This interactive dashboard summarises the gaps identified across canonical and pivot articles
related to AI-based management control, digitalisation, and performance measurement systems.
Each section presents an interactive graph followed by a justification table containing the
underlying gap records (claims, quotes, relevance scores, etc.).
Filters: For each table, you can use dropdown filters on
article_title, gap_id, gap_type,
gap_claim, quoted_sentence_or_passages, and article_key.
Each article is assigned a unique key (A1, A2, …). This key is reused in the tables below to allow quick cross-reference between graphs and individual articles.
| source_group | article_title | doi | year | journal | article_key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| canonical | A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | 10.1007/s00187-022-00349-4 | 2023 | Journal of Management Control | A1 |
| canonical | Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | 10.1007/s10997-022-09626-9 | 2023 | Journal of Management and Governance | A2 |
| canonical | AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | 10.1016/j.cpa.2023.102701 | 2024 | Critical Perspectives on Accounting | A3 |
| canonical | Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | 10.1016/j.bar.2024.101460 | 2024 | The British Accounting Review | A4 |
| canonical | The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | 10.1108/IJIEOM-04-2023-0040 | 2024 | International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Operations Management | A5 |
| canonical | Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | 10.1016/j.bar.2024.101341 | 2024 | The British Accounting Review | A6 |
This table lists all gaps grouped by gap type. Each row includes the article key (A#), article title, gap identifier, and textual claim/quote that justifies the classification.
| article_title | gap_id | gap_type | gap_claim | quoted_sentence_or_passages | article_key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP2 | Behavioural | The behavioural effects of information overload, dashboard complexity and continuous data availability on controllers and managers are insufficiently researched. | Digitalisation reduces time spent on data preparation but increases expectations for analytical interpretation. | Discussion of new competencies suggests rising cognitive demands on controllers. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP1 | Behavioural | The cognitive and behavioural impacts of digital platforms and global accounting language games on judgement quality, deliberation, and susceptibility to illusion of control in decision-making remain underexplored. | The paper notes that digitalisation increases visibility and speed, raising the risk that ‘people take wrong decisions much more quickly than before, with even less room for the exercise of wisdom’. | It stresses risks of de-contextualised ‘centralised truths’ and illusions of control when users are excluded from the manufacture of accounting numbers. | A2 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | There is insufficient research linking academic findings on digitalisation in MC with practical organisational contexts. | Only few research results have ever been used in the practical world despite the fact that MC can be characterised as a practical field that constantly faces new challenges from the business world. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP1 | Contextual/Population | More research is needed to understand whether and how different local organisational contexts diverge in the ways they construct performance meanings when using digital accounting platforms. | Future areas of research may address issues related to a possible divergence between local organisational contexts in constructing performance meanings. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | Research is needed on AI-related changes in management control practices across diverse organizational types, including SMEs, startups, and public-sector organizations, not just large established corporations. | “To gain insights about emergent management accounting practices, it is therefore important not only to study large, established, multinational corporations, but also to attend to management control practices in smaller organizations, startups, public and private sector, in sum to document changes to control practices in different sizes and forms of organizations.” :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9} | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP2 | Contextual/Population | It remains unclear whether the double-edged effect of digitalization on role stress (benefiting business partners and burdening watchdogs) holds in other national, institutional, and sectoral contexts. | The study surveys 242 MAs in Dutch for-profit firms above a certain size threshold, with specific institutional and professional arrangements (e.g., controller terminology, education). :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20} | The authors discuss the Dutch context, including the controller label and mixed public accountant/MA backgrounds. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | Future research should extend beyond Finnish SMEs to other geographical regions to assess whether the relationships between digital business strategy, digitally enabled PM and collaboration performance hold in different contexts. | “The study focused mainly on Finnish SMEs (76.6%) and their management. Thus, in the future, the research could be expanded to cover a larger geographical area.” :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP4 | Contextual/Population | Research is needed in larger companies and at multiple organizational levels, including intra-organizational collaboration between departments, to understand how digitally enabled PM supports the effects of digital business strategy. | “In the future, we suggest that the research can be extended more to large companies, and from the top level to the lower levels. Future study samples could also include large companies to determine whether digitally enabled PM supports the effects of digital business strategies on collaboration between different departments within the company.” :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18} | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | Further research is required to examine how IT and other technological developments affect management accountants’ roles in banks beyond the Finnish case and in other industries. | As such, further research is needed to look at the effects of IT and other technological developments on the role of management accountants in both other banks and other industries. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10} | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP1 | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical studies examining how digitalisation affects MC tasks, instruments, organisation, and behavioural aspects in practice. | This study reveals research gaps in relation to the current MC research and presents potential starting points for future research. | A1 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP2 | Empirical | Empirical research is needed on how large language models and similar AI tools are actually used in management control practices, including their integration, use patterns, and effects on problematization and decision-making. | “Some of the many research opportunities related to LLPs in management control include exploring how LLPs are integrated into management control practices, analyzing different uses of general or purpose-built LLPs, and tracing changes to ‘problematization’ in management control.” :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP5 | Empirical | There is little empirical knowledge on how different AI adoption trajectories—from small-scale experiments to large corporate AI programs—reshape management control roles, hierarchies and experiences across organizational levels. | The paper notes that organizations are experimenting with AI from small individual initiatives (e.g., using public LLMs) to large corporate programs with proprietary models, and calls for social studies to address implications for individuals in different roles. :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | It points to algorithmic management and potential substitution of human managers as extreme scenarios but does not present empirical cases. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP1 | Empirical | Empirical evidence on how digitalization influences management accountants and management accounting practice remains limited and needs to be expanded. | “The potential influence of digitalization on management accounting is thus likely to be substantial, but our understanding of this influence remains limited.” :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP1 | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical research on how digital business strategies influence collaboration performance between companies. | “However, digital business strategy and its effects on performance have only been partially studied (Bharadwaj et al., 2013; Ukko et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020), leaving an apparent research gap regarding its effects on collaboration performance.” :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP2 | Empirical | There is a lack of detailed empirical knowledge on which specific dimensions of collaboration performance (e.g., trust, information sharing quality, innovation outcomes) are affected by digital business strategies and digitally enabled PM. | Collaboration performance is measured with a single item asking respondents to assess their company’s collaboration with external parties over the last three years. :contentReference[oaicite:28]{index=28} | The discussion refers broadly to collaboration challenges, such as imbalance in digital development between partners and data-sharing issues. :contentReference[oaicite:29]{index=29} | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP1 | Empirical | More empirical research is needed on how changing management accounting work, IT tools and banking contexts shape the roles and role identities of management accountants. | They go on to suggest that these changes require further study. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP4 | Empirical | It is unknown whether and how competition from other professional groups (e.g., IT specialists, data scientists) will reshape or erode the jurisdiction and identity of management accountants. | Whether the potential threats from other professional groups materialize will have to await future research which will study how events unfold and their effects on the identities and roles of management accountants. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP5 | Empirical | There is an open empirical question about how management accounting roles will evolve over time and whether management accountants will successfully meet ongoing and future technological and regulatory challenges. | Future research will tell how management accounting roles develop, and if and how management accountants are able to meet current and future challenges. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP4 | Empirical | Empirical knowledge is lacking on how cross-professional collaboration in agile teams shapes management control practices, information flows and authority structures in digitalized organizations. | Controllers increasingly work in agile, multidisciplinary teams that include data analysts, data scientists, coders and people from non-accounting backgrounds. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | There are concerns that specialist IT roles may be filled by non-accounting professionals, potentially altering the profession’s jurisdiction. :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22} | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP4 | Methodological | There is a methodological gap in longitudinal, comparative, and mixed-method studies that trace the evolution of digital MCS over time. | The paper notes that empirical studies increased over time but remain uneven across research clusters. | Many digitalisation effects are theorised but not empirically validated. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP2 | Methodological | There is a need for comparative, multi-case or longitudinal research to assess how robust and generalisable the observed dynamics between global and local accounting language games under digitalisation are across settings and over time. | The study relies on a single, large multidivisional company in the semiconductor industry, analysed via an interpretive case method. | The authors generalise cautiously and emphasise the specificity of Semicom’s organisational context and NPD process. | A2 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP1 | Methodological | Causal relationships between anticipated digitalization, role orientations, and role conflict/ambiguity remain untested and require longitudinal or experimental designs to establish directionality and mechanisms. | The authors note that, similar to other cross-sectional surveys, their study cannot make strong inferences about causality due to potential reverse causality and endogeneity. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16} | They also acknowledge the possibility of omitted variables despite including a broad set of controls and firm-clustered standard errors. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17} | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP5 | Methodological | Future research should investigate specific performance measurement systems, their implementation, and how different PM designs and case-based experiences influence the relationship between digital strategies and collaboration. | “Finally, the study did not address a specific PM system or its implementation. In the future, it would be informative to consider how the effects of digital strategies and their elements on collaboration could be enhanced by choosing different measurement systems. In addition, in-depth case studies could be conducted related to the formulation and implementation of a digital strategy and the related digitally enabling PM system.” :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | A5 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP3 | Organisational | The organisational consequences of hybrid MC–data science roles and cross-functional digital workflows lack systematic investigation. | MC roles are expanding into business partnering, data science, and governance. | Digitalisation increasingly integrates MC with IT and other functions. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP4 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and govern digital platforms and performance measurement systems that optimally balance global standardisation with local contextualisation of accounting meanings. | The case describes that designing the platform required homogenising heterogeneous data sources and developing shared KPIs, thresholds and procedures while preserving divisional flexibility. | It emphasises that digital technology is beneficial only if it does not compromise the dialectic and judgements characterising organisational contexts. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP3 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited understanding of how organizations can practically develop and support the AI literacy, judgment capabilities and coordination routines needed for controllers and managers to work effectively with ML and LLP outputs. | The paper highlights the need for ‘AI literacy’ and the coordination of machine intelligence with human tacit knowledge and judgment. