Management accounting and control practices in a lean manufacturing environment

A lean strategy is rapidly becoming the dominant paradigm in manufacturing. Kennedy and Widener (2008) use a case study to develop a theoretical framework of management accounting and control practices for firms following a lean manufacturing strategy. We build on Kennedy and Widener (2008) by examining a structural equation model that provides evidence on the extent to which a lean manufacturing implementation is related to five management accounting and control practices. Using survey data from 244 US companies with an interest in lean manufacturing, we find a direct positive relation between the extent of a lean manufacturing implementation and a simplified strategic reporting system, value stream costing, visual performance measurement information, and employee empowerment. We find a direct negative relation with inventory tracking; however, we find it is conditional on the extent of top management support for change in production strategies such that firms decrease reliance on inventory tracking in the presence of strong management support. We also conclude that the management accounting and control practices work together as a package in a lean manufacturing environment as evidenced by the many direct associations among the five management accounting and control practices.     

Management accounting practices in Europe: a perspective from the States

I provide a perspective from the States on four questions primarily based on information inManagement Accounting: European Perspectivesedited by Al Bhimani (1996). First, seven factors are identified as having shaped management accounting practices in European nations—academics, education, government, professional associations, consultants, technology, and the inter-nation transfer of information. Second, evidence supports the view that, across European nations, more changes are occurring in management accounting practice terminology and techniques than in the purposes and styles of using management accounting techniques. Third, evidence indicates that there is convergence across European nations in management accounting practices, especially in terminology and techniques, but less convergence in the purposes and styles of using techniques. Fourth, management accounting practices in European nations, particularly terminology and techniques, is converging on a global management accounting practice model. I propose that management accounting practices—particularly terminology and techniques—is converging across nations (at least for those firms that are affected by the global economy)anddiverging across industries both within and between nations.     

Towards an understanding of excel functional skills needed for a career in public accounting: Perceptions from public accountants and accounting students

Public accounting firms (e.g., Grant Thornton, 2012) are stressing an interest in recruiting accounting students with a proficiency in Excel. The purpose of this study is to investigate which Excel functions are perceived to be important and useful for new hires to understand prior to starting a job in public accounting. We collect survey data from four large public accounting firms as well as undergraduate and graduate accounting students (i.e., potential new hires) to gauge perceptions of Excel importance, knowledge, and usage in public accounting. We find that employees at the firms believe the most important Excel functions are: basic formula, filter and sort data, vertical (horizontal) lookup, formatting of documents, and If/Then statements. In a comparison of new hires at public accounting firms with accounting students, results suggest that accounting students underestimate the importance and usage of some of these Excel functions. In addition, results suggest that new hires’ perceived knowledge on how to use specific Excel functions in their accounting job is statistically different than students’ perceived knowledge on how to use some of the same Excel functions. Our research contributes to educational accounting literature by documenting which Excel functions employers in public accounting want new hires to know prior to starting a job in public accounting. Also, this research informs accounting educators that students’ perceptions are not the same as public accounting employers’ expectations with respect to analytical skills using Excel technology.     

Determining the feasibility of an internship program in public accounting

In recognition of the desirability of practical experience for the accounting student, a pilot internship program was undertaken. This paper describes the structuring and implementation of that program and discusses the evaluation of the program by the student interns and the participating CPA firm. Requirements for student participation in the internship course and an outline for employer evaluation of the interns are included.     

Desired attributes of public accounting firms in the job selection process: an empirical examination of accounting graduates' perceptions

The purpose of this study is to identify attributes of public accounting firms that accounting graduates find most desirable in their job selection decisions, and the impacts of individual differences on these perceptions. Factor analysis performed on the responses of 167 final-year accounting students in Hong Kong to a 30-item questionnaire identified seven factors. The results indicate that accounting graduates considered help in finishing their professional accounting examinations and good staff relationships as the most important criteria in their choice of employers. In addition, female accounting graduates were more concerned about the possibility of being required to travel or be transferred, but were less concerned about the reputation and profile (such as the client base and the size) of the firms than their male counterparts. Accounting graduates with a higher grade point average (GPA) were less concerned about the working environment, but more concerned about a firms' reputation and profile than those with a lower GPA. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Visualizing the negative space: Making feminine accounting practices visible by reference to Japanese women's household accounting practices

This study explores the nature of feminine accounting practices by examining the household accounting practices of Japanese women in the second half of the twentieth century. Household accounting in Japan provides an excellent research site to understand the nature of feminine accounting practices. The social significance of the Japanese household and the country's cultural emphasis on interdependence mean that accounting has a different meaning in the life of Japanese women, compared to what has been identified in Anglo-Saxon-based studies. The study finds that their accounting practice is characterized by the integration of masculine and feminine qualities, as illustrated by Dillard and Reynolds (2008), and is more enabling in nature. Women use ‘hard’, objective accounting figures both to foster the long-term development of the family and to contribute to Japanese society. Accounting has been a vehicle for women to express their motherhood and construct their identity as women. The distinctive nature of Japanese women's accounting practice and the role this practice plays in facilitating feminine values highlight how important it is to further investigate feminine accounting practice in different social and cultural contexts in order to develop gender research in accounting.     

