Studying influence and accounting use—Empirical evidence about individual managers and organizations with changes in Galician healthcare

Legislation outlined proposed changes in Galician Health Centres. This allowed us to set down the theory about personal and organizational Information–Influence Matrices and then Frameworks of Issues for the interactions between an individual Financial Manager and a Health Centre Co-ordinator, as well as the proposed organizational changes into a new system [Purdy DE, Gago S. Extending influence and accounting use: developing the frameworks to incorporate Galician legal matters about the proposed healthcare changes with managers and organizations for empirical study. Critical Perspectives on Accounting; in press].Evidence from a longitudinal study covering January 1997 and December 2001, indicated the suitability of these types of Matrices and Frameworks of Issues to analyse conversational data.Results agreed with anticipations at a personal level—wholly for a co-ordinator and partly for the Financial Manager. Differences between the findings and our anticipated Financial Manager's framework are straightforward and we have amended our Framework accordingly. The organization level has followed our anticipations though only 15% of Health Centres had continued with the new system, 85% remained working with the old system.Galician law contained aspirations for changing healthcare with autonomous Health Centres. Spanish health policies and budget laws have inhibited moves to change, as well as the actions of the professionals involved.     

Extending influence and accounting use—Developing the Frameworks to incorporate Galician legal matters about the proposed healthcare changes with managers and organizations for empirical study

The previous paper provided the general approach to Frameworks of research and research methods to study accounting changes in Galician healthcare [Purdy DE, Gago S. Towards a framework to study influence and accounting use. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 2003;14:663–78]. Consideration of the Galician legal and institutional materials provided the details and indicated the need for further analysis. This paper analyses Galician materials and the Spanish notion of retos, considers autonomy in the context of influence and changing information provision. Consequently, the Information–Influence Matrix is revised as are those anticipated for a Financial Manager and a Health Centre Manager. Further Frameworks now consider the organization and institution effects.Work elsewhere has indicated that the promotion of more involvement by employees and the provision of more information to employees has been accompanied by strong narratives favouring such changes. Generally such change has been more favourable for managers than non-management employees.     

Determinants of changes in accounting practices: Accounting and the UK Health Service

This paper uses the Social Forces Model to investigate the interplay between accounting change, institutional evolution and organizational transformations in UK healthcare delivery since 1800. At the same time, the catalytic role of individuals and events is highlighted. The reflexive organizational-accounting interactions are charted to reveal the changing nature of healthcare provision from communitarianism, through etatism to the (etatist inspired) market-based structure which, in turn, is now giving way to service provision based on local planning. By using a long time span it is possible to identify the modes of accounting which were present during the different phases of the development of healthcare. This analysis contributes to our understanding of the historical interplay of social forces by showing accounting as a technical instrument within an institutional setting, by highlighting the interactive nature of accounting and institutional change, by illuminating the role of individual action and by identifying the role of outside agencies.     

创新与趋同相结合的一项准则——评我国新颁布的《企业会计准则——基本准则》

2006年2月15日颁布的《企业会计准则——基本准则》,把创新与趋同结合起来,是协调、连贯和内在一致的规则。基本准则暗含着若干会计基本假设,明确了财务报告的目标和会计信息质量要求。它把会计要素的定义同确认结合起来表述。它使我国会计界耳目一新,并在国际会计惯例趋同方面前进了重要的一步。     

The Usefulness of Accrual Information in Non‐mandatory Environments: The Case of Japanese Local Government

This study investigates how accrual accounting is used in a system in which it co‐exists with cash accounting. It uses a survey methodology to explore the factors that influence the extent to which accrual information is useful for decision making, when used in a dual system. The results show that although accrual information was used less for budgeting, evaluation, asset management or debt management, officials found accrual information useful for performance management. Moreover, neither experience nor leadership significantly contributed to decision‐making effectiveness. The study also found that the central government was the most influential promoter of accrual accounting in Japan. Of particular interest is the link between performance measurement and accrual information.     

企业内部报告框架构建研究

随着会计学的发展和人们对会计信息需求的日益增长,内部报告问题成为会计相关性理论研究和会计信息需求实践中亟待解决的问题。研究现状表明,内部报告理论与体系框架研究的不足或空白,严重制约着会计学及相关学科理论发展,影响企业经营决策与管理控制。本文从基于会计相关性的内部报告理论出发,构建了企业内部报告框架与体系,并探讨了内部报告体系建立的学术影响,目的在于创新与完善内部报告理论体系,创建内部报告整体框架与分类体系,完善与发展会计学及相关学科理论,为企业决策与控制提供有用信息。内部报告理论与体系构建不仅对会计理论及相关学科理论创新具有重要学术价值,同时由于会计相关性本身的应用学科属性,其应用价值也十分明显。     

