Management Accounting Textbooks Research Articles

The Extent to Which Textbooks Fulfill the Requirements of Digital Transformation in Accounting and Auditing

Purpose: The study aimed to determine how well textbooks meet the demands of accounting industries' transition to the digital age. To determine how well texts, meet the needs of auditing industries' growth to the digital age and to investigate the extent to which the books fulfill the requirements for digital transformation in accounting and auditing. Theoretical framework: The study's theoretical framework depended on an analysis of the past reviews done by researchers in their literature reviews. It was to show if the textbooks met the demands of a smooth transition of workers from the traditional to the digital age in the accounting and auditing fields. Many past reviews by researchers concluded that textbooks are among the top three resources used in both departments depending a lot on books. Methodology: The methodology used was content analysis, where 21 sources were reviewed. Literature research dates back to the 1960s, but critical articles were chosen from 2018 to the present, considering the advancement in technology and computers, which have impacted the world in numerous ways. Computers are fast, easy, and reliable, but textbooks are still the traditional source of information used in many curriculums across continents. The American Educational Research Association's journals (ERIC) database was used. References found online through Google Scholar and JSTOR searches and reference lists from the digitalization of accounting and auditing periodicals were also used. Findings: The findings from the 21 sources included all of the textbooks that had IT-related topics on accounting. The research suggested a slight emphasis on IT developments in management accounting, auditing fields, and financial accounting, which is consistent with our assumptions. Only 5 of the chosen textbooks in financial accounting addressed IT-related topics. The general coverage of IT advancements in the selected auditing textbook examples differs significantly from that of financial accounting and management accounting textbooks. In the past, it has been expected that most auditing textbooks will at least address computer-assisted audit techniques and technologies (CAAT). Research, practical and social implications: Considering the social implications and the practicality of the research, stakeholders and government agencies should push for policies that would ensure a proper transition to digitization for all its citizens to understand their work better. Originality/value: The novelty and worth were evaluated. Twenty-one books on financial accounting, managerial accounting, and auditing make up the sample. According to actual research, technology improvements and related topics are rarely covered in accounting degrees. Evidence from this study's analysis of the relevant literature indicates that accounting and auditing schools' textbooks ought to devote more time to IT-related issues

Ramifications of Covid-19 on management accounting teaching and research

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how COVID-19 has affected the author’s management accounting teaching and research.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a reflection essay on management accounting.FindingsThe author realized that the textbooks, because of the lack of integration among management accounting techniques, do not prepare the students with the ability to make the quick changes required by COVID-19. The author expects that they will have to introduce integration to the management accounting textbooks and courses. Qualitative research will be helpful in identifying the management accounting techniques now integrated in practice. The author further expects the beneficial practices that were learned from online and remote teaching during the pandemic will be with them into the future.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited as it is a personal reflection.Practical implicationsCOVID-19 has required organizations be increasingly agile, particularly in the use of budgets and other management accounting techniques.Social implicationsOpportunities are identified for improving the teaching and use of management accounting, especially regarding strategy and budgeting.Originality/valueThe extreme nature of pandemics intensifies the observations of the functioning of disciplines such as management accounting. Everyone learns from extreme experiences.

Ethics matters: the integration of ethical considerations in management accounting textbooks

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the integration of ethical considerations in management accounting (MA) education. Drawing on the work of Alisdair MacIntyre, it is argued that MA instruments such as performance measurement are not morally neutral, but instead bear moral implications. Therefore, this paper contends that MA students should be trained to take these moral implications into consideration alongside MA's technical aspects. A content analysis is carried out to examine the integration of ethical considerations in top-ranked MA textbooks. The findings indicate that these textbooks, particularly the introductory textbooks, marginally integrate ethical considerations. Furthermore, the findings point to the risk of detaching ethical considerations from the discussion of MA's technical aspects, which may weaken the potential of the ethical considerations and turn them into ‘afterthoughts’. Finally, this paper offers practical suggestions for the improvement of the integration of ethical considerations in MA education and concludes with directions for future research.