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13} | It notes that managers and controllers must interpret opaque ‘advanced analytics’ and that LLPs are being used as tools for thinking and content creation. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP4 | Practical/Implementation | There is little guidance on concrete organizational interventions (e.g., role design, training, governance structures) that could help watchdog-oriented MAs reduce role conflict and ambiguity and effectively engage with digital technologies. | The paper emphasizes that watchdog-oriented MAs lack a coherent and clear role template for the digital age and thus face increased role conflict and ambiguity. :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | It also notes that these watchdog responsibilities (e.g., preventing value-destroying behaviors, designing internal controls, monitoring data quality, auditing AI) will remain important in new forms. :contentReference[oaicite:25]{index=25} | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP3 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and implement digitally enabled performance measurement systems in ways that empower rather than over-control actors involved in digital collaboration. | Digitally enabled PM can be perceived as too detailed or controlling when linked to monitoring individuals responsible for digital technologies, leading to negative impacts on collaboration performance. :contentReference[oaicite:32]{index=32} | The authors suggest companies should invest in management capabilities and connect digital strategies and PM systems, but do not specify concrete design principles. :contentReference[oaicite:33]{index=33} | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP3 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited knowledge on how organizations can design structured learning paths and support mechanisms that enable controllers to build and maintain the digital and analytical capabilities required by evolving MCS without overloading them. | Controllers struggle to find time to develop new IT and analytics skills alongside day-to-day responsibilities. :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18} | Skill development is partly self-initiated (e.g., studying Bayesian statistics) and partly supported by corporate training, but the alignment with work demands is unclear. :contentReference[oaicite:19]{index=19} | AI training is rolled out broadly, yet concrete AI use cases and role implications remain uncertain. :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20} | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a shortage of research specifically addressing how digital technologies—such as AI, big data, cloud and automation—shape MC processes and outcomes. | Researchers have specifically asked for more studies on the relationship between digitalisation and MC. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | The implications of AI-driven analytics for decision quality, bias, transparency, and reliance on algorithmic outputs in management control remain underexplored. | Digitalisation increases the use of external data and automation in reporting, budgeting, and forecasting. | Predictive analytics and machine learning are mentioned but rarely analysed in depth across MC contexts. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP3 | Technological/Digital/AI | It is an open question how increased visibility of local practices through digital technologies influences the impact of local changes on global organisational practices and control. | Further inquiries can address how the enhanced visibility of local practices offered by digitalisation amplifies the effects that changes to local practices may have on global practices. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP3 | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of more advanced digital technologies (e.g., AI-driven analytics, real-time dashboards, automated recommendations) on accounting language games and meaning construction have not been examined. | The digital platform studied integrates existing tools (PCS, PMS, SAP, TLS, PRIS) to standardise KPIs and reporting for NPD projects. | The article does not engage with advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning or real-time predictive analytics, focusing instead on integration and visibility. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a need for research on how organizations coordinate the multiple, interdependent changes required to implement AI for management control, including changes in infrastructure, decision processes, structures, and roles. | “To implement AI technology for management control purposes may therefore rely on the coordination of multiple, interdependent changes: information infrastructure, decision-making practices/processes, organizational structures, operational processes, managerial roles – these may all need to be reconfigured in comparison to pre-AI times.” :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10} | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | It remains unclear empirically how AI-driven ‘data-as-answer’ analytics affect the problematization role of management control information, and whether they suppress or reshape critical questioning and strategic dialogue. | The paper argues that ML and LLP approaches treat data essentially as answers, potentially bypassing the ‘problematization’ function of accounting and its acknowledged incompleteness. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | It notes tensions between data-driven decision-making ideals and established understandings of accounting as a tool for raising questions rather than providing definitive truths. | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | The consequences of shifting from accounting-centric information infrastructures to data-lake architectures for control quality, accountability, and data governance remain underexplored. | The article contrasts traditional accounting-based information infrastructures with ‘data lake’ ideals that store vast ‘raw’ data without specific purposes in mind. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14} | It suggests that machine learning thrives on such infrastructures but also notes tensions with accounting’s classification and substance-over-form principles. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP3 | Technological/Digital/AI | The specific mechanisms by which different digital technologies (e.g., RPA vs AI vs dashboards) affect MAs’ task portfolios, cognitive demands, and role stress are not unpacked and require more granular, technology-specific investigation. | Digitalization is conceptualized as anticipated use of multiple technologies (automation, digital platforms, data visualization, predictive analytics, AI) over the next five years. :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22} | Additional tests show similar moderating patterns across individual technologies, suggesting that no single technology drives the association with role stress. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23} | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP5 | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of digital dashboards and self-service BI on the division of labor, interaction patterns, and perceived role stress between MAs and managers in data-rich environments remain underexplored. | Digital dashboards and data visualization tools (e.g., BI dashboards) are mentioned as part of digitalization, enabling self-service access to data for managers. :contentReference[oaicite:26]{index=26} | The study focuses on anticipated digitalization but does not analyze in detail how changes in data accessibility and dashboard use affect interaction patterns between MAs and managers. | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP2 | Technological/Digital/AI | Little is known about how digitally enabled performance measurement systems can support companies’ strategic operations, particularly in the context of digital business strategy and collaboration. | “However, there is a research gap in how digitally enabled PM can support the company’s strategic operations.” :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | The mechanisms through which digitally enabled performance measurement enhances or harms collaboration performance—especially why it supports resource-related elements but undermines digital leadership—are not fully understood. | Digitally enabled PM is described as allowing real-time monitoring, continuous evaluation and data-driven decisions via digital technologies (e.g., IoT-enabled dashboards, big data). :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | The results show that digitally enabled PM positively moderates the resource–collaboration link but negatively moderates the digital leadership–collaboration link, suggesting complex mechanisms. :contentReference[oaicite:25]{index=25} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | The distinct impacts of specific digital technologies (e.g., IoT dashboards, digital twins, data platforms) on digital business strategy, performance measurement design and collaboration performance remain underspecified. | Digital technologies such as IoT, big data and dashboards are mentioned as enablers of real-time PM and strategy implementation, but are treated as a broad category. :contentReference[oaicite:37]{index=37} | The paper references digital twins, digital platforms and diverse digital tools in the literature review without differentiating their specific roles in collaboration and PM. :contentReference[oaicite:38]{index=38} | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP2 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a lack of longitudinal research that distinguishes between hype and substantive, enduring effects of IT-related changes and new digital communication forms on management accounting. | However, further analysis, with a longer time perspective, is needed to go beyond the ‘hype’ surrounding IT-related changes and the new digital forms of communication. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is limited understanding of how AI, RPA and advanced analytics concretely redistribute cognitive workload, decision rights and judgment responsibilities between controllers and other actors in digitalized MCS. | Controllers receive AI training and are expected to recognize where AI can be utilized, yet actual AI applications remain limited and uneven. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13} | Interviewees disagree on whether robotics and AI-based forecasting represent substantive change or mere hype. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14} | Automation reduces routine tasks but simultaneously increases analytical and interpretative demands on controllers. :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP5 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is an unaddressed question about how self-service BI and advanced visualization tools change the division of labor between managers and controllers in generating and interpreting performance information. | BI tools such as Power BI are used in similar ways to Excel, indicating under-exploitation of their analytical and visualization potential. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23} | Planned future developments aim to allow managers to build their own reports and analyses, but implications for controller roles are not fully explored. :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP2 | Theoretical | There is no consistent theoretical definition of digitalisation within management control research. | Further research is needed to clarify what digitalisation means in the context of MC as a uniform understanding is lacking. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP2 | Theoretical | The underlying drivers and mechanisms that cause divergences in performance meaning construction across local organisational contexts using the same digital platform are not yet theorised or empirically examined. | The possible reasons for that divergence remain unexplored and could be the topic of future studies. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP4 | Theoretical | Prior management accounting research has not sufficiently explained how digital technologies shape the processes of meaning construction and composition between local and global accounting language games. | On this point, the extant management accounting literature on digitalisation fails to explain how digital technology promotes the process of meaning construction across organisational contexts. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP1 | Theoretical | There is a need for theoretical and empirical research on how inductive AI-based analytics are integrated into existing, predominantly deductive management control systems, and how different forms of analysis are coordinated in practice. | “AI technology introduces a fundamentally inductive approach to knowledge practices … this technological transition creates tensions between different means of knowing in organizations… It is therefore relevant to study how emergent forms of analysis are incorporated into prevailing management control systems, how different forms of analysis are coordinated, and the extent to which new tools require corresponding changes to management practices.” :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP2 | Theoretical | Existing management control theories do not yet provide a fully developed framework for hybrid epistemologies where inductive AI analytics and deductive control logics coexist, requiring theoretical integration. | The article describes ML as introducing an inductive epistemology that conflicts with the deductive foundations of traditional management control systems. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | It notes emerging tensions between ‘data-driven’ ideals and established control theories but does not offer a formal integrative model. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP2 | Theoretical | There is currently no coherent and positive vision or role template for watchdog-oriented management accountants in the digital age, and such a vision needs to be developed. | “Therefore, we call on practitioners and academics doing research in the MA domain to develop a clear and positive vision for watchdogs in the digital age.” :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP5 | Theoretical | There is an unarticulated need to integrate digital transformation and digital business strategy perspectives with formal management control / PMS theories to better explain how strategic, technological and measurement elements co-evolve. | The framework positions digital business strategy as a determinant of collaboration performance, moderated by digitally enabled PM, but does not explicitly connect this to established management control system theories. :contentReference[oaicite:40]{index=40} | The literature review invokes both digital transformation strategy and PM/control literatures but leaves their integration implicit. :contentReference[oaicite:41]{index=41} | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP2 | Theoretical | The mechanisms by which management accountants transition between micro-role identities under digital pressures, while avoiding cognitive dissonance, are not yet theoretically specified. | Micro role transitions and micro role identity transitions are introduced conceptually but not fully theorized as processes. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16} | Fluid role identity is proposed as a way to accommodate self-in-multiple-roles without cognitive dissonance, but mechanisms remain descriptive. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17} | A6 |
This table lists all explicit and implicit gaps. It shows for each article key whether the gap is coded as explicit or implicit, and includes the corresponding gap claim and supporting text.