会计刑事法律责任问题思考

会计刑事责任是最具威慑力的制裁形式,能够起到强大的震慑作用,但目前我国会计信息失真已经达到"公害"的地步,可见会计刑事责任存有不足。笔者运用法律基本原理分析问题,指出会计刑事法律责任不符合罪刑相适应原则、在认定上缺乏具体的技术标准,并提出完善会计刑事法律责任的建议。     

A fundamentalist perspective on accounting and implications for accounting research

This paper presents a framework for addressing normative accounting issues for reporting to shareholders. The framework is an alternative to the emerging Conceptual Framework of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The framework can be broadly characterized as a utilitarian approach to accounting standard setting. It has two main features. First, accounting is linked to valuation models under which shareholders use accounting information to values their stakes. Second, the desirable characteristics of accounting information are inferred from the demand of investors and analysts who use the information in practice. This stands in contrast to the “qualitative characteristics” in the Boards’ Framework which are embraced largely on the basis of their aesthetic appeal. These features lead to a set of broad accounting principles that resolve “recognition” and “measurement” issues at the core of the Boards’ Conceptual Framework and also the central issue of a balance sheet approach versus an income statement approach. The framework in the paper also frames the research questions for researchers interested in accounting policy.     

商业银行风险拨备制度研究

本文首先从商业银行风险管理和会计理论角度研究分析了建立风险拨备制度的理论基础。其次回顾总结了我国商业银行风险拨备制度的历史沿革和发展现状,并结合国内五家上市银行2004年年报,简要分析了目前国内商业银行风险拨备管理情况和制度建设现状。在此基础上,笔者提出构建商业银行全面风险拨备体系的构想,结合上市银行计提减值准备的实际情况,对贷款、投资和应收款项减值准备计提相关问题进行具体分析,并提出在实施全面风险拨备管理过程中应该注意转变观念、规范操作、加强审计和监管力度、加大配套环境和制度建设等问题。     

商业银行风险拨备制度研究

本文首先从商业银行风险管理和会计理论角度研究分析了建立风险拨备制度的理论基础。其次回顾总结了我国商业银行风险拨备制度的历史沿革和发展现状，并结合国内五家上市银行2004年年报,简要分析了目前国内商业银行风险拨备管理情况和制度建设现状。在此基础上，笔者提出构建商业银行全面风险拨备体系的构想，结合上市银行计提减值准备的实际情况，对贷款、投资和应收款项减值准备计提相关问题进行具体分析，并提出在实施全面风险拨备管理过程中应该注意转变观念、规范操作、加强审计和监管力度、加大配套环境和制度建设等问题。     

Casemix accounting systems: new spaces for action

This paper discusses the implementation of a casemix accounting system within a large New Zealand public hospital. In the context of healthcare, casemix accounting systems are involved in attempts to increase the cost-consciousness of clinicians through the rationalization and codification of clinical activity. The paper considers the power effects of casemix accounting using a perspective that views such information and control systems as disciplinary technologies. The complex and contradictory setting of the hospital characterized by a negotiated order meant that while the casemix accounting system did appear to provide some controlling influence, it also produced forms of resistance on the part of clinicians. Our experience suggests that such systems are best thought of as making possible a new discursive space within which all organizational participants, in this case both management and clinicians, can act.     

The use of management accounting information by boards of directors to oversee strategy implementation

Past research has overlooked the specific informational needs and uses of management accounting information by boards of directors, which constitute a distinctive unit of analysis, focusing mainly on organizational actors within the boundaries of the firm. The aim of this study is to examine the use of management accounting information to oversee strategy implementation in the context of governance. Specifically, we intend to establish theoretical properties and propose a measurement model that captures the use of budget, financial and non-financial performance indicators by boards of directors to oversee the strategic plan. To develop the measurement instrument, conceptual specifications of constructs have been established based on a matrix approach that combines (i) the information conveyed by the three management accounting practices, along with (ii) two theoretical properties reflecting board activities, namely monitoring implementation of the strategic plan, and questioning of the strategic plan. The validity and reliability of the instrument have been evaluated and discussed using a rigorous multi-method integrated approach that includes a literature review, exploratory interviews, consultation of experts in management accounting and governance, and survey data collected from three samples of boards of directors.     

Loose coupling in asset management systems in the NHS

This paper aims to identify whether the components of a loose-coupled system were present in the asset management systems of the National Health Service (NHS) in Wales and, if so, whether this had a negative impact. By utilising a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with senior officials at two NHS Hospital Trusts together with the findings of a survey of all of the Hospital Trusts in Wales, we conclude that the asset management system of the NHS in Wales exhibits the features of a loosely coupled system with detrimental consequences. Where information on capital assets has been required below board level, lower management relies on local systems, while the information for senior managers and political leaders relies on the management accounting system and ad hoc enquiries. The result has been an impairment of the ability of lower management to reconfigure capital assets which leads to the nation's health service underperforming.     

