Unternehmensplanung und Controlling

Heuristic reasoning in Management Accounting

In this project we try to combine insights from social and cognitive psychology in order to investigate how and when heuristics (i.e. mental shortcuts) are used in Management Accounting (MA). We assume that, despite their claim for being purely (prototypical) rational agents (Weber, 2011), management accountants frequently rely on heuristics order to reduce complexity of data evaluation for example in well-established MA tools like the Balanced Scorecard (BSC).

However, our analysis is guided by the assumption that heuristics do not necessarily represent a departure from rational decisions (Simon, 1990; Gigerenzer & Gaissmaier 2011). Their sometimes stunning functionality can be best described with the underlying concept of ecological rationality (i.e. the representation of information in actual environments and their match with mental strategies, such as heuristics (Rieskamp & Reimer, 2007)), which is introduced through our work into behavioral accounting research, together with a re-definition of what constitutes bounded rationality (for an overview of rationality concepts see Basel & Brühl, 2011).

In order to investigate when heuristics are used and what role is played by variables such as expertise and accountability we use a wide range of methods. Classic lab-based experiments are combined with innovative web-based designs (e.g. Mechanical Turk or Rogator). In order to get richer descriptions (i.e. external validity) of heuristic reasoning in real organizations we also include more qualitative methods such as verbal protocol analysis or structured interviews in this project. 

Ansprechpartner:

Dipl.-Psych. Jörn Basel 
Prof. Dr. Rolf Brühl