Financial Accountability & Management, 28(4), November 2012, 0.docx

Financial Accountability & Management, 28(4), November
2012, 0267-4424
The Role of Management
Accountants in New Public
Management
GERT PAULSSON∗
Abstract: Prior research indicates that the role of management
accountants (MAs)
has changed from a passive producer of financial information –
a bean counter role –
to a role that includes a broader set of issues and participation
in decision making
processes – a business partner role. One common explanation
for this development
is the introduction of new management tools. During the last
decades, many public
organizations have implemented New Public Management-like
(NPM) management
tools. This paper concerns the role of MAs, in an NPM context,
and the corresponding
requirements on their knowledge and skills. The empirical study
is carried out in
the Social Insurance Agency (SIA) in Sweden. The result shows
that MAs have
several roles in Central Government Agencies, but that NPM
fosters a role that is
more business partner-like than counter-like. Furthermore, the
study clearly shows

that MAs in such a context need a broad set of knowledge and
skills. For example,
knowledge of performance management, oral communication
skills, ability to work
in ‘mixed teams’ are considered to be more important than their
knowledge of
accounting.
Keywords: New Public Management, management accountants,
public sector and
central government.
INTRODUCTION
The role of management accountants (MAs)1 has been studied a
lot since the
early studies in the mid 1950s (e.g., Simon et al., 1954). At an
overall level, the
result from this research indicates a change from a role as
passive producers
of financial information, to a more proactive role including
active participation
∗ The author is Associate Professor at Lund University School
of Economics and Management
in Sweden. He wishes to thank the Social Insurance Agency
(Försäkringskassan) for financial
support and useful help during the project, and two anonymous
reviewers for valuable
comments.
Address for Correspondence: Gert Paulsson, Lund University
School of Economics and
Management, PO Box 7080, SE-220 07 Lund, Sweden.
e-mail: [email protected]
C© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road,

Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148,
USA. 378
THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANTS 379
in decision making and a focus on a broader set of information
than the purely
financial. This is sometimes described as a move from a bean
counter-role
to a business partner-role. Granlund and Lukka (1998), and
others discuss the
differences between these arch-type roles along several
dimensions. For example,
the bean counter is focused on the past, while the business
partner is focused
on the present and the future; the bean counter is not expected
to know the
operations and the business, which the business partner is; the
bean counter is
expected to produce financial reports, while the business partner
in addition to
that is expected to participate in decision making processes.
Several factors have been suggested as possible drivers of this
development.
For example, Burns and Baldvinsdottir (2007) mention
globalization, shift in
technology, accounting scandals, and corporate trends, while
Järvenpää (2007)
provides a list of factors that include, the degree of
decentralization of the
accounting function, development of reporting systems,
corporate culture, and
introduction of new management accounting tools. Some studies

focus more
specifically on the relationship between management reforms,
and the role of
MAs (e.g., Friedman and Lyne; 1997, Grönlund and Lukka,
1998; Lapsley and
Oldfield, 2000; Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2007; Järvenpää,
2007; Byrne and
Pierce, 2007; and Moll and Humphrey, 2007).
Furthermore, studies have shown that the role of MAs affects
the knowledge
and skills they require in order to carry out their tasks (e.g.,
Chenhall and
Langfield-Smith, 1998; Burns et al., 1999; Lapsley and
Oldfield, 2000; Pierce
and O’Dea, 2003; and Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2009). In
general, it has been
suggested that all MAs need ‘hard skills’ like knowledge of
accounting, but
that business partner-oriented MAs in addition to that need ‘soft
skills’ (e.g.,
Grönlund and Lukka, 1998, and Järvenpää, 2001).
During the last decade, there have been a lot of management
reforms in public
sector organizations around the world. The development, which
has been studied
extensively by scholars (see e.g., Hood, 1995; Pollitt, 2000;
Groot and Budding,
2008; and Lapsley 2008), is often labeled New Public
Management (NPM).
According to the literature, introduction of internal markets,
performance
management, accrual accounting and budgeting, professional
management, de-
centralization and output-oriented resource allocation are

