (2002) Management Control Systems and Their effects on Strategy Formation at Middle Management Levels: Evidence from a U.K. Organization. Strategic Management Journal, 23(11), Scott, S.V., & Orlikowski, W (2012). Reconfiguring relations of accountability: materialization of social media in the travel sector. Accounting, Organizations and Society 37, pp Widener, S. (2007) An Empirical Analysis of the Levers of Control Framework, Accounting, Organizations and Society, 32(7/8),

3 Tuesday, 20 th October :30-09:00 Registration 2. 09:00-10:30 What do Management Accounting Academics Do? (CC) Whilst many of the calculative principles bound up with Management Accounting have been around a long time, the groupings of actors, arenas and objectives around them are fluid. This session will review briefly this diversity and lay the groundwork for an appreciation of how to engage with the variety of theories, journals, conferences, etc. that make up the domain of management accounting research. (Chapman 2012) (Chapman & Kern, 2012) (Luft & Shields, 2003) Start by studying in particular Maps B and I 3. 11:00-12:30 Contingency and Path Modeling in Management Accounting Research (CC) Contingency theorising lies behind a large body of work in accounting. We will look at the challenges of refining the broad concept of contingency into clear and precise theorisation that can inform empirical inquiry. (Chenhall & Chapman, 2006) (Chapman, 1998) (Grabner & Moers, 2013) Lunch 4. 14:00-15:30 Theorising Management Control (CC) In this session we will focus on developments in the theorising control in the related bodies of work looking at Simons Levers of Control and Adler & Bory s Enabling Control. (Marginson, 2002) (Ahrens & Chapman, 2004) (Widener, 2007) 5. 16:00-17:30 Working on Group Presentations Using the predictive validity framework as a presentation format develop a research question covering line 0 and line 1. Stay focused on the challenge of a clear theoretical proposition that can be empirically tested, not the details of how it would be empirically tested.

4 Wednesday, 21 st October :00-10:30 Group Presentations 7. 11:00-12:30 Qualitative Research in Management Accounting: What, Where Appropriate and Why? (WFC) This session will explore the different types of field studies and the methodological assumptions underlying the conduct of fieldwork in management accounting. Particular attention will be given to the role of theory, method, methodology in order to help elaborate a more appropriate basis for judging the plausibility of qualitative field studies than notions borrowed from positivistic methodology. (Baxter & Chua, 1998) (Dambrin and Robson, 2011) (Scott and Orlikowski, 2012) Lunch 8. 14:00-15:30 Qualitative Research in Management Accounting: How? (WFC) This session will discuss the general techniques of gaining access and the collection and analysis of field data. It will also discuss the essential role of writing in the composition of a field narrative. Finally, it will raise the question of how one assesses the trustworthiness and plausibility of fieldwork. (Baxter & Chua, 2008) (Golden-Biddle & Locke, 1993) For reference see the following book: (Golden-Biddle & Locke, 2007) 9. 16:00-17:30 Working on Group Presentations Develop a working research question and from this present an empirical strategy for undertaking an inductive study of this. Your presentation should include a discussion of proposed site, access strategy, an initial set of field engagements covering who, what, where and how.

5 Thursday, 22 nd October :00-10:30 Group Presentations :00-12:30 Publishing and the Review Process (CC) As in most things, developing your research career requires focused practice of key skills. This session will discuss some of the practical tips to help you undertake such practice, including managing your supervisor, through seeking and offering comments on work in progress, leading to preparing for the review process