A Theoretical Analysis of the Impact of Adopting Rolling Budgets,Activity-Based Budgeting and Beyond Budgeting

Budgeting accomplishes many goals in an organization and evaluating the potential impact of a change is difficult. I investigate the organization-wide effects of three distinct budgeting alternatives (rolling budgets, activity-based budgeting and beyond budgeting) using a model that incorporates three important budgeting functions: forecasting, operational planning and performance evaluation. From the perspective of the whole organization, each budgeting alternative improves profits. I then examine the department preferences for each alternative when each function is under the control of a different department and each department has its own, department-specific performance metric. Forecasting is judged on the variance of the base demand forecast, operational planning on the expected unit capacity costs and performance evaluation on the salesperson's expected action. In my model all departments always favor rolling forecasts, while only one department always favors beyond budgeting (or activity-based budgeting). For beyond budgeting and activity-based budgeting, the preferences of the two other departments vary depending upon the model parameters.     

管理会计方法体系构建探析

本文认为,管理会计所涉及的是企业经营管理活动中的问题,即预测、决策、规划、控制等,要解决的是企业不同时期、不同经济环境下发生的问题,因而其方法灵活多样,因地、因时、因事而异。基于管理对象和生产经营过程构建管理会计的方法体系,有利于加强管理会计方法的可操作性,能有效促使管理会计理论、方法在企业管理过中得到进一步应用。     

我国预算管理理论和实践综述

预算管理作为一种管理控制工具,在西方已经经历了四个发展阶段,其间传入我国。经过20多年的发展,预算管理已成为我国企业普遍应用的管理手段。从评述西方预算管理理论开始,重点探讨了预算管理理论在我国的应用。预算管理的实践和发展在我国可以分为四个方面:预算管理基础理论的建立,将预算管理理论和实务的紧密联系,与管理会计工具的整合,以及以创造价值为目标的预算管理。本文可为我国企业更好地运用全面预算管理这一管理会计工具提供借鉴。     

When Organisations Deinstitutionalise Control Practices: A Multiple-Case Study of Budget Abandonment

Abstract

Drawing on a framework of deinstitutionalisation, this study explores the abandonment of budgeting through a multiple-case study of four companies. The findings illustrate how a number of antecedents to deinstitutionalisation acted in each setting and show that abandonment was only achieved through skilful agency by dominant insiders to construct the need and manage for change. In addition, a finding of the study is that two of the four companies reversed the deinstitutionalisation and reintroduced traditional budgeting. This is explained by highlighting the role of remnants of formerly institutionalised practices and by demonstrating the importance of administrative and cultural controls which can support the abandonment of a central accounting control practice in the first place. Overall, this research extends previous studies of deinstitutionalisation by analysing a taken-for-granted practice at the micro-level and by giving a more agentic account of its processes.     

浅谈工程项目成本控制的措施

所谓工程项目成本控制,就是在完成一个施工项目的整个阶段,将该阶段所产生的费用支出,进行有系统、有规律的预算、筹划、控制、核算和分析等等科学管理的工作。为了确保成本目标的顺利完成,需对生产经营所消耗的物质资源和费用开支,立即改正未来可能或者之前已出现的偏误,以使各项生产费用控制在制定的计划范围之内。而在学校建设中也是可以借鉴的。     

Improving forecasting for telemarketing centers by ARIMA modeling with intervention

In this study we analyze existing and improved methods for forecasting incoming calls to telemarketing centers for the purposes of planning and budgeting. We analyze the use of additive and multiplicative versions of Holt–Winters (HW) exponentially weighted moving average models and compare it to Box–Jenkins (ARIMA) modeling with intervention analysis. We determine the forecasting accuracy of HW and ARIMA models for samples of telemarketing data. Although there is much evidence in recent literature that “simple models” such as Holt–Winters perform as well as or better than more complex models, we find that ARIMA models with intervention analysis perform better for the time series studied.     

从传统绩效预算走向新绩效预算的路径选择

从传统绩效预算走向新绩效预算，代表了现代预算制度的发展方向。20世纪50年代，胡佛委员会倡导的传统绩效预算由于种种原因失败了。随着政府治理变革的不断深化，新绩效预算重新出现在当代预算改革的视野中。本文通过对比传统绩效预算与新绩效预算的成败得失，分析新绩效预算的主要特点——取得了立法机关的支持、适时的政府会计改革、更科学的绩效评价体系和更致力于绩效信息的使用。这些经验对于中国现代预算制度的建设具有重要的启示价值。     

