Search results
1 – 10 of over 112000This paper aims to discuss the interplay between strategic management accounting (SMA) and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the interplay between strategic management accounting (SMA) and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This explication occurs within a context that is characterized by organization restructuring and corporate strategy changes within Jordan Customs Organization (JCO).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a qualitative research approach and presents an interpretive case study of the JCO public sector organization. To collect data, it uses methodological triangulation, which includes interviews, historical and statistical analyses, documents and archival records. It is informed by the theoretical lens of configurational theory and strategic typologies to interpret the influences of organizational change configurations on SMA as it relates to the interplay of strategy, structure and restructuring.
Findings
The study findings agree with the related literature that SMA practices have developed management accounting from important operational transactions to gain a more strategic orientation through integrating customers, human resources, processes and financial departments. This paper concludes that specific SMA techniques have been used for strategizing by organizations in the public sector, providing a valuable counterpoint to the private sector adaptation that has dominated SMA research. This study finds that organizational restructuring has also contributed to decentralization and delegation, which has led to the distribution of tasks and specialization in accounting departments. It also concludes that SMA may facilitate or delay organizational change configurations in JCO. SMA can play a significant role in ensuring that the institution learns in response to organizational changes. On the contrary, this paper also concludes that organizational practices led to changes in SMA rules and routines.
Research limitations/implications
A general criticism of case-study methods is that they lack rigor and provide little basis for generalization. First, case studies tend to be specific and individual, posing significant issues regarding generalization. Therefore, several comparative case studies involving various organizations should be conducted to ascertain if these practices have become more commonplace, especially in the public sector. Second, considering the nature of a government entity and the sensitivity of the information that required confidentiality, certain strategizing imperatives could not be directly examined, such as meetings between top management to make important decisions of strategic significance. This paper has important implications because it highlights the shortcomings of a supercilious singular relationship between strategic choices and the design of SMA practices.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the growing literature by focusing on the relationship between SMA and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This paper is informed by the configuration theory perspective commonly used in accounting research. The empirical evidence in this study is provided in an SMA field, where empirical research is needed to be comparable with traditional accounting practices.
Details
Keywords
The objective of this research project was to ascertain the role of management accountants in relation to strategic human resource management (SHRM) and the information provided…
Abstract
The objective of this research project was to ascertain the role of management accountants in relation to strategic human resource management (SHRM) and the information provided for SHRM. To achieve this objective four case studies (two UK and two Canadian organisations) were conducted using a grounded theory approach. The two most important HR strategies in these cases were training and leadership development, which were linked to the overall goals of each organisation. Management accountants played a key role in providing information for the SHRM planning process in all four cases. The role of management accountants during the strategic planning process was very much as integral team members with a facilitating role. In all four cases management accountants provided HR managers with information for decision making.
Details
Keywords
Michael Brandau and Andreas H. Hoffjan
The paper seeks to explore the extent of involvement of management accounting in strategic inter‐organizational decisions and control in the context of offshoring of services.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to explore the extent of involvement of management accounting in strategic inter‐organizational decisions and control in the context of offshoring of services.
Design/methodology/approach
For the present study, a multiple case study field research design was selected. A data‐bank media search identified companies actually offshoring their services. In total, 17 semi‐structured interviews with management accountants/managers were conducted in 14 of the identified companies. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis techniques.
Findings
Management accounting is involved in offshoring activities to a much lower extent than expected. The reasons range from contractual agreements between the different parties, which substitute in part for management accounting interventions, to competence problems in accounting departments. Therefore, management accounting often fails to provide support for strategic planning and coordination.
Research limitations/implications
The data obtained through the qualitative research approach have a low‐scaling level, which limits subsequent analysis to descriptive statistics only.
Practical implications
The paper identifies risks and actual problems associated with offshoring, which indicate an increased need for coordinated planning and information processing. Furthermore, it raises the question of how management accounting can overcome existing competence problems with respect to the support of strategic decision making, in order to fulfil its function within the company more efficiently.
