CFO and CEO Characteristics and Managerial Accounting Techniques (MAT’s) Usage: An Upper-Echelons Perspective

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between the individual characteristics of the CEO/CFO and the usage of management accounting techniques (MATs). The essence of Upper Echelons Theory (UET) states that top management characteristics can influence the prediction of organizational outcomes. Based on this statement, we hypothesize that CFO/CEO education, experience and the participation of accountants in the processes of strategic decision making are important determinants in the use of MATs. The analysis of MATs was done based on the IFAC (1998) study, by dividing all MATs into four stages: Stage I: Cost determination and financial control (5 units); Stage II: Information on managerial planning and control (8 units); Stage III: Reduction of waste in business resources (4 units); and Stage IV: Creation of value through effective resource use (9 units). Our empirical analysis is based on a survey of 154 small, medium, and large-sized Kosovar manufacturing enterprises. A Chi-squared test, regression analysis, t-test, and determination coefficients are used for the evaluation of the models performed, as well as to prove the importance of the factors and testing the hypotheses raised in the study. The results of the study showed that the experience of CFO and CEO expressed in years had a positive relationship with the frequency of MATs usage, with the exception of the MATs for the fourth Stage, meaning that the less experienced the executive and financial director, the more frequent the use of the MATs of the fourth Stage. Executive and financial directors of business, economics, and engineering fields tend to use MATs of the second, third, and fourth Stage, compared with those in other fields. Positive connections for the estimated coefficients showed that the higher the involvement of accountants in strategic decision-making processes, the more frequent the use of managerial accounting techniques of Stages I, II, II and IV.