Issues arising from surveys of management accounting practice

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Drury ◽  
Mike Tayles
Keyword(s):  
Management Accounting ◽  
Accounting Practice

scholarly journals Understanding management accounting change using strong structuration frameworks

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1234-1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Makrygiannakis ◽  
Lisa Jack
Keyword(s):  
Management Accounting ◽  
Context Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Control Structures ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
First Response ◽  
Strong Structuration ◽  
The 2008 Financial Crisis ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to suggest a strong structuration-based framework for the study of management accounting change. Design/methodology/approach A retrospective field study was designed to investigate the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on budgeting and control practices of Greek hospitality organisations. Conduct analysis addresses agents’ perceptions of the changes upon themselves. Context analysis explores the changing context, and how the agents modified their in-situ control structures accordingly. The framework is demonstrated through one case study. Findings The agents in the case, triggered by the crisis, gradually come to criticise the way they practice budgeting. The first response is to practice budgeting more normatively, but later they criticise and modify these norms. As their formal mentalities co-mediated action, variance management became proactive rather than reactive. Variations in the ways agents draw upon structures – unreflectively or critically – and on how they act to reproduce structures – routinely or strategically – characterise change in management accounting practice. Agents’ reasoning and conduct leading to action is local, and these local changes in conduct and context are significant in understanding management accounting change. Originality/value This framework for studying management accounting change balances structural conditions of action, with action and interaction. It can be used to study how, why, and by whom institutionalised management accounting practices may change.

scholarly journals Historical aspects of the origin of strategic management accounting

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
V.P. Gryn
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Management ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Future Orientation ◽  
Organizational Capabilities ◽  
Information Support ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Internal Resources ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Strategic Management Accounting ◽  
Characteristic Features

The necessity of the analysis of historical features of formation of the strategic management accounting has been grounded. The peculiarities of the crisis in management accounting in the 1980s have been determined. The requirements to the management accounting system in terms of strategic cost management have been identified. A significant increase in attention to the problems of development of strategic management accounting (demarcation with classical management accounting, separation of methods, empirical research of accounting practice) since the 2000s has been established. The lack of a unified interpretation of the concept of «strategic management accounting» among Ukrainian and foreign scientists has been identified. Characteristic features of strategic management accounting have been determined (development of management accounting with strategic orientation; external orientation (outward-oriented); future orientation (perspective orientation); application of both financial and non-financial typologies of measurement in focus on internal resources and organizational capabilities). The main purpose of strategic management accounting as the creation of information support to achieve competitive advantages and improve the performance of the enterprise has been grounded.

Exploring the programmability of management accounting work for increasing automation: an interventionist case study

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Korhonen ◽  
Erno Selos ◽  
Teemu Laine ◽  
Petri Suomala
Keyword(s):  
Management Accounting ◽  
Actual Process ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Decision Technologies ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to better understand management accounting automation by exploring the programmability of management accounting work.Design/methodology/approachWe build upon the literature on digitalization in management accounting and draw upon the pragmatic constructivist methodology to understand how digitalization takes place at the individual actors' level in accounting practice. The paper uses a data set from an interventionist case study of a machinery manufacturer.FindingsWe examine an actual process of automating management accounting tasks. During this development process, surprisingly, calculation tasks remained more fit for humans than machines though, initially, they were thought to be programmable.Research limitations/implicationsAccording to our findings, practitioners may interpret experts' nonprogrammable work tasks as programmable and seek to automate them. Only identifying the factual possibilities for automating accounting-related work can lead to automation-improved efficiency. Our findings can be increasingly relevant for advanced analytics initiatives and applications within management accounting (e.g. robotic process automation, big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence).Practical implicationsPractitioners need to carefully analyze the entity they wish to automate and understand the factual possibilities of using and maintaining the planned automatic system throughout its life cycle.Originality/valueThe paper shows that when processes are assessed from a distance, the nonprogrammable management accounting tasks and expertise can become misinterpreted as programmable, and the goal of automating them has little chance of success. It also shows possibilities for human accountants to remain relevant in comparison to machines and paves the way for further studies on advanced decision technologies in management accounting.

