CHANGES IN THE SCOPE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS IN THE DYNAMIC ECONOMIC CONTEXT

Abstract

While much has been written in recent decades about management accounting change in advanced economies, little is known how management accounting systems (MAS) may be designed and used in the dynamic environment. The aim of the paper is to provide evidences about the changes in the scope of MASs in the dynamic economic context on the example of Estonian companies. The empirical results of the paper were gathered through questionnaire survey carried out among the largest Estonian companies. The study highlights several interesting features of MAS scope and its changes during 2004-2007 based on the 65 company responses. Findings revealed that, the increasing use of externally and internally oriented non-financial performance measurement approaches characterise the shift towards more broad scope MASs in the companies studied. The shifts towards broader MAS scope place further demands on an company’s managers’ knowledge in dealing with the ever more complex information systems in organisations.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.17.2.2164