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Management accounting as normal social science

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  • Vollmer, Hendrik

Abstract

The publication of "Management accounting change: Approaches and perspectives" (Wickramasinghe, D., & Alawattage, C. (2007). Management accounting change: Approaches and perspectives. London, New York: Routledge) provides an occasion for considering the extent to which management accounting has become a normal social science. This review essay argues that management accounting is a social science defined by a pluralism of approaches, and it identifies the generalization of social perspectives on management accounting, and particularly their ability to transcend technical and economic aspects of accounting practice, as crucial components in reproducing this specific form of expertise. Contrary to Kuhnian expectations, this social science hosts a multiplicity of paradigms, and its scientists are not exclusively concerned with the subtlest and most esoteric aspects of the phenomena under study. Instead, as social scientists management accountants are generalists as much as they are specialists.

Suggested Citation

  • Vollmer, Hendrik, 2009. "Management accounting as normal social science," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 141-150, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:34:y:2009:i:1:p:141-150
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    Cited by:

    1. Brown, Judy, 2017. "Democratizing accounting: Reflections on the politics of “old” and “new” pluralisms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 20-46.
    2. Fabio Santini, 2021. "Gli "effetti indesiderati" dell?accounting come "scienza". Riflessioni sulla metodologia di ricerca nel management accounting and control," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(2), pages 171-197.
    3. Vijaya Murthy & Jim Rooney, 2018. "The Role of Management Accounting in Ancient India: Evidence from the Arthasastra," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 323-341, October.
    4. Modell, Sven & Vinnari, Eija & Lukka, Kari, 2017. "On the virtues and vices of combining theories: The case of institutional and actor-network theories in accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 62-78.
    5. Jaroslav Wagner & Jana Fibírová & Aneta Křehnáčová, 2019. "Management accounting change in the Czech Republic: 1989-2019 [Vývoj manažerského účetnictví v České republice: 1989-2019]," Český finanční a účetní časopis, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2019(4), pages 57-80.

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