JUST-IN-TIME PRODUCTION,AUTOMATION, COST ALLOCATION PRACTICES AND IMPORTANCE OF COST INFORMATION: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION IN NEW ZEALAND-BASED MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATIONS

This paper is based on an empirical study of the relationship between Just-in-Time (JIT) production, automation, cost allocation practices and the relative use of cost information for making and evaluating managerial decisions. The study uses a survey questionnaire to collect data from a random sample of New Zealand-based manufacturing organizations. Hypotheses were tested using bivariate tests and multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that the choice of activity-based cost allocations is negatively associated with the extent to which firms use a JIT approach to manufacturing, but positively associated with increased automation in the factory, as hypothesized. Furthermore, the increased use of JIT production is found to be associated with the decreased use of detailed costing information. The study found some support for the hypothesis that increased automation is associated with the increased use of costing information for managerial decisions.     

CAPITAL AND OPERATING BUDGETING PRACTICES IN PURE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

This paper offers new evidence of capital and operating budgeting practices from a group of pure nonprofit organizations, independent religious agencies. It reports results of a telephone survey of chief financial officers of 47 mission agencies (a census of multinational members of a trade association), with questions covering agency objectives, operating and capital budgeting practices, and long-run financial planning practices. Explanatory modelling links usage rates of sophisticated budgeting techniques to agency age, size, and the business education of the chief financial officer.     

CONTRACTING FOR VALUE: EVA AND THE ECONOMICS OF ORGANIZATIONS

EVA becomes more difficult to apply the farther down in the company you go, especially in organizations with more traditional “functional” designs. Because centralized functions are not independent self-contained entities with direct control over their own revenues, costs, and capital, the performance measures used to evaluate them are necessarily incomplete; they reveal only part of the picture. For example, Marketing may increase sales and operating income—the measures on which it is evaluated—but at the same time drive excessive use of capital in the Manufacturing plants. Manufacturing may reduce unit cost through long production runs, thereby minimizing changeovers and setups, but create excess inventory in the process. Costreducing measures could also lead to declining quality and customer satisfaction, ultimately eroding the company's reputation. In short, each critical function influences results in other parts of the company, and focusing only on activities under a manager's direct control can result in myopic and misleading measures of performance. In organizing key processes as internal EVA Centers, joint costs and benefits shared by different corporate functions or business units can be built into financial measures in a way that encourages collaboration. As one example, a firm can attempt to replicate market forces internally by requiring each marketing region to contract for capacity with the internal manufacturing group. In a traditional management system, Marketing reserves (and relinquishes) manufacturing capacity at no cost; the consequence is excessive demand for resources. An internal pricing mechanism that requires Marketing to pay a fee for capacity will force its managers to assess trade-offs as if it were contracting with an outside party. Such a system effectively requires that functional managers take a more company-wide view of their responsibilities. By including the cost of capital, it forces managers to define costs more carefully. By including the impacts on other functions, it also forces a broader definition of costs. And by using multi-year contracts among different divisions, the framework extends the time horizon over which costs and benefits matter.     

网络经济中的企业组织构造及银行组织管理战略

90年代以来,随着经济全球化的加深,以信息处理技术和通讯技术为主要依托的网络经济得到了迅猛发展,它极大地改变着国家对资源的控制、企业生产与流通管理、居民消费方式与行为等各个方面,已经成为一种新的经济成长方式.面对经济网络化的潮流,企业管理逐渐转移到以信息资源为核心上来,企业组织结构向网络型发展.对企业组织构造趋势的研究表明,我国银行业应当重视人力资本化、专才群体化、作业信息化和服务网络化的组织管理,迎接即将到来的网络经济的挑战;同时要提高金融安全意识,维护金融运行的有效性和安全性,以确保在21世纪国际银行激烈竞争中立于不败之地.     

SPAN OF CONTROL, TASK INTERDEPENDENCE AND USEFULNESS OF MAS INFORMATION IN NOT-FOR-PROFIT GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS

This study examines the relationships between subunit supervisors' span of control, their perceived task interdependence, and their perceived usefulness of MAS (management accounting systems) information in not-for-profit government organizations. One hundred and forty-nine subunit supervisors/managers working in twenty-one public hospitals in New Zealand participated in the study. The study used structured questionnaires for data collection. The results suggest that supervisors' perceived task interdependence intervenes in the relationship between their span of control and their perceived usefulness of MA information for decision making. The types of MAS information considered were broad in scope, timely available, aggregated and integrated. A path analytic technique was applied to test the model used in the study.     

CAPITAL ADEQUACY AND THE VALUATION OF LARGE COMMERCIAL BANKING ORGANIZATIONS

Bankers argue that regulatory agencies require excessive capital adequacy. As a consequence, banks cannot achieve optimal capital structure. This study investigates the capital adequacy issue for bank holding companies over the 1974—1983 period, one of the most turbulent periods in recent banking history. During this time, capital is never excessive from the stockholders' viewpoint, and financial markets, on average, perceive capital levels as inadequate. Assuming the public wants no lower capital levels than shareholders, recent regulatory action to require higher capital ratios is a Pareto superior decision.     