| article_title | gap_id | explicit_or_implicit | gap_type | gap_claim | quoted_sentence_or_passages | article_key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical studies examining how digitalisation affects MC tasks, instruments, organisation, and behavioural aspects in practice. | This study reveals research gaps in relation to the current MC research and presents potential starting points for future research. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP2 | explicit | Theoretical | There is no consistent theoretical definition of digitalisation within management control research. | Further research is needed to clarify what digitalisation means in the context of MC as a uniform understanding is lacking. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | There is insufficient research linking academic findings on digitalisation in MC with practical organisational contexts. | Only few research results have ever been used in the practical world despite the fact that MC can be characterised as a practical field that constantly faces new challenges from the business world. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP4 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a shortage of research specifically addressing how digital technologies—such as AI, big data, cloud and automation—shape MC processes and outcomes. | Researchers have specifically asked for more studies on the relationship between digitalisation and MC. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP1 | explicit | Contextual/Population | More research is needed to understand whether and how different local organisational contexts diverge in the ways they construct performance meanings when using digital accounting platforms. | Future areas of research may address issues related to a possible divergence between local organisational contexts in constructing performance meanings. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP2 | explicit | Theoretical | The underlying drivers and mechanisms that cause divergences in performance meaning construction across local organisational contexts using the same digital platform are not yet theorised or empirically examined. | The possible reasons for that divergence remain unexplored and could be the topic of future studies. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP3 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | It is an open question how increased visibility of local practices through digital technologies influences the impact of local changes on global organisational practices and control. | Further inquiries can address how the enhanced visibility of local practices offered by digitalisation amplifies the effects that changes to local practices may have on global practices. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP4 | explicit | Theoretical | Prior management accounting research has not sufficiently explained how digital technologies shape the processes of meaning construction and composition between local and global accounting language games. | On this point, the extant management accounting literature on digitalisation fails to explain how digital technology promotes the process of meaning construction across organisational contexts. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP1 | explicit | Theoretical | There is a need for theoretical and empirical research on how inductive AI-based analytics are integrated into existing, predominantly deductive management control systems, and how different forms of analysis are coordinated in practice. | “AI technology introduces a fundamentally inductive approach to knowledge practices … this technological transition creates tensions between different means of knowing in organizations… It is therefore relevant to study how emergent forms of analysis are incorporated into prevailing management control systems, how different forms of analysis are coordinated, and the extent to which new tools require corresponding changes to management practices.” :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP2 | explicit | Empirical | Empirical research is needed on how large language models and similar AI tools are actually used in management control practices, including their integration, use patterns, and effects on problematization and decision-making. | “Some of the many research opportunities related to LLPs in management control include exploring how LLPs are integrated into management control practices, analyzing different uses of general or purpose-built LLPs, and tracing changes to ‘problematization’ in management control.” :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Research is needed on AI-related changes in management control practices across diverse organizational types, including SMEs, startups, and public-sector organizations, not just large established corporations. | “To gain insights about emergent management accounting practices, it is therefore important not only to study large, established, multinational corporations, but also to attend to management control practices in smaller organizations, startups, public and private sector, in sum to document changes to control practices in different sizes and forms of organizations.” :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9} | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP4 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a need for research on how organizations coordinate the multiple, interdependent changes required to implement AI for management control, including changes in infrastructure, decision processes, structures, and roles. | “To implement AI technology for management control purposes may therefore rely on the coordination of multiple, interdependent changes: information infrastructure, decision-making practices/processes, organizational structures, operational processes, managerial roles – these may all need to be reconfigured in comparison to pre-AI times.” :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10} | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | Empirical evidence on how digitalization influences management accountants and management accounting practice remains limited and needs to be expanded. | “The potential influence of digitalization on management accounting is thus likely to be substantial, but our understanding of this influence remains limited.” :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP2 | explicit | Theoretical | There is currently no coherent and positive vision or role template for watchdog-oriented management accountants in the digital age, and such a vision needs to be developed. | “Therefore, we call on practitioners and academics doing research in the MA domain to develop a clear and positive vision for watchdogs in the digital age.” :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical research on how digital business strategies influence collaboration performance between companies. | “However, digital business strategy and its effects on performance have only been partially studied (Bharadwaj et al., 2013; Ukko et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020), leaving an apparent research gap regarding its effects on collaboration performance.” :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP2 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | Little is known about how digitally enabled performance measurement systems can support companies’ strategic operations, particularly in the context of digital business strategy and collaboration. | “However, there is a research gap in how digitally enabled PM can support the company’s strategic operations.” :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Future research should extend beyond Finnish SMEs to other geographical regions to assess whether the relationships between digital business strategy, digitally enabled PM and collaboration performance hold in different contexts. | “The study focused mainly on Finnish SMEs (76.6%) and their management. Thus, in the future, the research could be expanded to cover a larger geographical area.” :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP4 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Research is needed in larger companies and at multiple organizational levels, including intra-organizational collaboration between departments, to understand how digitally enabled PM supports the effects of digital business strategy. | “In the future, we suggest that the research can be extended more to large companies, and from the top level to the lower levels. Future study samples could also include large companies to determine whether digitally enabled PM supports the effects of digital business strategies on collaboration between different departments within the company.” :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP5 | explicit | Methodological | Future research should investigate specific performance measurement systems, their implementation, and how different PM designs and case-based experiences influence the relationship between digital strategies and collaboration. | “Finally, the study did not address a specific PM system or its implementation. In the future, it would be informative to consider how the effects of digital strategies and their elements on collaboration could be enhanced by choosing different measurement systems. In addition, in-depth case studies could be conducted related to the formulation and implementation of a digital strategy and the related digitally enabling PM system.” :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | More empirical research is needed on how changing management accounting work, IT tools and banking contexts shape the roles and role identities of management accountants. | They go on to suggest that these changes require further study. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP2 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a lack of longitudinal research that distinguishes between hype and substantive, enduring effects of IT-related changes and new digital communication forms on management accounting. | However, further analysis, with a longer time perspective, is needed to go beyond the ‘hype’ surrounding IT-related changes and the new digital forms of communication. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Further research is required to examine how IT and other technological developments affect management accountants’ roles in banks beyond the Finnish case and in other industries. | As such, further research is needed to look at the effects of IT and other technological developments on the role of management accountants in both other banks and other industries. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP4 | explicit | Empirical | It is unknown whether and how competition from other professional groups (e.g., IT specialists, data scientists) will reshape or erode the jurisdiction and identity of management accountants. | Whether the potential threats from other professional groups materialize will have to await future research which will study how events unfold and their effects on the identities and roles of management accountants. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP5 | explicit | Empirical | There is an open empirical question about how management accounting roles will evolve over time and whether management accountants will successfully meet ongoing and future technological and regulatory challenges. | Future research will tell how management accounting roles develop, and if and how management accountants are able to meet current and future challenges. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The implications of AI-driven analytics for decision quality, bias, transparency, and reliance on algorithmic outputs in management control remain underexplored. | Digitalisation increases the use of external data and automation in reporting, budgeting, and forecasting. | Predictive analytics and machine learning are mentioned but rarely analysed in depth across MC contexts. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP2 | implicit | Behavioural | The behavioural effects of information overload, dashboard complexity and continuous data availability on controllers and managers are insufficiently researched. | Digitalisation reduces time spent on data preparation but increases expectations for analytical interpretation. | Discussion of new competencies suggests rising cognitive demands on controllers. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP3 | implicit | Organisational | The organisational consequences of hybrid MC–data science roles and cross-functional digital workflows lack systematic investigation. | MC roles are expanding into business partnering, data science, and governance. | Digitalisation increasingly integrates MC with IT and other functions. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP4 | implicit | Methodological | There is a methodological gap in longitudinal, comparative, and mixed-method studies that trace the evolution of digital MCS over time. | The paper notes that empirical studies increased over time but remain uneven across research clusters. | Many digitalisation effects are theorised but not empirically validated. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP1 | implicit | Behavioural | The cognitive and behavioural impacts of digital platforms and global accounting language games on judgement quality, deliberation, and susceptibility to illusion of control in decision-making remain underexplored. | The paper notes that digitalisation increases visibility and speed, raising the risk that ‘people take wrong decisions much more quickly than before, with even less room for the exercise of wisdom’. | It stresses risks of de-contextualised ‘centralised truths’ and illusions of control when users are excluded from the manufacture of accounting numbers. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP2 | implicit | Methodological | There is a need for comparative, multi-case or longitudinal research to assess how robust and generalisable the observed dynamics between global and local accounting language games under digitalisation are across settings and over time. | The study relies on a single, large multidivisional company in the semiconductor industry, analysed via an interpretive case method. | The authors generalise cautiously and emphasise the specificity of Semicom’s organisational context and NPD process. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP3 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of more advanced digital technologies (e.g., AI-driven analytics, real-time dashboards, automated recommendations) on accounting language games and meaning construction have not been examined. | The digital platform studied integrates existing tools (PCS, PMS, SAP, TLS, PRIS) to standardise KPIs and reporting for NPD projects. | The article does not engage with advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning or real-time predictive analytics, focusing instead on integration and visibility. