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Comparing the research-practice gap in management accounting: A view from professional accounting bodies in Australia and Germany

Basil P. Tucker (School of Commerce, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia)
Stefan Schaltegger (Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM), Leuphana University Lueneburg, Lueneburg, Germany)

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal

ISSN: 0951-3574

Article publication date: 21 March 2016

3496

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast perceptions about the research-practice “gap” as it may apply within management accounting, from the perspective of professional accounting bodies in Australia and Germany.

Design/methodology/approach

The findings reported in this paper is based on the collection and analysis of data from interviews with 19 senior representatives from four Australian Professional bodies and 14 representatives of German Professional accounting bodies.

Findings

In Australia and Germany, there exist common as well as unique barriers preventing a more effective engagement of academic research with practice. Common to both countries is the perception that the communication of research represents a major barrier. In Australia, practitioner access to academic research is seen to be a principal obstacle; in Germany, the relevance of topics researched by academics is perceived to represent a significant barrier to academic research informing practice.

Research limitations/implications

This paper directly engages with, and extends recent empirically based research into the extent to which academic research may “speak” to management accounting practice. It extricates both common and specific barriers contributing to the oft-quoted “research-practice gap” in management accounting, and points to the pivotal nature of an intermediary to act as a conduit between academics and practice.

Originality/value

By investigating this issue in two quite different cultural, educational, academic and practice contexts, this paper provides much-needed empirical evidence about the nature, extent and pervasiveness of the perceived research-practice gap in management accounting, and provides a basis for further investigation of this important topic.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors express appreciation to Gloria Agyemang, Jane Broadbent, Cheryl McWatters, Deryl Northcott, James Guthrie, Richard Laughlin, Murray Lindsay, Ken Merchant and Lee Parker for their insightful and constructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the valuable suggestions from participants in the paper ' s presentation at the Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting Conference 2013, held in Kobe, Japan, July 2013, and the School of Commerce Research Seminar, UniSA Business School, February 2013.

Citation

Tucker, B.P. and Schaltegger, S. (2016), "Comparing the research-practice gap in management accounting: A view from professional accounting bodies in Australia and Germany", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 362-400. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-02-2014-1601

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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