The Impact of Managers’ Personality on Visualization of Management Accounting Data

Abstract

Management decision making has become increasingly difficult. The visualization of data, i.e. the presentation of data in visual format, can facilitate comprehension and improve decision making. This paper examines transferability of insights from visualization research to the management accounting context and analyzes the impact of personality characteristics on the success of visualizations in management accounting reports. By investigating parameters for successful visualization of data in management accounting reports, we make a contribution to behavioral management accounting research. We generate insights on the differential effect of the manager’s personality on visualization success with an experimental study. Supplementary graphs in management accounting reports have significantly increased decision quality but not affected decision efficiency in terms of speed in a performance evaluation task. Contrary to expectations from visualization research, personality characteristics had no differential impact on visualization success. Hence, the effort of customizing accounting reports entails no significant benefit for management decision making.

Keywords: Management accounting, reporting, visualization of data, decision quality, Cognitive Fit, personality, cognitive style, experience

JEL Classification: M40