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP4 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and govern digital platforms and performance measurement systems that optimally balance global standardisation with local contextualisation of accounting meanings. | The case describes that designing the platform required homogenising heterogeneous data sources and developing shared KPIs, thresholds and procedures while preserving divisional flexibility. | It emphasises that digital technology is beneficial only if it does not compromise the dialectic and judgements characterising organisational contexts. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | It remains unclear empirically how AI-driven ‘data-as-answer’ analytics affect the problematization role of management control information, and whether they suppress or reshape critical questioning and strategic dialogue. | The paper argues that ML and LLP approaches treat data essentially as answers, potentially bypassing the ‘problematization’ function of accounting and its acknowledged incompleteness. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | It notes tensions between data-driven decision-making ideals and established understandings of accounting as a tool for raising questions rather than providing definitive truths. | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP2 | implicit | Theoretical | Existing management control theories do not yet provide a fully developed framework for hybrid epistemologies where inductive AI analytics and deductive control logics coexist, requiring theoretical integration. | The article describes ML as introducing an inductive epistemology that conflicts with the deductive foundations of traditional management control systems. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | It notes emerging tensions between ‘data-driven’ ideals and established control theories but does not offer a formal integrative model. | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP3 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited understanding of how organizations can practically develop and support the AI literacy, judgment capabilities and coordination routines needed for controllers and managers to work effectively with ML and LLP outputs. | The paper highlights the need for ‘AI literacy’ and the coordination of machine intelligence with human tacit knowledge and judgment. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13} | It notes that managers and controllers must interpret opaque ‘advanced analytics’ and that LLPs are being used as tools for thinking and content creation. | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP4 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The consequences of shifting from accounting-centric information infrastructures to data-lake architectures for control quality, accountability, and data governance remain underexplored. | The article contrasts traditional accounting-based information infrastructures with ‘data lake’ ideals that store vast ‘raw’ data without specific purposes in mind. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14} | It suggests that machine learning thrives on such infrastructures but also notes tensions with accounting’s classification and substance-over-form principles. | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP5 | implicit | Empirical | There is little empirical knowledge on how different AI adoption trajectories—from small-scale experiments to large corporate AI programs—reshape management control roles, hierarchies and experiences across organizational levels. | The paper notes that organizations are experimenting with AI from small individual initiatives (e.g., using public LLMs) to large corporate programs with proprietary models, and calls for social studies to address implications for individuals in different roles. :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | It points to algorithmic management and potential substitution of human managers as extreme scenarios but does not present empirical cases. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP1 | implicit | Methodological | Causal relationships between anticipated digitalization, role orientations, and role conflict/ambiguity remain untested and require longitudinal or experimental designs to establish directionality and mechanisms. | The authors note that, similar to other cross-sectional surveys, their study cannot make strong inferences about causality due to potential reverse causality and endogeneity. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16} | They also acknowledge the possibility of omitted variables despite including a broad set of controls and firm-clustered standard errors. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17} | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP2 | implicit | Contextual/Population | It remains unclear whether the double-edged effect of digitalization on role stress (benefiting business partners and burdening watchdogs) holds in other national, institutional, and sectoral contexts. | The study surveys 242 MAs in Dutch for-profit firms above a certain size threshold, with specific institutional and professional arrangements (e.g., controller terminology, education). :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20} | The authors discuss the Dutch context, including the controller label and mixed public accountant/MA backgrounds. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP3 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The specific mechanisms by which different digital technologies (e.g., RPA vs AI vs dashboards) affect MAs’ task portfolios, cognitive demands, and role stress are not unpacked and require more granular, technology-specific investigation. | Digitalization is conceptualized as anticipated use of multiple technologies (automation, digital platforms, data visualization, predictive analytics, AI) over the next five years. :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22} | Additional tests show similar moderating patterns across individual technologies, suggesting that no single technology drives the association with role stress. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23} | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP4 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is little guidance on concrete organizational interventions (e.g., role design, training, governance structures) that could help watchdog-oriented MAs reduce role conflict and ambiguity and effectively engage with digital technologies. | The paper emphasizes that watchdog-oriented MAs lack a coherent and clear role template for the digital age and thus face increased role conflict and ambiguity. :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | It also notes that these watchdog responsibilities (e.g., preventing value-destroying behaviors, designing internal controls, monitoring data quality, auditing AI) will remain important in new forms. :contentReference[oaicite:25]{index=25} | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP5 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of digital dashboards and self-service BI on the division of labor, interaction patterns, and perceived role stress between MAs and managers in data-rich environments remain underexplored. | Digital dashboards and data visualization tools (e.g., BI dashboards) are mentioned as part of digitalization, enabling self-service access to data for managers. :contentReference[oaicite:26]{index=26} | The study focuses on anticipated digitalization but does not analyze in detail how changes in data accessibility and dashboard use affect interaction patterns between MAs and managers. | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The mechanisms through which digitally enabled performance measurement enhances or harms collaboration performance—especially why it supports resource-related elements but undermines digital leadership—are not fully understood. | Digitally enabled PM is described as allowing real-time monitoring, continuous evaluation and data-driven decisions via digital technologies (e.g., IoT-enabled dashboards, big data). :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | The results show that digitally enabled PM positively moderates the resource–collaboration link but negatively moderates the digital leadership–collaboration link, suggesting complex mechanisms. :contentReference[oaicite:25]{index=25} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP2 | implicit | Empirical | There is a lack of detailed empirical knowledge on which specific dimensions of collaboration performance (e.g., trust, information sharing quality, innovation outcomes) are affected by digital business strategies and digitally enabled PM. | Collaboration performance is measured with a single item asking respondents to assess their company’s collaboration with external parties over the last three years. :contentReference[oaicite:28]{index=28} | The discussion refers broadly to collaboration challenges, such as imbalance in digital development between partners and data-sharing issues. :contentReference[oaicite:29]{index=29} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP3 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and implement digitally enabled performance measurement systems in ways that empower rather than over-control actors involved in digital collaboration. | Digitally enabled PM can be perceived as too detailed or controlling when linked to monitoring individuals responsible for digital technologies, leading to negative impacts on collaboration performance. :contentReference[oaicite:32]{index=32} | The authors suggest companies should invest in management capabilities and connect digital strategies and PM systems, but do not specify concrete design principles. :contentReference[oaicite:33]{index=33} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP4 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The distinct impacts of specific digital technologies (e.g., IoT dashboards, digital twins, data platforms) on digital business strategy, performance measurement design and collaboration performance remain underspecified. | Digital technologies such as IoT, big data and dashboards are mentioned as enablers of real-time PM and strategy implementation, but are treated as a broad category. :contentReference[oaicite:37]{index=37} | The paper references digital twins, digital platforms and diverse digital tools in the literature review without differentiating their specific roles in collaboration and PM. :contentReference[oaicite:38]{index=38} | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP5 | implicit | Theoretical | There is an unarticulated need to integrate digital transformation and digital business strategy perspectives with formal management control / PMS theories to better explain how strategic, technological and measurement elements co-evolve. | The framework positions digital business strategy as a determinant of collaboration performance, moderated by digitally enabled PM, but does not explicitly connect this to established management control system theories. :contentReference[oaicite:40]{index=40} | The literature review invokes both digital transformation strategy and PM/control literatures but leaves their integration implicit. :contentReference[oaicite:41]{index=41} | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is limited understanding of how AI, RPA and advanced analytics concretely redistribute cognitive workload, decision rights and judgment responsibilities between controllers and other actors in digitalized MCS. | Controllers receive AI training and are expected to recognize where AI can be utilized, yet actual AI applications remain limited and uneven. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13} | Interviewees disagree on whether robotics and AI-based forecasting represent substantive change or mere hype. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14} | Automation reduces routine tasks but simultaneously increases analytical and interpretative demands on controllers. :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP2 | implicit | Theoretical | The mechanisms by which management accountants transition between micro-role identities under digital pressures, while avoiding cognitive dissonance, are not yet theoretically specified. | Micro role transitions and micro role identity transitions are introduced conceptually but not fully theorized as processes. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16} | Fluid role identity is proposed as a way to accommodate self-in-multiple-roles without cognitive dissonance, but mechanisms remain descriptive. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP3 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited knowledge on how organizations can design structured learning paths and support mechanisms that enable controllers to build and maintain the digital and analytical capabilities required by evolving MCS without overloading them. | Controllers struggle to find time to develop new IT and analytics skills alongside day-to-day responsibilities. :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18} | Skill development is partly self-initiated (e.g., studying Bayesian statistics) and partly supported by corporate training, but the alignment with work demands is unclear. :contentReference[oaicite:19]{index=19} | AI training is rolled out broadly, yet concrete AI use cases and role implications remain uncertain. :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP4 | implicit | Empirical | Empirical knowledge is lacking on how cross-professional collaboration in agile teams shapes management control practices, information flows and authority structures in digitalized organizations. | Controllers increasingly work in agile, multidisciplinary teams that include data analysts, data scientists, coders and people from non-accounting backgrounds. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | There are concerns that specialist IT roles may be filled by non-accounting professionals, potentially altering the profession’s jurisdiction. :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22} | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP5 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is an unaddressed question about how self-service BI and advanced visualization tools change the division of labor between managers and controllers in generating and interpreting performance information. | BI tools such as Power BI are used in similar ways to Excel, indicating under-exploitation of their analytical and visualization potential. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23} | Planned future developments aim to allow managers to build their own reports and analyses, but implications for controller roles are not fully explored. :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | A6 |
This table lists all gaps with their impact/relevance score (1–5) for your thesis, by gap type. It also shows the textual justification of the relevance score, directly derived from the JSON analysis of each article.
