1 Introduction
2 Literature review and development of the hypotheses
2.1 Relationship between differentiation strategy and the BPMA role
2.2 Relationship between the BPMA role and MAS use
2.3 Relationship between the use of MAS and explorative innovation
3 Research method
3.1 Sample and data collection
Country | N | Revenue (€ mn.) | FTE | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | Median | Mean | Median | ||
Panel A: Firm revenue and FTE per country
| |||||
Austria | 39 | 169 | 54 | 664 | 245 |
Switzerland | 15 | 1513 | 660 | 4810 | 1500 |
Germany | 190 | 2073 | 91 | 8570 | 400 |
Total | 244 | 1732 | 85 | 7075 | 400 |
Industry | N | % |
---|---|---|
Panel B: Firms per industry
| ||
Manufacturing | 108 | 44% |
Services | 78 | 32% |
Transportation and public utilities | 29 | 12% |
Wholesale and retail trade | 18 | 7% |
Construction | 7 | 3% |
Public administration | 4 | 2% |
Total | 244 | 100% |
3.2 Measurement
Variables | Min | Max | Mean | SD | Std. factor loading | Composite Reliability | AVE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panel A Results of the measurement model (N = 244; χ
2
= 538.043; df = 323; p = 0.00; CFI = 0.936; TLI = 0.925; RMSEA = 0.052)
| |||||||
Differentiation strategy
(DIFF)
| 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.72 | 0.72 | – | 0.85 | 0.53 |
Delivery on time | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.60 | 0.95 | 0.67 | ||
After-sales service | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.82 | 0.94 | 0.73 | ||
Availability | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.74 | 0.89 | 0.74 | ||
High quality | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.92 | 0.92 | 0.83 | ||
Flexibility | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.52 | 0.86 | 0.67 | ||
Cost leadership strategy
(COST)
| 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.01 | 0.88 | – | 0.90 | 0.81 |
Costs | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.87 | 1.11 | 0.88 | ||
Price | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.60 | 1.04 | 0.93 | ||
Strategic decision making
(DECIDE)
| 1.33 | 5.00 | 3.30 | 0.84 | – | 0.79 | 0.55 |
Anticipate the future direction of the company | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.48 | 0.97 | 0.72 | ||
Make strategic decisions with enough time | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.30 | 1.01 | 0.77 | ||
Make strategic decisions with no time | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.12 | 1.02 | 0.73 | ||
Attention focusing
(ATTENT)
| 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.22 | 0.81 | – | 0.83 | 0.56 |
Enable continual challenge and debate | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.21 | 1.04 | 0.77 | ||
Enable discussion in meetings | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.40 | 1.05 | 0.73 | ||
Enable the organization to focus on critical success factors | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.24 | 0.95 | 0.80 | ||
Tie the organization together | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.02 | 0.94 | 0.67 | ||
Legitimization of past decisions
(LEGITIM)
| 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.27 | 0.85 | – | 0.84 | 0.57 |
Validate your point of view | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.17 | 1.01 | 0.82 | ||
Verify assumptions | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.44 | 1.04 | 0.80 | ||
Justify decisions | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.29 | 1.05 | 0.72 | ||
Confirm your understanding of the business | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.17 | 1.03 | 0.67 | ||
Monitoring
(MONITOR)
| 1.67 | 5.00 | 4.32 | 0.77 | – | 0.87 | 0.69 |
Compare outcomes to expectations | 1.00 | 5.00 | 4.27 | 0.93 | 0.76 | ||
Monitor results | 2.00 | 5.00 | 4.36 | 0.85 | 0.90 | ||
Track progress towards goals | 2.00 | 5.00 | 4.33 | 0.82 | 0.82 | ||
Innovativeness
(INNOVATE)
