Forty years of publications on strategic management accounting: Exploring the conceptual structure through co-word analysis

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the conceptual structure of strategic management accounting (SMA) research over the past 40 years to reveal and synthesize research trends in the field. To achieve this goal, we applied a bibliometric approach to analyze 326 peer-reviewed articles retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases. We conducted a co-word analysis using the VOSviewer software. The bibliometric analysis reveals the main outlets that published articles on SMA, and the most prolific authors and cited articles. Our findings reveal four main research streams in this field as follows: (i) SMA as a source of competitive advantage, (ii) strategic performance measurement systems, (iii) the SMA adoption and context of use, and (iv) the role of SMA in the strategic management process. For each research stream, we systematize some research themes. Additionally, our findings highlight potential emerging topics, such as the role of SMA in the integration of sustainability within companies’ strategy; and new settings of study, which represent opportunities for further research. Thus, this paper intends to support researchers in positioning their future research efforts.