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Economic crisis as a driver of management accounting change: Comparative evidence

from Germany and Spain
Christoph Endenich
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Christoph Endenich , (2014),"Economic crisis as a driver of management accounting change", Journal of
Applied Accounting Research, Vol. 15 Iss 1 pp. 123 - 149
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Economic crisis as a driver of

management accounting change
Comparative evidence from

Germany and Spain
Management
accounting
change
123
Christoph Endenich
Finance, Audit and Control,
IESEG School of Management (LEM-CNRS), Lille, France
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate change processes within German and Spanish
management accounting which are induced by the recent economic crisis. To illuminate these changes,
a particular emphasis is put on budgeting processes and the role of management accountants.
Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional field study that mainly builds on interviews
with senior management accounting executives in nine German and nine Spanish companies was
conducted. The German and Spanish companies were matched in terms of industry and size to assure
comparability of the two national samples.
Findings The most recent economic crisis represents a crucial driver of management accounting
change in the companies comprising my sample. Whereas budgeting is increasingly performed
continuously, the empirical evidence suggests that opportunities are continually evolving that might
result in a more powerful position of management accountants within corporate decision-making
processes and an improved image of management accountants.
Research limitations/implications The findings of this study should not be generalised
in a statistical sense. However, the results may be used as the basis for qualitative and quantitative
follow-up studies.
Practical implications The paper provides several examples which demonstrate, that management
accountants can improve their image and their influence on corporate decision making in times of
economic crisis.
Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by providing both theoretical refinement of
and empirical evidence on propositions on the influence of the economic crisis on management accounting.
Keywords Germany, Spain, Economic crisis, Management accounting change,
Comparative management accounting
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The present state of the global economy has been strongly influenced and shaped by the
economic and financial crisis[1] that began in 2008 in the USA and spread to other
regions across the globe. In particular in Europe, the crisis is omnipresent in economic,
political and social debates. Taking into account the pivotal role of management
accounting with respect to corporate planning and control, its importance in helping
companies overcome the economic crisis is obvious. However, normative and empirical
evidence regarding the influence of the economic crisis on management accounting and
the corresponding processes of change within management accounting remains scarce
(e.g. Hopwood, 2009). Thus, our knowledge regarding both the outcomes and the
processes of change in management accounting (see Burns and Scapens, 2000) during
The author would like to thank the editor and two anonymous referees for insightful feedback.
Journal of Applied Accounting

Research
Vol. 15 No. 1, 2014
pp. 123-149
r Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0967-5426
DOI 10.1108/JAAR-11-2012-0075
JAAR
15,1
124
times of crisis is limited, whereas management accounting change during normal

economic situations has been widely analysed since the urgings of Hopwood (1983)
and Kaplan (1983). This observation is notable because the implications of crisis
for management accounting offer pertinent, even unique, opportunities for research
(Van der Stede, 2011, p. 606).
Research in the area can be considered important due to multiple reasons.
A sophisticated management accounting represents an important aspect for
companies to contribute to both anticipating and overcoming crisis. Furthermore,
inappropriate management accounting techniques such as short-term-oriented
incentive systems may have even contributed to economic crisis (see Van der Stede,
2011). Thus, studying management accounting in times of crisis can contribute to our
knowledge on the functioning and failing of management accounting as well as on the
corresponding processes of change (see Van der Stede, 2011). Against the background
that the improvement of accounting practice can be considered the ultimate purpose of
accounting research (see Malmi and Granlund, 2009; Moizer, 2009), studies in the area
may result in learning effects and a probably better preparation for future economic
crisis within business practice.
In the present study, I address these matters based on the examples of Germany and
Spain. The purpose of the study is to enhance our knowledge on change processes within
management accounting during times of economic crisis. As budgeting presents a crucial
element of management accounting (see Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004), a particular
emphasis is put on changes within budgeting processes. Furthermore, changes in the role
of management accountants are analysed.
The country choice of this field study offers three avenues of insight. First, the
different effects of the economic crisis on both countries are evident; whereas many
German companies suffered significant sales and profit declines during the crisis,
Germany represents a country in which macroeconomic factors such as unemployment
were only moderately affected by the crisis as compared to other European countries.
Conversely, Spain may be considered one of the countries in Europe that exhibits the
most obvious effects of the crisis particularly alarming, an unemployment rate
among young people of more than 50 per cent (Eurostat[2]). Thus, the approach chosen
here provides insights into management accounting practices in times of economic
crisis in two countries that have been differently affected by this crisis. Second, the
economies of Germany and Spain are traditionally tightly interwoven and each country
counts among the others most important trading partners. Thus, the results of this study
may be considered relevant for the academic community and for business practice. In
particular, German and Spanish multinational companies with subsidiaries in their
counterpart country can benefit from comparative studies because they have to assure
efficiency and acceptance of management accounting practices in their subsidiaries (see
Harrison and McKinnon, 1999). Third, the historical evolution of management accounting
in Germany and Spain has been considerably different (see, e.g. Amat, 1992; Becker and
Messner, 2005), which is expected to be of importance with respect to recent developments.
To handle the complex change processes that are strongly embedded within the
respective companies and in the economic environment, I conducted a cross-sectional
field study (see Lillis and Mundy, 2005). This field study mainly builds on
semi-structured interviews with senior management accounting executives which
were conducted at the headquarters of nine German and nine Spanish companies,
respectively. Building on two national samples allows for deep comparative insights
into the processes of change within management accounting in times of crisis for two
of the most important European economies and into the role of management
accounting in helping to overcome the crisis in the companies studied.
The remainder of this study is structured as follows. As a starting point,
a brief review is offered of the existing literature on Comparative Management
Accounting (CMA). Based on an overview of research on the influence of economic
crisis on management accounting and on the historical evolution of management
accounting in Germany and Spain, the research questions are developed. In the
following, the methodology of the paper is outlined. Next, the results are presented
and the topics raised are discussed. Finally, I draw conclusions and discuss future
research efforts.
2. Literature review and theoretical background
2.1 State-of-research in CMA
The research field of CMA was developed at the end of the 1980s and reflected
a significant interest in Japanese management accounting practices in Europe and
in the Anglophone world (see Endenich et al., 2011). These techniques were perceived
as part of the reason for the economic success of Japanese manufacturing and
technology companies in the 1980s and 1990s and were comprehensively compared to
corresponding techniques in the Anglo-American world (e.g. Shields et al., 1991; Daniel
and Reitsperger, 1992; Wijewardena and De Zoysa, 1999). This stream of literature
provided an in-depth knowledge of techniques such as target costing in the western
world and resulted in a systematic import of relevant techniques into western countries
(see Endenich et al., 2011).
Since the end of the 1990s, research on CMA has increasingly focused on European
countries, particularly on Germany and the UK (e.g. Ahrens and Chapman, 1999, 2000).
The interest in German cost and management accounting practices is reported in
academic and practitioner-oriented journals (see Endenich et al., 2011). Additionally,
several studies have considered management accounting practices in emerging economies
such as South Africa, Brazil and India (e.g. Joshi, 2001; Luther and Longden, 2001;
Brandau et al., 2013), which reflects the increasing global economic relevance of these
countries. Within the existing branch of comparative studies in management accounting,
southern European countries have been widely neglected. As the understanding and
application of the global variety in management accounting styles and instruments can be
considered a competitive advantage and a contribution to corporate performance (see
Bhimani, 2007) a further geographic widening of the existing research stream seems
desirable (see Endenich et al., 2011). Furthermore, multinational companies which have to
simultaneously assure the functioning of their management accounting systems within
their homeland and in their foreign subsidiaries (see Harrison and McKinnon, 1999) can
benefit from the insights of a geographically diversified set of comparative studies in
management accounting.
In general, the existing literature suggests an increasing convergence of management
accounting practices (e.g. Shields, 1998; Van der Stede, 2003; Jansen et al., 2009), as drivers
of convergence such as globalisation, the harmonisation of international financial
accounting standards, and the professionalisation and internationalisation of accounting
education have begun to dominate drivers of divergence such as national culture,
national institutions and national legislation (see Granlund and Lukka, 1998). Enduring
international differences in management accounting practices are explained primarily
using contingency theory and the cultural-theoretical work of Hofstede (e.g. Harrison,
1992; Merchant et al., 1995; Chow et al., 1999).
Management
accounting
change
125
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2.2 Crisis and management accounting

