Management Accounting Studies Research Articles

УПРАВЛЕНЧЕСКИЙ УЧЕТ: ИНВЕСТИЦИИ И ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИЕ ФАКТОРА КОНКУРЕНТОСПОСОБНОСТИ И КОНКУРЕНТНЫХ ПРЕИМУЩЕСТВ

This article discusses the main directions of management accounting research, taking into account the determination of the competitiveness factor and competitive advantages of an economic entity. The purpose of management accounting is to study information taking into account investment obligations, determine the competitiveness factor, and competitive advantages. The work proposes a classification (grouping) of factors influencing business. It is in the context of such factors that monitoring activities and management accounting studies should be carried out to determine competitiveness and competitive advantages. It is concluded that all business factors studied by the management accounting system are interdependent and interconnected. By studying, analyzing and controlling them in the management accounting system, a business gets the opportunity to control and improve its level of competitiveness.

Impacts of contingency factors on the application of strategic management accounting in Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises

Based on contingency theory in the study of strategic management accounting, this study examines the internal and external contingencies of the organization that affect the application of strategic management accounting (SMA) in Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises. Using qualitative and quantitative methodology, qualitative methods are used to make questionnaires, and quantitative methods are used to measure the scale and analyze the impact of each factor. The data used in the study was collected using a survey questionnaire from a sample of 395 managers (directors, deputy directors, chief accountants) and accounting staff with knowledge of management accounting/strategic management accounting in Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises. Based on the collected survey data, we performed a multivariable linear regression analysis with SPSS 20 to test the relationship between the contingency factors and the application of SMA. Regression analysis results show that contingencies such as organization size, competitive intensity, organizational structure (decentralized management), organization’s technology, business strategy, and perception of market instability positively influence the application of SMA in Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, the study provides insight that contributes to a better understanding of the impact of contingency factors on the application of SMA in the context of manufacturing enterprises in emerging economies like Vietnam. This finding is useful for policymakers and business managers in developing and promulgating mechanisms to influence these random variables to motivate enterprises to use more SMA techniques.

ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC FACTORS, COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PRODUCTIVE SECTORS OF ECUADOR, PERU AND COLOMBIA

A documentary review was carried out on the production and publication of research papers related to the study of the variable Economic Factors, Competitiveness and Sustainability in the context of the productive sectors of Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. The purpose of the bibliometric analysis proposed in this document is to know the main characteristics of the volume of publications registered in the Scopus database during the period 2016-2021 in Latin American countries, achieving the identification of 369 publications. The information provided by the said platform was organized through graphs and figures categorizing the information by Year of Publication, Country of Origin, Area of Knowledge and Type of Publication. Once these characteristics were described, the position of different authors regarding the proposed topic was referenced through qualitative analysis. Among the main findings of this research, it is found that Mexico, with 76 publications, is the Latin American country with the highest production. The Area of Knowledge that made the greatest contribution to the construction of bibliographic material referring to the study of Management Accounting for Decision Making was Business with 172 published documents, and the Type of Publication that was most used during the above-mentioned period was the Journal Article, which represents 77% of the total scientific production.

Impact of the interactive and diagnostic uses of performance measurement systems on procedural fairness perception, cooperation and performance in supply alliances

AbstractWe examine the effects of interactive and diagnostic uses of performance measurement systems (PMSs) on two behavioural factors (procedural fairness perception and cooperation) in inter‐firm alliances. We further investigate whether the two behavioural factors mediate the relationship between PMS uses and alliance performance. We find that both interactive and diagnostic uses of PMS are significantly related to procedural fairness perception but only the interactive use is significantly related to cooperation. The relationships between the two uses of PMS and alliance performance are serially mediated by procedural fairness perception and cooperation. These findings contribute to management accounting studies in inter‐firm alliances.

