The Alignment Of Management Accounting With Manufacturing Priorities: A Strategic Perspective

This paper proposes that traditional cost-based management accounting systems (MAS) are inappropriate for controlling a manufacturing organisation's performance in cases where non-cost factors are important aspects of the firm's competitive strategy. Manufacturing organisations in Australia are under increasing pressure to increase their competitiveness. This can be achieved by giving the manufacturing function strategic status in the organisation and by designing the MAS to support those strategies directly. The MAS should measure operational performance, control investment and report in terms of the factors which determine the organisation's competitive advantage, whether they be high product quality, manufacturing flexibility, low cost or other influences. The paper provides two applications of the concept of strategy-driven management systems: capital investment evaluation systems, and operational performance measurement and reporting systems.     

Reverse logistics in the UK retail sector: A case study of the role of management accounting in driving organisational change

This paper illustrates how interventionist research can be helpful in providing managerially relevant solutions and furthers the debate about the relationship between social science research and practice. Through this use of interventionist methods, the paper contributes to knowledge by illustrating the way in which management accounting was used alongside other managerial disciplines in a UK retail organisation to promote change and influence outcomes. Specifically, the paper focuses on changes to the reverse logistics processes of the organisation and the important role that management accounting played. It also illustrates the use of management accounting in the pursuit of strategic and commercial advantage. As researchers, our work was grounded in action rather than being just observers.     

Management accounting systems, top management team heterogeneity and strategic change

Institutional and market changes force many organizations across economic sectors to reconsider their strategic position and engage in strategic change. Organizations differ in their ability to realize strategic change, however, which appears to depend on several factors in their strategic management process. In this paper we explore two such factors simultaneously, which are the composition of the top management team and the characteristics of the management accounting system. In particular, the paper investigates how top management team heterogeneity affects strategic change both directly, and indirectly, through the design and use of the management accounting system. Hypotheses are developed and tested through a survey study among 103 Spanish public hospitals. We find significant effects of top management team heterogeneity on the extent and direction of strategic change, and find that the use of the management accounting system partially mediates the relationship between top management team heterogeneity and strategic change. The paper contributes to the extant literature on the complex relationships between strategic change and MAS [Gerdin, J., & Greve, J. (2004). Forms of contingency fit in management accounting research – a critical review. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 29, 303–326], by analysing both extent and direction of strategic change, and by recognizing the importance of top management teams’ use of the management accounting system for strategic change.     

The relations among competition, delegation, management accounting systems change and performance: A path model

This paper is concerned with an empirical investigation into the relations among competition, delegation, management accounting and control systems (MACS) change and organizational performance. It follows a standard contingency type path modeling to propose that intensity of competition causes firms to change their MACS and that this change enhances their performance. Delegation of authority is implicated in the model as competition encourages delegation, and this in turn causes the change in MACS, as well as enhancing performance directly. The results from a sample of Australian strategic business units indicate that (1) increased competition results in improved organizational performance indirectly through a greater number of changes in MACS, and (2) increased delegation of authority to lower level management leads to higher organizational performance. These results contribute to the management accounting change literature by providing empirical evidence that the relationship between competition and organizational performance is mediated by a decentralized organizational form and changes in MACS of the firm.     

THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTING IN ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: PROMOTING PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRIVATISED UK WATER INDUSTRY