Whereas there is a considerable body of literature on financial accounting matters in
particular on fair value accounting in the context of the recent economic crisis
(e.g. Ryan, 2008; Arnold, 2009; Bengtsson, 2011; Mala and Chand, 2012), the literature
on the influence of the economic crisis on management accounting practices remains
scarce (see Hopwood, 2009; Van der Stede, 2011). This holds particularly true for
empirical data. This observation must be examined in light of the lack of publicly
available data on management accounting, which, in general, presents a challenge for
undertaking empirical research on management accounting (e.g. Zimmerman, 2001;
Wagenhofer, 2006).
The existing literature stream underlines that economic crises lead to intensified
external and internal information flows (see Hopwood, 2009; Van der Stede, 2011). The
latter become relevant for management accounting research, as external information
flows increasingly include management accounting-related issues such as performance
measurement, incentive systems which often build on budgets and risk
management (see Van der Stede, 2011). A working paper of Olofsson and Svalander
(1975); cited in Hopwood (2009) suggests that economic crises might increase the
importance of management accounting in ensuring sustainable corporate success.
During periods of economic crisis, information flows between management accounting
and managers increase in the degree of their informational detail and in their
frequency. Hopwood, drawing on the aforementioned work of Olofsson and Svalander
and on personal experience, expects that management accounting is moving to
operating in continuous time (Hopwood, 2009, p. 800) when it is exposed to crisis and
its corresponding uncertainty[3]. By contrast, Van der Stede (2011) emphasises
increased information flows to external parties that are caused by voluntary and
mandatory disclosures. Thus, he sees new research opportunities because of an
increased amount of publicly available data. Thus, the existing literature highlights
intensified information flows to internal and external parties in times of economic
crisis. However, there is hardly any empirical evidence regarding how management
accounting handles these information requirements and how these features might
change the role and the work of management accountants at their companies. This
study highlights these aspects and focuses on the influences of changing internal
requirements by conducting a comparative cross-sectional field study in Germany and
Spain (see Figure 1).
Against the presented background, the economic crisis can be considered a catalyst
of management accounting change. Thus, we may expect more fundamental and
Focus of this study

Increased
Information
Requirements of
Managers
Figure 1.
The influence of economic
crisis on management
accounting
Economic
Crisis
Increased
Information
Requirements of
External Parties
Possible Changes
in Work,
Behaviour and
Role of
Management
Accountants within
their Companies
condensed changes in management accounting than under normal economic conditions.

Furthermore, these changes occur at the same time and for very similar reasons in many
companies (see Van der Stede, 2011) and thus, represent avenues for research projects
comprising multiple research sites. Considering the fact that the Spanish economy is more
intensively affected by the economic crisis than the German, these changes can be
considered even more apparently on the Spanish side. By way of example, the latter can
be expected to be reflected by an increased focus of management accountants on cost
savings and securing liquidity.
Because information providing for managerial decision making is one of the crucial
elements of management accounting (e.g. Bruns and McKinnon, 1993), increasing
information requirements of managers can probably result in a stronger interaction
and increased communication (see Hoque, 2004) between management accountants
and managers. In turn, this increased interaction can result in a higher influence of
management accountants on managerial decision making and a more powerful
role within companies. Considering that budgeting is one of the most important
instruments for management accountants (see Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004),
budgeting was chosen as an example to illuminate changes in management
accounting in times of economic crisis. Due to the increased uncertainty, budgeting
can be considered to change towards more flexible and continuous approaches
(see Van der Stede, 2011).
In summary, this field study aims to provide to the following fields of interest:
(1)
How do major management accounting techniques (i.e. budgeting) change in

times of economic crisis?
(2)
How do role and work of management accountants change in times of

economic crisis in order to overcome the current crisis and to anticipate future
crises?
(3)
How do changes in management accounting differ between countries which

are differently affected by the economic crisis?
2.3 The evolution of management accounting in Germany and Spain