common components
in NPM (see e.g., Hood, 1995; Bromwich and Lapsley, 1997;
and Lapsley, 2008).
In spite of the possible consequences of the NPM-movement on
the MAs, few
studies have focused on their role in an NPM-context. However,
the studies that
have been made on that issue indicate that there has been a
development of
the MAs role (e.g., Lapsley and Oldfield, 2000; Järvinen, 2006;
Hellström and
Ramberg, 2007; and Moll and Humphrey; 2007), but more
research is needed.
The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of the
role of MAs
in an NPM-context, and the requirements on their knowledge
and skills.
From a practical point of view these issues are important both in
the
organization and running of MA-functions, and in recruitment
and training
of MAs. From a more theoretical perspective, it is interesting to
learn more
C© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
380 PAULSSON
about the relationship between the design and use of
management tools and the
role of MAs.

RESEARCH METHOD
The empirical study was carried out in the Social Insurance
Agency (SIA) in
Sweden, which is a central government agency responsible for
handling most
of the social insurance administration in Sweden. During the
last decades that
agency has undergone a lot of management reforms that are well
in line with
NPM, e.g., decentralization, introduction of performance
management, accrual
accounting and output-based resource allocation, and deliberate
use of the word
‘customer’ in internal and external communications.
The empirical study included a survey, interviews with MAs and
line
managers, and a seminar with senior managers. The survey
consisted of a web-
based questionnaire which was sent to all 93 MAs in the SIA.
The response
rate was 82.8% (77 usable answers), and except for a very few
exemptions, the
respondents answered all questions. Thus the n was 77 on most
questions. A
majority (64.5%) of the respondents was more than 50 years
old, and 67.4%
had worked for more than ten years in the SIA. However, due to
recent
reorganizations few had worked for more than two years in their
current position.
More than 80% of the respondents have an academic
qualification, most often in
business administration and economics (40.8%). Finally, the

respondents work
in different parts of the organization.
The questionnaire was developed based on a literature review
covering the
role of MAs. The first edition of the questionnaire was sent to
five MAs in
different organizational units in the SIA. Comments from this
group were
considered when the final questionnaire was set. The
questionnaire contained
86 questions covering background data about the MAs, the tasks
they perform
and the requirements on their knowledge and skills. Most
questions, except the
background questions, were designed as statements on a 5-digit
Likert scale
ranging from 1 (‘Full disagreement’) to 5 (‘Full agreement’).
The questionnaire
was written in Swedish, and the translation for this paper was
made by
the author.
In addition to the survey, interviews were held with 24 persons
in the SIA –
12 MAs, 3 at the central agency MA-function, 5 at different
levels in the LIC, 3
at different levels of NIC, and 1 in the PD, and their 12
managers (see Table 1).
It was considered important to interview both MAs and
managers, since the
perception of the role of the MAs may differ due to
organizational locus.
The interviews covered the same areas as the questionnaire, but
aimed at a

better understanding of some issues that are not easily
investigated in a survey.
Examples of such issues are the MAs’ actual role in decision
making, and the
interplay with their managers.
Finally, the results of the survey were discussed at a seminar
with senior
managers in the agency. The seminar gave a complementary
picture of the way
Table 1
The Respondent’s Organizational Units
Percent of
Organizational Unit Respondents
Central management accounting unit 13.2
Central units of the National Insurance Centre (NIC), Local
Insurance 22.4
center (LIC) or Customer Call and Internet Support Center
(CCISC)
Regional or local units of the National Insurance Centre (NIC)
or Local 57.9
Insurance Center (LIC)
Process Development (PD) or Insurance Processes (IP) 2.6
IT-unit 3.9

senior managers perceive the role of the MAs in the SIA. It was
also a valuable
opportunity to test the tentative analysis of the data from the
survey.
THE ROLE OF MAs
The literature on the role of MAs often starts out with a
dichotomy containing
two archetype roles. The first is often labeled ‘bean counter’,
‘watch dog’,
‘corporate policeman’ or ‘number cruncher’, while the second is
often labeled
‘business partner’, ‘business advocate’, ‘controller’ or the like
(e.g., Friedman
and Lyne, 1997; Grönlund and Lukka, 1998; Coad, 1999; Pierce
and O’Dea,
2003; Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2005 and 2007; Yazdifar and
Tsamenyi, 2005;
Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Järvenpää, 2007; and Zoni and
Merchant, 2007). Table 2
includes some characteristics that are often associated with the
two archetype
roles.
Grönlund and Lukka (1997) present a few additional similarities
and
differences between the two archetype roles. Reliability,
honesty, purposefulness,
prudence and accurateness are among the similarities, while the
differences
concern e.g., the need for communication skills, working
methods, organizational
boundaries and the primary aim of communication.

