Does Darwin Belong in Business? The Danger and Comfort of the Evolutionary Metaphor

The metaphor of Darwinism has been extensively researched and analysed in other research disciplines. The usage of the biological metaphor of “Darwinism” in ITrelated headlines is documented and reviewed. The use of the Darwinian metaphor in business studies has changed from its usage by Veblen and Stamp as a descriptor for the scientific method. More recently its meaning has been transformed to synonymy with the “struggle for existence”. The use of this metaphor in IT carries with it a reassurance, which can endanger consumer requirements for performance and accountability

ERP systems and management accounting: New understandings through "nudging" in qualitative research

Purpose This paper aims to show how our understanding of the effects of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on management accounting are influenced through nudging by researchers in their preamble before interviews begin. Design/methodology/approach There were two groups of comparable respondents. Each group received a different preamble to the same questions. The differences in group responses were analyzed. Findings When the impact of ERP implementation on the physical, transactional and information flows within the firm were nudged, the responses focused on how the chart of accounts had to be expanded to account for the additional data introduced by transaction processing. When the IT and ERP system knowledge and skills were nudged, the responses tended to emphasize analyses or the use of new information through the use of drill down functionality. This research provides new insights and contributions to understanding how nudging affects or directs respondent assessments of the impact of ERP systems on management accounting. Research limitations/implications The research is limited by the relatively small samples and by the fact that these were different research projects. Practical implications Nudging has an obvious impact on research that should not be ignored. Social implications Unintentional nudging should be considered with all research projects. Originality/value This paper makes explicit that nudging occurs in research whether intentional or unintentional