The results of this comparative field study should be interpreted against the background
of the historical evolution of management accounting in both Germany and Spain. Thus,
these two backgrounds are briefly discussed in the following sections.
German management accounting (Controlling) builds on the tradition of elaborated
German cost accounting systems; this tradition was established in the early twentieth
century by Eugen Schmalenbach, the founder of German academic business administration
(Betriebswirtschaftslehre) (see Christensen and Wagenhofer, 1997; Schildbach, 1997).
Following Schmalenbachs seminal work, the German accounting system is traditionally
characterised by a thorough separation between management accounting and financial
accounting; this results from the use of two independent databases (see Becker and
Messner, 2005). However, following the Anglophone approach, major German companies
have begun to question this separation in recent years, which has led them to establish
general ledger systems (e.g. Weienberger and Angelkort, 2011).
German management accounting research is widely characterised as self-referential,
focusing on its establishment as an independent sub-area within business administration
and on defining it accurately (see Messner et al., 2008; Schaffer and Binder, 2008). Thus,
empirical research on German management accounting remains scarce (see Becker and
Messner, 2005; Wagenhofer, 2006). Additionally, the internationalisation of German
Management
accounting
change
127
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accounting research did not begin before the 1990s, i.e. considerably later than in other
sub-areas of business administration (see Wagenhofer, 2006). The education of
management accountants focuses intently on mathematical and analytical skills and is
mainly provided by public universities. Although professional bodies shape the
occupational identity of management accountants in the Anglophone world, they
are insignificant with respect to management accounting education in Germany
(see Ahrens and Chapman, 2000). Whereas management accountants were
characterised to have a rather passive role in German companies in the past (see
Ahrens, 1996), more recent studies observe a trend towards the more active role of
business partners within German companies (see Angelkort et al., 2009). Nevertheless,
the passive role of management accountants illustrated in the 1990s, is still reflected in
the early 2000s by a rather negative image of management accountants in Germany:
Building on 73 advertisements, Hoffjan (2004) characterises the image of German
management accountants as loyal but uncreative, passive and inflexible.
In contrast, because of economic and political separation, monopolistic and
oligopolistic industries and strong external controls during the political dictatorship,
management accounting (Contabilidad de Gestion) lacked wide relevance in Spain
until the 1980s (see Amat, 1992; Amat et al., 1994). Within academia, opportunities
for international collaboration were severely restricted and limited numbers of
international textbooks were available (see Montesinos, 1998). However, following the
enactment of political and economic reforms, European Union accession and
increasing international competition, management accounting has become
considerably more important for Spanish companies (see Amat, 1992). Subsequently,
Spanish companies and the Spanish academia have closely followed management
accounting ideas and instruments from the USA, which were disseminated by the US
multinational companies working in Spain and by the increasing availability of the
US-authored management accounting textbooks (see Amat, 1992). Additionally,
Drurys textbooks have been widely disseminated in Spain since the 1990s, which has
resulted in the adoption of British management and cost accounting ideas (see Saez
et al., 1996). However, empirical evidence (e.g. on the dissemination of activity-based
costing) has shown that management accounting systems in Spanish firms were
somewhat underdeveloped until the 1990s (see Saez et al., 1996).
Yet, the role of management accountants in Spanish companies has not been
systematically covered in the international literature. Nevertheless, within the Spanish
speaking body of literature, empirical evidence suggests similar tendencies in the
development towards a more active role of management accountants as demonstrated
in Germany. In a case study of a company implementing a continuous improvement
system, Velez et al. (2005) underscore that even if management accountants still hold
a staff position, they can become more closely to managerial decision making and
promoters of corporate change processes. The authors consider improved IT-systems,
the support of top managers and the informal networks of management accountants
within the company as important factors of these changes.
Considering these backgrounds, crisis can underscore the importance of management
accounting for corporate success in both countries. Nevertheless, this aspect can become
even more important in Spain due to a young history of management accounting. On the
other hand and considering the sophisticated German management accounting systems,
the economic crisis and the accompanying increased uncertainty can probably result in
more pragmatic approaches, as elaborated medium- and long-term projections can
become more and more complex and probably inefficient to carry out.
3. Research design
The research field of CMA can be characterised to be heterogeneous, which is mirrored
by a broad variety of research methods: whereas surveys (e.g. Shields et al., 1991) and
field studies (e.g. Birnberg and Snodgras, 1988) can be characterised as the dominant
research methods, other researchers conduct experiments (e.g. Chow et al., 1991) or
archival analyses (e.g. Calleja et al., 2006; see Endenich et al., 2011). To facilitate deep
comparative insights into the evolution of management accounting practices in times
of crisis, I conducted a comparative cross-sectional field study (see Lillis and Mundy,
2005). The cross-sectional field study approach lies between the extremes of
quantitative surveys and qualitative in-depth case studies and ensures a balance
between breadth and depth in the analysis without neglecting the relevant context (see
Lillis, 1999; Roslender and Hart, 2003; Lillis and Mundy, 2005). This type of qualitative
research approach appears fitting because I analyse a complex organisational issue
that is strongly embedded within its context and has not been analysed sufficiently in
previous studies (see Atkinson and Shaffir, 1998; Lillis and Mundy, 2005; Silverman,
2006). Additionally, this approach allows for the how and why questions that address
the complexity of the subjects studied, in addition to taking the confidentiality of the
data into consideration (see Merchant et al., 1995; Lillis, 1999; Lillis and Mundy, 2005).
Consistent with other studies in the research areas of CMA (e.g. Ahrens and
Chapman, 2000; Brandau et al., 2013) and international business (e.g. Yeung, 1995),
I conducted 18 personal semi-structured interviews. As the number of interviews is
consistent with other studies in CMA (see Endenich et al., 2011; Brandau et al., 2013)
it seems sufficient to realise the research objectives of this study. Furthermore,
it accounts for the common financial and temporal restrictions of research projects
conducted by a single researcher (see Lillis, 1999). The interviews occurred in major
economic centres of both countries, including Frankfurt am Main, the Ruhr Area and
Stuttgart, in Germany, and Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, in Spain. Moreover, I used
three additional sources of data for my analysis, including internal documents that
were provided to me during or after interviews, publicly available information
and observations. These different sources were used for data triangulation (see Nixon,
1998; Silverman, 2006; Yin, 2009) and validated the statements of interviewees.
Additionally, publicly available data such as annual reports, press releases and
company presentations were used to prepare the field visits and to situate the data from
these field visits into a more general context concerning the companies investigated.
All interviews were assisted by a guideline to assure their comparability and
completeness (see Pierce and Sweeney, 2005) and to reduce possible interviewer biases
(see Lillis, 1999). Nevertheless, during the interviews, the questions of the guideline
were flexibly and intensively supplemented by additional questions to determine and
understand the underlying thoughts and justifications for the answers given and
to realise the depth of the chosen research approach. A preliminary version of the
interview guideline was extensively discussed with a disinterested management
accounting researcher, pre-tested on the CFO of a Spanish company with 25 years
of professional experience and modified in accordance with the results of this pre-test
(see Denzin, 2009).
The relevant guideline was divided into five segments that focused on a general
presentation of the interviewee and his or her company; the definition, state and
importance of management accounting; the development of management accounting;
the influences of the economic crisis on management accounting; and final comments
(see Appendix 1). I used open-ended questions to avoid predetermining answers (see
Management
accounting
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Patton, 2002) and to account for unexpected results and explanations (see Merchant
et al., 1995). The interviews lasted between 60 and 90 minutes; they were conducted at
the corporate headquarters and in the native language of the interviewees to avoid
misunderstandings and shortened answers (see Wright, 2004). All interviews were
tape-recorded and transcribed literally and immediately. Additionally, I took notes
during the interviews and as soon after as possible (e.g. Jrgensen and Messner, 2009).
The interviews occurred between May 2010 and April 2011.
The economies of Germany and Spain show the effects of the economic crisis both
at that time and in the years leading up to the interviews. Starting in 2007, GDP growth
strongly declined in both countries and even became negative in 2009 (see Appendix 2;
all data: Eurostat, footnote 2). The economic recovery that has followed may be
characterised as fragile in both countries, which indicates a perpetual crisis situation.
However, whereas unemployment has been decreasing in Germany since 2005
and reached historically low levels of 6-7 per cent in 2011 and 2012, the Spanish
unemployment rate has increased drastically and almost reached 25 per cent in 2012
(all data: Eurostat, see footnote 2). Thus, whereas Germany shows moderate effects on
unemployment and economic growth and a comparable quick economic recovery,
Spain shows dramatic effects in the indicators analysed. In Spain, these effects are
reinforced by a grave crisis in the financial sector with major insolvencies, credit
crunches and speculative bubbles, particularly in the real estate sector. These findings
are underscored by a strongly decreased investment activity in Spain from 31 per cent
of GDP in 2007 to 21 per cent in 2011 (all data: Eurostat, see footnote 2).
I used qualitative data analysis techniques to systematically reduce, structure
and analyse the interview transcripts (e.g. Miles and Huberman, 1994; Lillis, 1999).
This approach facilitated both an adaption to the objectives of this paper and an
analysis of latent contexts, characteristics and reasoning of the underlying material
(see Lillis, 1999) instead of focusing on counting text-segments. The interview
guideline was used as a framework for data analysis (see Malina and Selto, 2001;
McGarry and Sweeney, 2007) and for the category scheme used. Thus, the category
scheme mirrored the different influences of the economic crisis on the companies
studied in a general manner and the corresponding change processes in the
management accounting departments analysed. Coding rules and corresponding
illustrative examples were used to assign all text segments to different categories.
After a trial coding of a random selection of five interviews and an adaptation of the
coding scheme and the coding rules, the final coding was conducted (see Malina and
Selto, 2001). This process resulted in several matrix forms for each interview that
mirror the results of the coding process (see Lillis, 1999; Appendix 3) and ensured
a comprehensive, rigorous and auditable analysis of all relevant interview statements.
Because I conducted an analysis that required intensive reading and understanding
of the transcripts, I did not use specialised software for coding and counting text
segments (see Malina and Selto, 2001; Daniels and Cannice, 2004). Instead, I used
a standard data processing programme to prepare matrix forms.
A cross-case analysis (e.g. Miles and Huberman, 1994; Lillis, 1999; Yin, 2009) within
the two groups of interviews was used to identify common issues offered, conditions
experienced and explanations given by the interviewees in Germany and Spain. Thus,
the results presented in this paper may be considered to be representative for the entire
corresponding group of interviews. Even if this does not necessarily mean that the
according developments, rationales or explanations were explicitly mentioned by all of
the interviewees in the according national sample, topics with contrary statements on
the influence of the economic crisis on management accounting were not discovered
within the two national samples. The presentation of representative findings can be
considered an important element of the high credibility and analytical generalisability of
cross-sectional field studies (see Lillis and Mundy, 2005). Consistent with other qualitative
studies in accounting (e.g. Briers and Chua, 2001; Roslender and Hart, 2003; Ahrens and
Chapman, 2004), the results were clarified by citations of the corresponding interviewees.
Finally, inter- and intra-coder reliabilities were checked, resulting in high degrees of
reliability (see Miles and Huberman, 1994). For this process, I coded the entire interview
material a second time several weeks after the initial coding. Additionally, a disinterested
management accounting researcher with considerable experience in conducting
qualitative data analyses in international settings independently coded a selection of
the interview transcripts. These processes resulted in high levels of accordance of 97
(intra-coder reliability) and 93 (inter-coder reliability) per cent (see e.g. Miles and
Huberman, 1994; Appendix 3).
The companies investigated (see Appendix 4) represent a wide variety of industries,
including the chemical, building, manufacturing, food and beverage industries and
realise significant shares of their turnover in foreign markets of 35-80 per cent of total
turnover. For the companies of both sub-samples, European countries represent the most
important sales markets. Furthermore, North-African and Latin-American countries
account for significant shares of the sales of the Spanish companies visited, whereas
the German companies of my sample have stronger ties to North America and Asia.
The companies may be characterised as leading companies in their fields. I decided to
examine a wide variety of industries to obtain a broad range of results and to increase the
analytical generalisability of my study. Additionally, this approach broadens the existing
body of the literature in management accounting because existing studies focus
primarily on manufacturing companies (e.g. Scapens and Bromwich, 2001).
The companies studied have an average of 3,000 employees in both countries. Thus
in accordance with other studies in CMA (e.g. Brandau et al., 2013) small companies
were neglected because their management accounting is hardly comparable with the
management accounting of bigger companies (see Davila, 2005; Davila and Foster, 2007).
Furthermore, the companies were founded in either Germany or in Spain, are controlled
by a majority of German or Spanish capital and may be characterised as typical German
and Spanish companies. To assure compatibility, German and Spanish companies were
matched according to their sizes and industries (e.g. Birnberg and Snodgras, 1988;
Merchant et al., 1995): I first selected nine Spanish companies from nine different
industry sectors and in a second step carefully chose nine German companies from
the same nine industries and of a comparable size in terms of employees.
I used personal and professional networks to contact the companies. After an initial
telephone call, a brief presentation of the overall research project and the interview
guideline were sent to the interviewees. Anonymity and confidentiality were assured to
all interviewees. Thus, numbers were assigned to each of the German (G1-G10) and
Spanish (S1-S10) interviewees. I obtained a 61 per cent success rate in acquiring
interviewees. Thus, the non-response bias appears to be low compared to other field
studies in accounting (e.g. Ferreira and Merchant, 1992; Bedard and Gendron, 2004).
The German interviewees had an average of 16.0 years of professional experience
in management accounting and management, and the corresponding number is
13.9 years for the Spanish comparison group. All interviewees held university or
business school degrees in business administration, economics, law or engineering.
Additionally, seven interviewees had completed post-graduate degrees, such as an
Management
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MBA or a specialised Master in Finance. Post-graduate degrees were more common in