Nilsson et al. (2010) identify two main dimensions that are
related to the
characteristics in Table 2. The first one concerns the type of
information MAs
handle, ranging from financial information, to all information
that is relevant
to the business. The second dimension concerns the role of MAs
in various
organizational processes, e.g., decision making. According to
Nilsson et al. (2010)
MAs either limit themselves to analyze and disseminate
information, or actively
affect others, by e.g., participating in the decision making
processes. Based on
these two dimensions they identify four roles – accountant,
educator, analyst
and coach (see Figure 1).
The studies that are referred to in this section indicate a
development from
the traditional bean counter- or accountant-oriented role, to a
role as business
382 PAULSSON
Table 2
Characteristics Associated with Bean Counters and Business
Partners
Character Bean Counter Business Partners

Temporal orientation Emphasis on the past Emphasis on the
present
and the future
Knowledge of the business
in which the firm
operated
Not expected Expected
The primary aim of
communication
Fulfilling of formal
information requirements
Active attention
attraction in order to
get the message
through
Felt (sic) scope of
responsibility
Narrow; covers the
production of correct
accounting reports in time
Wide; covers both the
production of relevant
accounting figures and
their application in
business decisions
Cross-functional
appreciation

Limited; based often on fear High for an active and
capable person
General operating style Information collector and
processor
A member of the
management team and
a change agent.
Source: Granlund and Lukka (1998, p 202).
Figure 1
Four Roles of Management Accountants
Type of information
Financial and non- Analyst Coach
financial information
Financial information Accountant Educator
Analysis Affect the thinking Attention to
of others group processes
Source: Based on Nilsson et al. (2010, p. 249).
partner, analyst, educator or coach. However, several studies
show that the
actual development is far more complex.
Firstly, Granlund and Lukka (1998) argue that there has been an

expansion
of roles rather than a move from one role to another. Burns et
al. (1999)
and Burns and Baldvinsdottir (2005 and 2007) label MAs with
such expanded
roles ‘hybrid accountants’ since they are expected to participate
not only in
accounting oriented tasks but also in issues that are related to
the operations
in the organization. This expansion of roles has been confirmed
in studies in
public sector organizations in Sweden, as well. For example,
studies in the
local government by Ramberg (2000) and Hellström and
Ramberg (2007) show
that the traditional role is still important, while additional roles
have been
added.
Secondly, in order to fully understand the role of MAs it is also
important
to consider that management accountants’ tasks nowadays are
handled not
only by MAs, but also by managers (e.g., Burns et al., 1999;
Lapsley and
Oldfield, 2000; Kurunmäki, 2004; Järvinen, 2006; and Burns
and Baldvinsdottir,
2007). This development, too, is sometimes called
‘hybridization’ since it

means that managers, without formal education in that area, get
involved in
management accounting tasks (Friedman and Lyne, 1997; Coad,
1999; Chenhall
and Langfield-Smith, 1998; and Pierce and Odea, 2003).
Thirdly, Granlund and Lukka (1997) argue that the perception
of the role may
differ between different actors in the organization:
in the local part of the line organization a controller is the
business oriented member
of the managerial team and a financial adviser; in the
accounting organization a
controller is more like the local guardian, ensuring that the
corporate interests are
not forgotten (p. 239).
This is also highlighted by Pierce and O′Dea (2003) who focus
especially on
differences in the perception of the roles between line managers
and MAs.
Fourthly, Burns and Baldvinsdottir (2005) argue that viewing
changes in the
role of MAs as a simple move from one role to another:
would be to ignore the cumulative nature of change events
where the context, history,
institutional embeddedness and transformational agency all
matter (p. 751).
Granlund and Lukka (1998) confirm this by showing that there
is a relation-
ship between ‘Finnishness’, the management accounting culture
in Finnish

