How does management accounting information affect women directors’ contribution to corporate strategic decisions?

This study aims to investigate the impact of management accounting information on female directors’ attitudes and contribution to strategic decisions at the upper management levels of corporates in Saudi Arabia’s context as an emerging economy. A quantitative approach was used in this investigation; the required data has been collected through an electronic questionnaire sent to 130 individuals in 26 corporates with different economic activities. The valid, received responses were 71 (approximately 55%), constituting the sample and a reasonable representative sample of the study population. The findings revealed that women directors in the upper management levels positively impact corporate strategic decisions, and the information generated from management accounting practices plays a crucial role in supporting strategic decisions made by women directors even when they are a minority. This study contributes to the literature on the impact of gender diversity on corporate strategic decision-making from the management accounting perspective, as it focuses first on identifying the impact of women leaders on corporate strategy decisions, second on exploring the use of women directors in the upper management levels of management accounting outputs (the pattern of information) needed for strategic decisions making in Saudi Arabia’s context. Current research is built on the main assumption that women directors at the upper management levels are different from their male peers in some of their skills and visions, but similar in others. Therefore, out-group bias could exist. Previous literature has stated that gender diversity can provide different perspectives, which benefit decisions making process, however, the gender-based groups are similar in other ways.