the Spanish group of interviewees than in the German. I interviewed 16 senior executive
management accountants (controlling manager, head of controlling) and four CFOs who
previously worked as management accountants in the same company. In one German
and one Spanish company, I conducted the interview with two employees (G1 and G2; S7
and S8). Due to their education, position in the company and professional experience,
I consider the interviewees experts in their field with considerable knowledge of, and
influence on, management accounting in their companies.
4. Results
4.1 The influence of the crisis on the overall company
Overall, the interviewees in both countries consistently observed that the economic
crisis has had a strong influence on their companies. The resulting consequences were
multifaceted and range from significant declines in sales and orders to increased
cost-pressures, large-scale dismissals, short-time work, investment freezes and rejected
initial public offerings:
The crisis has left deep marks (G1, manufacturing).
We were planning to go public in 2008. But this was exactly the starting point of the
international economic crisis and a bad moment for the markets and share prices. Thus, we
gave up the plan to go public (S9, beverages).
In general, the companies showed significant declines in the level of turnover from
2008 to 2009, with an average rate of decline of 15 per cent in both countries.
Nevertheless, whereas the German companies, on average, significantly increased their
levels of turnover to reach 2008 turnover levels in 2010 and 2011, the Spanish
companies of this study were not able to increase their turnover levels in 2010 and
2011, on average. Thus, the German interviewees characterised the influence of the
crisis more as a skid mark (G1, manufacturing), with some even realising record
results during the crisis period. Because management accounting played a pivotal role
as a support mechanism for corporate decision making in the companies studied, the
aforementioned developments led to questions regarding the corresponding reaction of
management accountants and their role in overcoming crises.
Interviewees in both countries observed inadequate preparation for the economic
crisis from both management and management accounting within their companies:
At the moment of the crisis, we were inadequately prepared for different aspects. Many
aspects of management must be improved and, to optimise these issues, management
accounting is of major relevance (S10, real estate, construction, engineering).
In particular, interviewees observed an insufficient use and analysis of external

