POSSIBILITIES OF LEADERSHIP EXPRESSION OF THE CHIEF ACCOUNTANT AND LINKS WITH LEARNING ORGANIZATION

Abstract

The article analyzes the possibilities of leadership expression in the position of accountants and presents the results of the conducted research. In an increasingly competitive environment, organizations adopt their business strategies in order to create a knowledge-based environment. An accountant who is constantly upgrading his qualifications and involved in management decisions faces very complex situations that require not only professional competencies. The need for employee leadership in this position is emerging; contributing to the success of the organization. Golmoradi and Ardabili (2016) note that social capital plays an increasing role in fostering knowledge sharing, increasing organizational learning through learning and collaborative environments, affecting organizational efficiency through lower costs, slower transfer rates, knowledge and innovation sharing, risk acceptance and improvement of product quality. In addition, leadership is important in companies of all sizes (small and medium-sized, as well as large and international ones). Vargas (2015) emphasizes that small and medium-sized enterprises need to pay more how to develop company’s strategy that combines aspects of the learning organization with the appropriate leadership style. The aim of the article is to evaluate the leadership possibilities of the accountants’ in a learning organization. The article consists of three parts. The first part of the article presents the theoretical discourse on the links between learning organization and leadership. In order to identify the possibilities of the accountants’ leadership in a learning organization, survey was conducted. The questionnaire survey was conducted in January-May of 2020. 114 accountants from different size and form of activity participated in this research. Data were analyzed using the software package SPSS.26.0 for social research. Graphical analysis was performed on an Ms Excel spread sheet. The study found that accountants are constantly improving their qualifications, but they tend to share new experience and acquired knowledge with colleagues only if the number of subordinates is higher and the company pays for the professional development. In addition, there is a correlation between the size of the company and the source of funding for increase of qualification. The responsibilities of accountants are fragmented, limited to the management of accounting and the calculation and declaration of taxes. The study revealed that 75 per cent of the surveyed accountants’ believe that the leadership has a significant impact on the company's performance and all employees are responsible for the company's success, accountants contribute to the changes in their organizations. However, it is noticeable that the possibilities to express accountants‘ leadership is greater in larger companies. In addition, as surveyed accountants stated some of managers are indifferent to the development of accountants‘ leadership. This statement can be explained by the fact that less than half respondents indicated that current system in company encourage leadership of accountant‘s.

Keywords: chief accountant, leadership, learning organization.

JEL codes: specified for J24, L21, M41.