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING AS AN INFORMATION COMPONENT OF THE DIAGNOSTICS OF THE FINANCIAL SECURITY OF ENTERPRISES

Introduction. New business conditions, characteristic of fundamental changes in the industrial paradigm, the introduction of the digital economy in the socio-economic processes of the "knowledge" information society, the establishment of a new model of world perception and post-war recovery in the conditions of BANI World require a radical change of priorities in the management of financial and economic activities of enterprises in the plane ensuring their safety. The requirements of timeliness and flexibility of management in practical "digital" activities require timeliness of decision-making regarding the functioning of business structures and immediate response to risks and threats in the competitive space. This is provided by the management accounting system, the methodology of which must be constantly reviewed and adapted for implementation in various types of enterprises and organizational and legal formations. The goal is to investigate the main theoretical and methodological approaches to management accounting as an informational component of the financial security of the enterprise. The purpose of the article is the scientific substantiation of the main theoretical and methodological approaches to management accounting as an information component of the financial security of the enterprise. Methods. The study of the outlined problems was achieved with the help of general scientific, special and empirical methods of learning processes and phenomena. Methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison, generalization, applied to the study of management accounting in the context of financial security of the enterprise; scientific abstraction, structural-logical and tabular methods - for the systematization of management accounting technologies in ensuring the financial security of enterprises. Results. The theoretical foundations of management accounting as an information base for managing the financial security of enterprises are summarized. The methodical approaches of management accounting, which allow diagnosing the state of financial and economic activity and making timely management decisions to achieve financial security of enterprises, are highlighted. Conclusions. The informational component of financial security management is management accounting, which produces data of an operational, tactical and strategic nature. The use of analytical methods will expand the volume of information resources about the level of financial security with the necessary level of its detail and frequency of presentation. The use of management accounting methods and technologies makes it possible to generate reliable information for making informed, timely management decisions that can take into account changes in the internal environment and threats and risks of the external environment. The use of analytical methods will expand the volume of information resources about the level of financial security with the necessary level of its detail and frequency of presentation.

Quantitative Empirical Research in Management Accounting: A Proposed Typology and Implications for Internal versus External Validity

Purpose: The purpose of this study is twofold. First, we propose a typology of quantitative empirical research in management accounting based on two design features: presence of control group and sample representativeness. Second, we discuss implications of the methods for trade-offs between internal and external validity.
 Method: Based on previous methodological studies we develop a typology with eight quantitative empirical methods.
 Results: Based on the two design features, we propose eight quantitative empirical methods for management accounting studies: (1) laboratory experiment, (2) crowdsourcing experiment, (3) field experiment, (4) natural experiment, (5) single entity survey, (6) proprietary archival study, (7) large-scale survey and (8) pre-structured archival study. In addition, we critically compare the trade-offs and discuss the implications of these methods for internal and external validity.
 Contributions: The contribution is twofold. First, the proposed typology can help junior management accounting researchers increase the familiarity with the available empirical methods, some of which are still incipient in Brazil. Second, this study states that the choice of an empirical method typically implies benefits in terms of a validity type (e.g. internal validity) at the expense of other validity type (e.g., external validity). Claims of causality and results generalizability depend on which validity type is prioritized and remedies adopted to increase the overall validity of a study’s results.

Digitalisation and accounting language games in organisational contexts

The ambition of digitalisation to create centralised knowledge for all organisational actors may lead to the risk of de-contextualising that knowledge from the situation in which the information was generated, neglecting the specificities of local organisational contexts. To prevent such risk, digitalisation should promote the spread of a common language between its users who share rules and principles that lead to the same meanings. We refer to the concept of the language game to study how accounting reports receive meanings according to their use, and thereby how the use of accounting language helps in managing the specifics of organisational contexts. Considering complex organisations where different local accounting language games coexist, management accounting studies on digitalisation fail to explain how digital technology can promote the combination of those language games.The present study aims to answer the question of how digitalisation, promoting a global accounting language game, favours the combination of the accounting language games arising from local organisational contexts.This question is addressed by examining the case of the performance measurement of the new product development process in a multidivisional company. The case evidence highlights how a digital platform, promoting a corporate accounting language game for the whole organisation, favoured the combination of divisional accounting language games.The paper points out how digitalisation affects the boundaries between local and global accounting language games in the production of knowledge for decision-making. Also, the paper shows how digital technology is beneficial only when it does not compromise interactions between the different organisational contexts.