companies, and the expectations on MAs. Ahrens and Chapman
(1999), too,
are interested in the relationship between culture, management
accounting and the role
of MAs.
Finally, the authors of a CIMA report (Baldvinsdottir et al.,
2009a and 2009b)
conclude that:
business partnering might be a fad. Maybe it is only the fantasy
of those who are
seeking a new image, since the core values of the traditional
management accountant
have never really disappeared (2009b, p. 34).
Thus, the literature shows that the role of MAs is both diverse
and complex.
In spite of that, the above-mentioned classifications can be
useful as a broad
framework for analysis.
384 PAULSSON
MANAGEMENT AND THE ROLE OF MAs
Several studies have shown a relationship between management
and the role
of MAs (e.g., Friedman and Lyne, 1997; Grönlund and Lukka,
1998; Lapsley
and Oldfield; 2000, Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2007; Järvenpää,
2007; Byrne and

Pierce, 2007; and Moll and Humphrey, 2007).
Lapsley and Oldfield (2000) discuss the role of MAs in
different types of public
sector organizations. Drawing on the work by Ferlie et al.
(1996) they identified
different roles for MAs at different stages of organizational
reform. Closely
related to overall organizational issues is the organization of the
MA-function
and its effects on the role of MAs (see e.g., Hopper, 1980;
Granlund and Lukka,
1998; Järvenpää, 2007; and Lindvall, 2009). Two alternative
types of organization
structures are presented for that function (e.g., Anthony and
Govindarajan,
2007). In the first one MAs are included in the ordinary line
structure. Thus,
they report to line managers and have a ‘dotted-line
relationship’ with MAs at
other levels of the organization. The other main alternative is
that MAs are part
of a separate structure, report to MAs at the next level of the
organization, and
have a ‘dotted-line relationship’ with line managers (see Figure
2).
Figure 2
Organization of the Management Accounting Function
Ordinary structure Separate structure
CEO Head CEO Head
management accountant management accountant

Line Management accountant Line
Management accountant
manager manager
Research on the organization of the MA-function indicates that
a separate
structure tends to strengthen the bean counter-oriented role,
while the inclusion
of the MAs in the ordinary line structure tends to support a
more business
partner-oriented role (e.g., Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2005).
Another common explanation for changes in the role of MAs is
the
introduction of new management tools (e.g., Friedman and
Lyne, 1997; Lapsley
and Oldfield, 2000; Järvenpää, 2007; Kurunmäki, 2004;
Järvinen, 2006; Burns
and Baldvinsdottir, 2005; and Moll and Humphrey, 2007).
For example, introduction of performance management has been
identified as one
possible driver for change in the role of MAs (e.g., Granlund
and Lukka, 1998;
Burns et al., 1999; Chenhall and Langfield-Smith, 1998;
Lapsley and Oldfield,
2000; Vaivio, 2004; and Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2007). The
explanation for
this is that development and use of non-financial performance

measures usually
require knowledge about the operations in the organization.
Thus, when MAs get
involved in this task they have to have a wider focus in their
work. Furthermore,
Järvinen (2006) found that the role of MAs changed in
connection with the
introduction of so called Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs),2 in
Finnish hospitals,
while Moll and Humphrey (2007) found that introduction of
public-private
partnerships in the UK required MAs to be more sensitive to the
political context
and commercial considerations. Finally, Friedman and Lyne
(1997) found that
the introduction of Activity Based Costing (ABC) affected the
image of MAs.
Despite the widespread introduction of NPM-like management
tools, few
studies have been made of the effect of this development on the
role of the
MAs. To be sure, the study by Järvinen (2006) is carried out in
a public sector
organization, but makes no attempt to discuss the link between
the role of
MAs and NPM. Kurunmäki (2004), too, touches upon the
subject in her study
of a public health care organization. However, she focuses on
the interplay
between professionals and accountants. Solli (1999), Ramberg
(2000), Lapsley
and Oldfield, 2000, Hellström and Ramberg (2007) and Moll
and Humphrey
(2007) are among the exceptions since they look at the
development of the role

