Assessing the Contribution of Managerial Accounting in Sustainable Organizational Development in the Healthcare Industry

Abstract

Sustainability and digital transformation are two phenomena influencing the activities of all organizations. Managerial accounting is an essential component of these transformations, having complex roles in decision-making to ensure sustainable development through implementing modern technologies in the accounting process. This paper studies the roles of digitized managerial accounting in organizational sustainability drivers from a decision-making perspective. The empirical investigation assesses the influence of managerial accounting on the economic, social, and environmental drivers of sustainability from the perception of 396 Romanian accountants using an artificial neural network analysis and structural equation modeling. As a result, the research provides a holistic view of the managerial accounting roles enhanced by digital technologies in the sustainable development of healthcare organizations. From the accountants' perception, the leading managerial accounting roles on organizational sustainability are enablers and reporters of the sustainable value created in the organization. Additionally, the roles of creators and preservers are seen as relevant by a significant part of the respondents. Therefore, healthcare organizations must implement a sustainability vision in managerial accounting and accounting information systems using the capabilities offered by new digital technologies.

Keywords: accounting roles; digital technologies; digital transformation; managerial accounting; sustainability.

Figure 1

Research steps. Source: the authors’ design.

Figure 2

Conceptual model. Source: the authors’ design based on [2,15,28,29,32].

Figure 3

Theoretical model. Source: the authors’ design based on [2,15,28,29,32].

Figure 4

MLP model. Source: the authors’ design using SPSS v.20.

Figure 5

Applied model. Source: the authors’ own design using SmartPLS v3.0.