Organizational culture in public accounting: Size, technology, rank, and functional area

This study examines the nature of organizational culture in public accounting and demonstrates that different aspects of culture exist across and within public accounting firms. Organizational culture is defined in terms of values shared by members of an organization (or organizational sub-unit) that manifest themselves in the practices of that organization. Practices particularly important to the development and maintenance of culture include selection and socialization. The hypotheses state that different aspects of organizational culture vary across public accounting firms of different size and technology, and public accountants of different rank and functional area. These hypotheses are tested and largely supported with responses to a paper and pencil instrument, the Values Survey Module (Hofstede, Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation, 1982), which was completed by 338 public accountants across the United States. Implications for accountants and future research are also discussed.     

Management accounting in Europe: a view from Canada

On the basis of a reading ofManagement Accounting: European Perspectivesedited by Al Bhimani (1996) there appears to be no historical pan-European perspective on management accounting. However, following the advent of the relevance lost and strategic cost management movements, and especially activity-based costing, there does seem to be emerging a certain homogeneity in European management accounting practices. This commentary questions the intellectual and practical basis for these movements and activity-based costing. It also identifies some of the particular achievements of European management accounting researchers which are not covered in the book.     

Management control of public and not-for-profit activities

Traditional approaches to management control usually fail for public and not-for-profit activities.¹ The type of control applicable to such activities depends on four criteria: are objectives unambiguous, outputs measurable, effects of interventions known, and is the activity repetitive? Depending on where activities stand with regard to these criteria, the control applicable corresponds to one of six different types: routine, expert, trial-and-error, intuitive, judgemental, or political control. The first three types can be represented by cybernetic models; the other three ask for more complex and less deterministic models. For these, a “political” and a “garbage-can” model are described. Key elements in the latter models are the values and the culture of the actors. As an example, the topology for management control is applied to the area of budgeting, covering regular budgeting as well as such techniques as PPBS, MBO, and ZBB and distinguishing between investment budgets, operations budgets for input centers, and operations budgets for input-output centers. Coming back to management control in general, the paper discusses the consequences of choosing the wrong model for a given management control situation: it distinguishes between “Type I” and “Type II” errors. It finally relates management control to organizational adaptation and suggests how to avoid control systems which prevent an organizational system from learning.     

Management control packages: a literature review and guidelines for public sector research

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of a management control (MC) element, such as performance measurement, may depend on other MC elements, such as organizational values and training activities. This is why MC elements should be studied ‘as a package’, instead of as isolated elements. Although examining MC elements as a package has the potential to make significant contributions to ongoing debates, this approach is largely absent in the academic public sector management literature. This paper reviews the MC package literature, examines its implications for public sector research and practice, and aids future research by discussing research design choices and research directions.     

Going public: The role of accounting and shareholder value in making sense of an IPO

This study draws on interviews with corporate executives from four companies that went public and financial analysts involved in evaluating these firms. Top managers in all companies became more focused on short-term financial results than they had been when the companies were private. We contribute to existing research by analyzing, empirically and theoretically, the processes producing this focus. Following an IPO process offered a unique insight into a gradual increase in emphasis on accounting metrics through the outcomes of guided and restricted sensemaking. When preparing for the IPO, guided sensemaking produced an IPO prospectus incorporating quantitative and qualitative commitments. Quantitative commitments were based on accounting metrics, such as earnings per share and profit margin, which provided an important foundation for the financial focus. These commitments became the anchor for subsequent sensegiving and restricted sensemaking when the companies were listed. With the financial analysts as the social anchors, the richer communication in the prospectus was narrowed down to comprise an exclusive focus on the quantitative accounting commitments. The long-term accounting commitments in the prospectus were transformed into short-term targets that must be met when the financial measures served as specific and concrete extracted cues to quickly provide structure to the uncertain situation, gain the financial analysts’ confidence and sustain action. One year after the IPO, the financial focus was taken for granted and managers had accepted the rules of the game.     

