Accounting as a science: Reflection on the research methodology in Management Accounting and Management Control

Journal title MANAGEMENT CONTROL
Author/s Fabio Santini
Publishing Year 2021 Issue 2021/2
Language Italian Pages 27 P. 171-197 File size 290 KB
DOI 10.3280/MACO2021-002010
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The objective of this study is to contribute to the debate on the future development of the accounting discipline in Italy. Italian scholars are called upon to make an important choice: preserving and improving the methodologies and methods of our research tradition, or adopting international research approaches. The Italian mechanisms for public research evaluation, particularly the mechanisms operating from 2003, led to strong pressure for the second option, which is thought to best fit good science. In fact, the application of patterns "taken from hard sciences" to social issues makes the international approaches anything but good science. By adopting concepts from the philosophy of science, and by taking the branch of management accounting and control as an example, this study attempts to show that the difference in scientific relevance between the Italian research tradition and international research guidelines is only superficial. In accounting, both the Italian research tradition and international research guidelines bring several criticalities, above all a perceived lack of practical use by recipients. The final hope is to identify an original "third way" for accounting research in Italy by making the most of the current challenges.

Keywords: Accounting studies, Research methodology, Management Accounting, Management Control.

  1. Ahrens T., Chapman C.S. (2007), Management accounting as practice, Accounting Organization and society, 32, 1-2.
  2. Bonfantini M.A. (1987), La semiosi e l’abduzione, Milano, Bompiani.
  3. Botti A. (2002), Sul carattere empirico o teorico degli studi economico-aziendali. Un’analisi di contributi sulle relazioni non competitive, Sinergie, 59.
  4. Cassandro P.E. (1949), Le ricerche sperimentali nel campo dell’economia aziendale, Annali della Facoltà di Economia e Commercio dell’Università degli Studi di Bari, Vol. IX a cura di Spallini G. (1991), Paolo Emilio Cassandro. Scritti vari (1929-1990), Vol. I, Cacucci, Bari.
  5. Cavalieri E. (1994), Matematica ed economia aziendale, Rivista Italiana di Ragioneria e di Economia Aziendale, settembre-ottobre, n. 9-10.
  6. Chapman C.S., Kihn L.A. (2009), Information system integration, enabling control and per-formance, Accounting, Organization and Society, 34, 2.
  7. Cohen K.J., Cyert R.M. (1975), Theory of the firm: resource allocation in a market economy, New York, Prentice-Hall.
  8. Coronella S. (2014), Storia della ragioneria italiana. Epoche, uomini e idee, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  9. Dechow N., Mouritsen J. (2005), Enterprise resource planning systems, management control and the quest for integration, Accounting, organization and society, 30, pp. 7-8.
  10. D’Ippolito T. (1940), Le discipline aziendali. L’azienda corporativa, Milano, Giuffrè.
  11. Duhem P. (1906), La théorie physique: son object et sa structure, Marcel Rivière, Paris; trad. it. La teorie fisica: il suo oggetto e la sua struttura, Bologna, il Mulino, 1978.
  12. Fellingham J.C. (2007), Is accounting an academic discipline? Accounting Horizons, Vol. 21, No. 2.
  13. Ferraris Franceschi R. (1978), L’indagine metodologica in economia aziendale, Milano, Giuffrè.
  14. Foucault M. (1972), The archaeology of knowledge, London, Tavistock Publications.
  15. Galassi G. (1978), Sistemi contabili assiomatici e sistemi teorici deduttivi. Prime proposizioni per una teoria generale della ragioneria, Bologna, Patron Editore.
  16. Geffikin M.J.R. (1988), Legacy of the golden age, recent developments in the methodology of accounting, Abacus, 24.
  17. Giddens A. (1984), The constitution of society: introduction of the theory of structuration, Berkeley, University of California Press.
  18. Gillies D., Giorello G. (1995), La filosofia della scienza nel XX secolo, Bari-Roma, Editori Laterza
  19. Gond J.P., Grubnic S., Herzig C. (2012), Configuring management control systems: Theorizing the integration of strategy and sustainability, Management Accounting Research, 23, 3.
  20. Gordon L.A., Loeb M.P., Tseng C.Y. (2009), Enterprise risk management and firm perfor-mance: a contingency perspective, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 28, 4.
  21. Guala F. (2006), Filosofia dell’economia. Modelli, causalità, previsione, Bologna, il Mulino.
  22. Habermas J. (1984), The theory of communicative action volume one: reason and rationalization of society, Boston, Beacon Press.
  23. Habermas J. (1984), The theory of communicative action volume two: lifeworld and system, Boston, Beacon Press
  24. Hanson N.R. (1958), Patterns of discovery, Cambridge UO, Cambridge-London; trad. it. I modelli della scoperta scientifica, Feltrinelli, Milano, 1978.
