Alternative management accounting research has demonstrated: the many different rationalities of management accounting practice; the variety of ways in which management accounting practice is enacted and given meaning; the potency of management accounting technologies; the unpredictable, non-linear and socially-embedded nature of management accounting change; and the ways in which management accounting is both constrained and enabled by bodily habitudes of its own exponents. It was argued that this legacy enables us to appreciate the limitedness of management accounting inscriptions and the technologies that generate them. Nonetheless, we have argued that the theoretical revitalisation of alternative management accounting research is warranted also. There is a pressing need to engage with current debates from the social sciences to enable the substantive contributions of alternative management accounting research to continue in a contemporary context. (J. Baxter and W. F. Chua, 2003, p.112) Article (J. Baxter and W. F. Chua, 2003, p.112) conclusion of the paper : pg 112 The Task of the Essay : explain the emergence of Alternative Management Accounting research (AMAR), and (2) ˜critically appraise the contributions’ of AMAR. For the first part of the essay, you should be trying to nicely articulate why/how AMAR ˜came about’; so, in other words, you should first try to explain the weaknesses, shortfalls, limitations of so-called rational-design MA approaches, and secondly why/how a group of ˜alternative’ MA researchers began to critique this rational-design approach. So, for the first part of the essay, the ˜critiques’ in Baxter & Chua (2003) are important. Some of you have asked if the ˜critiques’ are the ˜contribution’ “ i.e., the 2nd part of your essay “ ? I see your questioning here, and there is certainly an overlap. But, the critiques maybe ˜became’ contributions in time (not really ˜per se’ but indirectly through their influence on publications); first and foremost, however, the critiques were a fundamental part of the reasons for why/how AMAR emerged. They underpin what AMA researchers wanted to achieve that rational-design MA did not offer. The 2nd part of the essay, ˜contributions’, in particular requires you to discuss around B&C’s discussion of 3 contemporary themes (at the time) that AMAR had and would in the future add to our knowledge of “ i.e., globalization, hybridity, and network society. But in this part, you also then have the license to discus further advances in our understanding of such themes (since 2003) in the AMAR literature, and also other contemporary issues since 2003 which AMAR literature has contributed towards and would not necessarily be targeted in rational-design MA research. For the latter, you now know how to undertake ˜smart’ research via Google Scholar etc; but also we already covered some other (contemporary, AMAR) research in our lecture on ˜management control’ (e.g., the 2 x papers by Baldvinsdottir et al, 2009, 2010). As far as the ˜critical analysis’ (of AMAR’s contribution) goes, it would indeed be nice to see some thoughts around this. A tip for at least kick-starting this part: in spite of all the advances of knowledge through AMAR over the last 30+ years, has AMAR completely displaced rational-actor MA? And, if not, why not? Other pointers to assist you, based on common questions at this week’s office hours: * The 7 x different (theoretical) approaches in AMAR are not something you really need to pay much (if any) attention to in your essay. You ˜might’ use a particular article from a particular sub-approach (e.g., structuration theory, institutional theory, etc.) for illustration purposes. But using these as illustration will not require you to write lots about the particular theoretical approach(es). The essay is set up such that you can take AMAR as a collective group “ i.e., linked by the ˜critiques’ in the 1stpart of the essay! * You will notice that I haven’t stipulated a percentage split between the 2 parts of your essay. I intentionally did not want to restrict anyone in this sense. But clearly there needs to be ˜some’ balance “ indeed, 50/50 would be fine! But, while 60/40 or 40/60 would be quite acceptable (maybe even 70/30, 30/70?), you possibly don’t want to push the split much further otherwise your essay is likely to lack a balance. Do you want your assignment written by the best essay experts? Then look no further. Our team of experienced writers are on standby to deliver to you a quality written paper as per your specified instructions. Order Now, and enjoy an amazing discount!!