Harmonizing public sector accounting in Europe: thinking out of the box

A broad debate about the harmonization of public sector accounting standards in Europe is underway. The authors provide arguments in favour of harmonization, but they also acknowledge the existing pluralism and diversity by taking stock of the state of play in 14 European countries. The paper makes a proposal for a way forward for policy-makers and standard-setters, in which the benefits of harmonization can be obtained without obliging EU member countries to necessarily abandon their current public sector accounting systems.     

Judges' attitudes toward the public accounting profession: An update

This study examines U.S. judges' attitudes toward the public accounting profession and the extent to which they have changed over the last 16 years: (a) early in the decade of the 1990's (1993), (b) late in the decade of the 1990's, but before the Enron and subsequent corporate accounting debacles (1997), (c) three years after the Enron debacle (2003), and (d) following the recent market collapse related to the failures of our financial institutions (2009). As previously reported (Reckers et al., 2004) attitudes of judges toward the public accounting profession are known to be representative of the views of other stakeholders (lawyers, jurors and MBAs) and would be expected, and have been found, to be relatively stable over time. Nonetheless attitudes are subject to change if given a substantial stimulus and the corporate debacles at the beginning of this decade, the corresponding CPA firm litigation and the demise of Arthur Andersen arguably constituted such a stimulus. It was reported that a significant erosion of judges' attitudes toward the public accounting profession could be measured in 2003 (Reckers et al, 2004). Given that judicial attitudes have been found to be significantly correlated with judgments rendered in a laboratory experiments, sharp erosion of attitudes is a concern. Judges were re-examined in 2009 to determine if attitudes had potentially rebounded. Reasons to expect attitudes may have rebounded include (a) expectations related to federal reforms of the auditing profession (e.g., SOX, PCAOB), (b) lack of recent accounting scandals, and (c) the financial institutions debacles of 2008. In comparison to the perceived abuses of the financial industry revealed in 2008, the earlier accounting abuses may have faded away.     

Management accounting texts in New Zealand: the need for a paradigm shift

This paper questions the dominance in textbooks of a management accounting grounded largely in neo-classical economics and scientific management. In New Zealand the most popular textbook used in introductory management accounting courses is Horngren and Foster's Cost Accounting - a Managerial Emphasis.The current seventh edition of the text, although extensively used, is not regarded as adequate for the purpose by many New Zealand educators. The text is seen as being rootd firmly in the traditional understandings of the role of management accounting which are subject to increasing challenge. Other popular texts which are influencing the content of management accounting courses also are reviewed. We conclude that, despite much criticism over many years, modern textbooks have failed to evolve; change is overdue.     

An empirical examination of stress in public accounting

This paper presents the results of an investigation of stress in public accounting, using a national sample of certified public accountants. The relationship between a set of predictor variables (organizational stressors and work/home conflict) and a set of criterion variables (job-related tension, job dissatisfaction, and propensity to leave public accounting) was analyzed using canonical correlation analysis. Job-related tension was associated with heavy work demands; job dissatisfaction and intension to leave were associated with slow career progress, unfulfilling jobs, and unclear job objectives.     

企业并购会计处理问题探讨

企业并购,即企业之间的合并与收购行为。企业合并是指两家或更多的独立企业合并组成一家公司,常由一家占优势的公司吸收一家或更多的公司。我国《公司法》规定:公司合并可采取吸收合并和新设合并两种形式。一个公司吸收其他公司,被吸收的公司解散,称为吸收合并。两个以上公司合并设立一个新的公司,合并各方解散,称为新设合并。收购是企业通过现金或股权方式收购其他企业产权的交易行为。     

Framing public governance in Malaysia: Rhetorical appeals through accrual accounting

In government, the challenges of governance and anti-corruption are exacerbated by accounting not being fit for purpose. In developing countries, many governments adopt accrual accounting as a panacea. Drawing on Goffman's frame analysis, and rhetorical appeals to logic, credibility and emotion, this paper examines the adoption of accrual accounting in Malaysia. It was found accrual accounting has potential for keying governance and anti-corruption. However, rhetorical appeals that attempt to legitimate neo-liberalism and engender public support in the name of progress were hindered by perceptions of endemic corruption and relatively weak democratic institutions of ‘good’ governance common to developing countries.     

New development: The protective role of conservatism in public sector accounting

This article picks up a discussion in international business accounting about the appropriate definition and use of conservatism (or prudence) and calls for a similar discussion in public sector accounting. If financial reports present an overly optimistic situation, politicians might use them to justify spending public money that is not there, risking the sustainability of services and ‘borrowing’ from future generations.