Professional Training as a Mechanism of Cognitive Governance in Digital Transformation: A Comparative Multiple-Case Study of Italian Accounting Firms

Journal title CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Author/s Fabrizio Gritta, Xhimi Hysa, Rosario Bianco, Mario Calabrese
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1
Language English Pages 26 P. 111-136 File size 0 KB
DOI 10.3280/cgrds1-2026oa23329
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

View article Download Open Access article

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.

Digital transformation is profoundly reshaping professional service firms, affecting the nature of professional work, the role of technology, and the mechanisms through which value is created. Although the literature has extensively examined the effects of digitalisation on professional activities and organisational models, the role of professional training in the governance of these transformations remains relatively underexplored. This study addresses this gap by conceptualising training not merely as an individual investment in human capital, but as an organisational mechanism that influences professional judgement and the strategic adaptability of organisations. Drawing on a qualitative, theory-driven comparative multiple-case study of 30 Italian accounting firms undergoing digital transformation and based on semi-structured interviews, the study highlights the existence of a systematic trade-off between shortterm efficiency and medium- to long-term adaptability. The findings show that training pathways primarily focused on procedural knowledge foster rapid initial productivity but tend to reinforce technological dependence and limit the ability to address non-standard situations. By contrast, the integration of theoretical and conceptual content in training supports the development of professional judgement, mitigates automation bias, and contributes to the evolution of the service model. The study contributes to the literature on professional service firms and digital transformation by showing how training can be interpreted as a mechanism of cognitive governance and, more specifically, as a driver of different knowledge structures shaping technological adaptation trajectories in knowledge-intensive organisations.

Keywords: professional training, professional service firms, digital transformation, professional judgement, strategic adaptability, cognitive governance

  1. Abbott, A. (1988). The system of professions: An essay on the division of expert labor. University of Chicago Press.
  2. Alvesson, M. (2004). Knowledge work and knowledge-intensive firms. Oxford University Press.
  3. Autor, D.H. (2015). Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace automation. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29(3): 3-30. DOI: 10.1257/jep.29.3.3
  4. Bainbridge, L. (1983). Ironies of automation. Automatica, 19(6): 775-779. DOI: 10.1016/0005-1098(83)90046-8
  5. Baldwin, T.T., & Ford, J.K. (1988). Transfer of training: A review and directions for future research. Personnel Psychology, 41(1): 63-105. DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1988.tb00632.x
  6. Barile, S. (Ed.). (2024). Systems thinking and viable systems. Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003475187
  7. Barile, S., & Saviano, M. (2013). Dynamic capabilities and T-shaped knowledge: A viable systems approach. In S. Barile (Ed.), Contributions to theoretical and practical advances in management: A viable systems approach (VSA) (Vol. 2, pp. 39–59). Aracne Editrice.
  8. Barile, S., Bassano, C., D’Amore, R., Piciocchi, P., Saviano, M., & Vito, P. (2021). Insights of digital transformation processes in industrial symbiosis from the viable systems approach (VSA). Sustainability, 13(17): 9696. DOI: 10.3390/su13179696
  9. Becker, G.S. (1993). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education (3rd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
  10. Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2014). The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. W. W. Norton & Company.
  11. Esposito De Falco, S. (2014). La corporate governance per il governo dell’impresa. McGraw-Hill Education.
  12. Esposito De Falco, S., Cucari, N., Canuti, E., & Modena, S. (2019). Corporate governance and blockchain: Some preliminary results by a survey. In Corporate governance: Search for the advanced practices. DOI: 10.22495/cpr19p3
  13. Ericsson, K.A. (2006). The influence of experience and deliberate practice on the development of superior expert performance. In K.A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. J. Feltovich, & R.R. Hoffman (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance (pp. 683-703). Cambridge University Press.
  14. Faulconbridge, J.R., & Muzio, D. (2017). Global professional service firms and the challenge of institutional complexity: ‘Field relocation’ as a response strategy. Journal of Management Studies, 54(1): 89-124. DOI: 10.1111/joms.12215
  15. Felin, T., Foss, N.J., & Ployhart, R.E. (2015). The microfoundations movement in strategy and organization theory. Academy of Management Annals, 9(1): 575-632. DOI: 10.5465/19416520.2015.1007651
  16. Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism: The third logic. University of Chicago Press.
  17. Greenwood, R., Li, S.X., Prakash, R., & Deephouse, D.L. (2005). Reputation, diversification, and organizational explanations of erformance in professional service firms. Organization Science, 16(6): 661-673. DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1050.0159
  18. Gummesson, E. (2017). Case theory in business and management: Reinventing case study research. SAGE.
  19. Hatano, G., & Inagaki, K. (1986). Two courses of expertise. In H. Stevenson, H. Azuma, & K. Hakuta (Eds.), Child development and education in Japan (pp. 262-272). W. H. Freeman.
  20. Hinings, B., Gegenhuber, T., & Greenwood, R. (2018). Digital innovation and transformation: An institutional perspective. Information and Organization, 28(1), 52-61. DOI: 10.1016/j.infoandorg.2018.02.004
  21. Lindgreen, A., Di Benedetto, C.A., & Beverland, M.B. (2021). How to write up casestudy methodology sections. Industrial Marketing Management, 96, A7–A10. DOI: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.04.012
  22. Maister, D.H. (1993). Managing the professional service firm. Free Press.
  23. Muzio, D., Brock, D.M., & Suddaby, R. (2013). Professions and institutional change: Towards an institutionalist sociology of the professions. Journal of Management Studies, 50(5): 699-721. DOI: 10.1111/joms.12030
  24. Noordegraaf, M. (2007). From “pure” to “hybrid” professionalism: Present-day professionalism in ambiguous public domains. Administration & Society, 39(6): 761-785. DOI: 10.1177/0095399707304434
  25. Parasuraman, R., & Riley, V. (1997). Humans and automation: Use, misuse, disuse, abuse. Human Factors, 39(2): 230-253. DOI: 10.1518/001872097778543886
  26. Raisch, S., & Krakowski, S. (2021). Artificial intelligence and management: The automation-augmentation paradox. Academy of Management Review, 46(1): 192-210. DOI: 10.5465/amr.2018.0072
  27. Susskind, R., & Susskind, D. (2015). The future of the professions: How technology will transform the work of human experts. Oxford University Press.
  28. Teece, D.J. (2018). Business models and dynamic capabilities. Long Range Planning, 51(1): 40-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.007
  29. Teece, D.J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7): 509-533. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI) 1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z
  30. Von Nordenflycht, A. (2010). What is a professional service firm? Toward a theory and taxonomy of knowledge-intensive firms. Academy of Management Review, 35(1), 155-174. DOI: 10.5465/amr.35.1.zok155

Fabrizio Gritta, Xhimi Hysa, Rosario Bianco, Mario Calabrese, Professional Training as a Mechanism of Cognitive Governance in Digital Transformation: A Comparative Multiple-Case Study of Italian Accounting Firms in "CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT STUDIES" 1/2026, pp 111-136, DOI: 10.3280/cgrds1-2026oa23329