scholarly journals Comparing the research-practice gap in management accounting

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basil P. Tucker ◽  
Stefan Schaltegger
Keyword(s):  
Management Accounting ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Significant Barrier ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Compare And Contrast ◽  
Specific Barriers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast perceptions about the research-practice “gap” as it may apply within management accounting, from the perspective of professional accounting bodies in Australia and Germany. Design/methodology/approach – The findings reported in this paper is based on the collection and analysis of data from interviews with 19 senior representatives from four Australian Professional bodies and 14 representatives of German Professional accounting bodies. Findings – In Australia and Germany, there exist common as well as unique barriers preventing a more effective engagement of academic research with practice. Common to both countries is the perception that the communication of research represents a major barrier. In Australia, practitioner access to academic research is seen to be a principal obstacle; in Germany, the relevance of topics researched by academics is perceived to represent a significant barrier to academic research informing practice. Research limitations/implications – This paper directly engages with, and extends recent empirically based research into the extent to which academic research may “speak” to management accounting practice. It extricates both common and specific barriers contributing to the oft-quoted “research-practice gap” in management accounting, and points to the pivotal nature of an intermediary to act as a conduit between academics and practice. Originality/value – By investigating this issue in two quite different cultural, educational, academic and practice contexts, this paper provides much-needed empirical evidence about the nature, extent and pervasiveness of the perceived research-practice gap in management accounting, and provides a basis for further investigation of this important topic.

scholarly journals The agenda of management accounting in healthcare

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 697-710
Author(s):  
Andrei V. CHURIKOV
Keyword(s):  
Management Accounting ◽  
Medical Insurance ◽  
Voronezh Oblast ◽  
Comparison Analysis ◽  
Current Management ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Accounting Management ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
Insurance Funds ◽  
The Russian Federation

Subject. This article discusses changes in the economic and legislative environment of State-financed healthcare institutions, regulatory framework of the Russian Federation, which influences management accounting indicators. Objectives. I outline a system of relations in the design of management accounting indicators of State-financed healthcare institutions. Methods. The study is based on the methods of grouping, comparison, analysis, and generalization. I analyzed the current management accounting practice in State-financed medical institutions of the Voronezh Oblast. Results. Analyzing regulatory documents and industrial distinctions and difficulties in healthcare, I outlined a system of relations in the design of management accounting indicators in State-financed healthcare institutions. I traced factors that influence the creation of management accounting in State-financed healthcare institutions. I suggest implementing the practice of accounting for costs incurred per patient into the accounting and information system of management accounting. Aspects of statistical accounting should be integrated into the accounting process for this purpose. Conclusions and Relevance. The specifics of financing sources now influence a set of indicators and internal reporting in management accounting. Management accounting of income becomes a priority in management accounting as part of compulsory medical insurance funding. Management accounting of income and process designing approaches are getting more and more specific as the methods for paying the medical assistance with compulsory medical insurance funds get changed.

scholarly journals The size of the enterprise as a determinant of management accounting practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (103 (159)) ◽  
pp. 183-202
Author(s):  
Anna Szychta
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Company Performance ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Strategic Management Accounting ◽  
Management Accountants ◽  
Operational Management ◽  
Research Questions

The aim of the paper is to indicate differences in the application of management accounting methods and the type of tasks that management accountants perform. It will also identify the type and importance of factors determining the application of these methods in small, medium and large enterprises in Poland that participated in the empirical study. The paper answers several research questions based on data obtained from companies in a survey conducted in 2016. The study shows, among others, that in the third decade of the development of the market economy, after the transformation of the political system in Poland, enterprises, regardless of size, still mainly use traditional cost accounting systems; along with the increase in the size of enterprises, the number of entities implementing the operational management accounting methods increases. Strategic management accounting methods in large and medium-sized entities are relatively rarely implemented, excluding long-term planning in large companies, which is used in around 83% of the surveyed companies. Management accounting practice in Poland is now more influenced by economic factors than by institutional ones. Of the ten tasks of management accountants indicated in the study, the reduction of costs and expenses and the measurement of company performance were considered the most important.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document