Redefining the Management Controller Profession in the Business Intelligence and Analytics (BI&A) Era: Current knowledge and insights from an empirical study

Résumé

Business Intelligence and Analytics (BI&A) is fundamentally transforming the traditional nature of management control work. Therefore, this study adopts an exploratory qualitative research design in order to examine how the management controller profession is expected to evolve in the age of BI&A. Although research on the implications of BI&A for the profession of management controllers has expanded considerably in recent years, empirical evidence from the Moroccan context remains scarce, leaving this context insufficiently investigated. To this end, we conducted eight semi-structured interviews with Moroccan management control professionals, and the resulting data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Our findings showed that BI&A is redefining the role of management controllers, enabling them to move beyond routine tasks toward a Business Partner role. This transformation, however, requires the acquisition of new skills and our results highlighted the core skills management controllers are expected to possess in the BI&A era, namely: data manipulation skills, data analytics skills, analytical skills, programming skills and communication skills. Notably, data manipulation skills and data analytics skills were identified by all participants. Furthermore, the findings indicated that management controllers acquire BI&A skills through various learning pathways, including self-learning, organizational training programs, and academic education. Despite variations in learning modalities among participants, all participants emphasized the crucial role of self-learning in continuously updating their skills. Finally, participants highlighted the need to integrate Business Intelligence and Analytics knowledge into management accounting and control education, arguing that such an initiative would better equip future management controllers with the skills required to meet the evolving demands of the labor market.

Classification JEL: M15, M41

Paper type: Empirical Research