科技园区创业生态环境模型构建及应用研究

创业环境是决定创业倾向、影响创业成功率的重要因素之一。本文针对科技园区创业环境,结合生态系统理论,模拟自然生态系统,采用四维度框架构建科技园区创业生态环境模型。该模型定性地分析了各生态因子的影响作用,为科技园区管理机构管理园区发展提供合理有效的管理途径,以及选择培养对企业成长起重要影响作用的生态因子提供理论依据。     

The Valuation of Deferred Taxation: Evidence from the UK Partial Provision Approach

The UK provides a virtually unique environment in which to examine the information content of the partial provision approach to deferred tax accounting. In addition this issue is of particular interest to UK accounting standard setters in the light of trends towards international accounting standard harmonisation. Taking the total amount of deferred taxation to be equal to the partial balance sheet provision plus the potential portion appearing in the notes, this study tests the relationship between these various deferred tax components and market value. It also examines the economic rationale for the potential portion. The study is based on 1,512 company/years from the period 1989–1991. It finds that, while the full amount of deferred taxation is not valued by the market as a liability, there is evidence of the partial balance sheet provision being so valued. There is also evidence that the potential portion is positively related to market value, consistent with its proxying for information about future growth. This result is supported by the positive relation between the potential portion and measures of future capital spending, indicative of an underlying economic rationale for this deferred taxation component. From a regulatory perspective, the study concludes that the main benefit of the partial provision approach is that the balance sheet amount constitutes a reasonably reliable measure of the portion likely to crystallise as a liability, information that would be lost were only the full amount to be disclosed.     

On the Optimal Relation between the Properties of Managerial and Financial Reporting Systems

We develop a theoretical model of the firm that links properties (stewardship vs. valuation focus) of financial reporting regimes with the informational properties of optimal managerial accounting systems. We show that, contrary to the standard textbook proposition, properties of management and financial accounting systems are not independent. Significantly, we provide an explicit connection between exogenous and observable properties of a firm's financial reporting system and the quality of the managerial accounting system on which manager(s) base real economic decisions. As the quality of those economic decisions can also be inferred from publicly available data, our theory generates new opportunities for empirical managerial accounting research on large nonproprietary samples. Further, by being able to identify enhanced performance due to improved managerial accounting information, our theory provides opportunities to gain a better understanding of the link between particular managerial accounting practices and the quality of the information produced.     

论我国会计信息质量特征体系的构建

会计信息质量特征是现代会计理论体系中的重要组成部分,与会计目标间存在着较为密切的内在逻辑关系.构建一套系统完善的会计信息质量特征体系不仅有利于会计理论的进一步发展完善,而且对于全面有效地提高会计信息质量水准、遏制日益严重的会计信息失真具有重要意义.本文拟借鉴国内外这方面的研究成果,结合我国的会计环境以及已有的原则性规定,提出会计信息质量特征体系构建问题上的一些设想.     

DEVOLUTION, ACCRUALS ACCOUNTING AND ASSET MANAGEMENT IN NHS WALES

This paper describes how a strategy for health services has been developed for NHS Wales and examines the role of accruals accounting in asset management and development. It uses archival investigation as well as interviews and a questionnaire. The role of accruals accounting in the operation of the service, particularly as it relates to the capital asset base of the Trusts and how these are managed, is discussed in the context that Trusts are autonomous units that develop services, and hence their capital asset base, through their own internal planning structure. It is found that, on devolution, there was a lack of consistent information about the stock of capital assets and that capital charges, based on accruals accounting, were not penetrating asset management within individual Trusts. Although strategies were being developed centrally, their implementation at a Trust level can be impeded as a consequence of accruals accounting.     

Gaps in the IFRS Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The stated purpose of the IFRS Conceptual Framework is to assist the IASB to develop Standards that are based on consistent concepts, and also to assist preparers to develop consistent accounting policies when Standards either do not apply or allow a choice of accounting policy. Yet, the Framework actually does surprisingly little to help the IASB (or preparers) determine which assets, liabilities, income and expenses should be recognised, and how they should be measured. The Framework’s focus on assets and liabilities implies that the accounting can, and should, be determined from the balance sheet. Yet, many current financial reporting requirements focus initially on the income statement, and so they are not so much derived from the Framework as instead in need of being reconciled back to it. At its heart, the problem here is that, while the Framework states that accrual accounting provides a better basis for assessing past and future performance than cash-based information, it does not explain why. To do so would require a conceptualisation of how entities’ business models are employed to create value, and of the strengths and limitations of accounting data in enhancing investors’ understanding of that value-creation. The lack of explanation of the purpose and informational objectives of accruals, how they relate to business models and how they cause the income statement and the balance sheet to interact are gaps in the Framework. Filling those gaps would provide a more robust, and natural, way for the IASB to develop recognition and measurement requirements in its Standards.     

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.