FORMATION OF INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT OF THE ENTERPRISE

The article substantiates the conceptual provisions of management accounting, taking into account the socially oriented approach, which will provide solutions to management problems that arise in the process of achieving sustainable development goals. Methodological, methodological, organizational and technological aspects related to the formation of the information product generated in management accounting are revealed. The concepts of management accounting related to the function of management accounting, the use of results, process and technology, the potential of the function are considered. As a result of the disclosure of the methodological aspect, the conceptual provisions of management accounting are determined, taking into account the principles of sustainable development. The essence of management accounting, the purpose and tasks of its maintenance which consider the certain purposes of sustainable development of the enterprise are defined. The subject, objects, elements of the method, functions and principles of management accounting, taking into account the socially oriented approach, are revealed. The methods of management accounting are analyzed, which provide the formation of information about the value of the enterprise and the degree of influence of environmental and social factors on it. Methods of target costing, Kaiser costing, JIT, the concept of strategic cost management, the system of balanced scores, benchmarking are considered. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of strategic management accounting, which will ensure the solution of sustainable development of the enterprise. The essence of organizational and technological aspects of the study of management accounting as an element of the accounting subsystem in the system of information support of sustainable development is highlighted. The evaluation of classical and compilation approaches within the organizational aspect of management accounting is carried out. It is proved that only as a result of a comprehensive approach to the construction of management accounting at the enterprise can be formed information that will provide management staff to make effective decisions in the field of economic, environmental and social aspects of the enterprise.

The adoption of corporate social responsibility active learning methodology with management accounting students

The aim of this paper is to integrate active methodology on corporate social responsibility (CSR)11CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility. learning into management accounting studies. The linkages between sustainable management and management accounting demand those future managers integrate CSR into their training in an effective way, as they will become change agents for CSR. A representative sample of students at the University of Jaen has been selected in order to adopt CSR active learning, which allows us to draw conclusions about how they perceive CSR and its management. Qualitative methodology has been integrated in this project-based learning using flipped classroom. Our evidence full supports the validity of the CSR active learning methodology to create an effective learning context that involves professional and emotional competences, as the answers offered mainly included some relevant topics covered by CSR research and social and environmental accounting (SEA). This study contributes to previous literature assessing the potential of active methodologies in CSR learning. Also, it provides important insights for university and business school managers to design or modify curricula that are related to management accounting in line with sustainability.

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

The impacts of inventory in transfer pricing and net income: Differences between traditional accounting and throughput accounting

This research proposes the Theory of Constraints (TOC) throughput accounting (TA) as an alternative management control mechanism in an international transfer pricing setting. We compare TA with the traditional accounting method and demonstrate that the traditional method underestimate factors as demand variation and inventories, which affects decisions, such as moving production to an offshore plant. A detailed system dynamics model is built to simulate the production process in an offshore supply chain to compare the methods. The study aims to fill a gap in the management accounting studies and contribute to the understanding of international transfer pricing and their management controls, exploring more than just the tax savings, which are usually considered isolated from operational factors for supply chain (SC) offshoring decisions. Furthermore, we conduct a brief literature review, present the model and discuss the results. It has been observed that inventory levels are an important part of accounting, offshored supply chains, and transfer pricing. Traditional cost and accounting methods favour higher inventory levels, and they can overestimate net income results up to 70% – especially in higher demand variation scenarios – when compared to the throughput accounting.

Organizational identity, fixed salary contracts, and financial performance in local governments: Theory and evidence

This study explores the effect of financial managers’ organizational identity (OI) on improving financial performance under fixed salary contracts and balanced budget restrictions in Japanese local governments (LGs). LGs enter compensation contracts based on fixed salaries with financial managers and demonstrate a strict fiscal policy based on balanced budget restrictions. How and under what conditions should OI contribute to improving financial performance in LGs? In the context of financial managers in Japanese LGs, we place organizational identities using the principal (mayor)–agent (financial manager) model under fixed salary contracts and a strict fiscal policy. Our mathematical results reveal that the impact of OI on financial performance in LGs depends on the extent of a strict fiscal policy and the reserve fund. Studying 452 survey responses of financial managers in Japanese LGs, we find evidence consistent with our hypotheses based on the theoretical model. The result contributes to management and government accounting studies by showing that the extent of financial policies and the reserve fund are drivers for OI to work effectively on improving financial performance in governments.

