Management Accounting Lag

Kaplan (1984) claimed that there has been little innovation in the last sixty years in the design and implementation of management accounting systems. Current systems lag changes in manufacturing processes. This paper provides a framework to explain that this lag in organizations may be due to the perceived greater complexity and lesser relative advantage, compatibility, trialability and observability of administrative (e.g., accounting) innovations as compared with technical innovations. The empirical research not only supports the existence of an accounting lag, but also suggests that there may be a substantial reward for those organizations that can remedy it.     

Determinants of accounting innovation implementation

Accounting innovations are often not successfully implemented or diffused throughout the organization. This study seeks to explain this phenomenon. One of the major impediments to the successful implementation of accounting innovation is that management accounting systems are generally used to serve the decision control needs of top management while at the same time purportedly supporting the decision management needs of lower level managers. To the extent that the accounting system is used for decision control, innovation creates the potential for wealth effects to occur. This prompts managers, whose wealth will be negatively affected, to resist accounting innovation. We present conditions where it is likely for negative wealth effects to occur. Under these conditions the system will fail to achieve its intended objectives. Our theoretical model examines how decentralization choices influence resistance to accounting innovation. We argue that delegation of decision rights can limit the potential for resistance in two ways—(a) by creating the environment which allows managers to ensure that their subunits are able to adapt to the new signals provided by accounting innovations and (b) by enabling subunit managers to become involved in the design of these systems. Our model also enables us to assess the consequences on organizational outcomes when subunit managers resist accounting innovations. Based on data collected from production managers, our results demonstrate the importance of decentralization choices on the effective implementation of accounting innovations.     

The diffusion of management accounting innovations in the public sector: a research agenda

There have been numerous studies of the transformation of the public sector. This paper has a different focus: the dissemination and adoption of management accounting practices within the new public sector. The aim of the paper is explore the manner and means of diffusion, the obstacles to adoption and to establish a research agenda. The paper discusses findings of a survey on diffusion sent to public sector financial managers. The results of the survey indicate, inter alia, that adoption of accounting innovations by public sector organisations is largely affected by government influence. This study has interesting findings, but also points to the need for a new research agenda on the diffusion of management accounting practices in the public sector.     

The implementation of Activity-Based Costing in China: An innovation action research approach

Research on Activity-Based Costing and its applications has mainly been focused on organisations in developed countries. Little has been learnt as to whether ABC techniques can be implemented successfully in organisations in developing countries. With the adoption of an innovation action research approach, we have successfully developed an ABC system jointly with a large Chinese manufacturing company, Xu Ji Electric Co. Ltd. (Xu Ji), for the period 2001–2005. The research provides a unique opportunity to examine some key success factors pertinent to ABC implementation within a Chinese organisational and cultural setting. The findings indicate that top management support, which has been identified as an important success factor in ABC literature, is evidently the predominant success factor in this organisation. In addition, Xu Ji's corporate culture of “top–down” instigation of the adoption of a series of management innovations (e.g., Economic-Value Added^®, Balanced Scorecards and Six Sigma) and its hierarchical command and communication structure, coupled with active involvement of a high proportion of dedicated professionals, can be seen as another success factor in achieving a relatively high level of diffusion of this accounting concept within the organisation. This study also reveals a different insight of internal resistance to change, which is contrary to the evidence presented in the existing ABC literature.     

FACTORS IMPACTING ON ACCOUNTING LAG: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF RESPONDING TO TQM

The academic literature is critical of management accountants for their failure to initiate change and their inability to promote changed accounting information systems and performance measurement. The motivation for this study is provided by Kaplan (1986) who suggests that ‘when manufacturing operations change, the last and most difficult component to change is the accounting system’, and by Dunk (1989) who finds that accounting innovations lag operational innovations and that there are benefits arising from minimizing the time taken to adopt new accounting measures.The introduction of new management accounting systems to support management initiatives, provides the opportunity to investigate those factors contributing to accounting lag, and to determine those strategies which might usefully be employed to reduce accounting lag. This study examines the responses of accounting systems to TQM implementations at six diverse manufacturing sites in Adelaide, South Australia.Wolfe (1994), Rogers (1995), Gosselin (1997) and Bjornenak (1997) provide a theoretical framework for the investigation of the diffusion of accounting innovation and suggestions of the contextual factors which will influence its impact. This study suggests that industry sector, management commitment, organizational structure, participation and financial performance are all influential in the diffusion process, but in an inconsistent manner.     

