The Reconstruction of a Professional Identity in Times of Change – Evidence from the Management Accounting Function

This study investigates which configurations of institutional level and interpersonal level mechanisms support the identity fit of a management accountant (MA) in the changing management accounting profession. Management accounting research just begun to use role and identity theory to investigate role expectations, conflicts, and coping strategies of MAs. I build on configuration theory and employ a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to indicate all possible configurations of present, absent, or redundant conditions among different mechanisms that legitimize and encourage MAs’ identity work. My analyses are based on the results of a cross-sectional survey of 277 MAs from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The results show that a strong group culture and high psychological safety on the interpersonal level are relevant conditions for a high MA identity fit. Further, the configurations differ regarding the career stages of the MA. I contribute to research on MAs’ identity construction by identifying interrelations of conditions and by introducing a novel method into the field.