information and developments such as economic growth and demand, interest rates,
exchange rates and market shares within their management accounting departments,
which became obvious in times of crisis:
We are navel-gazing; we have to work against this danger. External influences and external
developments are extremely important from my point of view (G3, food).
Management accounting must increasingly manage information sources from outside the
company (S5, textile).
The emphasis on internal data in the past may be considered a primary reason
for the observed inadequate preparation for the crisis in the management accounting
departments of the companies studied. Thus, the interviewees indicated that companies
were treated like islands (G4, construction) in the past and that this was inappropriate
in anticipation of the economic crisis. At the German companies, scenario analyses were
established to handle this issue and the resulting increased uncertainty:
In the meantime, we prepare scenario analysis for different lines of development we could be
faced with, and we also try to derive practical measures from these scenarios (G4, construction).
The German management accountants interviewed provide top managers with tailored
recommendations for different scenarios, in addition to providing data sets for possible
development trajectories. Thus, they are allowed to position themselves as internal
consultants (G4, construction).
4.2 Increased cost focus
The data analysis underlines that the Spanish interviewees observed strong movements
towards a higher cost focus in their management accounting departments. Whereas the
companies studied were focused intently on revenues to realise profits in the past, cost
reductions became more important during the crisis and the corresponding sales decline:
Obviously, a maximisation of profits can be reached by either increasing sales at identical
costs or by decreasing costs. Increasing sales has become more difficult in recent years;
therefore, we have to lower our costs. This is the point where management accounting can
distinctly help (S3, construction).
In the current environment, you have to manage the costs, and there are a lot of companies
which see [y] that not only sales is important for the business (S7, investment).
In both countries, cost savings are realised in the areas of investment and human
resources, in particular. Additionally, the Spanish interviewees more systematically
mention to focus on cost reduction in production processes than their German
counterparts. These processes are accompanied by a stronger focus on sophisticated
cost accounting processes and a stronger focus on variance analysis.
[Because of the necessity to decrease costs], we run a strongly cost-focusing management
accounting on all different levels. This is gaining importance for us (S2, food).
Tasks in the area of cost accounting and variance analysis dominated the everyday
work of Spanish management accountants during the economic crisis. Inevitably,
neglecting strategic management accounting tasks threatens the Spanish companies,
whereas the work of the German interviewees is laden with strategic management
accounting tasks:
[y] of course, management accounting must be strongly strategically oriented [y] (G4,
construction).
However, several of the German interviewees said that cost savings were also realised
within the management accounting departments by establishing greater automation and
faster processes to reduce staff in management accounting. Nevertheless, these processes
were realised by fluctuation instead of dismissals; they were justified, in particular, by
presenting the management accounting department as a forerunner of cost saving
programmes for the entire company, which made establishing cost saving programmes
in other departments promoted by management accountants easier to communicate.
Additionally, it was observed that the higher cost sensitivity of clients during the
economic crisis introduced changes into the work of management accountants.
In particular, this became obvious in sectors in which the bargaining power of
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suppliers is traditionally low because of the small number of dominant buyers, such as
the food and beverages sector, which is characterised by a small number of powerful
retailers in both countries:
This [the economic crisis] implies that we have an enormous pressure on our selling prices at
the markets, and this in turn implies that we have to cut our costs (S9, beverages).
134
Discounts which we have to give to our clients became one of the most important cost drivers
[y] But management accounting has not sufficiently adjusted itself to this changed situation
because the topic is very complex, difficult to steer and to display but we are working on
this issue (G3, food).
Thus, the economic situation called into question the usefulness of established modes
of analysis and provided significant challenges for the management accountants
interviewed, in addition to changing the importance of different cost drivers.
In the sampled German companies, cost savings appeared to be less important than in
the Spanish companies. Additionally, an increased cost focus was perceived to negatively
affect the image of management accountants within the company. Extensive interaction
with other employees is required to avoid these possible negative influences:
A management accountant should never define cost savings by himself. He should moderate
and allow staff and production department executives to define these measures. [y] He
should put into operation, initiate and accompany these measures. But finally, the
management accountant is not in the position to save money (G5, traffic and infrastructure).
The danger of negative influences on the image of management accountants seems to

be of even more relevance in the Spanish companies studied for two reasons. First,
management accounting departments were only established recently (within the last
several years) in most of the companies studied:
[y] when I started in this company, there was no management accounting department. The
management accounting department has only been in existence for six years (S2, food).
Even if management accounting tasks such as planning and budgeting have been
carried out at different departments and hierarchical levels of the company in
the past, the recent establishment of the management accounting departments
makes the department more vulnerable in Spain compared to their long established
German counterparts. Second, the stronger effects of the economic crisis on
Spanish companies has made cost cuts more important in the Spanish companies
studied, which elevates the danger of negative ramifications for the image of
management accountants.
Additionally, the data analysis shows that measures in the context of
liquidity such as cash holdings (S5, textile) are of greater importance in
the Spanish companies studied; these are often and forcefully mentioned by the
interviewees as essential elements of standard monthly reports. Thus, it may be
concluded that the Spanish companies were affected by the economic crisis more
strongly and that assuring liquidity is more critically relevant for the Spanish
companies than for their German counterparts.
4.3 Budgeting
During the interviews, the consequences of the economic crisis became particularly
obvious in the context of budgeting. Whereas budgeting had been strongly
concentrated in the last months of the business year in the past, the companies I visited
began to establish more flexible and continuous forms of budgeting during the
economic crisis. These changes became necessary because realistic predictions over a
12-month period seemed impossible in the increasingly volatile environment:
The question arises if it makes sense to plan always exactly for twelve months (G3, food).
Thus, interviewees in both countries criticise the rigid budget-rhythms (G9, beverages)
of classical budgeting in favour of establishing flexible (S7, investment) budget
adjustments and increasingly shorter-term planning ranges (G6, textile). Additionally,
most companies began to implement rolling forecasts (G9, beverages) and quarterly
revisions and monthly reviews (S9, beverages) to handle the increased economic
uncertainty. Thus, the implementation of a more continuous form of budgeting was
observed in both countries to address increased uncertainty and budgets have become
a part of the day-to-day business of management accountants instead of constituting an
end of the year ritual in the companies studied. Finally, these companies were trying to
establish a culture of specification (S3, construction) within their budgeting processes by
continuously implementing changes to approach reality. The resulting shorter budgeting
periods are accompanied by the need to accelerate relevant processes:
We are currently working to decrease the complexity of decision processes [within budgeting]
and on abbreviating and streamlining the entire process (G3, food).
Notably, despite these tendencies to abbreviate and simplify the budgeting process, the
companies studied still attempted to maintain a high level of budget detail. To realise
these conflicting objectives, the use of more powerful software solutions, more efficient
use of existing IT resources and greater automation of processes play key roles for the
interviewees:
We try to automate information flows [y] and try to analyse as much information as feasible
in the shortest time possible [y] (S5, textile).
To handle increased uncertainty, the German interviewees emphasised the establishment