of MAs in organizations that have made NPM-like reforms. The
results of some
of these studies indicate that the role is affected by such
reforms, but that there
has been an expansion of the role rather than a move from one
role to another.
REQUIREMENTS ON MAs′ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
The relationship between the role of MAs and the requirements
on their
knowledge and skills has been studied a lot (see e.g., Järvenpää,
2001; Pierce and
O’Dea, 2003; Siegel, 2003; Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Burns and
Baldvinsdottir,
2007; and Lindvall, 2009). Usually, these studies focus on
differences in the
requirements depending on whether the MAs are bean counting-
oriented or
business partner-oriented.
Most studies end up in a similar set of requirements. For
example, Järvenpää
(2001) suggests that ‘analytical skills’, ‘instrumental
accounting competence’
and ‘independency’, are characteristics that are important for all
MAs, but that
business partner-oriented MAs in addition to that require
‘communication skills’,
‘cooperation and interpersonal skills’, ‘wide business
management skills’ and an
‘ability to see big pictures and understand large entities’.
Grönlund and Lukka
(1998) and Siegel et al. (2003) show similar results. In general,
studies of the
requirements on MAs show that bean counter-oriented MAs may

rely on ‘hard
skills’ while business partner-oriented MAs need both ‘hard’
and ‘soft skills’.
NPM AND MAs IN THE SIA
The Central Government in Sweden was an early adopter of
NPM, introducing
semi-autonomous agencies many years ago, and starting to look
at programme
386 PAULSSON
budgeting already in the 1970s. Since then there has been a lot
of reform
endeavours that have resulted in the introduction of other NPM-
like manage-
ment tools (see e.g., Olson and Sahlin-Andersson, 1998; Modell
and Grönlund,
2006; and Paulsson, 2006). Performance management was
introduced in the
late 1980s. In the early 1990s accrual accounting and frame
appropriations were
introduced, and a major change was made in the capital
budgeting system.
Furthermore, the severe financial crisis in Sweden in the early
1990s led to
changes in the state budget procedure. Altogether, this
development led to
major changes in the management of the Central Government.
Parallel to these changes, many Director Generals made changes

in the
internal organization and management of their agencies.
However, since they
are free to organize and manage their agencies in whatever way
they want there
have been differences in this development. Thus, in order to be
able to study
NPM in the SIA, it is important to take a closer look at the
development in that
specific agency.
The SIA is a central government agency responsible for the
administration
of a large part of the social insurance system in Sweden. This
means that the
agency is responsible for investigations, decisions and payment
of the subsidies
that are included in the social insurance, e.g., health and family
allowances.
The agency has about 12,500 employees. Its head-quarter is
located in
Stockholm, but the operations are spread throughout the country
in regional
and local offices. The agency is led by a Director General who
is appointed by the
Government, and a management team that is chosen by the
Director General.
The SIA is governed by two important formal documents that
are issued by
the Government – the Instruction and the Approval Letter. The
former is a
document that delineates the long term responsibilities for the
agency, which
means that it is not changed frequently. The Approval Letter, on

the other hand,
is decided by the Government in the yearly budget process. It
focuses on the up-
coming year and includes financial restrictions and non-
financial objectives. The
financial restrictions are budget targets which define the
financial responsibility
for the Director General. The non-financial objectives are often
formulated
in either output- or outcome-terms and are complemented with
reporting
requirements for the agency. Within the frame of these two
documents, the
Director General is free to organize and manage the agency.
The SIA has undergone several large organizational reforms
during the last
few years. The most important one was the merger of the 21
regional agencies
and the Central Social Insurance Agency in 2005. The second
reform was a
reorganization of the agency in 2008 when the regional
structure was replaced
by three ‘customer-oriented branches’ – LIC, NIC and CCISC –
and two process
oriented units – PD and IP leading to a matrix structure.
The LIC is responsible for complex matters that require
personal contact
with the client, and has about 60 local offices throughout the
country. The
NIC deals with large volumes of standard matters that do not
require personal
contact with the clients. There are around 20 such centers, all
specializing in

