The Effects of Participation and Job-Relevant Information on the Relationship Between Evaluative Style and Job Satisfaction

This study investigates the intervening effects of budgetary participation and job-relevant information on the relationship between budget emphasis and job satisfaction. It proposes that budgetary participation and job-relevant information are endogenous to budget emphasis. Using the path analytical technique and based on a sample of 152 senior managers, the study found that budget emphasis has an insignificant direct effect on job satisfaction, but a strong indirect effect through job-relevant information and budgetary participation. The results also indicate that job-relevant information has an intervening effect on the relationship between participation and job satisfaction.     

The effect of performance feedback on prior budgetary participative research using survey methodology: An empirical study

Prior research examining the relation between budgetary participation and job performance explicitly or implicitly posits budgetary participation and intervening variables such as role ambiguity, motivation, job satisfaction, and job-relevant information as independent variables; job performance as the dependent variable. However, these studies are often based on correlated data in which the direction of causation is unknown. This paper uses attribution theory to examine whether job performance affects perceptions of budgetary participation and/or intervening variables (e.g. role ambiguity). Using a laboratory experiment and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), the findings of this study show that knowledge of performance, obtained through performance evaluations and/or external cues, affects individuals’ perceptions regarding budgetary participation, job satisfaction, role ambiguity, motivation, and job-relevant information. The results of the study may undermine correlations between self-reported data on individual characteristics (e.g. motivation) and performance data, as well as correlations between self-reported data on organizational variables (e.g. budgetary participation) and performance data. The study provides suggestions how researchers could overcome problems associated with causal directions in future budget participation studies that link self-reported individual and organizational characteristics to job performance.     

The effect of information asymmetry on negotiated budgets: an empirical investigation

This study examines three issues: (1) the effect of information asymmetry on the budget negotiation process, (2) the effect of information asymmetry on budgetary slack when budgets are set through a negotiation process, and (3) whether subordinates consider superiors imposing a budget following a failed negotiation as being low in procedural justice, which in turn causes low subordinate performance. The results suggest that smaller differences in initial negotiation positions do not indicate a higher likelihood of agreement when initial differences are due to differential information symmetry. Further, information asymmetry affects the relationship between negotiation agreement and budgetary slack. Last, inconsistent with a pure economic perspective, having superiors impose a budget after a failed negotiation causes justice or fairness considerations to demotivate subordinates.     

Budgeting in Catholic Parishes: An Exploratory Study

In this paper an aspect of accounting, namely budgeting, has been studied in an organizational context. According to Booth (1993) churches represent 'extreme cases' in which to study the impact of accounting. Following on from Laughlin (1988) Booth considered the sacred and secular divide to be a significant element in the use of accounting by church organizations. The parishes of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne form the context of this study in which evidence is sought for the sacred and secular divide by studying the role of budgeting in the parish. Questions were asked regarding participation in the budgetary process and the development and use of the budget. It was found that there was little consultation or participation in the budgetary process and that the use of the budget was restricted. These findings suggest that the sacred and secular divide operates at the parish level.     

我国预算会计改革可行性的问卷调查研究

为评估我国预算会计改革的可行性并拓展相关研究领域,我们对我国预算会计信息的编报者和使用者进行了问卷调查。结果表明,我国现行收付实现制基础预算会计信息质量存在种种问题,这已成为预算会计改革的主要动机之一;权责发生制基础预算会计信息质量明显优于现行预算会计信息,因而在预算会计改革中引入权责发生制应是有益的选择;改革必然会面临诸多困难,势必产生改革成本。编报者和使用者对待改革的态度说明改革是可行的,因为改革的收益大于成本。改革的成本与收益会受到很多因素影响,所以相关决策者应注意改革方向、方式以及时机的选择。在上述研究结论的基础上,我们对我国预算会计改革的实施提出了初步的政策建议。     