| article_title | gap_id | gap_type | gap_claim | relevance_score | relevance_justification | article_key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP2 | Behavioural | The behavioural effects of information overload, dashboard complexity and continuous data availability on controllers and managers are insufficiently researched. | 5 | Information overload and decision quality are central to the thesis; this inferred gap is highly relevant. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP1 | Behavioural | The cognitive and behavioural impacts of digital platforms and global accounting language games on judgement quality, deliberation, and susceptibility to illusion of control in decision-making remain underexplored. | 5 | The thesis directly concerns cognitive overload and decision making in digital MCS; this gap aligns with investigating behavioural consequences of digital and AI-based control tools. | A2 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | Future research should extend beyond Finnish SMEs to other geographical regions to assess whether the relationships between digital business strategy, digitally enabled PM and collaboration performance hold in different contexts. | 2 | The geographic extension is only tangentially relevant to the thesis; it matters mainly if the PhD aims to compare AI-based MCS across countries or institutional contexts. | A5 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | Research is needed on AI-related changes in management control practices across diverse organizational types, including SMEs, startups, and public-sector organizations, not just large established corporations. | 3 | Moderately relevant: while cross-context diversity is important, the thesis may focus more on mechanisms within particular settings than on systematic cross-type comparisons. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP2 | Contextual/Population | It remains unclear whether the double-edged effect of digitalization on role stress (benefiting business partners and burdening watchdogs) holds in other national, institutional, and sectoral contexts. | 3 | Moderately relevant: the thesis can draw on this study conceptually, but extending the analysis to other sectors or countries would be an additional—not core—dimension. | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP4 | Contextual/Population | Research is needed in larger companies and at multiple organizational levels, including intra-organizational collaboration between departments, to understand how digitally enabled PM supports the effects of digital business strategy. | 3 | Moderately relevant, since intra-organizational collaboration and PM in large firms are closer to MCS and controller settings, but the gap is still framed at a general strategy/PM level. | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | Further research is required to examine how IT and other technological developments affect management accountants’ roles in banks beyond the Finnish case and in other industries. | 3 | Moderately relevant: the thesis benefits from understanding diverse contexts, but its main focus is on mechanisms within digitalized settings rather than cross-industry comparison per se. | A6 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP1 | Contextual/Population | More research is needed to understand whether and how different local organisational contexts diverge in the ways they construct performance meanings when using digital accounting platforms. | 4 | The thesis addresses AI-based and digital MCS in organisations that often span multiple units; knowing how and when local meanings diverge is important for understanding the effectiveness of digital control systems and dashboards. | A2 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP3 | Contextual/Population | There is insufficient research linking academic findings on digitalisation in MC with practical organisational contexts. | 5 | The thesis focuses on real-world changes in roles, tools and decision processes, making the practice gap directly relevant. | A1 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP1 | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical research on how digital business strategies influence collaboration performance between companies. | 3 | The gap speaks to digital strategy–performance linkages more broadly than to MCS or controllers; it is conceptually useful for situating digital PMS in strategic collaboration, but only indirectly related to AI-based MCS or cognitive overload. | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP2 | Empirical | There is a lack of detailed empirical knowledge on which specific dimensions of collaboration performance (e.g., trust, information sharing quality, innovation outcomes) are affected by digital business strategies and digitally enabled PM. | 3 | Relevant mainly for extending how performance and collaboration outcomes are operationalized in digital PMS research; less central to AI or controller-specific questions but useful for broader PMS design considerations. | A5 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP5 | Empirical | There is little empirical knowledge on how different AI adoption trajectories—from small-scale experiments to large corporate AI programs—reshape management control roles, hierarchies and experiences across organizational levels. | 4 | Useful for positioning empirical work in the thesis within different AI adoption patterns and for interpreting observed differences in controller experiences. | A3 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP4 | Empirical | It is unknown whether and how competition from other professional groups (e.g., IT specialists, data scientists) will reshape or erode the jurisdiction and identity of management accountants. | 4 | Relevant because shifts in professional boundaries directly affect who controls and interprets AI-based MCS and data-rich dashboards. | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP5 | Empirical | There is an open empirical question about how management accounting roles will evolve over time and whether management accountants will successfully meet ongoing and future technological and regulatory challenges. | 4 | Important for anticipating how AI-based MCS will reshape the controller role over time and what forms of support will be needed to prevent overload or marginalization. | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP4 | Empirical | Empirical knowledge is lacking on how cross-professional collaboration in agile teams shapes management control practices, information flows and authority structures in digitalized organizations. | 4 | Relevant because the thesis likely confronts questions about who drives AI-based control, how dashboards are interpreted and how cross-functional teams affect decision-making. | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP1 | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical studies examining how digitalisation affects MC tasks, instruments, organisation, and behavioural aspects in practice. | 5 | The thesis requires empirical grounding for understanding digitalisation and AI impacts on MCS/PMS and controllers; this gap directly supports that need. | A1 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP2 | Empirical | Empirical research is needed on how large language models and similar AI tools are actually used in management control practices, including their integration, use patterns, and effects on problematization and decision-making. | 5 | Highly relevant, as LLPs (like ChatGPT-type tools) are key components of AI-based MCS and can affect controllers’ cognitive workloads, sensemaking, and interaction with managers. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP1 | Empirical | Empirical evidence on how digitalization influences management accountants and management accounting practice remains limited and needs to be expanded. | 5 | This gap directly concerns the lack of empirical knowledge about digitalization’s impact on MAs and management accounting, which is central to studying AI-based MCS and data-rich control environments. | A4 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP1 | Empirical | More empirical research is needed on how changing management accounting work, IT tools and banking contexts shape the roles and role identities of management accountants. | 5 | Highly relevant because it calls for more empirical work on how IT and contextual pressures reshape controller roles and identities, which aligns closely with a thesis on AI-based MCS and digitalized controller work. | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP4 | Methodological | There is a methodological gap in longitudinal, comparative, and mixed-method studies that trace the evolution of digital MCS over time. | 3 | Methodological insights matter indirectly but the thesis is not primarily a methodology development project. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP2 | Methodological | There is a need for comparative, multi-case or longitudinal research to assess how robust and generalisable the observed dynamics between global and local accounting language games under digitalisation are across settings and over time. | 3 | While the thesis is not primarily methodological, awareness of generalisability limits and the benefits of comparative designs is helpful for framing its own empirical strategy and claims. | A2 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP1 | Methodological | Causal relationships between anticipated digitalization, role orientations, and role conflict/ambiguity remain untested and require longitudinal or experimental designs to establish directionality and mechanisms. | 4 | A thesis on AI-based MCS and cognitive impacts would benefit from causal evidence about how digitalization drives role stress and adaptation, though this is more about research design than content per se. | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP5 | Methodological | Future research should investigate specific performance measurement systems, their implementation, and how different PM designs and case-based experiences influence the relationship between digital strategies and collaboration. | 4 | This gap directly involves the design and implementation of digitally enabled PM systems, which is closely aligned with the thesis focus on digitalized PMS/MCS and their organizational effects. | A5 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP3 | Organisational | The organisational consequences of hybrid MC–data science roles and cross-functional digital workflows lack systematic investigation. | 5 | Role evolution and hybrid competencies are directly relevant to the thesis theme of controller transformation. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP4 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and govern digital platforms and performance measurement systems that optimally balance global standardisation with local contextualisation of accounting meanings. | 4 | Designing AI-based and digital MCS that avoid overload and preserve meaningful local interpretation is central to the thesis; practical implementation insights and open questions are therefore quite relevant. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP3 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited understanding of how organizations can practically develop and support the AI literacy, judgment capabilities and coordination routines needed for controllers and managers to work effectively with ML and LLP outputs. | 4 | Closely related to cognitive overload and the evolving skill set of controllers in AI-rich environments; informs design of training and organizational support examined in the thesis. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP4 | Practical/Implementation | There is little guidance on concrete organizational interventions (e.g., role design, training, governance structures) that could help watchdog-oriented MAs reduce role conflict and ambiguity and effectively engage with digital technologies. | 4 | Important for a thesis concerned with how controllers can adapt successfully to AI-based MCS and avoid harmful stress or marginalization. | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP3 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and implement digitally enabled performance measurement systems in ways that empower rather than over-control actors involved in digital collaboration. | 4 | Strongly related to how digital PMS/MCS should be designed to avoid cognitive overload and control backlash while supporting collaboration and learning in AI/data-rich settings. | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP3 | Practical/Implementation | There is limited knowledge on how organizations can design structured learning paths and support mechanisms that enable controllers to build and maintain the digital and analytical capabilities required by evolving MCS without overloading them. | 4 | Important for understanding how organizations can prevent cognitive overload and skill gaps when implementing AI and dashboards in MCS. | A6 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | The distinct impacts of specific digital technologies (e.g., IoT dashboards, digital twins, data platforms) on digital business strategy, performance measurement design and collaboration performance remain underspecified. | 3 | Useful for nuanced modeling of AI/data technologies in MCS, but the article itself remains at a generic digital technology level; the thesis will likely focus more specifically on AI and dashboards. | A5 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a need for research on how organizations coordinate the multiple, interdependent changes required to implement AI for management control, including changes in infrastructure, decision processes, structures, and roles. | 4 | Relevant because AI-based MCS implementations in the thesis context will also depend on coordinated changes in roles, processes and infrastructures, not just technology. | A3 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP2 | Technological/Digital/AI | Little is known about how digitally enabled performance measurement systems can support companies’ strategic operations, particularly in the context of digital business strategy and collaboration. | 4 | Highly relevant to the thesis’ interest in digitalized PMS/MCS, though here the focus is inter-organizational rather than intra-organizational or controller-centric; it still offers a strong platform for thinking about digital PM as a strategic enabler. | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | The mechanisms through which digitally enabled performance measurement enhances or harms collaboration performance—especially why it supports resource-related elements but undermines digital leadership—are not fully understood. | 4 | Directly relevant for understanding how digital PM and dashboards can either enable or overload stakeholders and how design and use practices affect perceived control in digital MCS. | A5 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a shortage of research specifically addressing how digital technologies—such as AI, big data, cloud and automation—shape MC processes and outcomes. | 5 | AI-enabled MC and digitalisation are core to the thesis; this gap is highly aligned. | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | The implications of AI-driven analytics for decision quality, bias, transparency, and reliance on algorithmic outputs in management control remain underexplored. | 5 | This aligns with the thesis focus on cognitive overload, decision making and AI-mediated MC. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP3 | Technological/Digital/AI | It is an open question how increased visibility of local practices through digital technologies influences the impact of local changes on global organisational practices and control. | 5 | The thesis investigates digital/AI-based control in data-rich environments; the way local changes propagate to global MCS via digital visibility directly relates to system design, governance and potential overload or misalignment. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP3 | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of more advanced digital technologies (e.g., AI-driven analytics, real-time dashboards, automated recommendations) on accounting language games and meaning construction have not been examined. | 5 | The thesis specifically focuses on AI-based control and data-rich dashboards; extending this article’s approach to AI-rich environments would be a natural and highly relevant development. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | It remains unclear empirically how AI-driven ‘data-as-answer’ analytics affect the problematization role of management control information, and whether they suppress or reshape critical questioning and strategic dialogue. | 5 | Central to a thesis on AI-based MCS and cognitive/decision processes, since problematization vs answer-taking is directly tied to cognitive overload, critical thinking and the controller’s advisory role. | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP4 | Technological/Digital/AI | The consequences of shifting from accounting-centric information infrastructures to data-lake architectures for control quality, accountability, and data governance remain underexplored. | 5 | Directly relevant to AI-based, data-rich MCS design and to how underlying infrastructures shape what controllers can see, do and be held responsible for. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP3 | Technological/Digital/AI | The specific mechanisms by which different digital technologies (e.g., RPA vs AI vs dashboards) affect MAs’ task portfolios, cognitive demands, and role stress are not unpacked and require more granular, technology-specific investigation. | 5 | Directly relevant to AI-based and dashboard-intensive MCS, where understanding how particular technologies affect controller workload and role stress is crucial. | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP5 | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of digital dashboards and self-service BI on the division of labor, interaction patterns, and perceived role stress between MAs and managers in data-rich environments remain underexplored. | 5 | Directly tied to the thesis focus on dashboards, data-rich decision environments, and shifting controller roles in AI/BI-enabled organizations. | A4 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP2 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a lack of longitudinal research that distinguishes between hype and substantive, enduring effects of IT-related changes and new digital communication forms on management accounting. | 5 | A long-term perspective on AI and digital tools is central to assessing their effects on MCS, dashboards and decision-making quality, making this gap strongly aligned with the thesis focus. | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP1 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is limited understanding of how AI, RPA and advanced analytics concretely redistribute cognitive workload, decision rights and judgment responsibilities between controllers and other actors in digitalized MCS. | 5 | Directly linked to cognitive overload and decision quality in AI-based, data-rich control environments. | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP5 | Technological/Digital/AI | There is an unaddressed question about how self-service BI and advanced visualization tools change the division of labor between managers and controllers in generating and interpreting performance information. | 5 | Directly tied to the thesis themes of dashboards, data-rich environments and the evolving controller role in AI/BI-enabled MCS. | A6 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP2 | Theoretical | There is no consistent theoretical definition of digitalisation within management control research. | 4 | Clear conceptualisations of digitalisation and AI are foundational for theorising digital MCS, although the thesis is more focused on consequences than definitions. | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP2 | Theoretical | The underlying drivers and mechanisms that cause divergences in performance meaning construction across local organisational contexts using the same digital platform are not yet theorised or empirically examined. | 4 | The thesis can build on such explanations to understand how AI-based and data-rich systems may be appropriated differently across units, affecting decision making and controller roles. | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP4 | Theoretical | Prior management accounting research has not sufficiently explained how digital technologies shape the processes of meaning construction and composition between local and global accounting language games. | 4 | The thesis is interested in how digital/AI-based systems change the interpretation and use of performance information; richer theory on meaning construction under digitalisation provides important foundations. | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP2 | Theoretical | Existing management control theories do not yet provide a fully developed framework for hybrid epistemologies where inductive AI analytics and deductive control logics coexist, requiring theoretical integration. | 4 | Useful for framing the thesis conceptually, providing a basis for explaining observed hybrid practices in AI-based MCS environments. | A3 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP5 | Theoretical | There is an unarticulated need to integrate digital transformation and digital business strategy perspectives with formal management control / PMS theories to better explain how strategic, technological and measurement elements co-evolve. | 4 | The thesis sits at the intersection of digitalization and MCS/PMS; articulating such integrative frameworks will be important for positioning AI-based control phenomena within both traditions. | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP2 | Theoretical | The mechanisms by which management accountants transition between micro-role identities under digital pressures, while avoiding cognitive dissonance, are not yet theoretically specified. | 4 | Conceptual clarity on identity transitions can support theorizing how controllers reposition themselves in AI-based MCS settings and avoid burnout or resistance. | A6 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP1 | Theoretical | There is a need for theoretical and empirical research on how inductive AI-based analytics are integrated into existing, predominantly deductive management control systems, and how different forms of analysis are coordinated in practice. | 5 | Directly relevant, as the thesis examines AI-based MCS and decision-making in data-rich settings where inductive analytics and existing control tools must be combined and balanced. | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP2 | Theoretical | There is currently no coherent and positive vision or role template for watchdog-oriented management accountants in the digital age, and such a vision needs to be developed. | 5 | Highly relevant, as the thesis focuses on how digitalization and AI reshape controller roles; clarifying a digital-age watchdog role links directly to issues of governance, compliance, and control in AI-based MCS. | A4 |
This table focuses on the ten articles (A-keys) that contribute the highest number of gaps. It lists all gaps for these articles, with their type, explicit/implicit status, and supporting text.