信息技术对财会领域的影响

财会工作是一种管理活动,信息技术在财会领域应用的发展使得会计职能发生了显著的变化,会计人员大量的数据收集、加工工作可由系统自动实现,核算与控制的相对比重发生变化,会计的控制职能直接融于作业的流程当中;管理职能的比重逐渐上升,工作重点转移到参与预测、决策和经营分析等方面,更多地参与企业的经营管理,使会计工作向更高层次方展。     

Managing risk and uncertainty in complex capital projects

In evaluating capital budgeting decisions, quantitative approaches, such as traditional discounted cash flow modeling and real options valuations, are useful when there is a presumed probability distribution for the future forecasted outcomes or for when there are lower levels of uncertainty. As uncertainty increases and forecasting becomes difficult, the value of financial modeling techniques decreases. Borrowing from the strategic management literature, we argue that it may be useful to employ a qualitative approach to evaluate capital projects when faced with high levels of uncertainty. In order to illustrate our argument, we use a derivative of scenario planning and qualitative real options to evaluate non-quantifiable factors in a project for the National Ignition Facility.     

基于不同融资体系的国别会计差异研究

笔者由于政治、经济、法律等因素的影响,各国的会计模式呈现出巨大差异。各国的融资体系差异对会计模式选择具有重要影响。以资本市场为导向的融资体系更倾向于会计信息的公允性,而以银行等机构为导向的融资体系则更关注会计利润的平滑性。通过比较两种融资体系的差异,说明这些差异对各国会计模式产生的影响,以探寻融资模式在国别会计及国际会计协调中的重要作用。     

Google data in bridge equation models for German GDP

Interest in the use of “big data” when it comes to forecasting macroeconomic time series such as private consumption or unemployment has increased; however, applications to the forecasting of GDP remain rather rare. This paper incorporates Google search data into a bridge equation model, a version of which usually belongs to the suite of forecasting models at central banks. We show how such big data information can be integrated, with an emphasis on the appeal of the underlying model in this respect. As the decision as to which Google search terms should be added to which equation is crucial —- both for the forecasting performance itself and for the economic consistency of the implied relationships —- we compare different (ad-hoc, factor and shrinkage) approaches in terms of their pseudo real time out-of-sample forecast performances for GDP, various GDP components and monthly activity indicators. We find that sizeable gains can indeed be obtained by using Google search data, where the best-performing Google variable selection approach varies according to the target variable. Thus, assigning the selection methods flexibly to the targets leads to the most robust outcomes overall in all layers of the system.     

Forecasting: its role and value for planning and strategy

Long-term predictions are indispensable for planning and strategy. Yet little is known about their value, their limitations or the most appropriate way of making and using them. This paper examines these issues and proposes two approaches to long-term forecasting while illustrating their use to planning and strategy. The first approach consists of identifying and extrapolating critical long-term trends while assessing their impact on society and firms. The second approach studies the analogy of the industrial and information revolutions and the specific consequences of the industrial revolution's five most important inventions in terms of the consequences of similar ones of the information revolution. The paper concludes by advocating that much needs to be done to integrate forecasting, on the one hand, and long-term planning and strategy, on the other. The purpose of such integration is to increase the ability of organizations to anticipate important, forthcoming changes, and their consequences, and successfully adapt themselves to these changes as well as the opportunities and dangers associated with them.     

Analysts' Forecasts of German Firms' Earnings: a Comparative Analysis

This paper examines analysts' forecasts of the annual earnings per share of German firms over the period of February 1987 to December 1995. The German case is particularly interesting as the accounting and institutional structures vary from those in more thoroughly researched markets such as the U.S. or U.K. The paper therefore considers the features of the German forecasting environment which distinguish it from the Anglo-American model, and whether these might be reflected in forecasting performance. The results for Germany show that the accuracy of analysts' forecasts improves as the forecast horizon shortens, are less accurate than a naive prediction model over longer horizons, and contain a positive bias. When the results for Germany are contrasted with the results for the U.K., as reported in a recent paper, they are found to be a little less accurate but the positive bias is greater in U.K. forecasts. Taken overall the forecasting process in Germany appears to be less efficient than in the U.K., but this may be due to the distinct features of the German forecasting environment.     

The Role of International Financial Reporting Standards in Accounting Quality: Evidence from the European Union

Previous studies on the effect of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on accounting quality often have difficulties to control for confounding factors on accounting quality. As a result, the observed changes in accounting quality could not be attributed mainly to IFRS. We use a unique research setting to address this issue by comparing the accounting quality of publicly listed companies in 15 member states of the European Union (EU) before and after the full adoption of IFRS in 2005. We use five indicators as proxies for accounting quality. We find that the majority of accounting quality indicators improved after IFRS adoption in the EU. That is, there is less of managing earnings toward a target, a lower magnitude of absolute discretionary accruals, and higher accruals quality. But our results also show that firms engage in more earnings smoothing and recognize large losses in a less timely manner in post‐IFRS periods. In addition, we examine the effects of institutional variables on financial reporting quality. Our contribution to the literature is that we show the improved accounting quality is attributable to IFRS, rather than changes in managerial incentives, institutional features of capital markets, and general business environment, etc.     