Budgeting—the Role of Trust and Participation: A Research Note

Prior studies have found a combination of an evaluative style with high budget emphasis and high participation to be associated with better behavioural outcomes (e.g., lower job-related tension) than all other combinations of budget emphasis and participation. Yet there has been little research to investigate the theory on why this particular combination of budget emphasis and participation is associated with better behavioural outcomes. A path analytical model, which investigates the intervening effects of trust and participation on the relationship between budget emphasis and job-related tension, was used. Senior Norwegian managers were selected as subjects for this study. The results indicate that budget emphasis has an insignificant direct effect on job-related tension but a strong indirect effect through trust and participation. Trust also has an intervening effect on the relationship between budgetary participation and job-related tension. It is therefore possible to conclude that high budget emphasis is associated with high budgetary participation and high trust. High trust, in turn, is associated with reduced subordinates' job-related tension.     

Antecedents of Budget Participation: Leadership Style,Information Asymmetry,and Evaluative Use of Budget

This study explores the causes or antecedents of budget participation to understand more fully the role of participation in the workplace. The study focuses on the reasons why superiors encourage the budget participation of their subordinates and draws upon several theoretical perspectives including leadership theory, agency theory and organizational justice. To examine the issues, a survey was administered to managers and supervisors in several companies. Results of path analysis suggest that superiors encourage subordinate participation when the superior's leadership style is considerate. This implies that budget participation may mediate the relation between leadership style and work outcomes. Results also suggest that superiors encourage participation when budget goals are used in the performance evaluation of subordinates, in which case, the study argues, the superiors encourage participation because of concerns about organizational justice. This finding implies that budget participation may mediate the relation between the evaluative use of budget and those work outcomes that prior research has linked to organizational justice. The proposed relation between information asymmetry and budget participation is not supported.     

我国政府预算会计系统的构建研究

政府预算会计是我国未来政府会计系统中不可或缺的重要组成部分。如何厘清预算与预算会计之间的关系,构建符合我国实际环境的预算会计系统是我国政府会计改革亟待解决的重大问题。本文在研究我国政府利益相关者信息需求与相关制度因素影响的前提下,调整并整合我国现行的财政总预算会计与行政(事业)单位会计,提出了新预算会计系统构建的总体目标与具体路径。     

Ritual legitimation, de-coupling and the budgetary process: managing organizational hypocrisies in a multinational company

The study of participation in the budgetary cycle has formed a prominent part of the research literature concerned with the budgetary process. More recently there has emerged a body of literature concerned with exploring the political and symbolic nature of the budgetary process. The paper reports upon the outcomes of an empirical study of the introduction of `budgetary participation' in a division of a European subsidiary of a large North American car manufacturer. We detail the long process of consultation and negotiation within the subsidiary, and between it and the European Headquarters. The study provides a revealing instance of the roles of formal budget participation as a ritual of control and legitimation without the substantive involvement of middle managers and suggested to us the introduction of de-coupling and organizational hypocrisy alongside the introduction of budget participation. The study pays close attention to the contingent effects of the wider political context of the division and the relationships between the division, its organizational context and organizational environment, and how this context played upon the budgetary process in the division. The outcomes that we analyse at `Delta' reflect the de-coupling strategies and organizational hypocrisies commonly found in public sector organizations. In this wider setting the corporation persists with the ritual of `tight' budget negotiation and target setting and apparent underachievement in performance. Yet we conclude that the complex technological and political context to the formation and siting of Delta continued and may continue to support its existence.$g0     

Managing budget emphasis through the explicit design of conditional budgetary slack

Budgetary slack plays an important role in the functioning of budgets in organizations. While theory has found negative as well as positive elements associated with its presence, the empirical literature has interpreted it as being dysfunctional to organizations. In this paper, we present empirical evidence on how a company purposefully budgeted additional financial resources with a motivation intention (Lukka. Budgetary biasing in organizations: Theoretical framework and empirical evidence. Accounting, Organizations and Society 13 (1998) 281–302) to facilitate the managers’ task in achieving the goals of the company. Using quantitative and qualitative data from four logistic sites of a disk drive manufacturer for 24 months, we examine how the company accepted more slack as the demand on business processes increased and goals other than budget targets––in particular, service quality––became harder to achieve. By allowing this practice, headquarters made it clear to local managers that product quality and service were at least as important as meeting budget objectives. We also find that not only was budgetary slack purposefully built during the budgeting process but also in the budgeting system itself through the underlying cost accounting assumptions. The results of this paper provide empirical evidence on the positive aspects of budgetary slack and on the role of cost accounting models used in the budgeting system to facilitate managerial work.     

