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“The return on investment is normally considered to be one of the key measures in appraising company performance, but in using this measure it is vital to be aware of some of its…
Abstract
“The return on investment is normally considered to be one of the key measures in appraising company performance, but in using this measure it is vital to be aware of some of its limitations,” says Colin Drury. Using financial reports of a representative sample of 700 UK companies, Drury explains how to go about financial analysis, mindful of some of the factors that can lead to distortion.
John A. Brierley, Christopher J. Cowton and Colin Drury
Reports the findings of a pilot survey into how product costs are calculated and how they are used in decision making in manufacturing industry in the UK. The survey examines how…
Abstract
Reports the findings of a pilot survey into how product costs are calculated and how they are used in decision making in manufacturing industry in the UK. The survey examines how many accounting systems firms use, blanket overhead rates in product costing; the bases used to calculate overhead rates; the application of product costs in decision making; and profitability maps. The results show that a variety of methods are used to calculate product costs and that they are used to a significant extent in decision making.
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It is apparent from the empirical studies in the UK and USA that incorrect approaches are frequently used to evaluate finance leases. Sykes (1975), Hull and Hubbard (1979) and…
Abstract
It is apparent from the empirical studies in the UK and USA that incorrect approaches are frequently used to evaluate finance leases. Sykes (1975), Hull and Hubbard (1979) and Drury and Braund (1989) in the UK and Ferrara et. al., (1980) in the USA have expressed concern regarding the methods which companies use to evaluate finance leases. For example Sykes (1975) found that only 19% of UK companies used DCF methods to evaluate leases. Hull and Hubbard (1979) observed that many companies used the implied rate of interest quoted from the lessor's leasing tables and compared this with the borrowing rate. However, these tables did not include tax cash flows and were therefore only applicable to a permanent non‐taxpaying organisation. In the most recent study Drury and Braund (1989) found that 41% of the 300 firms responding to a questionnaire used the wrong discount rate to evaluate finance leases and a further 14% used non‐discounting methods. The objective of this article is to explain how the lease or purchase decision should be evaluated. It will be shown that leasing should be compared with borrowing and three different methods of correctly evaluating the lease or borrow decision will be presented and reconciled.
Martin G. Helander, Sara J. Czaja, Colin G. Drury, James M. Cary and George Burri
Ten ergonomic office chairs, chosen from a sample of eighty‐four, were evaluated in an ergonomic field study. Twenty office employees used each of the chairs for one day. The…
Abstract
Ten ergonomic office chairs, chosen from a sample of eighty‐four, were evaluated in an ergonomic field study. Twenty office employees used each of the chairs for one day. The chairs were evaluated using four different subjective methods: body part discomfort, general comfort rating, a chair feature evaluation checklist, and a ranking procedure. The chair users generally had difficulties in perceiving and expressing comfort and discomfort which was required in the two first methods. The latter methods produced more informative results including significant differences between the chairs. The study identified several distinct features related to chair comfort including the design of the seat pan, back rest, arm rests, and ease of adjustability.
Sara J. Czaja, James M. Cary, Colin G. Drury and Barbara G. Cohen
The increased number of people working in offices and the steady influx of computer technology has generated concern for the health and quality of work life of office workers. A…
Abstract
The increased number of people working in offices and the steady influx of computer technology has generated concern for the health and quality of work life of office workers. A number of studies have indicated that occupational stress, both physical and psychological, is becoming a problem in office workplaces. This study evaluated ergonomic aspects of traditional (bullpen) and automated (systems) offices to provide information regarding the suitability of various office configurations. A total of 105 female office workers representing the public and private sectors participated in the study. The evaluation methodology, which included both questionnaire, interview and objective measurements, encompassed the following components of office environments: environmental conditions (e.g. lighting), workstation factors, job characteristics/demands and organizational demands. Overall, the results indicated that ergonomic problems exist in both public and private sector offices. The findings demonstrate that the design of the office environment is important as it impacts on the health and quality of work life of office workers.
