The challenges of managers in the accounting career: the perspective of the generations baby boomer, X, Y and Z

Abstract

The accounting career has undergone several changes, having professionals of different ages accompanied such evolutions throughout these times. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the challenges faced by managers of different age groups living in the accounting profession. The Baby Boomer, X, Y and Z groups were used for this purpose. Theoretically, it was adopted the current that the individual’s perception is not defined only by age, but constructed based on the social and cultural experiences lived by each generational group. Methodologically, we worked with in-depth individual interviews with accounting managers of different generational groups, totaling more than 67 hours of audio, transcribed in full in 1,913 pages of text. The interpretation of these data occurred through the analysis of categorical content, performed with the help of the ATLAS TI® program. The analysis of the results was carried out in three categories: individual, collective, and organizational challenges. In sum, the conclusions identified terms such as experience, found in certain groups, but nonexistent in others, further exposing the expressions time, obligations, and norms, suggesting these as some of the most recurring challenges in this career. This perspective reduces a gap in relation to previous studies by empirically observing the existence of intergenerational conflicts ‘for’ and ‘between’ managers specifically in the context of the accounting career – investigating, at the same time, the four groups mentioned. This proposition was not found in previous studies, not even in international Journals.