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Management Accounting Research in a Changing World

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Anthony Hopwood’s article analyzes the future of management accounting and the underlying issues it faces. He is worried that the transpiring changes in this field will not be “conducive to advancing our understandings of the functioning and continued development” of the constantly changing business world. The issues discussed are among mainstream tendencies, increasing autonomy, and changes occurring throughout the world.
Hopwood expresses concern of the narrowing outlook of management accounting research, where there appears to be more careerist-oriented rather than curiosity-oriented research occurring. The number of business schools seeking accreditation has continued to increase, requiring faculty to engage in research. Because the faculty does not have the necessary skills, their research tends to look for “simplicity and certainty rather than complexity and challenge” and they often use previous findings as their data and abstract theories that differ from how accounting actually operates. If this continues, the changes seen underway will be difficult to implement.
Autonomy is another issue affecting the future of management accounting. As mentioned above, there is an increase in the number of accounting researchers who are less and less knowledgeable about the accounting practice. This causes a colossal separation between the two. Hopwood uses the medical science field as an example. He explains that there are people who not only conduct research, but also deal with patients. This way, the knowledge moves from research to practice, and vice versa, benefiting both the medical specialists as well as the patients. Hopwood believes that this concept is necessary in management accounting for it to progress and keep up with the revolutionizing business world.
Lastly, the changes occurring in the management accounting world are challenging to respond to. Very

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