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This paper aims to identify ethical challenges of using artificial intelligence (AI)-based accounting systems for decision-making and discusses its findings based on Rest's four-component model of antecedents for ethical decision-making. This study derives implications for accounting and auditing scholars and practitioners.

This research is rooted in the hermeneutics tradition of interpretative accounting research, in which the reader and the texts engage in a form of dialogue. To substantiate this dialogue, the authors conduct a theoretically informed, narrative (semi-systematic) literature review spanning the years 2015–2020. This review's narrative is driven by the depicted contexts and the accounting/auditing practices found in selected articles are used as sample instead of the research or methods.

In the thematic coding of the selected papers the authors identify five major ethical challenges of AI-based decision-making in accounting: objectivity, privacy, transparency, accountability and trustworthiness. Using Rest's component model of antecedents for ethical decision-making as a stable framework for our structure, the authors critically discuss the challenges and their relevance for a future human–machine collaboration within varying agency between humans and AI.

This paper contributes to the literature on accounting as a subjectivising as well as mediating practice in a socio-material context. It does so by providing a solid base of arguments that AI alone, despite its enabling and mediating role in accounting, cannot make ethical accounting decisions because it lacks the necessary preconditions in terms of Rest's model of antecedents. What is more, as AI is bound to pre-set goals and subjected to human made conditions despite its autonomous learning and adaptive practices, it lacks true agency. As a consequence, accountability needs to be shared between humans and AI. The authors suggest that related governance as well as internal and external auditing processes need to be adapted in terms of skills and awareness to ensure an ethical AI-based decision-making.

The purpose of this paper is to enrich extant understanding of the role of both agency and context in the uptake of sustainability assurance. To this end, the authors examine auditors' attempts to promote sustainability assurance and establish it as a practice requiring the professional involvement of auditors.

Applying institutional work (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006) and institutional logics (Thornton, 2002; Thornton et al., 2012) as the method theories, the authors examine interview data and a variety of documentary evidence collected in Finland, a small society characterized by social and environmental values, beliefs in functioning institutions and public trust in companies behaving responsibly.

With this study, the authors make two main contributions to extant literature. First, the authors illustrate the limits that society-level logics related to corporate social responsibility, together with the undermining or rejected institutional work of other agents, place especially on the political and cultural work undertaken by auditors. Second, the study responds to Power's (2003) call for country-specific studies by exploring a rather unique context, Finland, where societal trust in companies is arguably stronger than in many other countries and this trust appears to affect how actors perceive the need for sustainability assurance.

This is one of the few accounting studies that combines institutional logics and institutional work to study the uptake of a management fashion, in this case sustainability assurance.

This study aims to describe and explain the design of management accounting and control systems (MACS) in the growth and revival stages of the organizational life‐cycle of the firm. In addition, it explores how the presence of equity capital investors affects the design of MACS in the case firm in its growth and revival stages.

A case study method is adopted to illustrate the design of MACS in the growth and revival stages. The data are analyzed to describe events in the two organizational life‐cycle stages, which are then compared to identify special features of the design of MACS.

The results show that, in contrast to a growth stage, a revival firm develops MACS for the firm's internal managerial and organizational purposes, such as a more diversified business strategy and more diversified organizational structure, as well as for external reasons, such as a more challenging business environment and investors' requirements. Investors require more detailed management accounting information to know how to get a better return on their investments in a revival stage, while investors ensured that the case firm was only using formal MACS in a growth stage.

The life‐cycle approach is the main perspective in data gathering even though this may bias the data. Therefore, not everything may be observed. Even though Friesen and Miller's life‐cycle model allows firm to be established through a merger of several declining firms, the birth of the case firm differs from a typical birth of the firm. This study is exploratory in nature, suggesting new insights that could be followed up in future research.

The information produced by MACS is, at a minimum, equally important in the revival stage as in the growth stage even though MACS are used for different reasons. Therefore, MACS cannot be used in the same way in the revival stage as in the growth stage.

The study describes and explains the design of MACS by comparing the growth and revival stages, while the accounting literature does not traditionally distinguish between growth and revival stages in this respect.

Several scholars have recently highlighted the narrowness of accounting research regarding it as a threat to scholarly developments in the field. The aim of this study was to chart progress in management accounting research using a sample of doctoral dissertations published in Finland. In particular, the study examines the range and diversity of research strategic choices in Finnish dissertations over time, including the topics and methodological and theoretical approaches chosen. The authors also briefly compare findings over time and with other progress studies.

A longitudinal historical investigation was selected. All of the 80 management accounting doctoral dissertations published in Finnish business schools and departments during 1945-2015 were analysed.

The findings reveal that an expansion of doctoral education has led to an increasing diversity of research strategic choices in Finland. Different issues have been of interest at different times; so, it has been possible to cover a wide range of cost, management accounting and other topics and to use different methodological and theoretical approaches over time. Consequently, management accounting has become a rich and multifaceted field of scientific research.

While this analysis is limited to doctoral research in Finland, the results should be relevant in advancing the understanding of the development of management accounting research.

Overall, the findings support the view that there have been, and continue to be, many ways to conduct innovative research in the field of management accounting.

Dissertation research in this field has been extensive and vital enough to educate new generations of academics, guarantee continuity of the subject as an academic discipline and make management accounting a significant academic field of research.

The paper contributes to current research on management accounting change by an analysis of a sample of doctoral dissertations.

The purpose of this paper is to provide tangible examples of product data management (PDM) practices in large high‐tech companies, and to highlight current challenges.

