Do Management Accountants Play a Different Role in Family Firms? Empirical Evidence on Management Accountants' Qualifications and Roles in Family and Non-Family Firms

International Journal of Business Research, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 94-103, 2012

10 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2012 Last revised: 5 Jun 2012

See all articles by Martin R. W. Hiebl

Martin R. W. Hiebl

University of Siegen; Johannes Kepler University Linz

Christine Duller

Johannes Kepler University Linz

Birgit Feldbauer-Durstmüller

Johannes Kepler University Linz

Date Written: March 1, 2012

Abstract

This study investigates whether management accountants in family firms differ from their counterparts in non-family firms concerning the required qualifications and roles performed within the organization. Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm theory, we hypothesize that management accountants in family firms perform more traditional roles and rely more on soft skills compared to management accountants in non-family firms. We test our hypotheses using survey results from large firms from Austria. Utilizing bivariate statistical analyses, we did not find support for the hypothesized relationships. We thus conclude that the role of management accountants does not differ significantly in large family and non-family firms, which can be attributed to family firms losing their specific resources with growing size. We conclude with the implications of these findings and avenues for further research.

Keywords: Family firms, Management accounting, Management accountants, Skills, Roles, Austria

Suggested Citation

Hiebl, Martin R. W. and Duller, Christine and Feldbauer-Durstmüller, Birgit, Do Management Accountants Play a Different Role in Family Firms? Empirical Evidence on Management Accountants' Qualifications and Roles in Family and Non-Family Firms (March 1, 2012). International Journal of Business Research, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 94-103, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2038317

Martin R. W. Hiebl (Contact Author)

University of Siegen ( email )

Unteres Schloß 3
Siegen, NRW 57072
Germany

Johannes Kepler University Linz ( email )

Altenbergerstr. 69
A-4040 Linz, Uper Austria 4040
Austria

Christine Duller

Johannes Kepler University Linz ( email )

Altenbergerstr. 69
A-4040 Linz, Uper Austria 4040
Austria

Birgit Feldbauer-Durstmüller

Johannes Kepler University Linz ( email )

Altenbergerstr. 69
A-4040 Linz, Uper Austria 4040
Austria

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
425
Abstract Views
1,781
Rank
126,116
PlumX Metrics