Production Outsourcing and Demand Variability

We examine the relation between demand uncertainty and firms’ production outsourcing decisions. Contrary to the traditional view on make-or-buy decisions discussed in management accounting textbooks, we predict that demand uncertainty has a negative impact on outsourcing by a manufacturer from a supplier. Research in operations management suggests that outsourcing can increase the production lead time and can result in excessive production variability due to lack of incentive alignment between the manufacturer and the supplier. These adverse effects increase the production costs to a greater extent when the demand is more variable, leading to a negative relation between demand uncertainty and outsourcing. We test this prediction using a large sample of manufacturing firms in Turkey. As predicted, we find that when firms face more variable demand, they outsource a smaller proportion of their manufacturing costs on average, and are less likely to engage in outsourcing. The results are significant both statistically and economically and are robust to alternative specifications.

Objectivism in organization/management knowledge: an example of Bourdieu's “mutilation”?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine what counts as knowledge in the organization/management field.Design/methodology/approachConventional, legitimated knowledge is analyzed through research into representations of an influential management text. Management and management accounting textbooks and research papers are investigated to establish the types of knowledge produced.FindingsMainstream representations of this book are partial, focusing on a “model” of what is likely to ensure successful organizational change – structural and systemic adaptations. What has been ignored is the problematization of structural change and the role of human agency. The foci and omissions of these representations cohere with divisions in the social sciences more generally – between “objectivist” and “subjectivist” ontologies and epistemologies.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need for further research into representations of texts about organizational change, the way the objectivist/subjectivist divide is played out, and its significance for organization/management studies and more widely for the social sciences.Practical implicationsQuestions arise as to the validity and sustainability of such knowledge. Omissions about the difficulties in implementing structural change raise epistemological and practical difficulties for students, managers and consultants.Social implicationsOmissions of human subjectivities and agency from mainstream knowledge is problematic regarding successful organizational change and social issues more widely.Originality/valueThe paper's value lies in the in‐depth analysis of representations of a text in the organization/management area and the linking of the type of knowledge produced with broader epistemological and methodological issues in the social sciences.

Robert N. Anthony: A Pioneering Thinker in Management Accounting

B y any measure, Robert Newton Anthony (1916–2006) was a giant among 20th century academic accountants. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree from Colby College, he matriculated to the Harvard Business School (HBS), where he earned his M.B.A. and D.B.A. degrees. Bob spent his entire academic career at HBS, retiring in 1983. He is best known as a prolific writer of articles, textbooks, and research reports. He was inducted as a member of the Accounting Hall of Fame (1986), was a recipient of the American Accounting Association’s (AAA) Outstanding Accounting Educator Award (1989), and then was the second recipient of the AAA Management Accounting Section’s Lifetime Contribution to Management Accounting Award (2003), as well as serving as President of the American Accounting Association (1973–1974). In addition, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Management (1970). These honors indicate that he was, indeed, a significant contributor to the development of his chosen field of management accounting for over 50 years, and highly respected by his peers. They do not indicate why. My intention is to answer that question. Bob Anthony was the ideal person to be a leader in the post-World War II movement that changed cost accounting into management accounting. He possessed broad interests and not only was an academic, but also was interested in solving problems found in the real world. He was equally comfortable working as an academic and as a manager. He served as Under Secretary (Comptroller) in the Department of Defense for his old friend and fellow Harvard Business School graduate, Robert S. McNamara, from 1965 to 1968. While at the Department, Anthony earned the Defense Department Award for Public Service for developing a system of cost management and control for the Department (Harvard University Gazette 2006). Though many identify him with the diverse set of textbooks he authored or co-authored, he also undertook what we now would identify as field research, e.g., Anthony (1952). His interest in studying accounting and management in a real-world setting informed his views on what

The Customer Is King. Enthroned or In Exile? An Analysis of the Level of Customer Focus in Leading Management Accounting Textbooks

In response to fierce criticism of irrelevancy and the need to adapt management accounting (MA) to fully support modern managerial priorities, there is a growing body of MA literature seeking to address the perceived weakness of customer-focused techniques and measures. This paper investigates the impact of this literature on mainstream MA textbooks and, by extension, teaching. The customer-focused content and, in particular, coverage of customer profitability analysis (CPA), is found to be relatively low in quantity and diverse in relation to the choice of techniques being discussed. No generally-accepted way of approaching this area is revealed, perhaps because it is so contingent on circumstances, and it seems that CPA is not yet part of mainstream MA. In the area of customer focus at least, there remain questions over the relevance of mainstream textbooks, teaching and, by further extension, the day-to-day practice of MA.

