Pimentel, Erica and Cho, Charles and Bothello, Joel (2022): The blind spots of interdisciplinarity in addressing grand challenges. Published in: Critical Perspectives in Accounting
Preview |
PDF
CPA V2.pdf Download (736kB) | Preview |
Abstract
When implemented effectively, interdisciplinary research can produce practical impact towards addressing societal “grand challenges” while also generating novel conceptual insights that advance theory. However, despite decades of calls for interdisciplinarity, research communities continue to become more siloed and less impactful. This paper aims to highlight the obstacles to interdisciplinary work contained within the accounting community, specifically those associated with Interdisciplinary Accounting Research (IAR). We argue that, in order to overcome these obstacles and produce more effective and impactful interdisciplinary work, we require four IAR practices: Problem-solving, Public engagement, Professionalism and Performance Revision. Our purpose is to identify challenges as well as solutions that reduce the friction that accounting academics experience when collaborating with scholars outside their research discipline, especially when it concerns addressing grand challenges.
Item Type: | MPRA Paper |
---|---|
Original Title: | The blind spots of interdisciplinarity in addressing grand challenges |
Language: | English |
Keywords: | interdisciplinary; accounting academic research; engagement and impact; community |
Subjects: | M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M0 - General |
Item ID: | 114562 |
Depositing User: | Erica Pimentel |
Date Deposited: | 15 Jun 2023 13:19 |
Last Modified: | 15 Jun 2023 13:19 |
References: | Abbott, A. D. (2001). Chaos of disciplines. University of Chicago Press. Ahrens, T., Becker, A., Burns, J., Chapman, C. S., Granlund, M., Habersam, M., Hansen, A., Khalifa, R., Malmi, T., Mennicken, A., Mikes, A., Panozzo, F., Piber, M., Quattrone, P., & Scheytt, T. (2008). The future of interpretive accounting research? A polyphonic debate. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 19(6), 840-866. Alawattage, C., Arjaliès, D. L., Barrett, M., Bernard, J., de Castro Casa Nova, S. P., Cho, C. H., Cooper, C., Denedo, M. Drujon D’Astros, C., Evans, R., Ejiogu, A., Frieden, L., Ghio, A., McGuigan, N., Luo, Y., Pimentel, E., Powell, L., Navarro Pérez, P.A., Quattrone, P., Romi, A. M., Smyth, S., Sopt, J. & Sorola, M. (2021). Opening accounting: a Manifesto. Accounting Forum, 45(3), 227-246. Annisette, M., Cooper, C., & Gendron, Y. (2017). Editorial. After 25 years, how should we proceed? Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 43, 1-4. Ball, R., & Brown, P. (1968). An empirical evaluation of accounting income numbers. Journal of accounting research, 6(2), 159-178. Basu, S. (2012). How can accounting researchers become more innovative? Accounting Horizons, 26(4), 851-870. Bebbington, J., Österblom, H., Crona, B., Jouffray, J.-B., Larrinaga, C., Russell, S., & Scholtens, B. (2020). Accounting and accountability in the Anthropocene. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 33(1), 152-177. Boardman, P. C., & Corley, E. A. (2008). University research centers and the composition of research collaborations. Research Policy, 37(5), 900-913. Bothello, J., & Roulet, T. J. (2018). The imposter syndrome, or the mis-representation of self in academic life. Journal of Management Studies, 56(4), 854-861. Bourdieu, P. (2000). Pascalian Meditations, R. Nice (trans.). Polity. Broadbent, J., & Laughlin, R. (2013). Accounting control and controlling accounting: Interdisciplinary and critical perspectives. Emerald Group Publishing. Buckley, P. J., Doh, J. P., & Benischke, M. H. (2017). Towards a renaissance in international business research? Big questions, grand challenges, and the future of IB scholarship. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(9), 1045–1064. Burawoy, M. (2005). For public sociology. American Sociological Review, 70(1), 4-28. Burrell, G., & Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis. Heinemann. Carnegie, G. D., & Napier, C. J. (2017). The accounting, auditing & accountability journal community in its 30th year. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 30(8), 1642-1676. Cho, C. H., Kim, A., Rodrigue, M., & Schneider, T. (2020). Towards a better understanding of sustainability accounting and management research and teaching in North America: a look at the community. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 11(6), 985-1007. Choi, B. C. K., & Pak, A. W. P. (2006). Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in health research, services, education and policy: 1. Definitions, objectives, and evidence of effectiveness. Clinical and Investigative Medicine, 29(6), 351-364. Chua, W. (1986). Radical developments in accounting thought. The Accounting Review, 61(4), 601-632. Chua, W. F. (2011). In search of ‘successful’ accounting research. European Accounting Review, 20(1), 27-39. Chua, W. F. (2019). Radical developments in accounting thought? Reflections on positivism, the Impact of rankings and research diversity. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 31(1), 3-20. Chubin, D. E. (1976). State of the field the conceptualization of scientific specialties. The Sociological Quarterly, 17(4), 448–476. Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research (2004). Facilitating interdisciplinary research. National Academies Press. Concordia University. (2020). Public Scholars Program. https://www.concordia.ca/sgs/public-scholars.html. Cox, A., Wohlschlegel, A., Jack, L., & Smart, E. (2020). The cost of food crime. Report for the English Food Standards Agency. Available at: https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/the-cost-of-food-crime.pdf Davis, L. J. (2007). A grand unified theory of interdisciplinarity. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(40), B9. de Bakker, F., Crane, A., Henriques, I., & Husted, B. W. (2019). Publishing interdisciplinary research in Business & Society. Business & Society, 58(3), 443-452. Dellaportas, S., Xu, L., & Yang, Z. (2020). The level of cross-disciplinarity in cross-disciplinary accounting research: analysis and suggestions for improvement. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 102275. Demski, J. S. (2007). Is accounting an academic discipline?. Accounting Horizons, 21(2), 153-157. Dillard, J., & Vinnari, E. (2017). A case study of critique: Critical perspectives on critical accounting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 43, 88-109. Dumay, J., & Guthrie, J. (2019). Reflections on interdisciplinary critical intellectual capital accounting research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 32(8), 2282-2306. Eisenhardt, K., Graebner, M., & Sonenshein, S. (2016). Grand Challenges and Inductive Methods: Rigor without Rigor Mortis. Academy of Management Journal, 59(4), 1113–1123. Fellingham, J. C. (2007). Is accounting an academic discipline? Accounting Horizons, 21(2), 159. Finger, A., & Rosner, V. (2001). Doing feminism in interdisciplinary contexts. Feminist Studies, 27(2), 499-499. Fogarty, T. J. (2014). A dream deferred: Interdisciplinary accounting in the US. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27(8), 1265-1270. Fogarty, T. J., & Zimmerman, A. (2019). Few are called, fewer are chosen: Elite reproduction in US academic accounting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 60, 1-17. Gendron, Y. (2008). Constituting the academic performer: the spectre of superficiality and stagnation in academia. European Accounting Review, 17(1), 97-127. Gendron, Y. (2013). Rethinking the concept of research contribution. Accounting Auditing Control, 19(2), 133-155. Gendron, Y. (2015). Accounting academia and the threat of the paying-off mentality. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 26, 168-176. Gendron, Y. (2018). On the elusive nature of critical (accounting) research. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 50, 1-12. Gendron, Y., & Rodrigue, M. (2021). On the centrality of peripheral research and the dangers of tight boundary gatekeeping. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 76, 102076. George, G., Howard-Grenville, J., Joshi, A., & Tihanyi, L. (2016). Understanding and tackling societal grand challenges through management research. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6), 1880-1895. Goring, S. J., Weathers, K. C., Dodds, W. K., Soranno, P. A., Sweet, L. C., Cheruvelil, K. S., Kominoski, J.S., Rüegg, J., Thorn, A.M., & Utz, R. M. (2014). Improving the culture of interdisciplinary collaboration in ecology by expanding measures of success. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 12(1), 39-47. Gulick, L. (1965). Management is a Science. Academy of Management Journal, 8(1), 7-13. Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. D. (2004). Diversity and AAAJ: Interdisciplinary perspectives on accounting, auditing and accountability. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 17(1), 7-16. Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. (2006). The coming out of accounting research specialisms. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 19(1), 5-16. Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. D. (2014). The global accounting academic: What counts! Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 27(1), 2-14 Guthrie, J., Parker, L. D., Dumay, J., & Milne, M. J. (2019). What counts for quality in interdisciplinary accounting research in the next decade. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 32(1), 2-25. Hoffman, A. (2021). The engaged scholar: Expanding the impact of academic research in today’s world. Stanford University Press. Hopwood, A. G. (2008). Changing pressures on the research process: On trying to research in an age when curiosity is not enough. European Accounting Review, 17(1), 87-96. Huutoniemi, K., Klein, J. T., Bruun, H., & Hukkinena, J. (2010). Analyzing interdisciplinarity: Typology and indicators. Research Policy, 39(1), 79-88. Impact Scholar Community (2020). Impact Scholar Community Home. https://www.impactscholarcommunity.com Jaroszweski, D., Chapman, L., & Petts, J. (2010). Assessing the potential impact of climate change on transportation: the need for an interdisciplinary approach. Journal of Transport Geography, 18(2). Jeacle, I., & Carter, C. (2014). Creative spaces in interdisciplinary accounting research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27(8), 1233-1240. Kakkuri-Knuuttila, M. L., Lukka, K., & Kuorikoski, J. (2008). No premature closures of debates, please: A response to Ahrens. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 33(2-3), 298-301. Kaplan, S., Milde, J., & Cowan, R. S. (2017). Symbiont practices in boundary spanning: Bridging the cognitive and political divides in interdisciplinary research. Academy of Management Journal, 60(4), 1387-1414. Khalifa, R., & Quattrone, P. (2008). The governance of accounting academia: issues for a debate. European Accounting Review, 17(1), 65-86. Klein, J. T. (1996). Crossing boundaries: Knowledge, disciplinarities, and interdisciplinarities. University of Virginia Press. Klein, J. T. (2010). A taxonomy of interdisciplinarity. The Oxford handbook of interdisciplinarity, 15, 15-30. Knights, D., & Willmott, H. (1997). The hype and hope of interdisciplinary management studies. British Journal of Management, 8, 9–22. Koontz, H. (1961). The management theory jungle. Academy of Management Journal, 4(3), 174-188. Lamont, M., G. Mallard, & Guetzkow, J. (2006). Beyond blind faith: Overcoming obstacles to interdisciplinary evaluation. Research Evaluation, 15(1), 43–55. Larivière, V., & Gingras, Y. (2010). On the relationship between interdisciplinarity and scientific impact. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(1), 126–131. Larivière, V., Haustein, S., & Borner, K. (2015). Long-distance interdisciplinarity leads to higher scientific impact. PLOS ONE 10(3), e0122565. Leahey, E., Beckman, C. M., & Stanko, T. L. (2017). Prominent but less productive: The impact of interdisciplinarity on scientists’ research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(1), 105-139. Levecque, K., Anseel, F., De Beuckelaer, A., Van der Heyden, J., & Gisle, L. (2017). Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students. Research Policy, 46(4), 868-879. Locke, J., & Lowe, A. (2008). Evidence and implications of multiple paradigms in accounting knowledge production. European Accounting Review, 17(1), 161-191. Lynn, F. B. (2014). Diffusing through disciplines: Insiders, outsiders, and socially influenced citation behavior. Social Forces, 93(1), 355–382. Malsch, B., & Tessier, S. (2015). Journal ranking effects on junior academics: Identity fragmentation and politicization. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 26, 84-98. Marrone, M., & Linnenluecke, M. K. (2020). Interdisciplinary research maps: A new technique for visualizing research topics. PLOS ONE, 15(11), e0242283. Mehrpouya, A., & Willmott, H. (2018). Making a niche: The marketization of management research and the rise of knowledge branding. Journal of Management Studies, 55(4), 728-734. Merchant, K. A. (2008). Why interdisciplinary accounting research tends not to impact most North American academic accountants. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 19(6), 901-908. Michelon, G. (2021). Accounting research boundaries, multiple centers and academic empathy. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 76, 102204. Milne, M., Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. (2008). Into the light and engagement: Two decades of interdisciplinary perspectives on accounting, auditing and accountability research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 21(2), 117-128. O’Dwyer, B., & Unerman, J. (2014). Realizing the potential of interdisciplinarity in accounting research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27(8), 1227-1232. Parker, L. D., & Guthrie, J. (2013). Accounting scholars and journals rating and benchmarking: risking academic research quality. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26(1), 4-15. Parker, L. D., & Guthrie, J. (2014). Addressing directions in interdisciplinary accounting research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27(8), 1218-1226. Parker, L. D., Guthrie, J., & Linacre, S. (2011). The relationship between academic accounting research and professional practice. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 24(1), 5-14. Patten, D. M. (2002). The confessions of a positivist (radical) in a radical (positivist) world. Social and Environmental Accounting Journal, 22(1), 8-11. Powell, T. C. (2019). Can quantitative research solve social problems? Pragmatism and the ethics of social research. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-8. Quattrone, P. (2000). Constructivism and accounting research: towards a trans‐disciplinary perspective. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 13(2), 130-155. Raasch, C., Lee, V., Spaeth, S., & Herstatt, C. (2013). The rise and fall of interdisciplinary research: The case of open source innovation. Research Policy, 42(5), 1138-1151. Roberts, R. W. (2018). We can do so much better: reflections on reading “Signaling effects of scholarly profiles—the editorial teams of North American accounting association journals”. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 51, 70-77. Rodrigue, M., & Romi, A. M. (forthcoming). Environmental escalations to social inequities: Some reflections on the tumultuous state of Gaia. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 102321. Roslender, R., & Dillard, J. F. (2003). Reflections on the interdisciplinary perspectives on accounting project. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 14(3), 325-351. Rossini, F. A., & Porter, A. L. (1979). Frameworks for integrating interdisciplinary research. Research Policy, 8(1), 70-79. Salter, L., & Hearn, A. (1996). Outside the lines: Issues in interdisciplinary research. McGill-Queen’s University Press. Sellhorn, T. (2020, June 8). My Corona Moment. https://arc.eaa-online.org/blog/my-corona-moment. Sprott School of Business. (2020). Merridee Bujaki: The Researcher Who Loves to Think Outside the Box. https:// https://sprott.carleton.ca/2020/09/merridee-bujaki-the-researcher-who-loves-to-think-outside-the-box/ Tweedie, D., & Hazelton, J. (2019). Economic inequality: problems and perspectives for interdisciplinary accounting research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 32(7), 1982-2003. Wagner, C. S., Roessner, J. D., Bobb, K., Thompson Klein, J., Boyack, K. W., Keyton, J., Rafols, I., & Borner, K. (2011). Approaches to understanding and measuring interdisciplinary scientific research (IDR): A review of the literature. Journal of Informetrics, 5(1), 14–26. Whiteman, G., Walker, B., & Perego, P. (2013). Planetary boundaries: Ecological foundations for corporate sustainability. Journal of Management Studies, 50(2), 307-336. Williams, P. F., Jenkins, J. G., & Ingraham, L. (2006). The winnowing away of behavioral accounting research in the US: The process for anointing academic elites. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 31(8), 783-818. Williams, P. F., & Rodgers, J. L. (1995). The Accounting Review and the production of accounting knowledge. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 6(3), 263-287. Willmott, H. (2008). Listening, interpreting, commending: A commentary on the future of interpretive accounting research. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 19(6), 920-925. Yegros-Yegros, A., Rafols, I., & D’Este, P. (2015). Does interdisciplinary research lead to higher citation impact? The different effect of proximal and distal interdisciplinarity. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0135095. |
URI: | https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/114562 |