certain parts of the social insurance. Finally, the CCISC, which
is responsible
for taking care of less complicated matters, has a few offices in
different parts of
Sweden. In addition to these branches, the SIA has two process
oriented units –
PD and IP – that are responsible for development,
implementation and revision
of the activity processes in the customer-oriented branches.
The organization of the MA-function follows the overall
organization structure.
There is a central MA-function with about 10 MAs and a head
MA. The two
largest customer-oriented branches – LIC and NIC – have small
MA-functions
at the central level. In addition to that they have MAs at lower
levels of their
organizations. However, the internal structure of the MA-
function is different
in the two branches. In LIC, MAs are organized in the regional
units, serving
several local offices, and reporting to the head MA in their
region. Thus, they
have a ‘dotted line relationship’ with the line managers. In the
NIC, each of the
20 centers has their own MA, which means that they are part of
the ordinary
line structure, report to their line managers and have a ‘dotted
line-relationship’

with the other MAs. The CCISC, the IP, PD and IT-support unit
have a few MAs,
at the central level.
Parallel to the organizational changes, several management
reforms have
been made in the SIA. Decentralization, which is a cornerstone
in NPM, has long
been an important philosophy in the agency. Though there have
been signs
of a recentralization of certain administrative issues during the
last few years,
managers at all organizational levels have a lot of authority
when it comes to
the handling of individual matters and management of their
units.
The establishment of the process oriented branches was
motivated by a need
for improved activity processes, and during the last few years
there has been a
lot of focus on these processes. One outcome of this work is the
identification
of ‘optimal activity steps’ and calculation of ‘optimal time’ for
each step. That
information has then been used as a basis for an output oriented
resource allocation
process within the SIA.
During the last decade performance management was
implemented in all
organizational units. This means that there is a formal structure
of non-financial
performance measures from the Approval Letter for the entire
agency to the
Activity Plans for each organizational unit.

A related reform is the introduction of planning and follow-up
dialogues between
managers at different organizational levels in the SIA, starting
with dialogues
between the Director General and the managers of the three
customer oriented
branches and the two process oriented branches. These
dialogues focus on both
financial and non-financial issues.
In addition to the changes in the formal parts of management,
there has also
been a deliberate attempt to change the organization culture.
The use of the word
‘customer’ in the Approval letters from the Government, in
balanced score cards,
activity plans and dialogues at all levels of the agency is one
sign of this. By using
that word, the agency management wants to improve the service
orientation of
the employees.
388 PAULSSON
RESULTS
This paper concerns the roles of MAs. In order to unravel these
roles the
respondents were asked about their current and expected future
tasks. Fourteen
different tasks were identified in the literature.

Table 3 shows that the MAs in the SIA perform a diverse set of
tasks, and this
is also confirmed by the interviewees. Follow-up and reporting
of non-financial
figures is very important, and that is expected to be the case in
five years, as
well. Furthermore, there is relatively limited variation between
the MAs in the
SIA when it comes to this task. The explanation for this, that is
provided in the
interviews, is that almost all MAs in the SIA are involved in
this task in one way
or the other.
Financially oriented tasks like forecasting, budgeting and
follow-up and
reporting financial figures are important, too, and are expected
to grow in
Table 3
Tasks of MAs
Current Tasks
Expected Tasks in
5 Yrs
Expected
Tasks Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev. Changes
Follow-up and reporting non-financial
figures
4.43 0.89 4.25 0.99 −0.18

Forecasting 3.91 1.10 4.12 1.13 +0.21
Budgeting 3.71 1.35 3.74 1.26 +0.03
Formulation of goals 3.68 1.10 3.68 1.19 0
Activity planning 3.63 1.17 3.82 1.23 +0.19
Production planning 3.62 1.31 3.76 1.38 +0.14
Follow-up and reporting financial
figures
3.61 1.37 3.75 1.34 +0.14
Investigations 3.49 0.87 3.74 1.06 +0.25
Strategic planning 3.42 1.00 3.51 1.14 +0.09
Organizational development 3.29 1.05 3.54 1.15 +0.25
Quality assurance 3.04 0.91 3.53 1.12 +0.49
Other tasks 2.59 0.92 2.21 1.35 +0.38
Business intelligence 2.33 0.91 2.96 0.99 +0.63
Internal education 2.26 0.81 2.51 0.98 +0.25
importance during the next five years. However, several of
these tasks vary
more among the MAs. One explanation for this, which is
provided by the
interviewees, is that the financially oriented work is
concentrated to a smaller
group of MAs. This group handles both financial and non-
financial information,
while a majority of MAs only handle non-financial information.

