Potenziale für den Digitalisierungsgrad im Controlling durch Kollaboration zwischen Controllern und Data-Scientists – Eine qualitative Fallstudie am Beispiel eines Unternehmens der pharmazeutischen Industrie

This thesis investigates the discrepancy between the potential benefits of digitalization in management accounting and its implementation in business practice. Current literature highlights several advantages for companies associated with a high level of digital maturity in their management accounting, such as enhanced data-driven decision-making, real-time information processing, and streamlined cost structures to remain competitive.

Despite these benefits, many companies struggle to realize them in practice. Existing literature has identified the lack of digital competencies among management accountants as one of the main causes of the lagging progress in increasing the digital maturity of management accounting. To bridge this competency gap, the interdisciplinary collaboration between management accountants and data scientists constitutes a promising approach.

To explore the collaboration between management accountants and data scientists, as well as its impact on the potential for influencing the digital maturity of management accounting, an exploratory single-case study was conducted following Yin’s case study methodology. Data were gathered via 13 interviews and analysed using qualitative content analysis methods. The informants included management accountants, data scientists, project managers, and project directors involved in a digitalization project at a pharmaceutical company.

The findings reveal that technological infrastructure alone is not sufficient to enhance digital maturity in management accounting. Moreover, human factors—such as role understanding, mutual understanding, and a structured collaboration process—play a central role. The developed collaboration model illustrates how management accountants and data scientists can collaborate effectively across different project phases to influence the level of digital maturity in management accounting. Individuals with interdisciplinary knowledge emerge as critical actors, facilitating communication and bridging knowledge gaps among other collaborators.

These results contribute to the underexplored interpersonal dimension of digitalization in management accounting. The study provides additional insights into role profiles, competencies, and organizational integration that are essential for advancing digital maturity. It also presents evidence on the importance of project managers, project directors, the positioning of data science units, as well as the consideration of different project phases and the requirements for effective collaboration. The proposed suggestions enable companies to better leverage the potential of digital maturity in management accounting and thereby enhance their competitiveness.