Reframing business intelligence & analytics use for the creation and dissemination of management accounting knowledge: an intellectual capital perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical analysis of the enablers and barriers that influence the support of Business Intelligence and Analytics (BI&A) to the creation and dissemination of Management Accounting (MA) knowledge within organizations. Design/methodology/approach – A review of 56 articles related to the use of BI&A systems in MA domain has been conducted. Literature has been critically interpreted adopting the lens of Intellectual Capital (IC), and the main findings have been presented and discussed according to the concepts of human, organizational and relational capitals. Findings – The review shows that BI&A adoption in MA contexts depends not on static enablers and barriers but on the dynamic interaction between stocks and flows of IC. Stocks such as skills, managerial support, IT infrastructures and external expertise only sustain BI&A use when continuously renewed through flows of training, collaboration and trust-building. Without such flows, even strong initial conditions deteriorate, leading to stagnation or abandonment of BI&A. Originality/value – This study advances knowledge by reframing BI&A adoption in MA not as the outcome of static enablers and barriers but as a dynamic process shaped by the continuous interaction between stocks and flows of IC. This perspective moves beyond deterministic models and highlights the fragile and evolving nature of BI&A assimilation.