Research

Our research focuses accounting as societal, social, and organizational practice. We are interested in how calculative practices are entangled in the functioning of companies, other types of organizations, and the society as a whole; how they impact organizations and society; and how organizations and society influence accounting practices. We position our research as part of the international discourse of social studies of accounting.

For example, we are studying the role of accounting concepts in healthcare. What is the impact of costs and cost accounting on healthcare practices? How does a focus on costs change the practices of different actors and groups of actors in hospitals, such as medical practitioners, nurses, hospital managers? How does the image of the patient change when patients are seen as customers? Which conflicts may arise? Which ethical implications does this have?
Other exemplary research deals with conditions and effects of visualizations in risk management; with the role of accounting-related concepts, such as cost, in the public discourse on refugees; with performance measurement in research and its impact on research activities and researchers.

The members of the management accounting team are participating, partly in leading positions, in the University’s and regional research infrastructures: the Research Centre on Accounting Theory & Research, the Research Platform Organizations & Society as well as the Health & Life Science Cluster Tirol.

Details regarding the specific research interests, projects, and publications of the members of the management accounting team may be found on the personal homepages.