Space for accounting and accountability: realising potential management accounting research contributions to the space sector
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 21 December 2021
Issue publication date: 3 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The contribution of accounting research to the space sector has arguably been less discernible, less visible and less appreciated than that made by STEM disciplines. This paper aims to ascertain the nature and extent to which management accounting can contribute to interdisciplinary advancements of the space sector. This is accomplished by investigating possible contributions realised by management accounting research to the space sector and identifying the opportunities and challenges facing interdisciplinary accounting researchers in making a contribution.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative empirical study draws on interviews with 25 academic researchers and practitioners from Australia, the USA, the UK, Canada, Europe, India and China, with research or practitioner experience on accounting issues germane to the space sector. The purpose is to seek their perceptions of how interdisciplinary management accounting research can solve contemporaneous problems in the space sector.
Findings
The potential contribution that management accounting research can make in the space sector is grounded in the inherent interdisciplinary of the discipline. The propensity to draw on other disciplines, theories, methodologies and methods is a strength of management accounting, as it is arguably by such interdisciplinarity that “wicked problems’ such as those presented by space exploration, policy and research can be solved.
Originality/value
This is one of the first papers to explore the role and contribution management accounting research can offer to what has traditionally been a STEM-dominated field. In so doing, it underscores the central importance and value-added by an interdisciplinary approach to management accounting research.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the time, assistance, and insights provided by those interviewed as part of this study. In addition, the authors thank Lee Parker and James Guthrie for their constructive comments and feedback on previous drafts of this paper. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers, for their helpful suggestions and advice in its development.
Citation
Tucker, B.P. and Alewine, H.C. (2022), "Space for accounting and accountability: realising potential management accounting research contributions to the space sector", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 1353-1374. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2021-5411
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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