Originality/value
Literature does not provide convincing evidence of the practical significance of management accounting in the context of strategic decisions and inter‐organizational relations. This paper shows that management accounting currently remains far removed from its function as a developer of strategic decisions and as a support function for corporate planning and coordination processes.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a field study, investigating accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management and power structures in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a field study, investigating accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management and power structures in the Jordanian higher education (HE) sector on the basis of Bourdieu’s theory of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts an interpretive stance, seeking to investigate the perceptions of actors in the field, with regard to accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management in HE. The adopted methodology is adapted grounded theory, as this study assumes a prior theoretical stance of Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts. Data were collected through participant observation in meetings, at the workplace, interviews and documentation.
Findings
The main findings of this paper reflect how strategising and accounting in practice manifest themselves in the Jordanian HE sector. Bourdieu’s theory of practice sets the meta-theoretical context of the current study, with field setting the scene, and habitus being represented in the strategising mind-set participants adopt. The mind-set determines how strategic management accounting is perceived and dealt with. Strategic management accounting takes place at varying degrees. The power structures that influence and determine strategising and accounting in support thereof are researched on the basis of Bourdieu’s forms of capital. Different forms of capital matter in the HE sector determined by fields’ doxa.
Research limitations/implications
The researcher is a part of the field, the Jordanian HE sector; thus, their habitus has been exposed to its characteristics and features. Thus, certain internalised structures and experiences needed to be challenged for this analysis, which was not an easy task.
Originality/value
This study investigates accounting, strategic management and power structures in HE, and it highlights the different power structures, using Bourdieu’s forms of capital, which offers a great insight into how different cultures approach similar issues.
Details
Keywords
Khaled Hutaibat, Larissa von Alberti‐Alhtaybat and Khaldoon Al‐Htaybat
The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of strategic management accounting (SMA) in an English university. It is in search of and investigates SMA practices and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of strategic management accounting (SMA) in an English university. It is in search of and investigates SMA practices and processes, and their meaning to participants in an English university context. The higher education (HE) institution under research had gone through a major change a couple of years prior to this study, including implementation of new strategic management and management accounting practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken is an interpretive one and the adopted methodology is grounded theory according to Glaser's evolved approach. Data collection took place largely through interviews and, where possible, participant observation.
Findings
The main findings of the research concern the core concept of the strategising mindset, which encapsulates the institutional, divisional and individual stance towards strategy and SMA. The strategising mindset is understood as the belief system that is adopted with regard to SMA, which is divided into a bureaucratic and an entrepreneurial mindset. According to the respective mindset, accounting for strategic management is dealt with and institutional members' perceptions of SMA are shaped. The particular mindset adopted depends on the context members were and are functioning, which reflects Bourdieu's theory of practice.
Originality/value
The main contributions are the emergent theoretical framework on SMA in HE, the concept of the strategising mindset and resulting views and conclusions on what SMA actually means in practice. To the authors' knowledge, no such theoretical framework has been published to date.
Details
Keywords
Purpose – This study investigates the interplay between strategic performance measurement and management accounting to gain a deeper understanding of how strategic measures of…
Abstract
Purpose – This study investigates the interplay between strategic performance measurement and management accounting to gain a deeper understanding of how strategic measures of performance evolve with the managerial accounting practices.
Design/Methodology/Approach – The study explored the performance measures used at a bank focused on the development and sustainability initiatives in Africa. Thirty-two semistructured interviews were conducted with directors, managers, and analysts from nine different categories of job families.
Findings – Analysis shows that managers assimilate a comprehensive, multifaceted measurement system to understand the creation and delivery of sustainable value. The results show that the managerial accounting practices adapt to incorporate an integrated set of performance measures that afford sustainable value to the stakeholders. The findings provide rich insights into how the managers adapt their information assimilation practices to the changing demands of the different stakeholders and adopt practices which innovate measures of performance that are aligned to the strategic goals. Finally, the findings illustrate that the interplay between strategic performance and managerial accounting practices has the potential to improve or inhibit sustainable development.
Originality/Value – Little is known about how performance measures evolve, and how they interplay with the managerial accounting practices within organizations. This study reveals that the interplay of strategic performance measurement and managerial accounting can only be understood in the confluence of organizational change and sustainability. While acknowledging the need to embrace change and sustainability simultaneously, the study offers insights into the dynamics of change – the duality of emergent managerial accounting practices and the evolution of strategic performance measurement systems.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the origins of strategic management accounting and to assess the extent of adoption and “success” of strategic management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the origins of strategic management accounting and to assess the extent of adoption and “success” of strategic management accounting (SMA).