The interactive effect of budgetary participation and budget favorability on attitudes toward budgetary decision makers: A research note

Referent cognitions theory predicts that employees who receive unfavorable budgets will have less negative attitudes toward budgetary decision makers if they participated in the budgetary process than if they did not participate. Questionnaire data from international managers were analyzed with regression to test for this predicted interaction between budgetary participation and budgetary outcome favorability. The results indicated that budgetary participation and budget favorability had the predicted interactive effect on the managers' attitudes toward their supervisor and their organization.     

How Top‐down and Bottom‐up Budgeting Affect Budget Slack and Performance through Social and Economic Exchange

This paper investigates the effects of a top‐down (TD) versus bottom‐up (BU) orientation in different stages of the budgetary target‐setting process on slack and managerial performance. We use social exchange theory to explain the outcomes of these alternative budgetary arrangements, and complement the traditional focus on budgetary participation in target setting with a process‐oriented perspective. We develop hypotheses predicting that TD and BU orientations in the subsequent stages of the budgeting process have different effects on managers’ exchange relationships with the firm, and their behavioural responses. Using survey evidence from German managers across 127 firms we find that a TD orientation in the issuance of guidelines enhances economic exchange and that a BU orientation in the development of the initial budget proposal enhances social exchange, which in turn are associated with reduced slack and higher performance, respectively.     

Perceptions and Attitudes of Different User-groups to the Role of the Budget,Budget Pressure and Budget Participation

This paper examines the perceptions and attitudes of three distinct user-groups to three important budget-related issues. The three user-groups are: accountants, senior non-financial managers and first line managers, each of which has direct contact with budget data in their normal work. The issues, which have been examined by questionnaire and interviews in thirteen medium or large UK companies, are: (a) the perception of the role of the budget in medium and large companies; (b) the use of the budget as a control device, the pressure that may be felt when this occurs and the behavioural consequences of such pressure; (c) the degree of participation in budget setting and whether there is any desire for increased participation. In some instances there were important differences between the user-groups; in particular concerning budget pressure and participation. The general textbook picture of the budget-setting process was not confirmed in certain important aspects. These results raise issues concerning the budgetary control process, including the effects of self-generated pressure, and the desire among accountants for greater participation in the budget process.     

支出周期:构造政府预算会计框架的逻辑起点——兼论我国政府会计改革的核心命题与战略次序

用以刻画预算运营流程的支出周期概念是构造预算会计框架最适当的逻辑起点。这一框架能清楚简明地表达各预算运营阶段的关键预算信息,并形成一个循环往复、逻辑严密的完整信息链,为监控预算执行过程、管理财政风险、改进决策制定和强化受托责任提供极大便利。主要由于缺乏清晰的支出周期概念,目前学界对预算会计的概念框架和信息结构的认识依然存在不少误区,可能导致对政府会计改革的核心命题和战略次序的迷失与偏差。     

Budget-Emphasis in Performance Evaluation and Managers’ Job Related Tension: the Moderating Effect of Information Completeness

Research examining a budget-emphasis style of performance evaluation has led to insights about those situations where it is likely to increase a manager’s job related tension. However, less is known about how the management accountant can use the budget process to ameliorate this effect. This paper focuses on the part of the budget process where subordinate managers have to explain budget variances to their superiors and, in particular, the information subordinates have available to explain those variances. The paper argues that the completeness of this information affects subordinate managers’ ability to understand budget variances and explain them to their superiors which, in turn, affects subordinates’ level of job related tension, especially where superiors use a budget-emphasis style of performance evaluation. A cross-sectional study, using interview and questionnaire techniques, empirically tests, and finds support for, this hypothesis.     

