A Habermasian Perspective of the Marketing-Accounting Interface: The communicative role of performance measurement metrics.

This study investigates the complex dynamics of the Marketing-Accounting Interface (MAI), a critical organisational component plagued by recurring communication issues. This is done by exploring the communicators' divergent perceptions, the communicative role of performance measurement metrics (PMMs), and the role of top management in the development of the MAI. The current study is motivated by the lack of sufficient empirical research on the MAI phenomenon, focusing on the human element, the departmental objectives and the performativity of metrics. This will enable achieving an enhanced understanding of the MAI phenomenon based on an interpretivist methodological approach of critical realism. The philosophical framework adopted for interpreting the findings of the study is Habermas' Communicative Action Theory (CAT). The findings of the study have demonstrated that the MAI is a challenging and multidimensional domain, affected by factors, such as: human perceptions, departmental objectives, measurement metrics, and top management. Due to the negative impact of these factors, the MAI communicators experienced a sense of colonization, engaged in legitimating practices, and suffered the bias of top management through subjective interpretations of the PMMs outcomes. Consequently, the development and effectiveness of the MAI have suffered considerably. The contribution of the study lies in extending the application of Habermas' Communicative Action Theory to the literature on the MAI, and in adopting an empirical approach that was scarce in this field. Theoretically, the study contributes to the on-going discussion of the performativity of PMMs in the MAI. The methodological contribution has been evident through adopting a critical realist framework that enabled greater exploration and comprehension of the phenomenon by allowing the researcher to go beyond simple empirical observations. As for practice, the study provides a road map for businesses looking to maximise the use of PMMs for precise and strategic planning as well as decision-making.