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Legitimacy and Identity in Germanic Management Accounting Research

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  • Martin Messner
  • Calbrecht Becker
  • Utz Schaffer
  • Christoph Binder

Abstract

The notion of 'Controlling', as it is commonly used in German-speaking countries, may be regarded as an equivalent term for management accounting. At the same time, there have been considerable efforts to establish Controlling as a discipline on its own, rather than to regard it simply as the German synonym of management accounting. This is reflected in many writings on Controlling which have tried to identify a possible 'core' or 'essence' of the subject. In this paper, we argue that this identity discourse may be interpreted as a strategy of Controlling researchers to achieve cognitive and sociopolitical legitimacy of their discipline. Drawing on interview material as well as publication and citation analyses, we show how various institutional pressures and constraints not only influenced the institutionalization of Controlling as an academic discipline but also impacted the form and substance of Controlling research. This raises some important questions for our understanding of academic disciplines more generally, some of which we address in this paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Messner & Calbrecht Becker & Utz Schaffer & Christoph Binder, 2008. "Legitimacy and Identity in Germanic Management Accounting Research," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 129-159.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:17:y:2008:i:1:p:129-159
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180701819808
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Guenther, 2013. "Conceptualisations of ‘controlling’ in German-speaking countries: analysis and comparison with Anglo-American management control frameworks," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 269-290, February.
    2. Jürgen Weber, 2011. "The development of controller tasks: explaining the nature of controllership and its changes," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 25-46, September.
    3. Amalou-Döpke, Linda & Süß, Stefan, 2014. "HR measurement as an instrument of the HR department in its exchange relationship with top management: A qualitative study based on resource dependence theory," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 444-460.
    4. Cathérine Grisar & Matthias Meyer, 2016. "Use of simulation in controlling research: a systematic literature review for German-speaking countries," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 117-157, April.
    5. Utz Schäffer, 2013. "Management accounting research in Germany: from splendid isolation to being part of the international community," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 291-309, February.
    6. Julie Demaret & Jérôme Méric, 2013. "La Constitution De La Legitimite Des Controleurs De Gestion : Une Etude Exploratoire," Post-Print hal-00991887, HAL.
    7. Messner, Martin, 2015. "Research orientation without regrets," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 76-83.
    8. Bernard Raffournier & Alain Schatt, 2010. "Is European Accounting Research Fairly Reflected in Academic Journals? An Investigation of Possible Non-mainstream and Language Barrier Biases," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 161-190.
    9. Simanová Ľubica & Stasiak-Betlejewska Renata, 2019. "Monitoring and Improvement of Logistic Processes in Enterprises of the Slovak Republic," LOGI – Scientific Journal on Transport and Logistics, Sciendo, vol. 10(1), pages 62-71, May.
    10. Emira Kozarevic & Amir Mujezinovic, 2020. "Financial Controlling Status And Potential In Medium-Sized Enterprises Of Tuzla Canton, Bosnia And Herzegovina," Economic Review: Journal of Economics and Business, University of Tuzla, Faculty of Economics, vol. 18(2), pages 59-72, November.
    11. Becker, Albrecht & Lukka, Kari, 2023. "Instrumentalism and the publish-or-perish regime," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Christoph Pelger & Markus Grottke, 2017. "Research diversity in accounting doctoral education: survey results from the German-speaking countries," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 10(2), pages 307-336, October.
    13. Ladislav Šiška, 2013. "The Relation between Controllership and Managerial Accounting [Vztah disciplín controlling a manažerské účetnictví]," Český finanční a účetní časopis, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(3), pages 73-83.
    14. Pelger, Christoph & Grottke, Markus, 2015. "What about the future of the academy? – Some remarks on the looming colonisation of doctoral education," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 117-129.
    15. Martin R. W. Hiebl & Barbara Mayrleitner, 2019. "Professionalization of management accounting in family firms: the impact of family members," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(5), pages 1037-1068, November.
    16. Ewa Walińska & Justyna Dobroszek, 2021. "The Functional Controller for Sustainable and Value Chain Management: Fashion or Need? A Sample of Job Advertisements in the COVID-19 Period," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-20, June.

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