Winner of the Management Consulting Division Best Doctoral Paper
Artificial intelligence and socio-economic performance: the role of the internal consultant applying intervention-research in the evolution of skills. Case of an accounting firm The accounting profession, represented for the most part by accounting firms of all sizes, is facing a major revolution in its core business: the advent of artificial intelligence. The digitalization of accounting firms has been going on for several years now, and is forcing them to rethink their working methods, with new processes for more efficient data processing, for example. Artificial intelligence is confronting managers with new challenges, including the disappearance of basic tasks such as data entry and lettering, leading to a necessary evolution in the skills of accounting professionals and the services they offer. Our study is based on the case of a chartered accounting firm that has been in existence since 1975 and is faced with the challenge of digitalization and the introduction of artificial intelligence into its missions. For more than two years, the transition to a new, innovative business software system, equipped with artificial intelligence, has been a challenge for management and staff alike. We are going to show how our intervention-research as an internal consultant and doctoral student applying socio-economic intervention-research can accompany these changes and enable a lasting transformation of skills and missions. Our results show the socio-economic impact of a lack of skills management and firm evolution in relation to the expectations of the profession and digitalization. Our current aim is to extend the digitalization study, currently focused on one firm, to other firms by interviewing accountants with different visions of digitalization. We are also in contact with the French Order of Chartered Accountants to learn more about what is expected of the profession. In this way, we intend to deal with digitalization in a professional field where it is necessary to develop and continue to exist, while demonstrating the involvement of employees in strategic actions for the development of human potential.