of stronger interactions between various departments within the budgeting process.
In contrast to the previous procedure, where technical execution was the focus, we now try to
focus the interaction between the various departments (G6, textile).
In this manner, the German management accountants interviewed in this study

attempted to obtain an extensive database from various sources throughout the
company to be incorporated into the budget-setting process. Additionally, these changes
will assist employees in becoming aware of the necessity and value of budgeting within
the company in general and will establish management accountants because they
represent the corresponding process owner (G9, beverages) as key players within
corporate processes. Finally, the interviewees hope to realise a higher degree of
identification with budgets when establishing a more interactive budgeting process.
The aim is to get a commitment regarding the Budget [y] it is not useful to impose a budget
and if they have a variance, they claim, I did not plan this, it was imposed by him
(G9, beverages).
4.4 Resistance to change

As noted in the previous sections, the economic crisis may be considered to have
been a major driver of management accounting change at the time in which the
interviews occurred. In both countries, resistance against change was observed.
However, the resistance appears to be of a different nature in Germany than in Spain.
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In the German companies studied, resistance may be explained by the establishment of

procedures and models:
We execute a very detailed variance analysis within the production process even if they are
well under control from our point of view. This was different 20 years ago, but it has become
irrelevant for steering the company in the meantime (G3, food).
136
Even if business re-engineering processes moving towards greater automated production

processes made variances in the production process negligible, they are still strongly
analysed. Thus, procedures that were established several years ago and became taken for
granted impede essential changes within management accounting in Germany. Thus, the
German management accountants interviewed in this study were attempting to establish
a more customer-focused work flow within their departments, rather than focusing on
procedures that are taken for granted but that had become less important for the company:
We optimised it in the last years in that regard, that we act in the interest of the internal
customer and that we do not intensively do what we like but what is perceived to be
important from the perspective of the customer (G9, beverages).
In Spain, resistance presented differently: management accountants were ignored

within information processes and I heard about intractable (S2, food) behaviour and
the existence of resistance (S9, beverages) against new management accounting
practices or procedures implemented to counteract the crisis. This is particularly true
with respect to the implementation of controls on formerly strongly independent
department managers and employees. The resulting pressure to justify their work and
figures has made the implementation process challenging and time-consuming for the
management accountants interviewed:
Of course, this is time-consuming. It takes a lot of time until this dynamic [of new control
processes] has been established (S2, food).
Additionally, the tendency towards resistance was illustrated by one interviewee who
related that a new enterprise resource planning system was to be integrated to improve
data availability in management accounting. The IT department tried to attack this
project because they were afraid of losing influence to external IT experts. Thus, there is a
need to increase knowledge about the usefulness of management accounting innovations
in the corresponding departments of the Spanish companies. In turn, this may result in
increased involvement of management accountants in corporate processes.
4.5 The role and importance of management accountants
The most obvious influence of the economic crisis on management accounting in
the companies studied is the increasing importance of management accounting in
corporate processes:
The importance of management accounting has risen considerably. It rose because of the
crisis (G8, investment).
Yes, this [the growing importance of management accounting within the company] is
connected with the current situation: the economic crisis (S2, food).
The interviewees in both countries concordantly shared the opinion that the economic
crisis has emphasised the importance of management accounting in the company as
a whole. This observation is of particular relevance to the companies studied in Spain;
in most of these companies, management accounting tasks were previously scattered
throughout the company and independent management accounting departments were
established only in recent years. Thus, the increasing involvement of management

accountants in corporate processes in times of crisis has encouraged their acceptance
within the company:
Fewer and fewer employees consider them [the management accountants] to be a hindrance
[but] instead a supporter (S10, real estate, construction and engineering).
So, this [the role of management accountants within the company] has developed more and
more such that we are needed, that our opinion is appreciated, that they [the employees of
other departments] understand that we support them and that we do not sabotage them and
do not betray them (G9, beverages).
However, the Spanish interviewees observed areas to be improved in terms of the