| 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.21 | 1.11 | – | 0.88 | 0.70 |
Changes in product lines | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.80 | 1.24 | 0.76 | ||
New products | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.32 | 1.22 | 0.94 | ||
R&D | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 1.29 | 0.80 | ||
Centralization
(CENTR)
| 1.25 | 5.00 | 2.66 | 0.94 | – | 0.88 | 0.64 |
Ask the boss before doing almost anything | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.84 | 1.07 | 0.76 | ||
Ask in the hierarchy for approval | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.56 | 1.06 | 0.83 | ||
Own decisions would be quickly discouraged | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.41 | 1.20 | 0.89 | ||
No action taken until a supervisor approves | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.86 | 1.07 | 0.72 | ||
SIZE (average of ln revenue and ln FTE)a | 2.67 | 12.09 | 5.67 | 1.81 | – | – | – |
Life cycle maturity stage (MATURE)a | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.30 | 0.46 | – | – | – |
Variables | Min | Max | Mean | SD | Average for business partner (n = 147) | Average for bean counter (n = 97) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panel B: Results of the cluster analysis (N = 244)
| ||||||
Business partner role of management accountants (BUSINESS)a | − 100.00 | 76.00 | − 16.90 | 35.56 | 1.00 | 0.00 |
Time spend on accounting and reporting | 5.00 | 70.00 | 30.95 | 13.71 | 27.21 | 36.88 |
Time spend on risk management and compliance | 0.00 | 60.00 | 14.88 | 10.58 | 9.87 | 23.20 |
Time spend on funding | 0.00 | 55.00 | 12.69 | 8.96 | 10.32 | 15.69 |
Time spend on management accounting and control | 0.00 | 70.00 | 19.92 | 12.15 | 26.45 | 9.25 |
Time spend on strategic analysis | 0.00 | 55.00 | 12.67 | 9.48 | 16.15 | 7.33 |
Time spend on other | 0.00 | 40.00 | 8.97 | 6.24 | 10.01 | 7.65 |
3.3 Differentiation strategy
3.4 Exploratory innovation
3.5 MAS purpose
3.6 BPMA role
3.7 Control variables
4 Results
4.1 Data normality and estimation method
4.2 Full latent model
4.3 Measurement model
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) | (8) | (9) | (10) | (11) | (12) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Differentiation strategy | (1) |
0.727
| |||||||||||
Cost leadership strategy | (2) | 0.018 |
0.900
| ||||||||||
Business partnera | (3) | 0.227 | − 0.002 | – | |||||||||
Attention focusing | (4) | 0.256 | 0.006 | 0.307 |
0.745
| ||||||||
Strategic decision making | (5) | 0.228 | 0.048 | 0.335 | 0.443 |
0.742
| |||||||
Monitoring | (6) | 0.213 | 0.024 | 0.160 | 0.339 | 0.355 |
0.831
| ||||||
Legitimization of past decisions | (7) | 0.196 | − 0.006 | 0.137 | 0.431 | 0.387 | 0.318 |
0.755
| |||||
Innovativeness | (8) | 0.316 | − 0.014 | 0.322 | 0.380 | 0.414 | 0.206 | 0.281 |
0.838
| ||||
Centralization | (9) | − 0.065 | 0.152 | − 0.134 | − 0.098 | − 0.188 | − 0.034 | − 0.128 | − 0.178 |
0.801
| |||
Sizea | (10) | 0.110 | 0.019 | 0.057 | − 0.021 | 0.100 | 0.006 | 0.017 | 0.147 | 0.090 | – | ||
Life cycle maturity stagea | (11) | − 0.054 | − 0.026 | 0.001 | − 0.053 | − 0.099 | − 0.014 | − 0.133 | − 0.055 | − 0.045 | 0.020 | – | |
Manufacturing industrya | (12) | 0.023 | − 0.013 | 0.057 | − 0.069 | 0.075 | − 0.023 | − 0.032 | 0.220 | − 0.031 | 0.024 | − 0.068 | – |
Number of finance and accounting personnela | (13) | 0.021 | − 0.119 | 0.044 | − 0.029 | 0.044 | − 0.081 | 0.047 | 0.019 | 0.081 | 0.474 | − 0.048 | − 0.012 |
4.4 Structural model
4.5 Hypothesis testing
4.6 Test of the three-path mediated effect
Path tested | Independent variable | Path std. regression coefficient (sig.) | Mediator 1 | Path std. regression coefficient (sig.) | Mediator 2 | Path std. regression coefficient (sig.) | Dependent variable | Model fit (RMSEA; CFI) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct relationship only |
DIFF
| a: 0.310 (0.005) | – | – | – | – |
