IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joaced/v44y2018icp14-24.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Data-driven decision-making and its impact on accounting undergraduate curriculum

Author

Listed:
  • Ballou, Brian
  • Heitger, Dan L.
  • Stoel, Dale

Abstract

Data analytics appears soundly entrenched within both professional accounting and business environments. However, the role of data analytics within undergraduate accounting education does not appear to be well understood either by practitioners or academics. This study addresses the curriculum impact of the data-driven decision-making evolution by investigating the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) specifically needed within accounting curricula (as opposed to other disciplines within and outside of the business school). Based on prior literature and suggestions from interviews with business professionals, this study identifies a set of possible KSAs—incremental to technical accounting knowledge—useful for helping accountants succeed in the evolving data-driven decision-making environment. Using these KSAs, this study surveys business professionals and faculty from a set of representative accounting programs to better understand their desired emphasis on the KSAs as compared to traditional technical accounting knowledge. We find that compared to accounting faculty, business professionals desire an equal focus across all types of KSAs rather than on a detailed understanding of technical accounting knowledge traditionally emphasized in classrooms. We believe that this study’s results suggest a desired shift towards a more “scientific method” approach in which students use their understanding of business and accounting to ask questions, perform research, and seek out additional information to test alternate solutions (often using quantitative analyses) to evolve their accounting knowledge. Additionally, we provide results of a survey of business professionals on potential types of traditional accounting topics to deemphasize and thus provide opportunities to more thoroughly integrate additional KSAs into the accounting curriculum.

Suggested Citation

  • Ballou, Brian & Heitger, Dan L. & Stoel, Dale, 2018. "Data-driven decision-making and its impact on accounting undergraduate curriculum," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 14-24.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:joaced:v:44:y:2018:i:c:p:14-24
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jaccedu.2018.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0748575117301240
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2018.05.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Igou, Amy & Coe, Martin, 2016. "Vistabeans coffee shop data analytics teaching case," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 75-86.
    2. Fay, Rebecca & Negangard, Eric M., 2017. "Manual journal entry testing: Data analytics and the risk of fraud," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 37-49.
    3. Janvrin, Diane J. & Raschke, Robyn L. & Dilla, William N., 2014. "Making sense of complex data using interactive data visualization," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 31-48.
    4. Elizabeth Jonson & Linda McGuire & Deirdre O’Neill, 2015. "Teaching Ethics to Undergraduate Business Students in Australia: Comparison of Integrated and Stand-alone Approaches," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 477-491, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Erland Hejn Nielsen & Steen Nielsen, 2020. "Preparing students for careers using business analytics and data-driven decision making," Economics Working Papers 2020-08, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    2. Ashaari, Mohamed Azlan & Singh, Karpal Singh Dara & Abbasi, Ghazanfar Ali & Amran, Azlan & Liebana-Cabanillas, Francisco J., 2021. "Big data analytics capability for improved performance of higher education institutions in the Era of IR 4.0: A multi-analytical SEM & ANN perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Andiola, Lindsay M. & Masters, Erin & Norman, Carolyn, 2020. "Integrating technology and data analytic skills into the accounting curriculum: Accounting department leaders’ experiences and insights," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    4. Susanne Leitner-Hanetseder & Christoph Eisl & Carina Knoll & Othmar M. Lehner, 2021. "Need For Advanced It Skills For Accountants €“ What Does Accounting Education Literature Tell Us?," Business Education and Accreditation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 13(1), pages 57-69.
    5. Berry, Reanna & Routon, Wesley, 2020. "Soft skill change perceptions of accounting majors: Current practitioner views versus their own reality," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    6. Lee, W. Eric & Perdana, Arif, 2023. "Effects of experiential service learning in improving community engagement perception, sustainability awareness, and data analytics competency," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Apostolou, Barbara & Dorminey, Jack W. & Hassell, John M. & Hickey, Anna, 2019. "Accounting education literature review (2018)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-27.
    8. Sarkar, Sumantra & Gray, Joy & Boss, Scott R. & Daly, Emmet, 2021. "Developing institutional skills for addressing big data: Experiences in implementation of AACSB Standard 5," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    9. Sidorova, Marina & Nazarov, Dmitry & Listopad, Ekaterina, 2022. "The impact of ideology on the institutionalization of correspondence accounting education in Soviet Russia (1929–1939)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Janvrin, Diane J. & Weidenmier Watson, Marcia, 2017. "“Big Data”: A new twist to accounting," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 3-8.
    2. Lawson, James G. & Street, Daniel A., 2021. "Detecting dirty data using SQL: Rigorous house insurance case," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    3. Francis Aboagye‐Otchere & Cletus Agyenim‐Boateng & Abdulai Enusah & Theodora Ekua Aryee, 2021. "A Review of Big Data Research in Accounting," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 268-283, October.
    4. Gross, Andrew & Hoelscher, Jamie & Reed, Brad J. & Sierra, Gregory E., 2020. "The new nuts and bolts of auditing: Technological innovation in inventorying inventory," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    5. Hoelscher, Jamie & Mortimer, Amanda, 2018. "Using Tableau to visualize data and drive decision-making," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 49-59.
    6. Sledgianowski, Deb & Gomaa, Mohamed & Tan, Christine, 2017. "Toward integration of Big Data, technology and information systems competencies into the accounting curriculum," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 81-93.
    7. Mohamed Saeudy & Ali Meftah Gerged & Khaldoon Albitar, 2022. "Accounting Perspectives on The Business Value of Big Data During and Beyond The COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 174-199, June.
    8. Lisa Perkhofer & Conny Walchshofer & Peter Hofer, 2020. "Does design matter when visualizing Big Data? An empirical study to investigate the effect of visualization type and interaction use," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 55-95, April.
    9. Klein, T.M. & Celio, E. & Grêt-Regamey, A., 2015. "Ecosystem services visualization and communication: A demand analysis approach for designing information and conceptualizing decision support systems," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 173-183.
    10. Igou, Amy & Coe, Martin, 2016. "Vistabeans coffee shop data analytics teaching case," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 75-86.
    11. Felski, Elizabeth, 2023. "Audit technologies used in practice and ways to implement these technologies into audit courses," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    12. Ilie Margareta & Ilie Constantin, 2021. "Management Based on Data Analysis. Part One. Data Visualization Analysis," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 749-757, December.
    13. Debora Gottardello & Maria del Mar Pàmies, 2019. "Business School Professors’ Perception of Ethics in Education in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, January.
    14. Erland Hejn Nielsen & Steen Nielsen, 2020. "Preparing students for careers using business analytics and data-driven decision making," Economics Working Papers 2020-08, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    15. Stuebs, Martin & Bryant, Scott M. & Edison, Cari & Stanley, Charles, 2022. "Brittney’s Boutique: Tailoring financial statements for function as well as fashion," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    16. Laouiti, Rahma & Haddoud, Mohamed Yacine & Nakara, Walid Adam & Onjewu, Adah-Kole Emmanuel, 2022. "A gender-based approach to the influence of personality traits on entrepreneurial intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 819-829.
    17. So-Jin Yu & Jin-Sung Rha, 2021. "Research Trends in Accounting Fraud Using Network Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-26, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joaced:v:44:y:2018:i:c:p:14-24. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-accounting-education .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.