involvement of management accountants in corporate decision-making processes:
There are situations, in which the relation to the managers is less direct. But we are adjusting
this aspect (S9, beverages).
Within our company, management accounting and management clearly work separately.
This has to be improved (S5, textile).
Thus, the influences of the economic crisis on the role of management accountants in
the Spanish companies of this field study remain ambiguous. Whereas their work is
increasingly appreciated by other departments, they believe that their involvement in
corporate decision-making processes and their collaboration with management offers
room for improvement. The latter is clearly contrasted by the strong involvement in the
decision-making processes of the German management accountants interviewed:
One important issue is that management accounting at [the companys name] is not organised
as a pure staff department; instead, management accountants are embedded in all the
different decision-making boards (G3, food).
In general, the influence of the crisis appears to have been greater in the Spanish
companies, where it was perceived as the most important driver of management
accounting when the interviews were conducted. This finding is underscored by the
fact that some of the German companies studied actually improved their economic
performance during the economic crisis:
We realised a record result in the company in 2008. In 2009, we also realised a record result,
even though we were faced with the worst economic crisis of the last decades (G5, traffic and
infrastructure).
Finally, whereas the interviewees in Spain and Germany both hope to overcome the
crisis soon, the increased importance of management accounting within the companies
studied is perceived as enduring:
This [the economic crisis] can happen again at any time; as long as this situation remains, I
think that we, as management accountants, remain important within the company (G2,
manufacturing).
This statement also emphasises that management accountants play a pivotal role in
overcoming crises by providing the necessary information and decision-making
support to their managers.
5. Discussion
This comparative cross-sectional field study provides empirical evidence about
the influence of the economic crisis on management accounting in two major European
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138
economies, Germany and Spain. This country choice accounts for the different peculiar
effects of the economic crisis and of the specific historical evolution of management
accounting in Germany and Spain; additionally, there are strong economic ties between
the two countries.
Thus, the study contributes to literature streams on CMA, management accounting
change, and management accounting in times of crisis. First, it contributes to the broader
field of CMA, by providing insights into the specific development of management
accounting in Germany and Spain and puts these findings into the according historic
and economic context. Second, as the existing literature stream on management
accounting change strongly focuses on changes induced by technical innovations such
as ERP-systems, this study widens the portfolio of inducing factors by the economic
crisis. Third, based on empirical data the study refines normative propositions on the
influence of economic crisis on management accounting made by Hopwood (2009) and
Van der Stede (2011).
The study reveals that the economic crisis is perceived to be an important driver of
management accounting change within the two countries investigated and continues to
strongly influence the day-to-day work of the interviewees. However, the empirical data
collected in this study suggest that the influence of the economic crisis on management
accounting is stronger in the Spanish companies studied than in their German
counterparts. This observation should be understood in light of the stronger effects of the
economic crisis in Spain compared to Germany. Additionally, these developments are
interconnected with the historical evolution of management accounting in Spain. In
particular, management accounting does not have a longstanding tradition in Spain, which
makes the corresponding function and structures more vulnerable compared to its German
management accounting counterpart and represents a particular challenge for the Spanish
interviewees. Within this study, change processes in management accounting have become
particularly obvious in the relevance of external data and cost matters, the budgeting
process and the role and image of management accountants within the company.
Interviewees in both countries criticised inappropriate preparation for crisis in their
companies. This is most apparent in the neglect of external developments in the
management accounting departments which inhibited timely interventions towards
decreasing the negative influence of the economic crisis on corporate profitability.
Thus, the economic crisis underscores the necessity of holistically exploiting information,
i.e. by using internal and external data, in order to allow for an anticipation of
and preparation for future economic crisis. Such a more systematic exploitation
of information and a more future-oriented manner of working may also result in an
increased involvement of management accountants in corporate operational and strategic
decision-making processes (see Byrne and Pierce, 2007) as management accountants
acquire the necessary knowledge. Additionally, the study underlines the failure of
accountants to anticipate the economic crisis. In order to encourage the more futureoriented work of management accountants in the German companies studied, scenario
analyses have been established. As these analyses are not systematically mentioned by
the Spanish interviewees but are perceived as an important and valuable tool by the
German interviewees, they should be considered to be an opportunity for the Spanish
companies studied to prepare themselves for future challenges.
The Spanish interviewees criticise their companies for previously having taken a
unilateral view of sales data. This criticism must be understood in light of the younger
historical evolution in Spain and in light of the economic crisis. Companies were faced
with strong demand after joining the European Union in 1986, which was particularly
true in the construction sector as the result of public and private investment. Thus, cost
aspects were often perceived to be of subordinate importance in many companies.
However, the significant decrease in demand in Spain during the economic crisis and,
in particular, the significant decrease in investment, have resulted in a strong cost focus
in the work of management accountants, which represents a major change in the work
and tasks of the Spanish management accountants studied. Additionally, the financial
crisis made it more important for Spanish companies to assure their liquidity, which
is shown by a strong presence of liquidity measures in the Spanish monthly reports.
This development is enhanced by the major problems facing the Spanish financial
sector, which might result in a more restrictive lending policy. Finally, an increasing
cost focus has been identified as a possible driver of the negligence of the long-term
orientation within the Spanish management accounting departments studied. Conversely,
their German counterparts were strongly involved in long-term-oriented tasks and strategic
decision making in the companies studied, which makes management accountants highly
visible in the overall company.
This cross-sectional field study provides empirical evidence for major changes
having occurred in the context of budgeting in the companies studied. Several of these
changes correspond with academic discussions using keywords such as beyond- or
zero-based budgeting which rose to prominence in the 1990s (e.g. Hope and Fraser,
2003). However, this study suggests that the influence of the economic crisis and
not the academic discussion caused the systematic questioning of established
budgeting routines and the adoption of corresponding ideas within the companies
studied. A more continuous form of budgeting enables the management accountants
interviewed to continuously revise plans and reallocate resources, which is consistent
with Frow et al. (2010). Finally, changes within the budgeting processes of the
companies studied counteract certain types of criticism relating to the traditional
budgeting approach, such as the rigidity of annual budgeting routines and the riskiness
of 12-month commitments (see Ekholm and Wallin, 2000; Dugdale and Lyne, 2006).
Additionally, this comparative field study provides evidence for changes in the role
and image of management accountants in times of economic crisis. Nevertheless, these
findings remain ambiguous and should be interpreted against the background of two
different fields of tension, the threat of possible positive and negative influences and
the hierarchical level of the corresponding perception. Thus, the empirical data reflect
both the hazards and opportunities for management accounting that arise in times
of economic crisis.
On the one hand, crisis situations may result in significant and sustainable
increases in the importance and appreciation of management accounting within
companies. This especially concerns the view of top management and the process
should be viewed against the background of the traditional negative image of
accountants (e.g. Friedman and Lyne, 2001; Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Jeacle, 2008;
Kim et al., 2012). On the other hand, an increased focus on cost saving implies a risk of
negative influences on the perception of management accountants among employees.
Management accountants should be aware of this threat to maintain or improve their
role within business processes. This holds particularly true for Spanish companies
because cost savings were characterised as very relevant by the interviewees. In order
to avoid the possible negative influences on the role and image of management
accountants in the workforce in the context of cost-cutting projects, the necessity
of the corresponding programmes should be communicated to all employees, the
programmes should be realised in a collaborative manner with the departments and
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cost savings should also be realised in the management accounting departments, as

underscored by the German interviewees. Additionally, a high level of participation
(e.g. in the budgeting process) and a proactive and customer-focused role may help to
avoid possible negative perceptions among employees.
Additionally, the position of management accountants within their companies
is influenced by increased economic uncertainty in times of crisis. To address this
increased economic uncertainty, stronger interaction between management accountants
and other departments should be considered, as observed in the German companies.
This may result in an improved understanding of management accounting techniques in
other departments and a better understanding of the information needs of these
departments within management accounting. This finding underlines the importance of
communication skills for management accountants (see Smith and Briggs, 1999).
Additionally, this increased interaction may help to improve the position of management
accountants within the company because their work and the value they provide for the
overall company will be more visible to the other employees. Finally, the reasons
provided in the literature (see Friedman and Lyne, 1995; Caglio, 2003; Rom and
Rohde, 2007) for changing the role of management accountants into that of
a business partner such as software empowerment and management accounting
innovations are supplemented by the economic crisis in this study.
Although management accounting is faced with continuous change (e.g. Burns and
Scapens, 2000; Yazdifar et al., 2012), I found empirical evidence to show that it is faced
with more fundamental changes in times of crisis. These changes represent major
challenges for the management accountants interviewed. Additionally, they provide the
opportunity to revise established routines and rules within the company in favour of
innovative procedures that are more appropriate for an increasingly volatile environment
and for new production processes. Thus, in times of crisis, major changes within
management accounting can occur in very limited time frames. These time frames
represent major opportunities for research in the field of management accounting.
6. Conclusion
My study is subject to the common limitations of cross-sectional field studies (see Lillis
and Mundy, 2005). In particular, the results cannot be generalised in a statistical sense.
However, this study provides comparative insights into the change processes that
occur within management accounting departments in times of crisis and may be
used to design follow-up studies that range from large-scale quantitative surveys to
in-depth single case studies. Whereas surveys might be used to analyse the increasing
importance of management accounting and changes within the budgeting process in a
more generalisable manner, the changing role of management accountants seems to be
a promising topic for in-depth case studies. The enduring crisis, particularly in Europe,
provides unique opportunities for these further studies (see Van der Stede, 2011). This
pertains both to publicly available data (see Van der Stede, 2011), and to internal data
that have been made accessible by qualitative and quantitative empirical studies.
My empirical analysis highlights the role of management accountants in scoping
the crisis situation and the influences felt on the general function of management
accounting. In both countries investigated, the economic crisis was characterised as
a main driver of the development of management accounting at the time at which the
interviews occurred. This study emphasises that the borders of management
accounting must be opened to contribute to overcoming the current crisis.
First, increased interaction with managers and other departments is essential to
receive necessary information and participate within corporate decision-making processes.