  25. Henri J.F., Journeault M. (2010), Eco-control: The influence of management accounting sys-tems on environmental and economic performance, Accounting, Organization and Society, 35,1.
  26. Hoque Z. (2018), Methodological issues in accounting research: theories and methods, Spiramus Press, London, UK.
  27. Homans G.C. (1989), La natura delle scienze sociali, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  28. Hume D. (1748), Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding, A. Millar, London; trad. It. Ricerca sull’Intelletto Umano, in Opere Filosofiche, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1992, Vol. II.
  29. Kuhn T.S. (1970), The structure of scientific revolutions, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago; trad. it. La struttura delle rivoluzioni scientifiche, Einaudi, Torino, 1978.
  30. Lakatos I. (1978), The methodology of scientific research programmes, in “Philosophical Papers”, Vol. I (a cura di J. Worrall e G. Currie, Cambridge UP, Cambridge-London; trad. it. La metodologia dei programmi di ricerca scientifici, in “Scritti filosofici I”, Il Saggiatore, Milano, 1985.
  31. Latour B. (1987), Science in action, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.
  32. Macintosh N., Scapens R. (1990), Structuration theory in management accounting, in Accounting, Organization and Society, Vol. 15.
  33. Malmi T., Granlund M. (2009), In search of Management Accounting Theory, European Accounting Review, 18, 3.
  34. Mattessich R. (1995), Conditional-normative accounting methodology: incorporating value judgments and means-end relations of an applied science, Accounting, Organization and Society, 20, 4.
  35. Mautz R.K. (1963), Accounting as a social science, The Accounting Review, 38, 2.
  36. Mikes A. (2009), Risk management and calculative cultures, Management Accounting Research, 20, 1.
  37. Moll J., Burns J., Major M. (2018), Institutional theory in accounting research, in Hoque Z. (Edt.), Methodological issues in accounting research: theories and methods, London, UK, Spiramus Press.
  38. Mundy (2010), Creating dynamic tensions through a balanced use of management control systems, Accounting, Organization and Society, 35, 5
  39. Newton I. (1678), Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1960; trad. it. Principi matematici della filosofia naturale, Torino, Utet, 1965.
  40. Onida P. (1947), Le discipline economico-aziendali. Oggetto e metodo, Milano, Giuffrè.
  41. Popper K.R. (1935), Logik der forshung, Springer, Wien, 1935; trad. it. La logica della scoperta scientifica, Torino, Einaudi, 1970.
  42. Quagli A., Avallone F., Ramassa P. (2016), The real impact fator and the gap between accounting research and practice, Financial Reporting, 1.
  43. Quattrone P., Hopper T. (2005), A ‘time-space odyssey’: management control systems in two multinational organisations, Accounting, Organization and Society, 30, pp. 7-8.
  44. Quine W.V.O. (1951), Two dogmas of empiricism, Philosophical Review.
  45. Quine W.V.O. (1961), From a logical point of view, Harvard UP, Cambridge, Mass; trad. it. Il problema del significato, Roma, Ubaldini, 1966.
  46. Ryan B., Scapens R.W., Theobald M. (2002), Research method & methodology in finance and accounting, Cheriton House, UK, South-Western Cengage Learning.
  47. Scannella E. (2007), Note a margine del dibattito epistemologico e metodologico in economia aziendale, Annali della Facoltà di Economia, Area economico-aziendale, Anno LXI, Palermo, Università degli Studi di Palermo.
  48. SIDREA (2009), La ragioneria e l’economia aziendale: dinamiche evolutive e prospettive di cambiamento, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  49. Valenza G. (2020), Epistemologia e metodologia nelle discipline aziendali, Roma, Rirea Historica.
  50. Veblen T. (1898), Why is economics not an evolutionary science?, Quarterly journal of economics, 12.
  51. Vollmer H. (2009), Management accounting as a normal social science, Accounting, Organization and Society, 34.
  52. Weick, K.E. (1989), Theory Construction as Disciplined Imagination, The Academy of Man-agement Review, 14 4, pp. 516-531.
  53. Widener S.K. (2007), An empirical analysis of the levers of control framework, Accounting Organization and Society, 32, 7-8
  54. Whetten D. A. (1989), What Constitutes a Theoretical Contribution?, Academy of Management Review, 14, 4, pp. 490-495
  55. Zappa G. (1950), Il reddito di impresa. Scritture doppie, conti e bilanci di aziende commerciali, Terza ristampa della seconda edizione, Milano, Giuffrè.

  • Temi e medodologie di ricerca nell'area Management Control: stato dell'arte e prospettive Luciano Marchi, in MANAGEMENT CONTROL 2/2021 pp.165
    DOI: 10.3280/MACO2021-002009

Fabio Santini, Gli "effetti indesiderati" dell’accounting come "scienza". Riflessioni sulla metodologia di ricerca nel management accounting and control in "MANAGEMENT CONTROL" 2/2021, pp 171-197, DOI: 10.3280/MACO2021-002010