Name of Journal - Issues in the relationship between theory and practice in management

accounting.
Index - Management Accounting Research Volume 21, Issue 2, June 2010
Authors - Gudrun Baldvinsdottir, Falconer Mitchell, Hanne Nørreklit
Year of Publication - 2010

Introduction
In this paper the writes tell us how the study and research of a subject like management
accounting may not be very apt and there might be some gaps in the study and the practice of
management accounting.
It's possible that current circumstances and demands have diminished the significance of
practical considerations for academics. They also discuss some of the possible causes of this
and argue that management accounting research must continue to focus on the technical core
of practice if it is to remain distinct from the other social sciences and disciplines to which it
has become linked.

Review of Literature
Academic researchers have less interest in the practical aspects of management accounting
these days. This research paper delves into some of the factors that led to this change.
Management accounting has developed into a social science in academia over the past few
decades. The accounting academics' credibility has grown as a result. However, it has also
meant that academic researchers have failed to focus on the technical core of their field and
the problems and issues it faces that are directly applicable to everyday life. It is concluded
that academic researchers require a stronger focus on the subject's technical core and the
utilization of empirical research findings for practice development and support.
The reasons for the gap in the theory and practice are as follows:
1. Social science – Accounting has established itself as a social science since the
1960s .This has largely been accomplished by its researchers' emphasis on
empiricism. Positivism's dominance in the United States as well as the rise in
interpretive case study and survey-based management accounting research in
Europe. Process management accounting's initial connections to economics have
steadily expanded to include sociology, psychology, and organizational studies,
among other social sciences. Mathematical analysis and, perhaps, philosophy have
both contributed to further development. Using economic theory and discourse
analysis to explain the acceptance and application of ideas in practice, Seal's
article in this issue is a good example. Accounting's academic credibility has been
supported by these interdisciplinary developments. Given the accounting
researcher's position in an academic setting, these trends in accounting research
are not surprising.
In my opinion inclusion of social sciences is one of the very primary reason as to
why there is a gap between the study and the practice of management accounting.
 2. Socio technical Discipline - Accounting behaviour involves how people and
accounting methods interact. The researcher's explanations of behaviour generated
by research activity are likely to be inadequate and possibly misleading if they are
not understood and adequately described by these accounting techniques.
Accounting researchers have a comparative advantage over social science
researchers because of the discipline's technical aspects, which enable them to
produce behaviour explanations that they are more specifically capable of
producing. The designation of "accounting" will be revoked from research if
sufficient attention is paid to the technical core.
There are a lot of times that a lot of scholars tend to neglect the core technical part
of management accounting to be accepted as a social science and this really makes
the gap wider for the subject and overall the subject of management suffers.

Research Objectives
In recent years, interdisciplinary and social science-based empiricism has been emphasized in
management accounting research. As a result, the discipline's academic credibility has
increased. Instead of providing practice guidance, the focus has been on learning about
behaviour in the real world. These studies' findings should not be used in practice but rather
as a basis for future research. A lot of the management accounting research agenda lacks
practical learning from research, its theories, and its interdisciplinary connections. If the
ultimate goal of social science research is to improve life rather than merely describe and/or
understand it, this omission is critical. If the first goal—improving life—is accepted,
management accounting practice should at least benefit from the research findings and
theoretical understandings.

Analysis
I feel that the paper was very practical and it founded a lot of real life problems that the
subject is facing and it also shows how the growth of one subject can be so great that it can
deviate from what it originally was meant to be. In this case the study of management
accounting and the practice of management accounting is so different that the subject is not
being benefited in any manner and all the research and academic knowledge is just theory
that is not helping anyone and that to be is the biggest failure for us, as a lot of time, money
and effort has been put to research a topic and of it all just stays in the books and does not
benefit us, it is useless.

Method of study
The paper is purely based on archival research and observation. These observations serve a
big purpose in telling the world where the problem lies and how it can be fixed.