Second, external data must be systematically incorporated into management accounting
analyses to address increased uncertainty. These observations underline the relevance of
the present study and the need for further empirical investigations into the area of tension
between management accounting and economic crisis. The refinement of theoretical
propositions on this area of tension realised in this cross-sectional field study can be
considered an important basis for such studies:
Notes
1. Although the economic crisis is an ambiguous phenomenon that includes diverse
components such as the real estate crisis, the financial markets crisis, the debt crisis and the
Euro crisis, I refer to the economic crisis in more general terms.
2. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database
3. Considering that the existing contingency-based management accounting literature on
uncertainty focuses task and external environment uncertainty (Fisher, 1998, p. 49), my
study can be expected to provide to the latter stream.
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Professor Christoph Endenich can be contacted at: c.endenich@ieseg.fr
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Appendix 1. Interview guide

General information
Please give a general overview of your academic and professional background.
146
Please give a general overview (industry, size, strategy, structure, history, etc.) of your
company.
Please give a general overview of your position and responsibilities within your company.
Please give a general overview of your department.
Definition, state and importance of management accounting
Please define the term management accounting in your company.
Please illustrate the main functions, tasks and role of management accounting in your
company.
How would you characterise the role and importance of management accountants in
corporate processes and decision making in your company?
How would you characterise the interaction of management accountants and other
employees in your company?
Development of management accounting
Please illustrate the changes in the importance, role and tasks of management accounting
and management accountants in your company within the last years.
Please characterise the main drivers of these changes.
Economic crisis
How does the recent economic crisis influence your company? (If not stated in the last answer)
How and why does the recent economic crisis influence the importance, role and tasks of
management accounting and management accountants in your company?
Comments
Would you like to add any additional comments in the context of our interview?
Management
accounting
change
Appendix 2
6
Real GDP Growth Rate in %
147
2
Germany
0
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
Spain
Unemployment Rate in %
30
25
20
15
Germany
10
Spain
5
0
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
35
Investments in % of the GDP
30
25
20
Germany
15
Spain
10
5
0
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
Source: Eurostat, available at:http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/

portal/statistics/search_database
Figure A1.
Key economic data for
Germany and Spain
Table AI.
Interviews and data
analysis
18
20 (two interviews were conducted with two employees)
60-90 minutes
May 2010 to April 2011
German and Spanish
330 pages
1,569
35
97.08%
92.69%
148
Number of interviews
Number of interviewees
Duration of interviews
Period of interviews
Language of interviews
Transcripts
Number of coded text segments
Number of matrix forms
Intra-coder reliability
Inter-coder reliability
JAAR
15,1
Appendix 3
17
12
10
21
5
G1 and G2
G3
G4
G5
G6
G7
G8
G9
Manufacturing
Food
Construction
Traffic and
infrastructure
Textile
Chemistry
Investment
Beverages
G10
Real estate,
construction and
engineering
services
Head of controlling Business

administration
Controlling manager Business
administration

administration
administration
administration,
MBA
Head of controlling Economics,
mathematics
19
S6
S10
S9
10
S7 and S8 10 and 10
15
20
12
20
14
S5
S4
S3
Economics and S1
business
administration
Economics
S2

administration
Head of controlling
and controlling
manager
Head of controlling
Degree
Economics,
finance
Law, MBA
Economics
Engineering
Business
administration,
MBA
Business
administration
Degree
Economics,
Head of
CIAs and
management
accounting and
economics,
management
CIAs, finance
accounting manager
CFO
Economics,
MBA, finance
Management
Engineering,
accounting manager MBA
CFO
CFO
Head of
management
accounting
Head of
management
accounting
Head of
management
accounting
CFO
Spain
Professional
experience in
yearsa
Interviewee
Positionb
Notes: CIAs, Certified Internal Auditor. aProfessional experience in management accounting and management; bthe management accounting
department is called Departamento de Control de Gestion or Departamento de Planificacion y Control in most of the Spanish companies studied
24
11
20
15 and 25
Interviewee
Industry
Germany
Professional
experience in
yearsa
Position
Appendix 4
Management
accounting
change
149
Table AII.
Interviewees

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Journal of Applied Accounting Research

Economic crisis as a driver of management accounting change: Comparative evidence

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Journal of Applied Accounting

times of crisis is limited, whereas management accounting change during normal

2.2 Crisis and management accounting

Focus of this study

condensed changes in management accounting than under normal economic conditions.

How do major management accounting techniques (i.e. budgeting) change in

How do role and work of management accountants change in times of

How do changes in management accounting differ between countries which

2.3 The evolution of management accounting in Germany and Spain

MBA or a specialised Master in Finance. Post-graduate degrees were more common in

In particular, interviewees observed an insufficient use and analysis of external

The danger of negative influences on the image of management accountants seems to

To handle increased uncertainty, the German interviewees emphasised the establishment

In this manner, the German management accountants interviewed in this study

4.4 Resistance to change

In the German companies studied, resistance may be explained by the establishment of

Even if business re-engineering processes moving towards greater automated production

In Spain, resistance presented differently: management accountants were ignored

established only in recent years. Thus, the increasing involvement of management

However, the Spanish interviewees observed areas to be improved in terms of the

cost savings should also be realised in the management accounting departments, as

receive necessary information and participate within corporate decision-making processes.

Bhimani, A. (2007), Comparative management accounting research: past forays and

Schildbach, T. (1997), Cost accounting in Germany, Management Accounting Research, Vol. 8

Appendix 1. Interview guide

Real GDP Growth Rate in %

Source: Eurostat, available at:http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/

Head of controlling Business

Head of controlling Business

Head of controlling Business

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