Fun while it lasted: Executive MBA student perceptions of the value of academic research

ABSTRACT

The extent to which academic research informs both student learning and practice has been repeatedly debated in the accounting and broader academic literature. However, despite its supposed symbiotic relationship, the nexus between research and teaching, as well as research and practice, has rarely been investigated within the confines of a single study. In this research, we compare and contrast the perceptions of Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) students studying accounting in two Australian universities in relation to the perceived usefulness of published academic research embedded in an accounting curriculum in (i) explaining, clarifying and learning accounting principles; and (ii) informing current and future practitioners. Our findings indicate that although EMBA students readily embrace the use of accounting research in the classroom, there is a need for educators to explicitly demonstrate the credibility of academic research if the findings of such research are to be adopted in practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Student engagement
• research-teaching nexus
• research-practice nexus
• accounting education
• linking research and teaching
• EMBA

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge comments on previous versions of this paper from participants at research seminars at ESSEC Business School, and the Department of Accounting and Data Analytics, La Trobe Business School. We also thank Laurence Ferry, Ian Halkett, Gary Harrop, Zahirul Hoque, Lee Parker, Michael Proctor, Raef Lawson, and two anonymous referees for their constructive suggestions on the earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID

Basil P. Tucker http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1858-1590

Notes

1 Most writers have not offered even a rudimentary understanding of the terms ‘practice’ or ‘practitioner’, preferring to leave them implicit. For the purposes of the current study we have defined the term ‘practice’ to reflect ‘the adoption and implementation of techniques and their use’ (Tucker & Parker, 2014, p. 130). Similarly, we adopt a broad definition of the term ‘practitioners’ to include those directly involved in making organizational decisions, actions and practices; most prominently potential end users of the research such as managers, staff, consultants and related practitioners who impact on, and those with indirect influence on, the policy-makers, media, gurus and business schools who shape legitimate business practices (Jarzabkowski & Whittington, 2008; Rousseau & McCarthy, 2007).

2 For instance, the Australian Government’s ERA (Excellence in Research for Australia), the British Government’s REF (Research Excellence Framework) and the New Zealand Government’s PBRF (Performance Based Research Fund); a trend mirrored in countries such as Denmark, Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Hong Kong and Canada (Parker, 2012).

3 For example, Accounting & Business Research, 2014, 44(2); Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 2012, 9(3); Management Accounting Research, 2010, 21(2); Australian Accounting Review, 2010, 20(1).

4 For example, American Accounting Association (Management Accounting Section), Florida, 2014; Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting, Kobe, 2013; Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, Melbourne, 2012; Centre for Accounting, Governance and Sustainability, Adelaide, 2011; Management Accounting Research Group, London School of Economics, London, 2009; the Global Management Accounting Research Symposium, Sydney, 2005.

5 To preserve confidentiality, fictitious names have been given to the universities within which this study was conducted.

6 The five universities comprising the ATN as at the time of this study were: Curtin University, The University of Technology Sydney, Queensland University of Technology, the University of South Australia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In September 2018, Queensland University of Technology announced it would cease its membership of the ATN.

7 The term, ‘accounting principles’ as used in this context and as explained to participants in both focus groups refers beyond the aspects of recognition, measurement, treatment, presentation and disclosure of accounting transactions in the financial statement to any aspect of the syllabus in the respective courses. Moreover, in the focus groups we were deliberately not prescriptive about which principles the published papers were designed to explain and clarify in an effort to avoid suggesting a particular answer we might be seen to have confirmed.

8 Representation in the focus groups as a percentage of total students enrolled in the respective courses were: University X, 61%; and University Y, 63%.

9 The course outlines in both courses expressly articulate an important learning outcome that students’, ‘Acquire a body of knowledge of, and critically reflect on, theoretical and practice-based principles of how accounting information can be used to improve management performance, and the impacts this has on organisational management and leadership’ (University X); and,

Apply a variety of financial management techniques to evaluate the liquidity, profitability and financial stability of an organisation, apply a variety of financial management techniques designed to assist managers in planning and controlling their organisations, synthesise and communicate diverse financial and non- financial information to allow improved decision making by managers and assess the impact on managerial behaviour and company strategy of a range of financial and non-financial performance measures. (University Y)

Thus, the learning outcomes in each course are achieved through ‘explaining, informing and clarifying accounting principles’.

10 In order to preserve confidentiality, an alphanumeric code is used to denote quotations from individual focus group participants.

11 Where ‘a deep approach entails looking for meaning in the matter being studied and relating it to other experiences and ideas with a critical approach. By contrast, a surface approach describes a reliance on rote-learning and memorization in isolation to other ideas’ (Duff & Mladenovic, 2015, p. 322).

12 In which student attention is primarily directed to maximizing their grades, and their attentiveness to content is predominantly determined by assessment requirements and an intent to enhance the probability of academic success (Watkins, 1998).

13 As with the previous table, in order to preserve confidentiality, an alphanumeric code is used to denote quotations from individual focus group participants.