A cross tabulation does not show any significant differences in
the tasks
performed by MAs in different organizational units. The only
notable difference
is that local and regional MAs score higher than the central
level MAs
on follow-up and reporting non-financial figures (4.68),
production planning
(3.98), and organizational development (3.49). In the discussion
about the
role of MAs, the type of information they use is another key
dimension (see
Figure 1).
Table 4 indicates that MAs are more focused on non-financial
information
than financial information. This confirms the result in Table 3
about the tasks
they perform. Another dimension that is often discussed when it
comes to the
role of MAs is their involvement in decision making and other
organizational
processes (see Figure 1).
Table 5 shows that MAs in the SIA are involved in compiling,
analyzing and
disseminating information, to a larger extent than they
participate in decision
making. Thus, they primarily serve decision makers with
information. However,
the table shows that active participation in decision making is
the activity that
Table 4
Type of Information

Proposition Mean Std. Dev.
I use primarily non-financial information in my work 3.80 1.05
I use both financial and non-financial information in my work
3.41 1.05
I use primarily financial information in my work 3.00 1.12
Table 5
Involvement in Decision Making
Proposition Mean Std. Dev
I compile, analyze and disseminate information to various
decision makers
3.75 0.85
I compile and disseminate information to various decision
makers 3.72 0.84
I participate actively in decision making 3.08 1.04
390 PAULSSON
Table 6
Required Knowledge and Skills

Importance Currently
Importance in Five
Years
Knowledge and Skill Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev.
Written communication skills 4.33 0.59 4.34 0.60
Oral communication skills 4.32 0.60 4.34 0.55
Ability to work in ‘mixed teams’ 4.14 0.66 4.33 0.61
Knowledge of performance management 4.11 0.84 4.33 0.60
Knowledge of the operations in the SIA 4.11 0.66 4.16 0.64
Knowledge of accounting 3.13 0.96 3.32 0.87
varies most between the MAs, which indicates that some of
them are involved
in decision making to a relatively large extent.
The interviews give a slightly different picture. According to
the managers,
the MAs are very influential since they select the information
that is used in
decision making processes. In addition to that several
interviewees emphasize
that many MAs are members of management teams and, thus,
participate
actively in discussions that precede the decisions and that they,
therefore, in
practice influence the decision making.
The second question in this paper concerns the knowledge and

skills that are
required for the MAs. Table 6 shows that knowledge of
accounting is far less
important than knowledge of performance management and
knowledge of the
operations. This is true for both the current situation and the
expected situation
five years ahead. The standard deviation on the knowledge of
accounting
probably mirrors that some MAs hardly work on financially
oriented tasks
at all.
Furthermore, it is obvious that soft skills like communication
skills and ability
to work in ‘mixed teams’ already are very important, and is
expected to be even
more important in the future. The figures also show that there
are rather small
variations between the MAs in this respect. This is confirmed
by the interviews
and the seminar with senior managers.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
This paper deals with two related issues – the role of MAs in a
NPM-context,
and the requirements on their knowledge and skills.
The Role of MAs in a NPM-Context

At an overall level, the study confirms the result of other
studies, i.e., that MAs
perform a diverse and expanding set of tasks (e.g., Granlund
and Lukka, 1998;
and Hellström and Ramberg, 2007) and often are ‘hybrid
accountants’ (e.g.,
Burns and Baldvinsdottir, 2007). Furthermore, in large
organizations like the
SIA, different MAs have different roles. Thus, it is difficult to
find one single
label like bean counter or business partner that fits the role of
the MAs. In spite
of that, it is possible to identify some roles that are more
important than others.
Two main groups of MAs can be identified in the SIA – one that
deals with both
financial and non-financial information, and one that deals with
non-financial
information alone. Refering to the framework by Nilsson et al.
(2010) this means
that there are very few pure ‘accountants’ and ‘educators’ in the
SIA.
The second dimension in that framework concerns the
involvement of MAs in
‘group processes’ like decision making. The survey indicates
that MAs to a larger
extent compile, analyze and disseminate information, than
participate actively
in decision making. However, interviews reveal that many MAs
are members
of management teams and, thus, are engaged in discussions that
precede the
formal decision making. The interviews with MAs indicate that