Privatisation has been one of the most important and controversial policy initiatives to emerge in the U.K. over the last decade. Yet despite its prominence, little so far is known about its impact on those centrally involved in its implementations: senior management. This paper will investigate the ways in which senior management within one of the major privatised industries, the Water Industry, have sought to give effect to the strategic change involved in the transformation of a public sector Water Authority into a private sector Water plc. Although the monopoly character of the supply of Water services has remained intact, managers in the new Water plcs have had to respond to new expectations and assessments of corporate performance from shareholders, investors and financial analysts; from customers; and from a new economic regulatory regime operated by the Director General of the Office of Water Services. The Director General, in addition to operating price controls, is committed to developing “yardstick” competition which will provide the opportunity to make comparative judgements about performance levels achieved by each of the new Water plcs. In pursuit of improvements in efficiency and profitability, senior managers have engineered a variety of restructurings of corporate organisation to give more focus to achieving new business objectives, and to move away from a public sector bureaucratic management style with its traditional tall-pyramid structure to flatter and less hierarchical management structures. Although many of the changes have been justified in terms of empowerment and providing more autonomy for local managers, the paper argues that the experience of change for these managers has largely consisted of being subjected to much greater accountability for their performance through greater emphasis on the achievement of financial targets, more systematic monitoring of performance, the introduction of individual performance appraisal, and performance-related pay. Central to this intensification of the scrutiny of performance have been changes in accounting information systems and how they are used. In examining how these changes have functioned in their organisational context, the paper seeks to contribute to an understanding of the role of accounting in processes of organisational change     

Capital Allowances and the Incentive to Invest

In recent years many organisations have moved towards a total quality management (TQM) path in their quest for quality. Accounting researchers have become interested in understanding how accounting systems are implicated within a TQM environment. This paper reports on a case study of TQM adoption and changes in management accounting systems (MAS) within a New Zealand construction company. It evaluates organizational approaches to implement TQM as a strategic option and the subsequent change in MAS. The paper suggests that an organisation may initiate TQM practices to promote ‘institutional’ and ‘quality’ culture rather than for purely technical reasons. It also suggests that when an organisation adopts new management practices such as TQM, it may lead to changes in the organisation's internal control mechanisms, such as management accounting and reporting processes.     

A Consulting Giant; a Disgruntled Client: A ‘Failed’ Attempt to Change Management Controls in a Public Sector Organisation

There has been very little research into management consulting interventions in public sector organisations, especially in emerging economies. This paper aims to fill this void by narrating the empirics of a consulting assignment carried out by a large international consulting firm in a Pakistani public sector organisation. The study found that consultants’ recommendations of ‘businesslike’ management controls, such as a modern performance measurement system and a ‘state‐of‐the‐art’ information system, were rejected outright by the client management. Employing a critical realist perspective that focuses on the structural conditions facing both the client and the consultants, and on the strategies adopted by both parties, the study aims to explain the empirics of the case. Through structural and strategic analysis, this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of management consulting in public sector organisations, especially in emerging economies.     

Understanding cost differences in the public sector—a cost drivers approach

Estimation of cost causality has always been an important part of the accountant’s work. This includes the identification, classification and estimation of factors causing a change in the total cost of a related cost object. In the recent literature these factors are called cost drivers. Different approaches and conceptual frameworks for understanding cost causality are found in the economics, strategy and accounting literature. This paper examines different cost driver approaches in a public sector setting. The study is based on data from primary and secondary schools in the four largest cities in Norway. The findings show that a strategic management accounting approach provides a framework for selecting a broader set of explanatory variables than the traditional cost estimation literature. This set includes product attributes, institutional factors and government policy as cost drivers in the public sector.     

Financial Management Strategy in a Community Welfare Organisation: A Boardroom Perspective

This paper presents the results of a four year participant observation study of boardroom deliberations and resulting financial management strategies in a large not–for–profit religious based community welfare organisation. Employing a complete membership research approach and informed by grounded theory analysis, the study develops a micro–theoretical framework portraying boardroom financial management and accountability strategising. The study finds that the strategic focus on mission financing was conditioned by the contested formulation of strategic objectives, core organisational service philosophies, and executive–board member interaction. A significant observed outcome of the strategic mission financing focus was the management of accountability and disclosure, to which two key strategies were contributory. These were the exercising of financial control and the exercising of relationships management. The findings offer hitherto unavailable insights into strategic financial management and accountability processes and their context at the boardroom level in the religious not–for–profit community welfare sector.     