Accelerating innovation in local government

This paper examines what local government leaders might do to achieve more major cost-saving innovations. It brings together the findings from four UK studies on what encourages innovation in councils, covering the perspectives of council chief executives, frontline employees, political leaders and middle managers. It discusses the similarities and the differences between different groups’ views. It suggests the most important actions local government leaders might take to successfully implement more significant innovations more quickly.     

Effect of cognitive style and professional development on the initiation of radical and non-radical management accounting innovations

This study examines the effects of adaptive/innovative cognitive style, and professional development on the initiation of radical and non‐radical innovations by individual management accountants. Data are gathered through questionnaire and follow‐up interviews with practising management accountants. The results show that management accountants with a more innovative (adaptive) cognitive style tend to initiate more (fewer) radical relative to non‐radical innovations, and that this effect is amplified by professional development. The study has implications for research in management accounting innovation and for practice, including the importance of maintaining a balance of radical and non‐radical innovations in organizations, and of professional development.     

Implementing ABC: An Australian Feasibility Study

Activity-based costing systems have been one of the most important innovations in accounting practice in recent years, yet we know little about the practical difficulties associated with the design and implementation of such systems. This study examines the objections put forward in the management accounting literature, which suggest that costs outweigh benefits in ABC implementations. The arguments are developed in the context of an Australian feasibility study. Encouraging lessons from the study suggest that a systematic approach to the implementation of ABC will yield significant benefits.     

管理会计变革与创新的实地研究

本文在已有文献的基础上提出了管理会计变革的制度化模型,并通过我国上市公司ABC实施的实地研究进行理论检验和发展。该模型从一个全新的视觉,即新的管理会计规则和惯例的制度化的实现来衡量管理会计变革与创新的成功;强调制度化的实现要通过一个进化式的阶段变革过程来完成;每个阶段在不同程度上要受到外部环境、个人特征、组织、技术、任务特征等因素的影响;并通过三种分类方式对制度化后果进行评价。本文研究有助于我们深刻理解管理会计变革的过程本质和后果,并为我国企业引进和实施管理会计创新提供极其宝贵的经验证据。     

Short and long translations: Management accounting calculations and innovation management

Management accounting calculations relate innovation to the firm through translations where both can change. Based on examples of the management of innovation from three firms the study shows how management accounting calculations rather than describe the properties of innovation add perspective to them mediating between innovation concerns and firm-wide concerns. This mediation happens through short and long translations. In short translations, management accounting calculations extend or reduce innovation activities via a single calculation. In long translations innovation activities are problematised via multiple calculations. When calculations challenge each other in long translations they problematise not only what innovation should be, but also where it should be located in time and space. In the three examples, calculations mobilised alternative propositions about the relevance of technical artefacts and linked this to innovation strategy and sourcing strategy in the firm’s inter-organisational relations. Tensions between calculations associated with technological, organisational and environmental entities framed considerations about the value of innovation to the firm strategically differently. All this happens because management accounting calculations are partial rather than total calculations of firms’ affairs and value.     

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.     

Extending the Classification of European Countries by their IFRS Practices: A Research Note

Abstract

This paper expands the IFRS accounting systems’ classification proposed by Nobes [(2011). IFRS practices and the persistence of accounting system classification. Abacus, 47(3), 267–283] to a broader set of European countries. The results suggest a classification distinguishing between four groups of European countries, and add to the evidence, reported by Kvaal and Nobes [(2010). International differences in IFRS policy choice. Accounting and Business Research, 40(2), 173–187] and Nobes (2011)., that pre-IFRS accounting differences influence the options adopted by firms. This study contributes to the literature suggesting that the widespread adoption of IFRS has not eliminated the differences between national accounting practices and that accounting systems classification did not lose its relevance.     

