The constructive approach in management accounting research

The constructive approach means problem solving through the construction of models, diagrams, plans, organizations, etc. This mode of research is widely used in technical sciences, mathematics, operations analysis, and clinical medicine. The doctrine of management accounting includes several important examples of managerial constructions, such as the ROI-measure in profitcenter accounting or the DCF-techniques in capital budgeting. However, almost all of such constructions have been developed in companies or consulting bureaus. We argue that the constructive approach is used too scarcely in management accounting research. Our review of the accounting literature shows that surprisingly few of the most significant managerial constructions originate in management accounting research. Typically the academic literature has merely analyzed and interpreted the innovations constructed elsewhere after the fact. A potential explanation for this scarcity is the adoption of the scientific ideals of accounting either from the natural or social sciences. Another may be that the design of useful managerial constructions tends to result in a consulting relation between the researcher and the firm, which inherently limits the possibility of publishing the results. Also we argue that the constructive approach, grounded in management accounting theory and leading to working managerial constructions, satisfies the requirements of valid applied research. Thus, we propose the constructive approach as a significant option for management accounting researchers to enter the field of relevant and useful problem solving. This direction for research would be one potentially fruitful answer to the recent claims that management accounting has lost its relevance.