Content area
Full text
1. Introduction
Recently, business environments across industries are being shaped by an ongoing IT-enabled transformation process with far-reaching consequences on the structure and business processes of organizations (Lucas et al., 2013). The advent of digital technologies, such as big data, is expected to transform work practices in a wide range of jobs, while creating entirely novel occupations across industries, such as big data analysis, app development or software design. As a consequence, skills requirements in diverse professions are being shaped, leading to a higher demand for digital skills also outside the technology sector (Berger and Frey, 2016). These new requirements comprise a wide range of new abilities and competences including basic ICT skills such as manipulation of spreadsheets to more advanced ICT skills such as advanced analytics and programming (Berger and Frey, 2016).
In line with these recent developments, the rise of big data is expected to entail several challenges for the controlling and management accounting (MA) profession (Bhimani and Willcocks, 2014). While the “controller” is a common term in German-speaking countries, the management accountant (MA) is a well-known term in the English speaking countries such as the USA and UK (Ahrens and Chapman, 2000). In comparing both professions, Schäffer (2013) states that the tasks of the controller is generally considered broader in scope, not only focussing on accounting issues but also on management issues. In this paper, the terms “controller” and “MA” are used interchangeably, as commonly found in the accounting literature (Ahrens and Chapman, 2000; Loo et al., 2011; Verstegen et al., 2007). Regardless of the job title, the data-intensive tasks and activities of both professions in supporting the managerial decision-making process are expected to be transformed through advanced technologies such as data and business analytics (Brands and Holtzblatt, 2015). Numerous practical and academic publications from the past have highlighted a paradigmatic shift in the skills profile expected from controllers and MAs in organizations across industries. For example, business analytics and information technology (IT) skills have gained importance as one of the major skills areas of the controller’s and MA’s skills profile, being a “must have” capability for the controlling profession (Bhimani and Willcocks, 2014; Karenfort, 2017; Payne, 2014). The role of the controller and MA is, therefore, expected to...