From information to advantage and beyond: the role of modern management accounting in enabling marketing capabilities and goal achievement

Sareeya Wichitsathian and Somkiat Chayprapak

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 2026, 1-24

Abstract: PurposeThis study aims to investigate how modern management accounting (MMA) drives organizational success by examining the sequential pathway through which MMA enhances competitive advantage (CA) via two marketing capabilities – customer response (CR) and market acceptance (MA) – as parallel mediators, ultimately leading to Business Goal Achievement (BGA).Design/methodology/approachGrounded in the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, this study proposes a novel conceptual model that captures MMA’s shift from information provision to capability enablement. Data were collected from 158 senior accounting executives in Thai listed companies and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results reveal a fully mediated transformation process. MMA significantly strengthens both CR (ß = 0.521) and MA (ß = 0.618) but does not directly affect CA. Instead, CR and MA serve as significant parallel mediators, fully channeling MMA’s influence into CA. Furthermore, CA demonstrates a strong positive effect on BGA (ß = 0.678), explaining 45.7% of its variance. This confirms the complete value-creation chain from MMA through marketing capabilities to CA and ultimately to BGA.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are based on data from a single emerging economy (Thailand), which may limit generalizability to other institutional contexts. The cross-sectional design precludes strong causal inference. Future research should validate this model using longitudinal data across multiple countries. In addition, the partial mediation findings suggest other potential mechanisms (e.g. operational agility, strategic flexibility) that warrant further investigation. Qualitative studies could also enrich understanding of how MMA information is translated into marketing capabilities in practice.Practical implicationsManagers should view MMA as a capability-enabling platform rather than merely an information tool. Investments in MMA should be justified not only by informational efficiency but by their potential to enhance CR and MA capabilities. Organizations benefit from strengthening Market-Based and Information-Centered Accounting to support CR, while developing Innovation-Focused Accounting integrated with Market-Based Accounting to support MA. Creating cross-functional collaboration between accounting and marketing functions – such as joint task forces for new product development – helps ensure MMA insights are effectively translated into market actions that drive CA.Social implicationsBy enabling CR and MA capabilities, MMA helps firms better address customer needs and deliver innovations that achieve market legitimacy. This contributes to higher customer satisfaction, stakeholder confidence and more responsible resource allocation. Furthermore, MMA’s support for strategic goal achievement extends beyond financial metrics to include non-financial indicators such as stakeholder trust and long-term value creation. In emerging economies like Thailand, where corporate governance reforms are strengthening transparency and accountability, MMA can play a role in fostering more sustainable and stakeholder-oriented business practices that benefit society.Originality/valueThis study provides a precise, mechanism-based explanation of MMA’s strategic role by testing dual mediating pathways in parallel and extending the outcome to goal achievement. It advances beyond establishing direct relationships to specifying how MMA creates value through CR and MA as parallel mediators. By demonstrating full mediation, it resolves ambiguity in prior literature regarding direct versus indirect effects. The study offers managers guidance to reconceptualize MMA as a capability-enabling platform rather than merely an information tool, and extends dynamic capabilities theory by operationalizing sensing and seizing microfoundations in the accounting-marketing interface.

Keywords: Modern management accounting; Competitive advantage; Business goal achievement; Customer response; Market acceptance; Parallel mediation; Dynamic capabilities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jaocpp:jaoc-10-2025-0418

DOI: 10.1108/JAOC-10-2025-0418

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