Management Accountants’ Occupational Prestige Within the Company: A Social Identity Theory Perspective

Abstract

Professional associations and researchers in management accounting have attempted to increase the prestige of management accountants. Although studies have suggested that occupational prestige is important, the prestige of management accountants within the employing organisation and its consequences are still not fully understood. Building on social identity theory, we investigate the effect of occupational prestige, as perceived by management accountants, on organisational–professional conflict. We suggest that prestige can mitigate conflict because management accountants with high prestige will identify more strongly with their organisation, as they see it as a source of self-esteem and might believe that they are taken more seriously by managers. At the same time, we hypothesise that prestige exerts an indirect conflict-increasing effect via professional identification. This is based on the idea that prestige may cause proud management accountants to start to identify more strongly with their profession and become hard-liners, unwilling to compromise the values associated with their profession in the interest of the firm. Results from a series of three surveys support the indirect conflict-increasing effect. Moreover, the results suggest a direct conflict-reducing effect of perceived prestige. The implications for research and practice are discussed.     

管理会计应用中的问题及对策

目前管理会计在我国企业管理中的应用正处于一个关键的转折时期,随着经济的发展,管理会计更为重要,必须加强对管理会计应用与发展的研究,寻求加速管理会计在我国企业管理中推广应用的有效途径。     

Across the great divide: a literature review of management accounting and operations management at the shop floor

Management accounting’s ability to provide relevant information in production environments has long been discussed in the fields of management accounting (MA) and operations management (OM). Researchers from each field play a major part not only in disseminating their research results, but also in channelling their perceptions of management accounting in production environments through journal publications. The thesis of this paper is that via an examination of the paradigms, theories, and methods in the fields of MA and OM our understanding of the prevailing assumptions about management accounting in production environments in the academic community can be enhanced. The review shows a divide between the fields where the field of OM is oriented towards problem-solving, and the field of MA is more theory oriented. The review points out that the understanding of practice is a divider between the fields, but it also suggests that incorporation of practicing production members into research is a promising path forward. The paper then concludes that OM problematizes management accounting in production environments as a starting point for their research agenda and that both fields portrayal of management accounting in production environments need to be nuanced. There is a need to challenge the research expectations and to accept unconventional research methods to enhance knowledge about management accounting in production environments.

     

A true and fair view on a harmonious and well-balanced alliance: EAA and EIASM

Allegations of creative accounting by management of listed corporations in the UK do not abate. To the extent that these practices distort the underlying reported financial performance of firms, they conflict with the basic aims of accounting regulation – to provide consistent and comparable financial information to users. Studies have shown that accounting choices are influenced by a range of contracting, financing and operational factors. However, we still know little about what constraints exist against the practice of creative accounting and how effective these are. Issues such as the extent to which the press and analysts are successful in restraining creative accounting, and the role the ‘true and fair view’ principle and auditors play in the prevention of such practices still remain unresolved. This article explores these themes by examining the accounting practices of two UK companies which issued a creative financing instrument. Using a combination of interview, documentary, and financial statement information, the analysis shows that management took advantage of gaps in accounting standards to present a biased picture of financial performance. Auditors did not appear to restrain such practices, and the true and fair view principle, rather than unifying accounting practice, appears to tolerate a range of interpretations. Adverse media publicity appears to be a successful deterrent in the medium term, but since the press are not regulators, their reporting is not necessarily consistent or predictable. UK analysts at the time did not evaluate accounting practices in any significant detail, and thus this potential restraint was not effective. Overall, the influences and constraints on creative accounting are illuminated in this study in a way which provides new insights into our understanding of financial reporting.     

基于隐性知识外化的会计实践教学师生互动研究

师生之间的知识共享模式直接决定高校会计专业实践教学的效果。基于隐性知识外化的知识创造理论视角对两所高校会计专业师生进行问卷调查的结果显示,学校、教师、学生都以不同的方式对会计实践教学中师生的互动行为施加影响。高校应该一方面加强自身努力,另一方面引导教师与学生作出各自的努力,以更好地开展会计实践教学。     

经济类(非会计学)专业会计与财务知识模块教学改革研究——基于襄樊经济学院的实践

本文认为,经济类(非会计学)专业学生实施会计教育,要从会计与财务管理知识体系的再组织创新研究开始,进行网络环境下会计学课程教材及教学内容体系、教学方法与手段和实验环节等方面改革与实践。构建现代信息技术与课程整合的“主导—主体—主线”探究式教学模式,使经济类(非会计学)学科的学生在学时数有限情况下掌握会计学的基本理论和方法,提高学生创造性地应用会计信息进行经济决策的能力。     

试析衍生金融工具的会计管理

衍生金融工具的飞速发展引起会计界的高度重视,衍生金融工具会计及其管理成了会计领域的一个新课题,也是世界会计难题之一。本文重点探讨衍生金融工具所暴露的现行会计理论的严重缺陷,及其对传统会计理论的突破,指出我们应采取的对策,以期指导当前的会计实践活动。     

Key Concepts in Ethnography

Abstract

As a reaction to recent corporate scandals, corporate law and accounting regulations have recently been modified in German-speaking countries. Despite changing corporate contexts and agendas, accounting research in these countries has been comparatively silent on issues of corporate governance. In this paper, we discuss this limited response, focusing particularly on the field of management accounting. In German-speaking countries, management accounting is conceived of in a specific way (usually referred to as Controlling). The traditions of such a practice and the associated academic school of thought have made it difficult for researchers to consider issues of corporate governance and internal control in more empirical depth. Pointing to the importance of investigating the actual use of accounting systems and, thus, the social and institutional context of accounting, we propose a strategy for research and education that would allow for more comprehensive insights into the role that (management) accounting might play in corporate scandals.     