交互预算:应对战略不确定性、契合管理控制的新机制——基于天津一汽丰田公司的案例研究

本文基于Simons的管理控制框架,在理论上梳理交互预算的控制特征、重构交互预算与其它管理控制方式间的协同关系,通过对天津一汽丰田公司预算控制的案例描述与理论分析,阐明了有别于传统的诊断预算控制,交互预算既能够克服传统预算方式的制度弊端,又能成为适应不确定性环境下的战略管理工具,还是促进企业上下级对话沟通、组织学习和管理创新的机制;另外,交互预算控制也是契合管理控制系统中信念控制、边界控制等其他控制方式的制度安排。     

A Field Study of the Review Process: Research Note

Despite the stated importance of the audit review process in auditing standards and textbooks, research on the process itself is limited. This study provides evidence on the nature and purpose of the review process by examining the actual review notes prepared by managers of a Big-6 accounting firm. A sample of twenty-eight audit engagements resulting in 3,008 separate review notes was examined. The results suggest that quality control aspects appear to be the main focus of the review process. Review notes sometimes indicated the need to gather further information and/or undertake additional testing, and provided direct as well as indirect advice on the audit approach to subordinates. Few surprises resulted from the review process, and the review notes and approaches varied among managers.     

FASB/IASB联合概念框架相关性与可靠性质量特征的逻辑关系——基于经济学视角的分析

FASB和IASB联合概念框架于2010年9月对基本质量特征的逻辑关系做出了新的界定。从经济学视角,通过建立会计信息使用者的效用函数和预算约束方程,以既定支出下的效用最大化为目标,从理论上分析了相关性与可靠性的逻辑关系。研究结果表明,联合概念框架所界定的相关性与可靠性的逻辑关系可能导致财务报告边界无限扩张、会计信息质量下降。     

我国会计准则国际化协调进程及其效果研究——基于沪深AB股的经验证据

本文运用既发行A股又发行B股的公司(以下简称AB股公司)2001年会计准则改革前后的经验数据,分别从国际化的结果和过程的角度,就会计盈余质量进行定量研究,从而对改革效果做出实证性分析,籍此评价改革的合理性。研究表明:从国际化结果来看,AB股公司分别在中国会计准则与在国际财务报告准则下的盈余质量不存在显著性差异,说明了在我国目前的现实环境条件下完全采用国际财务报告准则也不能显著地提高会计盈余质量;从国际化过程来看,两种准则体系下盈余质量差异的绝对值变化显著且逐年减少,说明了我国会计准则国际化改革形式上协调促进了实质上的协调,提高了会计盈余质量。     

Accounting practices and professional power dynamics during a crisis

This paper examines how changes in accounting practices during a crisis can affect organisational dynamics between hospital managers and clinicians. Our theoretical framework applies a multi-dimensional concept of power (Hardy, 1996) – which distinguishes power over resources, processes and meaning – to a longitudinal case study of a public university hospital during a budgetary crisis. Based on interviews with managers and clinicians, three successive time intervals with distinct power constellations are identified. Initially, we identify a pre-crisis phase where management formally controls resources, which seems to have limited effects on clinician dominance because managers lack ‘processual power’ and ‘power of meaning’. Next, an implantation phase emerges whereby the introduction of mandated budget cuts triggers shifts in the distribution of power, such that managers acquire power by securing the collaboration of clinicians – a phenomenon which has tangible benefits in terms of enabling budget compliance and increased service provision. Finally, the third phase may be conceptualized as a fiscal pressure regimen whereby, when budgetary pressures intensify further, management's newly gained ‘power of meaning’ is eroded because management are now seen to pursue unrealistic demands. Drawing on research insights gleaned during each phase, our analysis contributes to extant literature in at least three ways. First, we present novel findings regarding the impact of crises-related applications of accounting practices on intra-organisational power constellations. Second, our work highlights how accounting practices help shape the understanding of crisis, which, in turn, impacts the distribution of organizational power and influences intra-organizational patterns of collaboration. Third, we find that awareness of the meaning power of accounting practices can help shape strategic action in crisis situations.