O Papel do Controller na Perspectiva da Estratégia como Prática: um Ensaio Teórico

Objective: This theoretical essay aims to explore how the controller participates in the strategy formation process, in the perspective of strategy as a practice.Method: We developed a theoretical essay based on the main issues related to the role of the controller in organizations and a general explanation of the theoretical model of strategy as a practice proposed by Jarzabkowski and Spee (2009).Originality/Relevance: We propose a new approach for management accounting studies by bringing together two fields of knowledge – accountability and strategy – under a constructivist perspective, exploring the role of the controller as a business partner and a strategy practitioner. We argue controllers act as middle managers in the implementation of organizational strategies, playing a fundamental role in strategy translation, communication and on its operational issues.Results: From the intersection between the two themes, three general propositions were developed, combining elements of strategy as practice (practice, praxis and practitioners) and the role of the controller, which serve as a basis for the advance of future research. This is a seminal step into future avenues of research and theoretical or empirical studies about the microperspective of management accounting.Theoretical/Methodological contributions: This theoretical essay analyzes the controller role in the micro-organizational perspective of the strategy as practice, addressing future research possibilities that unite the two lines of knowledge.

The Role of the Controller in the Perspective of Strategy as Practice: A theoretical essay

Objective: This theoretical essay aims to explore how the controller participates in the strategy formation process, in the perspective of strategy as a practice. Method: We developed a theoretical essay based on the main issues related to the role of the controller in organizations and a general explanation of the theoretical model of strategy as a practice proposed by Jarzabkowski and Spee (2009). Originality/Relevance: We propose a new approach for management accounting studies by bringing together two fields of knowledge – accountability and strategy – under a constructivist perspective, exploring the role of the controller as a business partner and a strategy practitioner. We argue controllers act as middle managers in the implementation of organizational strategies, playing a fundamental role in strategy translation, communication and on its operational issues. Results: From the intersection between the two themes, three general propositions were developed, combining elements of strategy as practice (practice, praxis and practitioners) and the role of the controller, which serve as a basis for the advance of future research. This is a seminal step into future avenues of research and theoretical or empirical studies about the microperspective of management accounting. Theoretical/Methodological contributions: This theoretical essay analyzes the controller role in the micro-organizational perspective of the strategy as practice, addressing future research possibilities that unite the two lines of knowledge.

A Functional Elaboration Theory Perspective on Management Accounting in Small Firms

We note a lack of theoretical explanations in a recent review of small-firm management accounting research and draw on recent organizational research (functional elaboration theory and theory of asymmetric effects of misfit, specifically) that may further illuminate findings in some small-firm management accounting studies. After briefly discussing how the functional elaboration process model in Wilkerson and Seers (2019) may be adapted to small-firm management accounting research, we offer recommendations for questionnaire measures of management accounting’s qualitative functional elaboration and underfit in small firms. Finally, we discuss implications for practice and entrepreneurship education.

Digital data and management accounting: why we need to rethink research methods

Digitalisation is having profound effects on how enterprises function. Its impact on accounting research is growing as the rise of the internet, mobile technologies and digital economy tools generate depth, breadth and variety of data that far exceed what researchers have had access to in the past. But whilst social scientists interested in organisational issues are starting to question conventional methodological approaches to the study of contexts where digital data forms are drawn upon, little such concern has been voiced in the management accounting literature. This paper seeks to explore the continued applicability of conventional methodological thinking when carrying out investigations within digital data environments to inform management accounting studies. It considers why digitalisation impacts methodological precepts, identifies how descriptive and explanatory modes of questioning which management accountants have conventionally opted for need rethinking, discusses ways in which digital data characteristics alter what can be drawn from empirical studies, and points to the potential offered within digitalised settings for methodological advance. It concludes by highlighting the necessity, where digitalisation exists, to question modes of posing questions and to reconsider the applicability of methodological precepts deployed by management accounting researchers to date.