Chris Guilding, Colin Drury and Mike Tayles
This paper has two specific objectives: to appraise the relative importance of cost‐plus pricing and to develop and test hypotheses concerned with contingent factors that might…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper has two specific objectives: to appraise the relative importance of cost‐plus pricing and to develop and test hypotheses concerned with contingent factors that might affect the degree of importance attached to cost‐plus pricing.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via a mailed survey of UK and Australian companies. Tests were applied and non‐response bias was not a threat to the validity of the findings.
Findings
A relatively high degree of importance attached to cost‐plus pricing is noted, although there appears to be a substantial number of companies that use cost‐plus pricing for a relatively small sub‐set of products and services. Companies confronted by high competition intensity attach relatively high degrees of importance to cost‐plus pricing and manufacturing companies attach a relatively low degree of importance to cost‐plus pricing.
Originality/value
The paper makes a contribution, given that only two empirical studies with a specific focus on cost‐plus pricing were revealed in a literature search covering the last two decades. Additionally, little has been done to investigate the contingent factors affecting the application of cost‐plus pricing. The significant role played by competition intensity in connection with accounting system design is observed to be one of the more enduring relationships uncovered by management accounting research. But a somewhat perplexing aspect of this study concerns the failure to find a statistically significant positive relationship between company size and cost‐plus pricing.
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John A. Brierley, Christopher J. Cowton and Colin Drury
This paper uses the results of a questionnaire survey to conduct exploratory research into the importance of product costs in decision-making. The results of the research reveal…
Abstract
This paper uses the results of a questionnaire survey to conduct exploratory research into the importance of product costs in decision-making. The results of the research reveal that product costs are at least important in selling price, make-or-buy, cost reduction, product design, evaluating new production process and product discontinuation decisions. Product costs that were used directly in decision-making were more important than those that were used as attention directing information and they were more important in product mix, output level and product discontinuation decisions in continuous production processes manufacturing. In general, the importance of product costs in decision-making did not vary between the methods used to allocate and assign overheads to product costs, and it was not related to operating unit size, product differentiation, competition and the level of satisfaction with the product costing system.
Junjie Wu and Colin Drury
The purpose of this study is to analyze the environmental factors (either internal or external) that influence the adoption of management accounting practices (MAPs) in Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the environmental factors (either internal or external) that influence the adoption of management accounting practices (MAPs) in Chinese state ‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and foreign joint ventures (JVs) located in China.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross‐sectional survey and comparative study based on questionnaires from SOEs and JVs respondents.
Findings
The study finds a significant difference in the adoption levels of MAPs according to the ownership type of the enterprise (JVs and SOEs). This study provides some support for the findings from previous researches. It confirms that Chinese enterprises participating in foreign‐partnered JVs have made more changes to their management accounting systems when compared to similar Chinese enterprises that had no collaborative venture operation with foreign firms. This paper has also presented a detailed historic background and an in‐depth discussion to explore some environmental factors influencing the adoption of MAPs in SOEs and JVs and explain possible reasons.
Originality/value
This study is thought as one of the first attempts to systematically investigate of the benefits derived from traditional and contemporary practices of management accounting used in Chinese SOEs and JVs.
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Surveys of capital budgeting practices in the UK and USA reveal a trend towards the increased use of more sophisticated investment appraisals requiring the application of…
Abstract
Surveys of capital budgeting practices in the UK and USA reveal a trend towards the increased use of more sophisticated investment appraisals requiring the application of discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques. Several writers, however, have claimed that companies are underinvesting because they misapply or misinterpret DCF techniques. Such claims have been made on the basis of observations in only a few companies, or anecdotal evidence, without any supporting statistical evidence. Reports on a recent survey conducted by the authors which suggests that many UK firms are guilty of misapplying DCF techniques. Also provides evidence relating to some issues that have not been thoroughly examined in previous studies, namely the impact of company size and the relative importance that firms attach to different investment appraisal techniques.
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