DETERMINANTS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING SYSTEMS IN LARGE ORGANIZATIONS: A CONTINGENCY APPROACH*

This study investigates the relationship among four design parameters of planning systems and five different firm and environmental characteristics. The impact of this multivariate relationship on organizational effectiveness is then examined using a sample of 115 large manufacturing firms. The findings show general support for the proposition that, in order to be effective, a strategic planning system should be designed in such a way that the specific situational setting of the firm is reflected in the design. The analysis also indicates that firms adopt a more flexible planning system - captured here by two key variables, planning horizon, and frequency of plan reviews - as the level of environmental complexity increases. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Experimentelle Forschung in der Budgetierung – Lügen, nichts als Lügen?

Budgeting is one of the most important instruments for planning, control and coordination in decentralized firms. Participative budgeting allows a firm’s headquarters to make use of the divisional managers’ superior information when formulating budgets, but, simultaneously, gives the managers the opportunity to benefit from their superior information and to build slack into their budgets. This paper presents experiments analyzing the behavior in participative budgeting processes and explores the question how the actors’ behavior is influenced by pure self-interest on the one hand and non-standard preferences e.g. for the well-being of others or for honesty on the other hand.     

试论建设项目成本预算与控制

如何在完成一个建设项目过程中,对所发生的成本费支出,进行预测、规划、核算、对比、分析、控制等一系列的科学管理工作,使建设项目在预定的时间、预定的质量的前提下,充分采用经济、技术、组织措施,以尽可能少的劳动消耗,实现预定的目标成本,这是建设项目预算的重要任务,也是成本控制的有效手段。     

Defensive Practice Adoption in the Face of Organizational Stigma: Impression Management and the Diffusion of Stock Option Expensing

Although most diffusion research focuses on firms adopting new practices to maintain their legitimacy, this paper examines a setting in which firms adopted a controversial practice to defend themselves against challenges relating to corporate deviance. We argue that understanding defensive adoption requires attending to both the dynamics of organizational stigma and impression management, and test our theoretical claims by analysing the diffusion of an accounting practice, stock option expensing (SOPEX), following the Enron scandal. We first provide evidence that the media and shareholder activists transformed the practice into a defensive device by theorizing it as a solution to problems relating to corporate fraud and corporate governance. Using event history analysis, we then show that corporations that became targets of stigma‐inducing threats were more likely to adopt SOPEX and that the media were a key force channelling these threats.     

Environmental management accounting in Europe: current practice and future potential

Abstract

We examine the impact of managerial financial reporting incentives on accounting quality changes around International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. A novel feature of our single-country setting based on Germany is that voluntary IFRS adoption was allowed and common before IFRS became mandatory. We exploit the revealed preferences in the choice to (not) adopt IFRS voluntarily to determine whether the management of individual firms had incentives to adopt IFRS. For comparability with previous studies, we assess accounting quality through multiple constructs such as earnings management, timely loss recognition, and value relevance. While most existing literature documents accounting quality improvements following IFRS adoption, we find that improvements are confined to firms with incentives to adopt, that is, voluntary adopters. We also find that firms that resist IFRS adoption have closer connections with banks and inside shareholders, consistent with lower incentives for more comprehensive accounting standards. The overall results indicate that reporting incentives dominate accounting standards in determining accounting quality. We conclude that it is unwarranted to infer from evidence on accounting quality changes around voluntary adoption that IFRS per se improves accounting quality.     

Integrated thinking and sustainability reporting assurance: International evidence

Recently, there has been increasing demand by stakeholders for firms to demonstrate how they create value within the context of their operating environment. Consequently, a new reporting approach, integrated reporting (IR), was conceptualised with its development linked to the firm's integrated thinking (IT). Yet very little is known about the effects of IT on firms' reporting decisions. Hence, we investigate whether IT influences firms' decision to publish an assured sustainability report. Using an international dataset, we find that IT is positively associated with sustainability reporting assurance. We also find that this association is moderated by the type of legal system such that for firms in code law countries, the IT effects are reduced. Nevertheless, the effects of IT remain strong, indicating that IT is important for reporting decisions regardless of the firm's contextual setting. These findings have implications for policymakers and organisations interested in promoting high-quality sustainability reporting.