The Role of Accounting in the Strategizing Process - A case study in the context of an acquisition

Sammanfattning: This paper studies two strategic decisions developed in an acquisition and subsequent integration of one company into another, focusing on accounting's role in shaping these strategies. The purpose of the paper is to contribute to existing literature on accounting and strategizing (i.e. the iterative process between organizational members who shape and develop company strategy) through understanding how accounting can affect the strategizing process, by examining what roles accounting can take in it. This is studied through a qualitative single-case study, investigating the interplay between accounting and strategizing through the lens of ambidexterity theory. We found that accounting was an active participator in the strategizing process. This active participation of accounting came from two distinctive roles: a) confirming the strategic setting: accounting was drawn upon by management to confirm that the organization could leverage current knowledge from the existing business in the acquiring company's core industry to shape a strategy for the new business in the new market and b) amplifying the strategic direction: accounting pre-set the frames within which the organization could strategize. These two roles are evidence of a new type of interplay between accounting and strategizing that has not been observed in previous studies.