Towards explaining activity-based costing failure: accounting and control in a decentralized organization

Many of the activity-based costing (ABC) systems introduced in recent years are said to fail (e.g. Cooperet al., 1992; Argyris and Kaplan, 1994; Shields, 1995; Roberts and Silvester, 1996). The use of ABC for surveillance by the group management, with no consequent actions, leads us to propose that claims on ABC failure result, in part, from assessing the use and value of ABCs from the decision-making perspective. The decision-making perspective may be insufficient for capturing the multitude of uses to which ABCs are put in practise. As this study shows, in the context of strategic decision-making the success of ABC cannot depend on whether its results require any actions or decisions to be taken, but on its ability to make a correct diagnosis of the situation. Consequently, some of the so-called ABC failures may not be failures. They may merely reflect a limited appreciation of the uses of accounting and control systems in practise. Nevertheless, failures and resistance are real in a number of organizations. This study explored the origins of resistance to ABC in a case setting, looking at diverse interests of organizational stakeholders, and the role of existing control and information systems in ABC implementation. We show that the resistance may have several sources; some related to the cost and benefits of ABC, some associated with organizational power and politics, and some pertinent to organization culture. The practical implication of this study hinged on the notion that although the resistance to ABC may come from various sources, these sources appear fundamentally structural and are unlikely to be dealt with by employing implementation-based strategies.     

Accounting and organizational cultures: A field study of the emergence of a new organizational reality

Organizations have long been known to have cultural properties. A more recent innovation is the study of organizations as cultures: systems of knowledge, beliefs and values in which action and artifact are vested with expressive qualities. We know little about the way in which accounting is implicated in organizations' cultures. This paper reports a longitudinal field study of organizational change, tracing out the way in which new accounting practices were implicated in an emergent reconstruction of the organization's culture.     

Examining Management Accounting Change as Rules and Routines: The Effect of Rule Precision

This study examines change in management accounting practices as change in rules and routines. Informed by the institutional theory‐inspired framework of Burns and Scapens (2000) , the rules and routines relating to capital expenditure controls in a capital‐intensive organisation are analysed. We explain how preciseness of rules affects not only the coupling of rules to routines, but also the emergence of multiple routines, enhancing the understanding of how management accounting practices remain stable and/or change over time. These results extend and refine recent research relating to management accounting change and offer new empirical insights into practice.     

Stock Market Reactions to SFAS No. 96: Evidence from Early Bank Adopters

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 96, “Accounting for Income Taxes,” issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in December 1987 changed accounting for income tax recognition and accrual. The original deadline for implementation of SFAS No. 96 was December 15, 1988, and earlier adoption was encouraged. This study examines empirically the stock price impact of four pertinent announcement dates regarding SFAS No. 96 for 19 banks that adopted the statement in late 1987 and early 1988. Our results suggest that these early bank adopters have different characteristics from other banks that cause them to benefit from the changes in accounting for deferred taxes and explain their voluntary adoption of the standard.     

A Review of Big Data Research in Accounting

The impending fourth industrial revolution has enhanced the role of big data analytics in today’s business practice. Consequently, many now consider big data as the most strategic resource in business to the extent that organizations that fail to utilize it may become competitively disadvantaged. Following these developments, questions have been raised about the future of the accounting discipline, especially in terms of how it can continue to add value to organizations. While some scholars have attempted to address this question, it remains an abstract concept requiring further investigation. Therefore, this study conducts a systematic literature review to determine the status of accounting research on big data analytics and provides avenues for further studies. By conducting co-occurrence network analysis on 52 peer-reviewed articles published from 2010 to 2020, three broad themes emerged, entailing big data implications for accounting practice, education, and research design. A further examination of the themes revealed few empirical studies on the phenomenon, as conceptual research dominates the field. Although external audit implications of big data are widely discussed, other accounting domains (e.g., managerial accounting and taxation) are underexplored. Therefore, future studies may focus on the implications of big data on variables such as performance measurement, information governance, tax behavior, curriculum design, and pedagogy.     

Books to be practiced: Memory,the power of the visual,and the success of accounting

The aim of this paper is to explore the conditions which allow the emergence of accounting as a performable technique that can spread successfully across economies and societies. Drawing on insights offered by studies on the art of memory, Actor-Network Theory, and that broader branch of history known as the history of the book, it is argued that the emergence and spread of accounting can be understood by studying the relationships among four interrelated aspects: the nature of accounting as a method of classification for the organisation of thinking and knowledge; its reliance on images and its visual impact; its ‘orthopraxis’ nature, which offers a workable space and time; and the relationships between accounting and the medium through in which it materialises. The combination of these four features explains how it is that accounting is a practice which is homogeneous enough to be recognised as autonomous and heterogeneous enough to attract diversity and create difference. I was motivated to study these issues after examining two early accounting treatises: the Indirizzo degli Economi, by the Benedictine, Pietra (1586) [Pietra, A. (1586). Indirizzo degli economi o sia ordinatissima istruttione da regolamente formare qualunque scrittura in un libro doppio. Aggiuntovi l’essemplare di un Libro nobile co ‘l suo Giornale ad uso della Congregatione Cassinese dell’Ordine in San Benedetto. Mantova: Francesco Osanna]; and the Trattato del libro doppio domestico col suo essemplare, by the Jesuit, Flori (1636), [Flori, L. (1636). Trattato del modo di tenere il libro doppio domestico col suo essemplare composto dal P. Lodovico Flori della Compagnia di Gesù per uso delle case e dei collegi della medesima Compagnia nel Regno di Sicilia, in Palermo, per Decio Cirillo]. Along with studies examining the emergence of modern management as a result of an economic need for rationalisation, the paper offers material for reflecting on a concomitant rationale which views innovations in the method of organisation, visual presentation, medium of communication, and praxis, as the mayor forces in the diffusion of accounting in both historical and contemporary settings.     

The relationship between strategic priorities,management techniques and management accounting: an empirical investigation using a systems approach

The study examines how combinations of management techniques and management accounting practices enhance the performance of organizations, under particular strategic priorities. Companies were identified as emphasizing product differentiation, low price strategies or a combination of both. Management techniques included in the study were improving existing processes; quality systems; manufacturing systems innovations; integrating systems; team-based structures and human resource management policies. Management accounting practices important in assisting managers implement management techniques were traditional management accounting techniques; activity-based techniques; balanced performance measures; employee-based measures; benchmarking and strategic planning. A systems approach, using cluster analysis, was used to examine hypothesized associations between performance and a range of management techniques and management accounting practices, under various strategic orientations. This provided a method to examine the way in which the entire range of variables combined to affect performance.     

An environmentally enlightened accounting

Environmental stewardship must become a primary concern if management is to adequately fulfil its societal responsibilities. Management and accounting information systems must aggressively respond to these emerging requirements in order to support adequately the associated information needs as well as to design organizational systems that motivate and facilitate desired behavior. Our purpose here is to consider a framework useful for developing environmentally enlightening management and accounting information systems that take into account alternative environmental perspectives. The framework can be used to develop prototypes representing different levels of environmental enlightenment, and as such, can provide general guidance for moving collectives and organizations toward a more environmentally responsible posture. The framework is illustrated using an example from the salmon farming industry provided in [Geogakopoulous, G., & Thomson, I., 2004. Organic salmon farming: Risk perceptions, decision heuristics and the absence of environmental accounting. In Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting. Singapore, July 4–7, 2004, this paper has since been published in this edition of Accounting Forum].