The Drivers of a Superior’s Trust Formation in his Subordinate: The Manager-Management Accountant Example
Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Forthcoming
48 Pages Posted: 10 Aug 2012 Last revised: 14 Feb 2016
Date Written: December 1, 2016
Abstract
Management accountants are described in the literature as “trust access points” for management accounting systems (Busco, Riccaboni, and Scapens 2006). Because of their heavy influence on managers’ decision-making processes, the working relationship between management accountants and managers is unique and must be distinguished from other working relationships. Based on answers from 446 managers, we tested a structural equation model for different trust drivers. We show that management accountants’ perceived abilities are the key trust drivers. In addition, we also show that the influence of trust drivers in the manager - management accountant relationship changes significantly over time. Whereas in the beginning, a manager’s trust disposition and the organizational context are important in building up trust, in long-lasting relationships only the management accountant’s perceived trustworthiness really matters; this trustworthiness is in turn influenced by the role of management accounting (power) in the organization.
Keywords: trust, management accounting, management, partial least squares, PLS
JEL Classification: M49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation