ACMAR 2024 – Meeting the community at WHU

From February 29 to March 1, over 130 researchers from all over the world came together at the 21st Annual Conference for Management Accounting Research (ACMAR) on the Vallendar Campus to discuss current research trends, exchange ideas and interact with colleagues of the international academic research community. 

Vera Linke, Lukas Löhlein, Marko Reimer, Utz Schäffer and Daniel Schaupp from the Institute of Management Accounting and Control hosted the two-day conference, which was characterized by three keynote speeches, roundtables and parallel sessions with selected authors and discussants. The focus was on creating insightful debates following the presentation of the 46 research papers to connect the whole community as well as quantitative and qualitative research. 

As in previous years, a doctoral colloquium was held the day before the official start of the conference. 

After a short welcome address from Utz Schäffer, Melissa Martin from the University of Illinois, Chicago, kicked off the ACMAR with her keynote speech about management control systems in a data driven and ESG conscious era. 

The participants were subsequently given the opportunity to share their research papers with each other in parallel sessions and roundtables. 

Before the first day of the conference ended with a dinner in the vaulted cellar of the WHU, Alexander Lind, Head of Group Controlling at Merck, gave his practice orientated keynote speech on how financial steering can be modernized through principles of the Beyond Budgeting concept.

On the following day, Afshin Mehrpouya from the University of Edinburgh reflected in his keynote on how performance measurement is increasingly entangled in corporate and citizens' governance and its implications. 

The two days were filled with lively discussions and a light-hearted atmosphere. In addition to the official formats, the supporting program with joint lunches, coffee breaks and the dinner also offered plenty of time for informal conversations and get togethers.

We look forward to welcoming the management accounting community again 2025 on March 6-7 at the next ACMAR in Vallendar.