Factors influencing the role of management accounting in the development of performance measures within organizational change programs

Many companies are undergoing organizational changes encompassing innovative approaches to organizing production processes, restructuring work practices and developing new planning and control mechanisms. This paper explores the role that management accounting played in the development of performance measurement systems within five organizations implementing change programs. The major case study is of a large manufacturing firm undertaking changes which included the development of team structures, the adoption of a customer-focused strategy and the implementation of new performance measurement systems. In this company, a lack of integration of operational performance measures with strategic priorities contributed to poor integration of team activities with overall strategy. The paper proposes five interrelated factors that may help explain the extent to which management accountants contribute to the development of integrated performance measures and change programs. Case evidence drawn from a further four firms is presented to provide some validation of conclusions drawn from the primary case study.     

Accounting as an engine for the re‐creation of strategy at a university

This paper examines the role of accounting in the strategy re‐creation of a university. Drawing on Donald MacKenzie's theoretical notion of performative engines, our field study of an Australian university reveals how accounting, through various calculative practices, fuelled change and steered people into strategic action, leading to the formation of a new strategic plan. We contribute to the existing accounting and higher education literature on university strategising by illustrating how accounting, when convincing and accepted by decision‐makers, can function as an engine for the transformation and financialisation of universities’ strategies.     

战略管理、银行成长与商业银行战略转型

银行战略是银行发展的长期性和全局性的谋划,是构成商业银行成长的关键要素之一。银行战略管理的机制流程包括战略制定、战略实施与战略控制。中国的商业银行战略管理总体水平不高,且面临着战略转型,而战略转型构成中国的商业银行目前阶段的战略管理的矛盾的主要方面。本文提出的商业银行战略管理的“十大转变”对于中国的商业银行的战略管理而言,具有实践价值。     

An experiential approach to learning about the balanced scorecard

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is an integrated strategic performance management framework that helps organizations translate strategic objectives into relevant performance measures. This paper offers guidelines for implementing an experiential approach to learning about the BSC through the study of “real-world” organizations. This approach emphasizes hands-on experience with the team-based, cross-functional, and strategic aspects of management accounting designed to address several educational objectives, including: understanding organizational strategy and critical success factors; gaining insight into how to measure performance; and developing oral presentation and team-building skills. Specific examples of classroom materials to facilitate implementation of this approach in management accounting courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels are also offered.     

Performance Management Systems in the Public Housing Sector: Dissemination to Diffusion

This article examines a case study of the implementation of a performance management system in public sector housing in Fiji. The aim is to explore and provide interpretations of why performance management and measures were introduced and implemented and reveal if the indicators were appropriate to serve the strategies of the organisation. The article draws on diffusion of innovation theory and explores the effectiveness of performance management. The research approach is qualitative in nature and uses a case study strategy. Interviews and documentary evidence provide the empirical basis for the research. The organisation has established formal objectives at both institutional and departmental levels and has a performance management system at both levels. With growing pressure for commercialisation from donor agencies, the accounting and managerial practices seem to contradict the organisation's original purpose to provide housing needs for the poor. The case study extends the literature on performance management in developing countries and illuminates the deficiencies within the performance management system. This study has implications for practitioners and researchers as it promotes a better understanding of a new public management practice technique which, in this case, was inadequate to satisfy local housing needs.     

Boardroom Diversity and Operating Performance: The Moderating Effect of Strategic Change

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the effect of boardroom diversity on Chinese listed firms’ operating performance. Incorporating gender, age, tenure, and professional background of board member’s attributes into a composite diversity index, the results show that boardroom diversity positively affects operating performance. However, when taking strategic change into consideration, the results indicate that the firms with larger strategic change tend to have a negative correlation between boardroom diversity and operating performance, whereas the correlation is positive if firms with smaller strategic. This study expects to fill the literature gap by extending the understanding of boardroom-diversity-performance relationship in the emerging context.     

The role of budgets in organizations facing strategic change: an exploratory study

Recent attention in the general management literature has focused on mechanisms and processes used by organizations to respond and adapt to changes in their operating environment. There is, however, very little broad-based empirical research examining the role that management accounting control systems can play in shaping organizational change. Much of the empirical research to date has focused on the role of accounting as a diagnostic tool for assessing and rewarding managerial performance despite the recognition that accounting can serve as a dialogue, learning and idea creation machine (Burchell et al., 1980. Accounting Organisations and Society 5,5–27). The purpose of this study is to explore how accounting can serve this alternative role. We use (Simons, R. 1990.) Accounting Organisations and Society 15, 127–143). interactive/diagnostic classification of management control systems to capture how accounting can be used as a learning machine in the formulation and implementation of strategic change. A theoretical model is developed to examine the relationship between strategic change, style of budget use and performance. It is argued that an interactive style of budget use can mitigate the disruptive performance effects of the strategic change process. The data, collected from Chief Executive Officers in 63 public hospitals, provide results that are consistent with our expectations.     

The Business Values Scorecard within BAE Systems: The evolution of a performance measurement system

This paper explores the evolution of a performance measurement system in BAE Systems, a UK aerospace company. In 1994, the company embarked on a culture change project, which focused the organisation on five key values: performance, people, customers, partnerships, and innovation and technology. Tracing the mechanisms used to implement these values through the culture change project, the study describes the introduction of the “Business Values Scorecard” (BVS), which provided a way of translating the five key values into a coherent set of performance measures. The paper contrasts the BVS in BAE Systems with the balanced scorecard (BSC) of Kaplan and Norton, emphasising the importance of “coherence”, rather than cause-and-effect relationships. Furthermore, the BVS was not simply designed and then implemented; instead it evolved over an extended period of time. Finally, while it reflected the strategic vision of senior managers, the BVS was used as a tool to enable strategy to emerge from within the organisation, rather than as a mechanism for cascading down the hierarchy the strategy previously established by top-level managers. However, although the profitability of the company increased significantly over the period of the culture change project, many other things were also changing; consequently, it is not possible to isolate the effects on profits of introducing the BVS. Nevertheless, the belief within BAE Systems is that the BVS has made an important contribution to the recent success of the company.     

Strategic Management Thinking and Practice in the Public Sector: A Strategic Planning for All Seasons?

This paper explores how strategic management thinking manifests itself in strategic management practice in the public sector. Mintzberg's framework of ten strategic management schools of thought is chosen for mapping strategic management thinking. The paper analyses a convenience sample of 35 strategic management processes, observation of an agency's strategy reformulation process and interviews of managers in the public sector in Norway for informing the discussion. Strategic planning is heavily criticised in some of the business strategy literature. The analysis indicates that strategic management in the public sector extensively uses strategic planning, bundled with certain other schools of thought, despite tendencies to downplay formal, mechanistic planning in contemporary strategic management theory.     

国有商业银行实施战略转型的动因、路径和策略研究

商业银行战略转型是指商业银行根据外部监管、竞争、客户及技术等环境的变化在业务、产品、区域和盈利结构上进行重大的调整及变化。因此,商业银行在实施战略转型时其自身与环境的一致性随着时间的变化在形式、内涵、状态上所表现出来的差异,足以影响商业银行的生存和可持续发展。本文运用平衡型战略变化模型,指出影响国有商业银行战略转型的外部环境变化因素主要为国内经济发展、入世承诺兑现、信息技术应用、客户需求变化、竞争压力升级这五个方面,内部阻力因素主要为思维、结构、制度和人才这四个方面,在此基础上,文章提出了国有商业银行战略转型的实施路径和具体策略安排。     

Environmental management and business strategy: Towards a new strategic paradigm

There has been considerable debate in recent years regarding the direction in which environmental business strategy can be expected to develop in the future. This article seeks to investigate the extent to which firms have sought to change the basis of their strategic decision making, from a shareholder value paradigm to one reflecting an environmental focus. The results of a 1994 survey are reported and evaluated in the light of previous survey findings. Despite an increasing coverage in the literature of how individual firms have been responding to the environmental challenge, the findings of the present survey do not lend support to the view that there has been an underlying transformation in the process of strategic management. The findings tend to support the view that such a paradigm shift is more likely to take place in a legislative rather than a voluntary context.