ABSTRACT
Although organizations are affected at different times and to different degrees by digital disruption, sooner or later digital disruption becomes a serious existential threat for organizations that don’t take sufficient proactive action. This existential threat can manifest itself as gradual or sudden loss of customers, falling prices, inability to operate profitably, diminished availability of product / service input suppliers, loss of talented staff, challenges accessing funding, and more. But while digital technology advancements drive digital disruption and existential treats, they also present game-changing opportunities for organizations that can leverage them effectively. Strategic leaders and managers need to understand and guard against the existential threats, and they need to recognize and seize the game-changing opportunities digital technologies present. It follows then that, in their roles as trusted advisors and strategic business partners, accountants must also understand both the existential threats of digital disruption and the game-changing opportunities presented by digital technologies. Aside from the disruption of organizations, digital technology advancements also disrupt the accounting profession, the accounting value proposition, and the nature of accounting work.
