Exploring the Role of Metaphors in Social-Identity Construction: The Case of the German Controller

Goretzki, Lukas; Löhlein, Lukas; Schäffer, Utz; Schmidt, Alexander H.; Strauß, Erik

doi:10.1080/09638180.2021.1882318

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Reputation thus seems to precede data scientists, sometimes even resulting in expectations that they consider unrealistically high. Legitimization and justification of their role or working against a negative image are thus not key concerns for data scientists, demonstrating a stark contrast to what accountants often experience (see Goretzki et al ., 2022; Messner et al ., 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite “counter-discursive” attempts by, for example, accounting associations to reposition the accounting profession as more exciting and strategically important (see, e.g. Baldvinsdottir et al ., 2009; Goretzki et al ., 2022), negative stereotypes (see Jeacle, 2008) seem to constantly linger in the background, making it often difficult for accountants to enact aspirational identities like the “business partner” (Goretzki and Messner, 2019; Goretzki and Pfister, 2022; Morales and Lambert, 2013). Data scientists, in contrast, enjoy a rather positive discursive framing as “sexy” and important.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Magicians, unicorns or data cleaners? Exploring the identity narratives and work experiences of data scientists

Goretzki

Messner

Wurm

2023

AAAJ

Self Cite

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PurposeData science promises new opportunities for organizational decision-making. Data scientists arguably play an important role in this regard and one can even observe a certain “buzz” around this nascent occupation. This paper enquires into how data scientists construct their occupational identity and the challenges they experience when enacting it.Design/methodology/approachBased on semi-structured interviews with data scientists working in different industries, the authors explore how these actors draw on their educational background, work experiences and perception of the contemporary digitalization discourse to craft their occupational identities.FindingsThe authors identify three main components of data scientists’ occupational identity: a scientific mindset, an interest in sophisticated forms of data work and a problem-solving attitude. The authors demonstrate how enacting this identity is sometimes challenged through what data scientists perceive as either too low or too high expectations that managers form towards them. To address those expectations, they engage in outward-facing identity work by carrying out educational work within the organization and (paradoxically) stressing both prestigious and non-prestigious parts of their work to “tame” the ambiguity and hype they perceive in managers’ expectations. In addition, they act upon themselves to better appreciate managers’ perspectives and expectations.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on data scientists as well as the accounting literature that often refers to data scientists as new competitors for accountants. It cautions scholars and practitioners alike to be careful when discussing the possibilities and limitations of data science concerning advancements in accounting and control.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magicians, unicorns or data cleaners? Exploring the identity narratives and work experiences of data scientists

Goretzki

Messner

Wurm

2023

AAAJ

Self Cite

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“…As noted previously, endeavors to put a risk‐envisionment approach into practice may extend the management accountants' jurisdiction. The core of their task domain may be seen in the support of managers in solving organizational problems (Goretzki et al 2021), implying that management accountants eventually work toward the organization's objectives (Horton and de Araújo Wanderley 2018). As risk management concentrates on identifying potential events that may jeopardize the achievement of organizational objectives (Power 2009), it might be a complement to the management accountants' conventional task domains 3 .…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business Partnering in Risk Management: A Resilience Perspective on Management Accountants' Responses to a Role Change*

Tillema

Trapp²,

Veen-Dirks

2022

Contemporary Accting Res

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This study uses a resilience perspective to examine the opportunities and challenges that management accountants may experience when they are given a role as a business partner in risk management. Drawing on insights from an in-depth case study in a large European bank, our study sheds light on management accountants' responses to a change from a compliance-oriented role to a business partner role. In the bank studied, part of the management accountants' new role was to balance various performance objectives and thereby to incorporate risk considerations in managerial decision-making. Our findings suggest that this role challenged the management accountants due to the ambiguity inherent in the role and also due to unfavorable conditions that surrounded the role change. We find that these circumstances culminated in a move backward, with the management accountants falling back on practices that were consistent with the values and beliefs they had developed in their previous role. In doing so, they emphasized what the resilience literature labels "well-learned responses." These responses contributed to an emphasis on a narrow risk management approach and had implications for the management accountants' long-term position within the organization. We discuss these findings against the background of previous research that suggests that management accountants move forward to the business partner role by engaging in job crafting (i.e., adapting their work) or identity work (i.e., redefining their role identity). By utilizing the concepts of lingering identities and identity asymmetries to explain the management accountants' move backward, we also shed light on new facets related to role identity.

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“…The contrasting uses of financial information, however, could be shown to be rooted in different organisational and social values. In Germany, managers and management accountants valued the operational integrity and efficiency of the organisation and emphasised professional boundaries of jurisdiction for different management functions, including management accounting or, to use the German term, “controlling” (Ahrens and Chapman, 2000; Goretzki et al , 2021). The world of the organisation was composed of interlocking systems, each with their own rules and principles that gave those systems their specific integrity and worth (Ahrens, 1996b).…”

Section: Value Hybridity As a Way Of Accessing Contexts And Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting, hybrids and hybridity – attending to the value dimension in institutional logics

Ahrens

Ferry²

2022

QRAM

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Purpose This study is concerned with the institutional value dimension in recent accounting research into hybrids and hybridity. Such research has been cognitively oriented and neglected the affective and emotional qualities of the values in which institutions are grounded. This study assumes that organisational members use accounting for instrumental reasons conditioned by objective facts. This study aims to offer new impetus to this literature by taking seriously the nature of institutional value. Design/methodology/approach Essay combined with discussion of published work. Findings Cognitive misinterpretations of institutional value underplay the force of institutions. One acts upon these not as a matter of cognitive choice but because of beliefs in deeply held values. In the extreme, the value possesses the actor not vice versa. However, because institutional values are ideal and abstract, they can never be fully and incontrovertibly achieved in practice. Certain practices, such as accounting, can come to stand in for the pursuit of the institutional value. In particular contexts, practicing accounting can come to be regarded as pursing institutional values, which makes it an institutional object. Originality/value The explication of accounting as an institutional object can show the potential significance of accounting for institutional values, including hybrid values.

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Exploring the Role of Metaphors in Social-Identity Construction: The Case of the German Controller

Cited by 8 publications

References 78 publications

Magicians, unicorns or data cleaners? Exploring the identity narratives and work experiences of data scientists

Magicians, unicorns or data cleaners? Exploring the identity narratives and work experiences of data scientists

Business Partnering in Risk Management: A Resilience Perspective on Management Accountants' Responses to a Role Change*

Accounting, hybrids and hybridity – attending to the value dimension in institutional logics

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