管理会计面临挑战

引言2006年,美国管理会计师协会(Institute of Management Accountants,IMA)组成研究组,对中国12个制造企业的成本计算和成本管理,做了两次“访谈之旅”,历时一个半月。其间,IMA的研究部主任Raef Lawson教授曾在武汉和北京做过此行观感的报告。报告中提到管理会计在美国确有“衰落”的迹象,人们往往认为财务会计比管理会计重要,在学术界中尤其如此。但从企业界的调查结果看,管理会计对企业管理应该说是越来越重要。中国的情况也是如此。在两次旅途中我们经常交谈,许多看法是一致的。现把Lawson博士两个报告的提纲和我们交谈的一部分内容整理在一起,草成此文。由于语言阻隔,不可能全部译出请他过目,所以本文虽然代表我们两个人的意见,但错误之处应由笔者杨继良负责。     

The measurement of the economic performance of the US Nonfinancial Corporate Business Sector 1946–1990: an application of the shareholder value creation concept

This paper is based upon a juxtaposition of the cash flow-market value performance (alias SVC performance) and historic cost accounting (HC) performance of the US Nonfinancial Corporate Business sector 1946–90. It has two principal objectives: 1. To determine whether, judged on return and variability dimensions, the HC accounting model is an operationally acceptable surrogate for a multiperiod market-based accounting model. 2. To analyse the consequences of HC income-based distributions, i.e., corporate tax, interest and dividend payments based on conventionally-measured corporate income. Three principal conclusions are drawn: i. Notwithstanding their common cash flow component, HC performance indices are not reliable surrogates for SVC performance criteria. The former apparently do not accurately capture changes in corporate valuation and generally understate the variability of market-based returns. ii. The multiperiod HC income of a going concern characteristically overstates its coterminous multiperiod cash flows to a considerable degree. Contrary to common supposition, the former does not therefore constitute a ‘normalized’ or ‘smoothed’ version of a firm's ‘primitive’ cash flows in the sense that the cumulative (multiperiod) values of the two measures tend to converge. iii. As a consequence of ii, HC income and its near relation, taxable earnings, are dubious bases for measuring interest-paying, tax-paying and dividend-paying capacities. Corporate income-distribution decisions based on HC accruals-based profit measures frequently trigger external financing which may cause shareholder wealth losses and wealth transfers from shareholders to lenders. However, ‘fiscal drag’ appears to be the most serious consequence of HC accruals-based income distribution decisions.     

Lifestyle segmentation and museum/gallery visiting behaviour

A number of variables have been used in the quest to understand better who visits museums and art galleries. This paper proposes the use of lifestyle segmentation in an attempt to understand how museum and art gallery visits fit in with other aspects of the visitors' life. Research to date has tended to focus on those who actually visit, but little has been done to enhance an understanding of non‐visitors. Lifestyle studies, undertaken across a representative sample of a population, offer the potential to understand not only those who visit, but also those who do not. Seven segments result from this lifestyle analysis of New Zealanders, with a significant relationship evident between lifestyle grouping and frequency of visits to museums and art galleries. As each of these lifestyle segments also demonstrates significantly different media characteristics, there are important implications for the placement and tone of promotional messages. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

Trends in business tourism management

There has been significant growth in the business travel sector of tourism, which includes both individual travel and organized group arrangements, eg for conferences, conventions and exhibitions. This article considers the various types of business travel, the influences on demand, and trends in development of facilities.     

Social capital configuration, legal bonds and performance in buyer-supplier relationships

Academics have increasingly recognized the benefits derived from social networks embedded within companies’ buyer-supplier relationships. However, prior research has only examined the influence of social capital elements on performance, either individually or in part. We propose an integrative model examining the relationships among relational, structural and cognitive dimensions of social capital, and between these dimensions and the cost and innovation performance of the firm. A sample of 163 buyer-supplier relationships is used to test the model. Regression results indicate that the relational dimension of social capital fully or partially mediates the effect of the cognitive dimension on performance, and partially mediates the link between the structural dimension, operationalized as social interaction ties, and innovation performance. Further, high levels of legal bonds were found to moderate the relationship between the relational dimension of social capital and performance outcomes. Implications for theory and managers are discussed.     

Dissecting Word-of-Mouth's Effectiveness and How to Use It as a Proconsumer Tool

Companies are increasingly relying on alternative promotional activities, such as word-of-mouth communication (WOM), to reach their target markets. From a consumer protection perspective this may be troubling, as consumers may not always be aware of what is commercially motivated WOM and what is not. Based on a synthesis of the literature, this article develops the first practitioner-friendly model, which explains WOM's effectiveness as an information source for consumers and why it is a powerful tool for nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Then nine recommendations are developed to help nonprofit organizations and government agencies use WOM more effectively as a proconsumer tool. This is the first article to conceptualize proconsumer WOM rather than naturally occurring WOM or commercial WOM and to specifically focus on WOM to protect and educate consumers. The study paves the way to an untapped research area; that of proconsumer WOM by nonprofit organizations and government agencies.     

Methodological Issues in Measuring Crowding-Related Norms in Outdoor Recreation

Based on theoretical and methodological similarities between research on recreationrelated norms and contingent valuation, three methodological issues--question format, starting point bias, and information bias--are explored as they apply to measuring crowding-related norms of visitors to two national parks. Few statistically or substantively significant differences in crowding-related norms were found to be associated with these methodological issues. Study findings suggest that measures of crowding-related norms may be relatively "robust,"and this may add weight to the "validity" of the theory and methods associated with crowding-related norms in outdoor recreation.