Review of the Study of Chinese and Foreign Management Accounting in 2015-2017

This paper collates, summarizes and reviews 95 management accounting research literatures published in 6 academic journals and seven foreign journals between 2015 and 2017, and makes a comparative analysis of the research topics, research methods and application theories of management accounting. The results show that compared with the previous management accounting research in China, there have been significant changes in both research topics and research methods and applied theory. Research topics or research hot spots are becoming more diversified, research on Performance appraisal and motivation has increased significantly, research methods are more focused on database-based empirical research and experimental methodology and questionnaires, applied theory is more systematic and comprehensive, the subject background is gradually extended and cross-cutting. However, China’s management accounting compared with foreign countries there is still a big gap; there is still a lot of room for development.

The Features of Management Accounting in Appraisal Companies

The aim of the study is to determine the specificity of management accounting in appraisal companies. Appraisal activity is one of the aspects of the multi-faceted concept of «appraisal», which also means the process of professional appraisal implemented by the appraiser, and applied economics with its own methodology, terminology, research principles, and professional opinion of the appraiser regarding the value of a particular object of appraisal. Methodology. This study uses a historical, systematic and integrated approach to the transfer of material. Transmission logic, which is the original definition of the basic concepts and further description of fundamentals of management accounting, allows understanding patterns and modern trends of appraisal activity.
 Certain provisions were used in the practice of a Limited Liability Partnership engaged in appraisal services. Research results obtained allow us to understand the nuances of management accounting to improve the performance of appraisal companies in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
 The scientific novelty of the research is that because of a theoretical study of management accounting, possible directions for increasing the wellness of appraisal companies are justified. Theoretical and practical significance of the study connect with the possibility of using the scientific results in the deals of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan and its structural subdivisions, the tax authorities at different levels, the Ministry of national economy of Kazakhstan. This fundamental research can be used as a basis for training specialists in the field of performance accounting.

Development of management accounting in the light of scientific achievements of the Wroclaw school of accounting studies

The main purpose of the paper was to present the scientific input and achievements of the Wroclaw school of accounting studies at Wroclaw University of Economics in the area of management accounting development in Poland in the post-war period, early in the history of the University. Conclusions presented in this paper are formulated on the basis of literature studies conducted by the author, with a special focus on the wealth of information published by the leading representatives of the Wroclaw centre, particularly in the area of management accounting. The paper offers insight into the work of the most prominent figures of the Wroclaw school and their roles in the initiation and evolution of the management accounting science in Poland. Analyses suggest that many of the scientific observations reported by the centre, both in the form of articles and non-serial printed publications, were consistent with the leading academic modes of approach to management accounting, not only in Poland, but also in the international dimension. Important publications in management accounting can be found in the scientific output of many researchers and academics of the Wroclaw school of accounting studies, with the most prominent figures rightly considered as precursors and pioneers of management accounting in Poland. In addition, the study provides evidence to confirm strong associations linking the evolution of management accounting studies at the Wroclaw centre with the current socio-economic transformations and turbulent conditions of economic operation observed in the post-war period.

Automation and management control in dynamic environments: Managing organisational flexibility and energy efficiency in service sectors

Automation has been conceptually explained in management accounting research as an antecedent to control problem avoidance (Emmanuel, Merchant, & Otley, 1990). However, the question of how automation is implicated in more dynamic service-based environments remains unanswered. We apply the Adler and Borys' (1996) bureaucracy framework to explain how enabling controls allow organisations to simultaneously pursue organisational flexibility and energy efficiency (Ahrens & Chapman, 2004; Jorgensen & Messner, 2009). Subsequently, we examine how automation and its related management control are designed and used in a dynamic service-based organisation, where goal attainment and the energy efficiency of its buildings are critical. In doing so, we explain how automation-related standardisation is adjusted by enabling control attributes (repair, flexibility, internal transparency) to advance user flexibility. Additionally, standardisation minimises the loss in energy efficiency when less optimal repair control behaviour manifests. Our study adds more depth to the work by Merchant and Van der Stede (2017) by exploring how automation complements labour in dynamic environments. Our findings offer greater understanding of how automation and management control systems are designed and used to enhance organisations' energy efficiency in dynamic service-based environments. In doing so, we advance extant environmental management accounting studies (Virtanen, Tuomaala, & Pentti, 2013).