Beware of the watchdog! Role communication in job advertisements for management accountants

• Published in: Journal of applied accounting research Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 889 - 909
• Main Authors: Rieg, Robert, Meier, Jan-Hendrik, Finckh, Carmen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Leicester Emerald Publishing Limited 30.10.2023; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Advertisements; Communication; Decision making; Employers; Help wanted ads; Higher education; Hypotheses; Labor market; Management accountants; Management accounting; Roles; Web portals; Text mining; Job offers; Management accountant; Business partner; M40; Roles; Controller
• ISSN: 0967-5426; 1758-8855
• DOI: 10.1108/JAAR-07-2022-0188

PurposeJob advertisements are important means of communicating role expectations for management accountants to the labor market. They provide information about which roles are sought and expected. However, which roles are communicated in job advertisements is unknown so far.Design/methodology/approachWith a text-mining approach on a large sample of 889 job ads, the authors extract information on roles, type of firm and hierarchical position of the management accountant sought.FindingsThe results indicate an apparent mix of different role types with a strong focus on a classic watchdog role. However, the business partner role is more often sought for leadership positions or in family businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME).Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation is the lack of an agreed-upon measurement instrument for roles in job offers. The study results imply that corporate practice is not as theory-driven as is postulated and communicated in the management accounting community. This indicates the existence of a research-practice gap and tensions between different actors in the management accounting field.Practical implicationsThe results challenge the current role discussion of professional organizations for management accountants as business partners.Originality/value The authors contribute the first study, which explicitly analyzes the communication of roles in job offers for management accountants. It indicates a discrepancy between scholarly discussion on roles and management accountants' work from an employer's perspective.