Bright Minds, Dark Shadows: Executive Personality and the Role of Management Accounting

Call for Papers – Bright Minds, Dark Shadows: Executive Personality and the Role of Management Accounting

Journal: Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Submission deadline: 16 August 2026

This special issue investigates how executive personality traits interact with management accounting and control systems (MACS) to shape organizational behaviour, resource allocation, and performance. It focuses on both “bright” traits (e.g., conscientiousness, honesty–humility, openness) and “dark” traits (e.g., narcissism, hubris, overconfidence) and their effects on budgeting, forecasting, performance measurement, and reporting.

Types of research this SI invites

Guest editors

Prof Philipp Richter, Dresden University of Technology, Germany, Email: philipp_clemens.richter@tu‑dresden.de
Dr Aline Grahn, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, Email: aline.grahn@fu‑berlin.de

List of suggested topic areas

• MACS design and use:

  • How executive traits influence adoption and implementation of budgeting, cost accounting, and interactive control systems

  • When MACS enhance creativity and coordination or instead enable opportunism and slack

• Dark and bright triads:

  • Effects of dark‑triad traits on forecasting bias, budget gaming, earnings manipulation, and risk‑taking

  • How transparency, peer review, and strong governance mitigate dark‑trait distortions

  • When bright‑triad traits foster prosocial behaviour, yet create unintended rigidity or over‑caution

• Incentive systems:

  • Interaction between executive pay structures and personality traits (e.g., risk‑loving vs cautious CEOs)

  • Whether compensation plans can discipline or exacerbate undesirable traits

• Firm performance and societal outcomes:

  • Joint effects of personality and MACS on investment efficiency, tax strategies, and ESG outcomes

• New traits and new contexts:

  • Exploration of under‑studied traits such as locus of control, moral character, and tolerance for ambiguity

  • Contingencies in family firms, SMEs, or mission‑driven organisations that alter the personality–MACS link

Submission information

Submissions open on 15 March 2026 and are due by 16 August 2026 via ScholarOne Manuscripts:
https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jaoc

Authors should select the special issue title “Bright Minds, Dark Shadows: Executive Personality and the Role of Management Accounting” from the drop‑down menu and follow the journal’s Author Guidelines:
https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jaoc

Articles must be original and not under review elsewhere while under consideration for JAOC.

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