论会计集中核算模式下财务人员犯罪案件的司法会计鉴定及对策

会计集中核算制度是会计委派制实践中最主要的一种模式,是具有自身特点的一种制度。实行会计集中核算是为了进一步规范会计行为,提高会计信息质量和工作效率,是服务与监督融为一体的新型管理模式,是我国会计管理体制的重大改革与创新。但在近几年的司法实践中发现,这种集中核算报账制模式下出现了＂小人物、大贪污＂的经济犯罪案件,文章就此类案件现象、司法会计鉴定、预防对策等提出见解。     

会计专业学生会计职业道德教育情况的调查研究

本文对会计专业学生会计职业道德教育情况的调查显示:目前我国高校会计专业课程结构等方面存在缺陷,对会计专业学生教育过于倾向知识、技能教育而忽视职业道德教育,造成学生不了解会计职业道德,轻视会计职业道德课程的情况。本文提出应该通过完善会计专业课程结构,完善高校会计专业教师结构等来培养会计专业学生的会计职业道德品质。     

当前我国会计信息失真原因分析

会计信息作为国民经济信息系统的重要组成部分,其质量关系到企业内部管理的成效,关系到国家宏观经济政策的制定,关系到广大投资者以及现代企业制度的建立。然而,会计信息失真是我国当前经济生活中较为普遍的现象和十分突出的问题。防止会计信息失真,提高会计信息质量,就必须找出会计信息失真的原因,只有这样才能为有效防范提出相应的对策及解决办法。     

环境管理会计理论与实务问题分析

环境管理会计作为管理会计创新的组成部分,其理论研究和实务在过去十年里得到迅速发展．本文对国际上解决常规管理会计中有关问题的EMA理论研究和实务现状进行了分析,回顾了国际上有关行业的EMA 案例,分析了其存在问题,探讨了环境管理会计在投资评估、成本计算以及绩效管理等方面的进一步工作．     

中国医疗卫生事业效益分析之系列研究——2010年全国20家专科医院效益分析

研究2010年全国20家专科医院效益分析,各专科医院在各自领域里发挥着社会效益,应关注大众精神卫生,重视职业病防护,切断麻风病传染。控制公立医院的成本费用、提升管理水平,加强公立医院的成本核算与成本支出。发展良好的、非公立、私营的医院发展模式值得探讨与研究。传染病医院势必转型发展。     

EUROPEAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW

This study contributes to the accounting literature by providing empirical evidence from China that adopting IFRS does not necessarily lead to IFRS-type accounting practices. We examine the impact of regulatory enforcement, in particular, an important Chinese government compulsory compliance policy implemented in 2001, and audit upon the convergence of Chinese accounting practices. Using a sample of 103 Chinese B-share companies between 1999 and 2004, we reveal that the decline in earnings difference between firms' financial statements under Chinese GAAP and IFRS is the result of the implementation of the 2001 policy and the audit committee which effectively control the firm's application of standards rather than the differences between the standards. The effect of audit committee leads us further to argue that the convergence of accounting practices may be affected by not only the lack of insufficient understanding of IFRS by local accounting professionals, but also the management opportunistic behaviour during the application of different standards. It implies that corporate governance may affect the convergence of accounting practice. However, we do not find evidence for international audit firms outperforming their Chinese local CPAs with regard to IFRS compliance. Therefore, the Chinese government should be cautious in promoting the participation of international audit firms in China for achieving IFRS compliance.     

价值增值会计与管理的思考与探析

价值增值会计与管理是通过对企业的价值增值进行计量、核算与管理,以达到企业为追求最大价值、增值和最大经济效益服务的目的。不同空间、不同历史时期价值增值有不同的含义,其定义、核算和管理也有很大区别。本文认为,我国应借鉴西方国家增值表的方式,实施价值增值会计与管理。在有条件的上市公司逐步引进EVA经济增值会计与管理,试行未来增值会计。     

浅谈企业会计管理在提升企业经济效益中的作用

会计管理是企业生产经营管理中十分重要的一个环节,对于企业经济效益的提升起着很大作用。因此,在实践中企业必须充分意识到会计管理对于经济效益提升的重要作用,并客观地分析会计管理对经济效益的主要影响,在此基础上采取科学的手段强化企业会计管理,以此促进企业经济效益提升。     

Differential Weighting of Objective Versus Subjective Measures in Performance Evaluation: Experimental Evidence

In this paper, we conduct two experiments to investigate how managers’ differential weighting of objective versus subjective measures affects their performance-evaluation decisions. Drawing on psychological theory, we predict that managers heuristically perceive objective measures to be more scientific than subjective measures. As a result, their performance-evaluation decisions are influenced more by objective measures than by subjective measures. Experimental results are consistent with our prediction. Supplemental analyses further support our theory by showing that participants do not perceive objective measures to be more important for performance evaluation nor do they perceive subjective measurement to be inappropriate. The implications of our findings for management accounting research and practice are discussed.     

管理会计研究的若干思考

本文针对当前我国管理会计研究中盲目仿效其他学科和国外理论,不能结合我国管理会计实践的需要,理论研究及成果缺乏系统性,研究思路和方法上思维不开阔等问题,提出了我国管理会计研究中急需解决的现实问题。     

新形势下潮汕会计文化建设初探

会计文化是会计人员在长期的会计实践中形成的知识经验的积累,包含了会计物质文化、会计行为文化、会计制度文化和会计精神文化等四个要素。会计文化作为管理制度的升华,以会计人为出发点和落脚点,以价值观、信念社会责任等所构成的柔性管理来弥补会计实践刚强管理的不足,从而能够真正达到规范约束的目的,所以会计文化建设是会计诚信建设必不可缺的部分。本文对潮汕会计文化建设现状作了一些描述,也对未来会计文化建设提出了四点建议。