This paper is a qualitative interview study. First, a PDM system frame was defined to aid analyses. Second, an interview study was carried out in four companies to clarify the practical realisation of PDM, and the current challenges. The interviewees are experts in the field of PDM, currently holding significant related posts in their companies.

Overall, PDM activities are similar in all companies, however, there is some diversity in the realisation of these practices. PDM related challenges identified in this study are various, strongly influenced by company background and current organisational state.

This paper includes interviews in four companies with different backgrounds, and a workshop, providing a good view on topical issues in the field of PDM. The obtained results could vary to some degree, should the sample size be larger, or especially should the products of the studied companies be less complex.

This paper provides managers and PDM system developers' with a better understanding over the issues that are affecting PDM solution development and on major system requirements, together with relevant insight on current challenges.

The existing literature is relatively scarce in describing the practicalities of PDM. The obtained results highlight the significance of company background influencing the selection of PDM solutions.

This paper aims to provide a framework of the multidimensional concept of one master data. Preconditions required for successful one master data implementation and usage in large high‐tech companies are presented and related current challenges companies have today are identified.

This paper is qualitative in nature. First, literature was studied to find out the elements of one master data. Second, an interview study was carried out in eight high‐tech companies and in three expert companies.

One master data management framework is the composition of data, processes and information systems. Accordingly, the key challenges related to the data are that the definitions of master data are unclear and overall data quality is poor. Challenges on processes related to managing master data are inadequately defined data ownership, incoherent data management practices and lack of continuous data quality practices. Integrations between applications are fundamental challenge to tackle when constructing an holistic one master data.

Studied companies are vanguards in the area of master data management (MDM), providing good views on topical issues in large companies. This study offers a general view of the topic but not describes special company situations as companies need to adapt the presented concepts for their specific case. Significant implication for future research is that MDM can no more be classified and discussed as only an IT problem but it is a managerial challenge which requires structural changes on mindset how issues are handled.

This paper provides a better understanding over the issues which are impacting on the implementation of one master data. The preconditions of implementing and executing one master data are: an organization wide and defined data model; clear data ownership definitions; pro‐active data quality surveillance; data friendly company culture; the clear definitions of roles and responsibilities; organizational structure that supports data processes; clear data process definitions; support from the managerial level; and information systems that utilize the unified data model. The list of preconditions is wide and it also describes the incoherence of current understanding about MDM. This list helps business managers to understand the extent of the concept and to see that master data management is not only an IT issue.

The existing practical research on master data management is limited and, for example, the general challenges have not been reported earlier. This paper offers practical research on one master data. The obtained results illustrates the extent of the topic and the fact that business relevant data management is not only an IT (application) issue but requires understanding of the data, its utilization in organization and supporting practices such as data ownership.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the sociology of financial analysis by exploring how sell-side analysts enact their professional roles during public earnings presentations. It addresses the following research question: How do analysts perform their professional roles in interactions with managers, fund managers and other analysts?

The research adopts a dramaturgical analysis of analysts’ interactions with managers and fund managers. The empirical material includes 50 hours of direct observations of earnings presentations and 21 interviews with analysts, managers and other relevant actors.

The findings show that analysts struggle with role conflicts because they need to satisfy the contrasting demands of managers, fund managers and colleagues. Performing the role of an expert critic mainly depends on the approval of managers; yet, analysts also find themselves in situations where they must confront the managers. To counter role conflicts and sustain their role performance, analysts also produce displays of role distance and carefully prepare to meet their audiences’ expectations. To maintain the role of the expert critic, analysts depend on both those taking their advice (fund managers) and those being reviewed (managers).

This study is one of few empirically rich investigations of analysts’ activities, interactions with managers and meetings with multiple audiences. It also contributes to previous interview studies using dramaturgical analysis by offering in-depth observations of a single, distinct situated activity system.

This study aims to examine which categories of management control systems (MCSs) in startups are most important to external financiers. Furthermore, this paper investigates how equity and debt financiers differ in their perceptions of MCS categories and examines the relevance of MCSs for their investment decisions.

This study collects data through a cross-sectional survey sent to equity and debt financiers actively investing in startups. The results are based on survey responses from 73 financiers.

The results show that financial MCSs are considered most important, followed by strategic MCSs, while human resources MCSs are perceived as only moderately important. This paper finds significant differences in the perceived importance of MCS categories between equity and debt providers, which can be explained by differing risk profiles and monitoring needs. Although debt financiers consider financial and strategic MCSs to be less important for their portfolios’ startups than equity financiers do, debt financiers perceive MCSs as more important for their initial investment decisions.

The study sheds new light on the importance of different MCS categories in startups by analyzing external financiers’ perceptions. Overall, the empirical study provides insights that are particularly valuable for startups seeking external financing for company growth.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how social media (SM) influence performance measurement systems (PMS), examining changes in measurement methods, performance indicators and their application.

The framework of the research was constructed to cover the technical component of PMS (measurement methods and indicators) and the use of the information obtained from SM. Empirically, the study is based on a set of case studies in eight companies.

The study findings offer a theoretical and empirical framework to evaluate PMS in the era of SM. It provides a classification of SM metrics, key performance indicators correlated to their use within different departments belonging to eight companies, highlighting the benefits and threats of SM information for PMS.

The limitation of this study is the diversity of industries included into the multiple-case study. The authors choose cases with the aim of providing a broader view on the impact of SM on PMS. However, the results show the dependency of use and type of measurement on certain industries, requiring future research focused on specific sectors or PMS aspects.

The paper provides a map of SM information measurement methods and use, which allows companies to position themselves and examine PMS evolution.

The results of the paper propose a holistic model, employing SM as a new variable in PMS.