| article_title | gap_id | explicit_or_implicit | gap_type | gap_claim | quoted_sentence_or_passages | relevance_score | article_key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical studies examining how digitalisation affects MC tasks, instruments, organisation, and behavioural aspects in practice. | This study reveals research gaps in relation to the current MC research and presents potential starting points for future research. | 5 | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP2 | explicit | Theoretical | There is no consistent theoretical definition of digitalisation within management control research. | Further research is needed to clarify what digitalisation means in the context of MC as a uniform understanding is lacking. | 4 | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | There is insufficient research linking academic findings on digitalisation in MC with practical organisational contexts. | Only few research results have ever been used in the practical world despite the fact that MC can be characterised as a practical field that constantly faces new challenges from the business world. | 5 | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | EXP4 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a shortage of research specifically addressing how digital technologies—such as AI, big data, cloud and automation—shape MC processes and outcomes. | Researchers have specifically asked for more studies on the relationship between digitalisation and MC. | 5 | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The implications of AI-driven analytics for decision quality, bias, transparency, and reliance on algorithmic outputs in management control remain underexplored. | Digitalisation increases the use of external data and automation in reporting, budgeting, and forecasting. | Predictive analytics and machine learning are mentioned but rarely analysed in depth across MC contexts. | 5 | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP2 | implicit | Behavioural | The behavioural effects of information overload, dashboard complexity and continuous data availability on controllers and managers are insufficiently researched. | Digitalisation reduces time spent on data preparation but increases expectations for analytical interpretation. | Discussion of new competencies suggests rising cognitive demands on controllers. | 5 | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP3 | implicit | Organisational | The organisational consequences of hybrid MC–data science roles and cross-functional digital workflows lack systematic investigation. | MC roles are expanding into business partnering, data science, and governance. | Digitalisation increasingly integrates MC with IT and other functions. | 5 | A1 |
| A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control | IMP4 | implicit | Methodological | There is a methodological gap in longitudinal, comparative, and mixed-method studies that trace the evolution of digital MCS over time. | The paper notes that empirical studies increased over time but remain uneven across research clusters. | Many digitalisation effects are theorised but not empirically validated. | 3 | A1 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP1 | explicit | Contextual/Population | More research is needed to understand whether and how different local organisational contexts diverge in the ways they construct performance meanings when using digital accounting platforms. | Future areas of research may address issues related to a possible divergence between local organisational contexts in constructing performance meanings. | 4 | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP2 | explicit | Theoretical | The underlying drivers and mechanisms that cause divergences in performance meaning construction across local organisational contexts using the same digital platform are not yet theorised or empirically examined. | The possible reasons for that divergence remain unexplored and could be the topic of future studies. | 4 | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP3 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | It is an open question how increased visibility of local practices through digital technologies influences the impact of local changes on global organisational practices and control. | Further inquiries can address how the enhanced visibility of local practices offered by digitalisation amplifies the effects that changes to local practices may have on global practices. | 5 | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | EXP4 | explicit | Theoretical | Prior management accounting research has not sufficiently explained how digital technologies shape the processes of meaning construction and composition between local and global accounting language games. | On this point, the extant management accounting literature on digitalisation fails to explain how digital technology promotes the process of meaning construction across organisational contexts. | 4 | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP1 | implicit | Behavioural | The cognitive and behavioural impacts of digital platforms and global accounting language games on judgement quality, deliberation, and susceptibility to illusion of control in decision-making remain underexplored. | The paper notes that digitalisation increases visibility and speed, raising the risk that ‘people take wrong decisions much more quickly than before, with even less room for the exercise of wisdom’. | It stresses risks of de-contextualised ‘centralised truths’ and illusions of control when users are excluded from the manufacture of accounting numbers. | 5 | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP2 | implicit | Methodological | There is a need for comparative, multi-case or longitudinal research to assess how robust and generalisable the observed dynamics between global and local accounting language games under digitalisation are across settings and over time. | The study relies on a single, large multidivisional company in the semiconductor industry, analysed via an interpretive case method. | The authors generalise cautiously and emphasise the specificity of Semicom’s organisational context and NPD process. | 3 | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP3 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of more advanced digital technologies (e.g., AI-driven analytics, real-time dashboards, automated recommendations) on accounting language games and meaning construction have not been examined. | The digital platform studied integrates existing tools (PCS, PMS, SAP, TLS, PRIS) to standardise KPIs and reporting for NPD projects. | The article does not engage with advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning or real-time predictive analytics, focusing instead on integration and visibility. | 5 | A2 |
| Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts | IMP4 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and govern digital platforms and performance measurement systems that optimally balance global standardisation with local contextualisation of accounting meanings. | The case describes that designing the platform required homogenising heterogeneous data sources and developing shared KPIs, thresholds and procedures while preserving divisional flexibility. | It emphasises that digital technology is beneficial only if it does not compromise the dialectic and judgements characterising organisational contexts. | 4 | A2 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP1 | explicit | Theoretical | There is a need for theoretical and empirical research on how inductive AI-based analytics are integrated into existing, predominantly deductive management control systems, and how different forms of analysis are coordinated in practice. | “AI technology introduces a fundamentally inductive approach to knowledge practices … this technological transition creates tensions between different means of knowing in organizations… It is therefore relevant to study how emergent forms of analysis are incorporated into prevailing management control systems, how different forms of analysis are coordinated, and the extent to which new tools require corresponding changes to management practices.” :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} | 5 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP2 | explicit | Empirical | Empirical research is needed on how large language models and similar AI tools are actually used in management control practices, including their integration, use patterns, and effects on problematization and decision-making. | “Some of the many research opportunities related to LLPs in management control include exploring how LLPs are integrated into management control practices, analyzing different uses of general or purpose-built LLPs, and tracing changes to ‘problematization’ in management control.” :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | 5 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Research is needed on AI-related changes in management control practices across diverse organizational types, including SMEs, startups, and public-sector organizations, not just large established corporations. | “To gain insights about emergent management accounting practices, it is therefore important not only to study large, established, multinational corporations, but also to attend to management control practices in smaller organizations, startups, public and private sector, in sum to document changes to control practices in different sizes and forms of organizations.” :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9} | 3 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | EXP4 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a need for research on how organizations coordinate the multiple, interdependent changes required to implement AI for management control, including changes in infrastructure, decision processes, structures, and roles. | “To implement AI technology for management control purposes may therefore rely on the coordination of multiple, interdependent changes: information infrastructure, decision-making practices/processes, organizational structures, operational processes, managerial roles – these may all need to be reconfigured in comparison to pre-AI times.” :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10} | 4 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | It remains unclear empirically how AI-driven ‘data-as-answer’ analytics affect the problematization role of management control information, and whether they suppress or reshape critical questioning and strategic dialogue. | The paper argues that ML and LLP approaches treat data essentially as answers, potentially bypassing the ‘problematization’ function of accounting and its acknowledged incompleteness. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | It notes tensions between data-driven decision-making ideals and established understandings of accounting as a tool for raising questions rather than providing definitive truths. | 5 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP2 | implicit | Theoretical | Existing management control theories do not yet provide a fully developed framework for hybrid epistemologies where inductive AI analytics and deductive control logics coexist, requiring theoretical integration. | The article describes ML as introducing an inductive epistemology that conflicts with the deductive foundations of traditional management control systems. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | It notes emerging tensions between ‘data-driven’ ideals and established control theories but does not offer a formal integrative model. | 4 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP3 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited understanding of how organizations can practically develop and support the AI literacy, judgment capabilities and coordination routines needed for controllers and managers to work effectively with ML and LLP outputs. | The paper highlights the need for ‘AI literacy’ and the coordination of machine intelligence with human tacit knowledge and judgment. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13} | It notes that managers and controllers must interpret opaque ‘advanced analytics’ and that LLPs are being used as tools for thinking and content creation. | 4 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP4 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The consequences of shifting from accounting-centric information infrastructures to data-lake architectures for control quality, accountability, and data governance remain underexplored. | The article contrasts traditional accounting-based information infrastructures with ‘data lake’ ideals that store vast ‘raw’ data without specific purposes in mind. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14} | It suggests that machine learning thrives on such infrastructures but also notes tensions with accounting’s classification and substance-over-form principles. | 5 | A3 |
| AI in management control: Emergent forms, practices, and infrastructures | IMP5 | implicit | Empirical | There is little empirical knowledge on how different AI adoption trajectories—from small-scale experiments to large corporate AI programs—reshape management control roles, hierarchies and experiences across organizational levels. | The paper notes that organizations are experimenting with AI from small individual initiatives (e.g., using public LLMs) to large corporate programs with proprietary models, and calls for social studies to address implications for individuals in different roles. :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | It points to algorithmic management and potential substitution of human managers as extreme scenarios but does not present empirical cases. | 4 | A3 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | Empirical evidence on how digitalization influences management accountants and management accounting practice remains limited and needs to be expanded. | “The potential influence of digitalization on management accounting is thus likely to be substantial, but our understanding of this influence remains limited.” :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | 5 | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | EXP2 | explicit | Theoretical | There is currently no coherent and positive vision or role template for watchdog-oriented management accountants in the digital age, and such a vision needs to be developed. | “Therefore, we call on practitioners and academics doing research in the MA domain to develop a clear and positive vision for watchdogs in the digital age.” :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | 5 | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP1 | implicit | Methodological | Causal relationships between anticipated digitalization, role orientations, and role conflict/ambiguity remain untested and require longitudinal or experimental designs to establish directionality and mechanisms. | The authors note that, similar to other cross-sectional surveys, their study cannot make strong inferences about causality due to potential reverse causality and endogeneity. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16} | They also acknowledge the possibility of omitted variables despite including a broad set of controls and firm-clustered standard errors. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17} | 4 | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP2 | implicit | Contextual/Population | It remains unclear whether the double-edged effect of digitalization on role stress (benefiting business partners and burdening watchdogs) holds in other national, institutional, and sectoral contexts. | The study surveys 242 MAs in Dutch for-profit firms above a certain size threshold, with specific institutional and professional arrangements (e.g., controller terminology, education). :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20} | The authors discuss the Dutch context, including the controller label and mixed public accountant/MA backgrounds. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | 3 | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP3 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The specific mechanisms by which different digital technologies (e.g., RPA vs AI vs dashboards) affect MAs’ task portfolios, cognitive demands, and role stress are not unpacked and require more granular, technology-specific investigation. | Digitalization is conceptualized as anticipated use of multiple technologies (automation, digital platforms, data visualization, predictive analytics, AI) over the next five years. :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22} | Additional tests show similar moderating patterns across individual technologies, suggesting that no single technology drives the association with role stress. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23} | 5 | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP4 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is little guidance on concrete organizational interventions (e.g., role design, training, governance structures) that could help watchdog-oriented MAs reduce role conflict and ambiguity and effectively engage with digital technologies. | The paper emphasizes that watchdog-oriented MAs lack a coherent and clear role template for the digital age and thus face increased role conflict and ambiguity. :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | It also notes that these watchdog responsibilities (e.g., preventing value-destroying behaviors, designing internal controls, monitoring data quality, auditing AI) will remain important in new forms. :contentReference[oaicite:25]{index=25} | 4 | A4 |