MANAGEMENT CONTROL PRACTICES AND CLINICIAN MANAGERS: THE CASE OF THE NORWEGIAN HEALTH SECTOR

This paper provides an analysis of the relationship between different management control practices and the leadership of medical departments in Norway. There has been ongoing debate about how the medical profession absorbs accounting knowledge: some argue that there has been hybridization, while others consider it as polarization. The explanation provided in this paper details the management control practices that health care enterprises use. We draw on two of the control perspectives in Simons's model of ladders of control: namely, diagnostic and interactive controls. The study thus provides insights into the problem of influencing clinician managers to use management accounting practices.     

EFFECTS OF NEW CONTROL SYSTEMS IN SWEDISH HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations that are radically changing their control systems provide interesting arenas for studies of the effects of such systems. Research on public organizations have shown reforms in some cases to have effects but in other cases they have had no effects. The aim of our study is to describe the introduction and effects of a new control system in the Swedish health care sector. Basically a traditional budget system is replaced with a system according to which hospitals are paid for services made. We found that the new system had functional but also some dysfunctional effects. The major functional effect was an increased productivity. This was possible due to an earlier low level of productivity. However, increased productivity demands capacity reductions given a certain production level. Such decisions must be taken by politicians but they are, however, very reluctant to reduce capacity, which may cause serious disturbances in the system and dysfunctional consequences.     

THE COMPUTER BASED ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS COURSE

This note examines the importance of the accounting information systems course in the undergraduate accounting curriculum. Most accounting departments offer this course on an elective basis. However, the course should be required by all undergraduate accounting majors. By scheduling the course late in the formal academic program, the material will serve as a consolidating and integrating device. Accounting students will learn specific techniques enabling them to fully comprehend the interrelationships among all accounting courses completed.     

INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REPORTING PRACTICES: A FRENCH AND CANADIAN COMPARISON

This paper compares the research and development (R&D) disclosure practices in France and Canada, as evidenced in the annual reports of 76 French and 110 Canadian listed companies. It finds that Canadian high-tech companies (hardware, software, and biotechnology) disclose significantly more information on their R&D activities than their French counterparts. It also finds a strong link between R&D intensity and R&D disclosure among Canadian high-tech companies. Canadian companies overall are also found to be more likely to use non-financial disclosure as a means to resolve any R&D information asymmetry, while French firms disclose more traditional financial and accounting information. Canadian companies are also more willing than French firms to provide information concerning their future R&D expenditures. These results are consistent with inherent cultural and capital market differences between France and Canada. In contrast, the study does not find any significant difference in R&D expenditure capitalization policies between French and Canadian firms.     

商业银行的经营能力与组织结构调整

中国的商业银行现在面临着这样一种局面:一方面是经济活动中大量的金融活动需求得不到充分满足,引来国外银行虎视眈眈;另一方面是银行陷于简单的,主要反映为规模、存款的简单竞争中,缺乏有效的市场拓展能力.中国商业银行的运作方式是一个典型的计划经济的产物,这样的结构难以形成内部活跃的创新力,也没有足够的经营能力提升对金融服务的供给能力.因此,我国的商业银行必须立足于银行的根本经营能力进行功能创新.而脱胎于计划经济的组织结构是建立银行根本经营能力的主要障碍.本文从构建商业银行经营能力的角度讨论了组织结构变革的必要性及其主要内容.     

从经营网点结构看西部金融组织经营发展战略调整

我国西部地区金融组织经营网点的演变和发展经历了一个曲折的历程 ,尽管到目前为止 ,以数量规模扩张为主的金融发展阶段已经结束 ,但其对经济金融发展的负面影响仍存在一定的滞后效应。借鉴西方商业银行经营网点发展经验 ,调整经营网点发展战略 ,确定具有区域经济特征的网点经营发展模式 ,是一种制度变迁和对金融制度、政策的“公共选择”过程 ,对于西部地区金融组织经营网点的发展前景至关重要。本文考察了西部金融组织经营网点的演变与发展 ,回顾了西方国家金融组织经营网点变化的进程 ,在此基础上提出了西部金融组织经营网点发展战略调整的具体模式     

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND THE TIME BETWEEN TRADES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Previous studies propose that the time between trades is a measure of the existence of information and a manifestation of the demand and supply of liquidity. I find evidence that the time between trades is a measure of the existence of information. However, the evidence does not imply that liquidity constraints are an unimportant determinant of price changes. Further investigation indicates that price changes are partially related to liquidity constraints, when the liquidity constraint is measured by the availability of multiple counterparties. Finally, I find some evidence that information about trades, not necessarily related to information about the underlying asset, also affects price changes.