INNOVATE
| 0.937; 0.044 |
Only indirect 1 |
DIFF
| β1: 0.237 (0.004) |
BUSINESS
| β2: 0.161 (0.018) |
MONITOR
| β3: 0.241 (0.005) |
INNOVATE
| 0.937; 0.044 |
Only indirect 2 |
DIFF
| β1: 0.237 (0.004) |
BUSINESS
| β4: 0.139 (0.083) |
LEGITIM
| β5: 0.293 (0.006) |
INNOVATE
| 0.938; 0.043 |
Only indirect 3 |
DIFF
| β1: 0.237 (0.004) |
BUSINESS
| β6: 0.204 (0.005) |
ATTENT
| β7: 0.442 (0.003) |
INNOVATE
| 0.939; 0.043 |
Only indirect 4 |
DIFF
| β1: 0.237 (0.004) |
BUSINESS
| β8: 0.370 (0.003) |
DECIDE
| β9: 0.465 (0.003) |
INNOVATE
| 0.945; 0.041 |
Direct relationship, controlling for all indirect effects |
DIFF
| a´: 0.195 (0.021) | – | – | – | – |
INNOVATE
| 0.949; 0.039 |
4.7 Alternative specifications
Dependent variable (R2) | Independent variable | Hypothesis | Hypothesized direction | Base model (model 1) |
---|---|---|---|---|
INNOVATE (0.361) |
DIFF
| 0.201*** | ||
BUSINESS (0.072) |
DIFF
| H1 | + | 0.224*** |
DECIDE (0.165) |
BUSINESS
| H2a | + | 0.354*** |
ATTENT (0.154) |
BUSINESS
| H2b | + | 0.316*** |
LEGITIM (0.063) |
BUSINESS
| H2c | − | 0.123 |
MONITOR (0.082) |
BUSINESS
| H2d | – | 0.151** |
INNOVATE
|
ATTENT
| H3a | + | 0.255** |
INNOVATE
|
DECIDE
| H3b | + | 0.255*** |
INNOVATE
|
LEGITIM
| H3c | − | − 0.014 |
INNOVATE
|
MONITOR
| H3d | − | 0.004 |
Controls
| ||||
BUSINESS
|
CENTR
| − 0.132** | ||
BUSINESS
|
COST
| − 0.001 | ||
BUSINESS
|
FINFTE
| 0.028 | ||
BUSINESS
|
SIZE
| 0.052 | ||
INNOVATE
|
COST
| − 0.032 | ||
INNOVATE
|
SIZE
| 0.149** | ||
INNOVATE
|
CENTR
| − 0.149** | ||
INNOVATE
|
MFTG
| 0.194*** | ||
INNOVATE
|
MATURE
| 0.004 | ||
Model fit
| ||||
X
2
| 636.931 | |||
p value | 0.000 | |||
DF | 467 | |||
CMINDF | 1.364 | |||
RMSEA | 0.039 | |||
TLI | 0.944 | |||
CFI | 0.951 | |||
AIC | 890.931 |
Dependent variable | Independent variable | Model 2 | Model 3 | Model 4 | Model 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
INNOVATE
|
DIFF
| 0.186** | 0.174** | 0.186** | 0.174** |
BUSINESS
|
DIFF
| 0.22*** | 0.219*** | 0.22*** | 0.219*** |
DECIDE
|
BUSINESS
| 0.347*** | 0.299*** | 0.347*** | 0.299*** |
ATTENT
|
BUSINESS
| 0.31*** | 0.255*** | 0.311*** | 0.255*** |
LEGITIM
|
BUSINESS
| 0.123* | 0.077 | 0.124 | 0.077 |
MONITOR
|
BUSINESS
| 0.151** | 0.099 | 0.152** | 0.100 |
INNOVATE
|
ATTENT
| 0.23** | 0.223** | 0.229** | 0.223** |
INNOVATE
|
DECIDE
| 0.219** | 0.214** | 0.22** | 0.215** |
INNOVATE
|
LEGITIM
| 0.006 | 0.006 | 0.006 | 0.006 |
INNOVATE
|
MONITOR
| 0.009 | 0.007 | 0.009 | 0.007 |
Controls
| |||||
BUSINESS
|
CENTR
| − 0.13** | − 0.13** | − 0.13** | − 0.13** |
BUSINESS
|
COST
| − 0.001 | − 0.002 | − 0.001 | − 0.001 |
BUSINESS
|
FINFTE
| 0.028 | 0.028 | 0.028 | 0.028 |
BUSINESS
|
SIZE
| 0.053 | 0.053 | 0.053 | 0.053 |
INNOVATE
|
COST
| − 0.031 | − 0.031 | − 0.031 | − 0.031 |
INNOVATE
|
SIZE
| 0.145** | 0.143** | 0.145** | 0.143** |
INNOVATE
|
CENTR
| − 0.14* | − 0.138* | − 0.14* | − 0.138* |
INNOVATE
|
MFTG
| 0.19*** | 0.188*** | 0.19*** | 0.188*** |
INNOVATE
|
MATURE
| 0.002 | 0.002 | 0.002 | 0.002 |
Alternative specification
| |||||
INNOVATE
|
BUSINESS
| 0.101 | 0.104 | 0.101 | 0.104 |
ATTENT
|
DIFF
| – | 0.237** | – | 0.242*** |
DECIDE
|
DIFF
| – | 0.204*** | – | 0.205*** |
LEGITIM
|
DIFF
| – | 0.199** | – | 0.205** |
MONITOR
|
DIFF
| – | 0.221*** | – | 0.227*** |
ATTENT
|
COST
| – | – | 0.039 | 0.058 |
DECIDE
|
COST
| – | – | -0.001*** | 0.015 |
LEGITIM
|
COST
| – | – | 0.051 | 0.067 |
MONITOR
|
COST
| – | – | 0.047 | 0.066 |
Model fit
| |||||
X
2
| 634 | 618 | 634 | 616 | |
p value | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
DF | 466 | 462 | 462 | 458 | |
CMINDF | 1.362 | 1.337 | 1.371 | 1.345 | |
RMSEA | 0.039 | 0.037 | 0.039 | 0.038 | |
TLI | 0.945 | 0.948 | 0.943 | 0.947 | |
CFI | 0.951 | 0.955 | 0.950 | 0.954 | |
AIC | 890 | 882 | 898 | 888 | |
Comparison of alternative models to the base model
| |||||
X2 difference (df) | 2.442 (1) | 19.25 (5) | 3.383 (5) | 20.86 (9) | |
p value | 0.118 | 0.002 | 0.641 | 0.013 |