their answers
in that section of the survey were affected by the fact that they
are not the
formal decision makers. Thus, when asked during the
interviews, they agree that
they probably have a lot of informal influence on many
decisions. The interviews
with line managers, as well as the seminar with senior
managers, confirm this.
During the seminar some managers even argued that the MAs
have too much
influence on some decisions.
However, the interviewees indicate that involvement of MAs in
decision
making is partly dependent on their organizational locus. For
example, MAs at
the regional and local levels of the LIC are often members of
the management
teams and, thus, participate in meetings where most decisions
are made. On
the other hand, MAs at the central level of the SIA are most
often not members
of the management team and are, therefore, farther away from
the decision
making processes.
Thus, if we use the framework by Nilsson et al. (2010) it seems
like MAs
in the SIA are either ‘analysts’ or ‘coaches’. The ‘analysts’ are
primarily those
who work in teams with other MAs, e.g., in the central MA
units and who are
not members of any management teams, while the ‘coaches’ are
those who are
members of local and regional management teams and report to

line managers.
NPM and the Role of MAs
A key question in this paper is in what ways NPM affects the
role of MAs.
When it comes to organizational issues, decentralization is a
cornerstone in NPM,
as well as in the central government in Sweden. This means that
managers
at all levels of the SIA have extensive responsibilities, though
they most often
392 PAULSSON
have another educational background than management. This
means that they
require support in that area, and in practice it is often the MAs
who provide
that support. The organization of the MA-function in the SIA is
closely related
to this general requirement, and means that most MAs work
closely together
with their line-mangers and, thus, get involved in
‘organizational processes’ that
are far beyond a passive compilation and dissemination of
financial information.
Altogether, a NPM-related decentralization seems to foster a
business partner-
or coach role for the MAs.
The relationship between management tools and the role of MAs

has been focused
in several studies, e.g., Mouritsen (1996) and Lapsley and
Oldfield (2000).
The most significant NPM-like tool that is used in the SIA is
performance
management, and the empirical study shows that MAs are highly
involved in
that task. For example, follow-up and reporting of non-financial
figures are
the task they perform most, and they use non-financial
information to a larger
extent than financial information. Altogether, the study clearly
shows that the
NPM-related performance management to a large extent affects
the role of
the MAs.
To sum up, if we use the framework by Nilsson et al. (2010),
there are
indications that NPM-like tools, e.g., a decentralized
organization and extensive
performance management leads to a role for MAs that is close
to the ‘coach-role’.
Finally, the empirical study shows that financially oriented
tasks are still
performed by some MAs. For example, forecasting, budgeting,
and follow-up
and reporting financial figures still scores high. One possible
explanation for
this is that some of the NPM-reforms in the central government
in Sweden,
as well as in public sector organization in other countries have
been rather
financially oriented (see e.g., Olson et al., 1998), leading to the
introduction of

relatively advanced financial management tools that requires an
expertise that
neither line managers nor many MAs have. Thus, financially
oriented NPM-
reforms like the introduction of accrual accounting and new
models for cash
management, require a group of MAs specialized in more
advanced financial
tasks.
The Requirements on MAs’ Knowledge and Skills
The study shows that NPM-related decentralization and use of
performance
management place special requirements on the MAs. In order to
support their
managers in various kinds of ‘organizational processes’ like
decision making,
they need knowledge of the operations in the organization. In
addition to that,
in order to be key actors in performance management they need
knowledge
about non-financial performance measurement systems.
Furthermore, in order to work in mixed teams with managers
and specialists,
the MAs need ‘soft skills’ like oral and written communication.
This confirms
the results of previous research which indicate that business
partner- or coach-
oriented MAs require a broader set of knowledge and skills than
traditional

MAs (e.g., Pierce and O’Dea, 2003). Furthermore, the empirical
study indicates
that these requirements are expected to become even stronger in
the future. If
that is the case, public sector organizations that introduce NPM
must actively
consider this when recruiting and training their MAs in the
future.
NOTES
1 International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) presents a list
of titles that are used for
employees carrying out management accounting tasks including
‘management accountant’,
‘controller’ and almost 20 other titles (IFAC, 2005). In this
paper, the term ‘management
accountant’ is used throughout the paper.
2 Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) is a tool for classifying in-
patient care according to the
diagnosis of the patient.
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