Comparative Analysis of Strategic Management Accounting in German- and English-Language General Management Accounting Textbooks

We analyze the handling of strategic management accounting in the 20 general management accounting textbooks that are perceived as most important in German- and in English-speaking countries. Our analysis shows that strategic management accounting is not integrated into textbooks within a coherent, consistent framework. However, the survey also shows that these textbooks often use several strategic management accounting "subconcepts" which form a set of core concepts of strategic management accounting across the language areas. We identify these core concepts and elaborate on striking differences between the coverage of certain concepts in the German- and English-speaking worlds. In general, the German term "controlling" implies a more strategic emphasis than does its American counterpart, "management accounting".

How Does Residual Income Affect Investment? The Role of Prior Performance Measures

This paper examines whether “you get what you pay for” in firms that implement residual income (RI)–based compensation. Specifically, this paper explores differences in investment patterns of firms that implement RI-based compensation plans conditional on whether the firms switched from earnings or return on investment (ROI)–based compensation. I find that the pattern of investment for firms switching to RI from earnings-based compensation is opposite to that of firms switching from ROI-based compensation. Changes in investment within each individual subgroup yield weaker, mixed results. In addition, this paper documents that delivered RI increases in firms that implement RI. My paper contributes to the literature on the investment effects of RI by examining the relevance of a set of arguments that have been made in management accounting textbooks since 1965. These arguments are still found in current textbooks and are commonly taught to students in graduate level managerial accounting classes. The arguments help us to examine a natural experiment in which we can better specify the conditions under which RI use is expected to be associated with changes in investment.

A Linear Programming Framework for Flexible Budgeting and Its Application to Classroom Teaching

Accounting educators and practitioners are well aware of the importance of increased competencies in analytical areas. In response to this need, authors of management accounting textbooks typically offer brief introductions to linear programming (LP), regression analysis, and decision theory. Most textbooks introduce LP in the context of optimal product-mix decisions. However, it is possible to incorporate LP into the discussion of other accounting topics, such as product costing and pricing, and financial and operational budgeting. (For a pioneering article on the subject of integrating activity-based costing and the theory of constraints, see Kee [1995], who applies integer programming to a numerical example in a fashion similar to what is done in this article.) The paper demonstrates a method of incorporating LP into flexible budgeting and variance analysis. By incorporating production and market constraints into budgeting and variance analysis, the proposed method resolves some of the weaknesses of traditional flexible budgeting and offers a framework for integration of marketing and operations factors into accounting procedures. More specifically, the paper offers a revised definition of the flexible budget and a new procedure for determining flexible budget direct cost variances, overhead cost variances, and revenue variances. Further, this paper introduces a method of incorporating variance analysis into the theory of constraints and offers alternative measures of controlling throughput and operating expenses to companies implementing it.

Aggregate Performance Measures in Business Unit Manager Compensation: The Role of Intrafirm Interdependencies

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the extent to which the incentive compensation of business unit managers is based on aggregate performance criteria measured at an organizational level higher than a manager's business unit level. We present a simple agency model of a multidivisional firm to show that the use of aggregate performance measures relative to more localized performance measures is an increasing function of intrafirm interdependencies. Using proprietary compensation data from Hewitt Associates LLC, we test whether the relative use of aggregate performance measures is related to our empirical proxies for intrafirm interdependencies and find evidence consistent with our predictions. Management accounting textbooks usually emphasize the controllability principle within the framework of responsibility accounting as the basis for