| Digitalization and management accountants’ role conflict and ambiguity: A double-edged sword for the profession | IMP5 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The effects of digital dashboards and self-service BI on the division of labor, interaction patterns, and perceived role stress between MAs and managers in data-rich environments remain underexplored. | Digital dashboards and data visualization tools (e.g., BI dashboards) are mentioned as part of digitalization, enabling self-service access to data for managers. :contentReference[oaicite:26]{index=26} | The study focuses on anticipated digitalization but does not analyze in detail how changes in data accessibility and dashboard use affect interaction patterns between MAs and managers. | 5 | A4 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | There is a lack of empirical research on how digital business strategies influence collaboration performance between companies. | “However, digital business strategy and its effects on performance have only been partially studied (Bharadwaj et al., 2013; Ukko et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020), leaving an apparent research gap regarding its effects on collaboration performance.” :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} | 3 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP2 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | Little is known about how digitally enabled performance measurement systems can support companies’ strategic operations, particularly in the context of digital business strategy and collaboration. | “However, there is a research gap in how digitally enabled PM can support the company’s strategic operations.” :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | 4 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Future research should extend beyond Finnish SMEs to other geographical regions to assess whether the relationships between digital business strategy, digitally enabled PM and collaboration performance hold in different contexts. | “The study focused mainly on Finnish SMEs (76.6%) and their management. Thus, in the future, the research could be expanded to cover a larger geographical area.” :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | 2 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP4 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Research is needed in larger companies and at multiple organizational levels, including intra-organizational collaboration between departments, to understand how digitally enabled PM supports the effects of digital business strategy. | “In the future, we suggest that the research can be extended more to large companies, and from the top level to the lower levels. Future study samples could also include large companies to determine whether digitally enabled PM supports the effects of digital business strategies on collaboration between different departments within the company.” :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18} | 3 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | EXP5 | explicit | Methodological | Future research should investigate specific performance measurement systems, their implementation, and how different PM designs and case-based experiences influence the relationship between digital strategies and collaboration. | “Finally, the study did not address a specific PM system or its implementation. In the future, it would be informative to consider how the effects of digital strategies and their elements on collaboration could be enhanced by choosing different measurement systems. In addition, in-depth case studies could be conducted related to the formulation and implementation of a digital strategy and the related digitally enabling PM system.” :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | 4 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The mechanisms through which digitally enabled performance measurement enhances or harms collaboration performance—especially why it supports resource-related elements but undermines digital leadership—are not fully understood. | Digitally enabled PM is described as allowing real-time monitoring, continuous evaluation and data-driven decisions via digital technologies (e.g., IoT-enabled dashboards, big data). :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | The results show that digitally enabled PM positively moderates the resource–collaboration link but negatively moderates the digital leadership–collaboration link, suggesting complex mechanisms. :contentReference[oaicite:25]{index=25} | 4 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP2 | implicit | Empirical | There is a lack of detailed empirical knowledge on which specific dimensions of collaboration performance (e.g., trust, information sharing quality, innovation outcomes) are affected by digital business strategies and digitally enabled PM. | Collaboration performance is measured with a single item asking respondents to assess their company’s collaboration with external parties over the last three years. :contentReference[oaicite:28]{index=28} | The discussion refers broadly to collaboration challenges, such as imbalance in digital development between partners and data-sharing issues. :contentReference[oaicite:29]{index=29} | 3 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP3 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited guidance on how to design and implement digitally enabled performance measurement systems in ways that empower rather than over-control actors involved in digital collaboration. | Digitally enabled PM can be perceived as too detailed or controlling when linked to monitoring individuals responsible for digital technologies, leading to negative impacts on collaboration performance. :contentReference[oaicite:32]{index=32} | The authors suggest companies should invest in management capabilities and connect digital strategies and PM systems, but do not specify concrete design principles. :contentReference[oaicite:33]{index=33} | 4 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP4 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | The distinct impacts of specific digital technologies (e.g., IoT dashboards, digital twins, data platforms) on digital business strategy, performance measurement design and collaboration performance remain underspecified. | Digital technologies such as IoT, big data and dashboards are mentioned as enablers of real-time PM and strategy implementation, but are treated as a broad category. :contentReference[oaicite:37]{index=37} | The paper references digital twins, digital platforms and diverse digital tools in the literature review without differentiating their specific roles in collaboration and PM. :contentReference[oaicite:38]{index=38} | 3 | A5 |
| The effects of digital business strategy on the collaboration performance of companies: the moderating effect of digitally enabled performance measurement | IMP5 | implicit | Theoretical | There is an unarticulated need to integrate digital transformation and digital business strategy perspectives with formal management control / PMS theories to better explain how strategic, technological and measurement elements co-evolve. | The framework positions digital business strategy as a determinant of collaboration performance, moderated by digitally enabled PM, but does not explicitly connect this to established management control system theories. :contentReference[oaicite:40]{index=40} | The literature review invokes both digital transformation strategy and PM/control literatures but leaves their integration implicit. :contentReference[oaicite:41]{index=41} | 4 | A5 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP1 | explicit | Empirical | More empirical research is needed on how changing management accounting work, IT tools and banking contexts shape the roles and role identities of management accountants. | They go on to suggest that these changes require further study. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} | 5 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP2 | explicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is a lack of longitudinal research that distinguishes between hype and substantive, enduring effects of IT-related changes and new digital communication forms on management accounting. | However, further analysis, with a longer time perspective, is needed to go beyond the ‘hype’ surrounding IT-related changes and the new digital forms of communication. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9} | 5 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP3 | explicit | Contextual/Population | Further research is required to examine how IT and other technological developments affect management accountants’ roles in banks beyond the Finnish case and in other industries. | As such, further research is needed to look at the effects of IT and other technological developments on the role of management accountants in both other banks and other industries. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10} | 3 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP4 | explicit | Empirical | It is unknown whether and how competition from other professional groups (e.g., IT specialists, data scientists) will reshape or erode the jurisdiction and identity of management accountants. | Whether the potential threats from other professional groups materialize will have to await future research which will study how events unfold and their effects on the identities and roles of management accountants. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11} | 4 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | EXP5 | explicit | Empirical | There is an open empirical question about how management accounting roles will evolve over time and whether management accountants will successfully meet ongoing and future technological and regulatory challenges. | Future research will tell how management accounting roles develop, and if and how management accountants are able to meet current and future challenges. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} | 4 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP1 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is limited understanding of how AI, RPA and advanced analytics concretely redistribute cognitive workload, decision rights and judgment responsibilities between controllers and other actors in digitalized MCS. | Controllers receive AI training and are expected to recognize where AI can be utilized, yet actual AI applications remain limited and uneven. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13} | Interviewees disagree on whether robotics and AI-based forecasting represent substantive change or mere hype. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14} | Automation reduces routine tasks but simultaneously increases analytical and interpretative demands on controllers. :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15} | 5 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP2 | implicit | Theoretical | The mechanisms by which management accountants transition between micro-role identities under digital pressures, while avoiding cognitive dissonance, are not yet theoretically specified. | Micro role transitions and micro role identity transitions are introduced conceptually but not fully theorized as processes. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16} | Fluid role identity is proposed as a way to accommodate self-in-multiple-roles without cognitive dissonance, but mechanisms remain descriptive. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17} | 4 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP3 | implicit | Practical/Implementation | There is limited knowledge on how organizations can design structured learning paths and support mechanisms that enable controllers to build and maintain the digital and analytical capabilities required by evolving MCS without overloading them. | Controllers struggle to find time to develop new IT and analytics skills alongside day-to-day responsibilities. :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18} | Skill development is partly self-initiated (e.g., studying Bayesian statistics) and partly supported by corporate training, but the alignment with work demands is unclear. :contentReference[oaicite:19]{index=19} | AI training is rolled out broadly, yet concrete AI use cases and role implications remain uncertain. :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20} | 4 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP4 | implicit | Empirical | Empirical knowledge is lacking on how cross-professional collaboration in agile teams shapes management control practices, information flows and authority structures in digitalized organizations. | Controllers increasingly work in agile, multidisciplinary teams that include data analysts, data scientists, coders and people from non-accounting backgrounds. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21} | There are concerns that specialist IT roles may be filled by non-accounting professionals, potentially altering the profession’s jurisdiction. :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22} | 4 | A6 |
| Towards fluid role identity of management accountants: A case study of a Finnish bank | IMP5 | implicit | Technological/Digital/AI | There is an unaddressed question about how self-service BI and advanced visualization tools change the division of labor between managers and controllers in generating and interpreting performance information. | BI tools such as Power BI are used in similar ways to Excel, indicating under-exploitation of their analytical and visualization potential. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23} | Planned future developments aim to allow managers to build their own reports and analyses, but implications for controller roles are not fully explored. :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24} | 5 | A6 |