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical papers which have directly researched SMA and prior review papers of the adoption and implementation of SMA or SMA techniques are reviewed. As well as assessing the extent of adoption of SMA and the reasons underlying an apparent low adoption rate, the role of accountants in adopting and implementing SMA is considered. Finally, the success or otherwise of SMA is discussed.
Findings
SMA or SMA techniques have not been adopted widely, nor is the term SMA widely understood or used. However, aspects of SMA have had an impact, influencing the thinking and language of business, and the way in which we undertake various business processes. These issues cut across the wider domain of management, and are not just the province of management accountants.
Research limitations/implications
There is limited value in conducting future surveys of the adoption and implementation of SMA or SMA techniques. Rather, the focus should be on how SMA‐inspired techniques and processes diffuse into general practice within organizations.
Originality/value
Twenty‐five years after the term strategic management accounting was first introduced in the literature, this paper brings together disparate literature and provides a broad assessment of the “state‐of‐the‐art” of strategic management accounting to inform researchers and practitioners.
Details
Keywords
This paper sets out to investigate and critique the corpus of recent research into gender dimensions of strategic management and accounting processes with a view to establishing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sets out to investigate and critique the corpus of recent research into gender dimensions of strategic management and accounting processes with a view to establishing the current state of knowledge and offering both future research and policy implications.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature‐based analysis and critique are employed. This is constructed from a social constructionist perspective, drawing on concepts of the variably gendered identity of discourse and of process, and a theory of absence.
Findings
The study uncovers major gaps in research attention and consequent knowledge concerning gendered characteristics of managers' and accountants' approaches to, and involvement in, strategic management and accounting processes. Evidence suggests that in these processes both feminine and masculine features constitute important but at present inadequately researched and understood modes of operation.
Research limitations/implications
This research suggests opportunities for androgynous strategic management and accounting processes that draw on characteristics from both feminine and masculine perspectives. Also identified are a significant array of knowledge absences and related further research questions to be addressed.
Originality/value
The study opens up an area of significant research neglect, particularly in accounting. It offers theoretical and methodological paths for moving this research agenda forward.
Details
Keywords
Abeer Abdelmoneim Mohamed and Tracy Jones
The purpose of this study is to propose a comprehensive strategic model to manage profitability. Strategic management accounting concepts and tools are adopted to explore and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose a comprehensive strategic model to manage profitability. Strategic management accounting concepts and tools are adopted to explore and manage the main profitability drivers (cost, assets, and revenue).
Design/methodology/approach
A deductive approach is used to identify the variables of the profitability model. Phase one of this study rely on reviewing prior literature in the field in order to identify the key profitability drivers that uses in managing profitability (costs, assets and revenue).Phase two of the research focuses on testing the perceptions of the managers of Egyptian “Information and communications technology” sector, the relative merits of such a model.
Findings
The most important finding in the current study, which has not been investigated in previous studies, is that the proposed comprehensive profitability model which contains cost, the assets and revenue techniques was a better predictor of profitability than the alternative models, which contain a combination of two variables.
Originality/value
As the first study of its kind, this model contributes to the theoretical literature in the field. It is also a practical contribution in managing profitability of the Egyptian “Information and communications technology” sector.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to develop an extensive conceptualization of strategic management accounting (SMA) facets, as well as to explore the impact of these facets on both…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an extensive conceptualization of strategic management accounting (SMA) facets, as well as to explore the impact of these facets on both financial and non-financial measures of organizational performance (OP).
Design/methodology/approach
Data are collected from 435 accounting managers working in Saudi companies listed in the Saudi Stock Exchange. The study applies hierarchical regression analysis to test the association between SMA facets and OP.
Findings
The results show that SMA facets significantly affect OP, assessed in the two major categories of financial and non-financial performance.
Research limitations/implications
The dominance of companies listed in the Saudi Stock Exchange in the data set limits the generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
The present study supports the idea that companies can enhance their OP by adopting some facets of SMA such as the availability of appropriate structural arrangements, supportive resources, adequate information types and usages and good organizational climate.
Originality/value
The current study expands the conceptualization of SMA in light of organizational context as a set of facets to overcome the polarization found in the existing literature and explores their impact on OP, including non-financial performance, for which empirical evidence is still scant.
Details