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The purpose of this study is to present a review of the literature on strategic management accounting (SMA). Specifically, it focuses on the trend of SMA research since the publication of Langfield-Smith’s (2008) influential paper “Strategic management accounting: how far have we come in 25 years?” which raised the question of relevance of further SMA research.

The study reviewed articles published on SMA as a whole (comprising a set of advanced management accounting techniques) and its specific techniques for the period of 2008 to 2019 in 23 leading accounting journals.

The review finds that research on SMA has focused on the contingencies influencing the adoption and implementation of SMA techniques and the effects of such adoption on various aspects of firm and employee performance. The renovation and modification of existing practices in attempt to match with the organizational context has also attracted the attention of several SMA scholars. In addition, a noticeable shift to the strategic management theory and case study method was observed during the study period.

The study focuses on the trend of SMA research in an attempt to revisit the relevance of further research in this arena, particularly as a response to the criticism raised by Langfield-Smith (2008).

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether the deinstitutionalization of management accounting is better described using structuration theory (techniques are reproduced until replaced) or sedimentation (layering of a new technique upon an earlier technique).

An archival study of management accounting at the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) between 1670 and 2005.

With the delegitimation of management accounting at the HBC, both structuration and sedimentation processes occurred. However, delegitimation did not mean all of the techniques within a set were eliminated. Several management accounting techniques often continued from one set to another (e.g. indents, outfits, standards of trade) reflecting continued reproduction of existing practices. Sometimes new techniques were added to allegedly make the set more effective, but these overlays did not always replace the former.

The usual limitations of single firm study generalizations.

The research provides practitioners with insights into how management accounting practices change. With change some aspects of management accounting will remain the same.

This case study is based upon a unique primary archival. The HBC has made its accounting and other corporate records available to the public for the period 1670‐1970. The archival data set is supplemented by access to some of the Company's private (and more recent) corporate records, plus interviews with retired and existing senior managers about these changes to their management accounting techniques, up to 2005. Therefore, this study is based upon an extensive, unique and robust longitudinal data set.

This study investigates the usage of modern management accounting techniques popularly referred to as “strategic management accounting” (SMA), and the extent to which innovation attributes (namely relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) determine SMA usage intensity.

Survey data was obtained through a structured questionnaire from 45 out of 56 publicly listed manufacturing companies on the Mainboard of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to analyse data.

Whereas the overall usage rate of SMA as an innovation is generally moderate, there is significant difference in SMA usage intensity across industries in the manufacturing sector due to environmental uncertainty. Compatibility emerged as the strongest determinant of SMA usage intensity, implying that commercial enterprises would intensely apply SMA to remain innovative, to continuously improve and to incorporate strategy in accounting practice in a bid to survive competition. SMA will witness extensive usage if it aligns with the competitive strategies of an organisation.

The attributes of innovation measured treat all SMA techniques as one, but did not measure relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability for each of the techniques. Future studies may consider investigating how innovation attributes specifically affect each SMA technique. The dimension of compatibility investigated in the study lean towards the alignment of SMA with competitive strategies. Taking into account the multidimensionality of compatibility as an innovation attribute, future studies may examine how past experience of implementing new ideas, as well as compatibility of SMA with corporate culture and value system, affect the dissemination and diffusion of management accounting innovations.

The paper proposes that although innovation attributes may partly explain SMA usage, coercive factors such as competition and environmental uncertainty may also be responsible for the decision to adopt innovative management accounting practices. The study therefore calls for a critical appraisal of how coercive institutional factors such as competition, regulation and actions of key stakeholders influence the decision of organisations to adopt an innovation.

This paper contributes to knowledge by challenging existing knowledge and presenting evidence that innovation attributes acclaimed to determine the spread of an innovation may be inapplicable in certain settings due to some environmental challenges. The study also contributes to knowledge by developing a composite scale for measuring innovation attributes specifically adapted to management accounting innovation, which can be used in future studies.

This study examines the use of selected management accounting techniques by a sample of large and medium sized Saudi manufacturing companies. The analysis revealed that the vast majority of management accounting techniques that are the focus of this study are used. Traditional management accounting techniques are perceived to be important and are heavily used by participant companies. Although new management accounting techniques, such as ABC and JIT, are used by a limited number of participants, the result is in line with those reported by studies conducted in some developed countries.

Aims to examine the four different management accounting systems or sets that existed at the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) during the 1670‐2005 period with Burns and Scapens' institution‐based framework of management accounting change.

A case study was used with comprehensive archival evidence coming mainly from the Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA) and the HBC's private archive for 1670‐1970 and from interviews with retired and existing senior managers at the HBC for 1970‐2005.

The findings indicated that Burns and Scapens' framework was helpful. Institutions did prevent management accounting changes, even when seriously needed. Under certain conditions, institutions do not resist management accounting changes. Six suggestions are provided for extending and refining Burns and Scapens framework.

Although the 325 years of evidence was uniquely rich, it was still a case study of a single firm.

Management accounting is slow to change because of institutions.

Management accounting change is very much path‐dependent. Changes occur in management accounting because of major external changes such as competition and modernization. Also, management accounting changes come from the introduction of taken‐for‐granted external techniques such as budgeting, capital budgeting, and planning.

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the use of strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques in hospitals under competitive market environments. The paper analyses the dissemination of SMA techniques in consideration of structural characteristics and perform a cluster analysis in order to investigate performance differences between various groups of hospitals.

The paper collected empirical data in a nationwide survey of German general hospitals. Analyses are based on questionnaires from 116 hospitals.

Results show that strategies are applied and regularly adjusted in most hospitals. However, SMA techniques are not in widespread use. The paper explores performance differences between the clusters comprised. The paper finds evidence that the use of SMA techniques varies among hospitals based on their structural characteristics.

The authors' exploratory analysis suggest that further study exploring both the determinants and effects of the use of SMA techniques in hospitals represents an interesting path for future research. This study is subject to limitations, particularly concerning the limited number of contextual variables and performance measures taken into consideration.

Considering the limited use of SMA techniques, this paper conclude that hospitals should consider the adoption of additional practices. The paper identifies particular potential for development in the areas of risk management and capital budgeting methods.

This study provides the first comprehensive overview of SMA techniques used in hospitals and advances the literature, which primarily includes case study evidence on single SMA techniques or analyses of the impact of strategies and health reforms on “conventional” management accounting practices. This paper, then, constitutes a useful starting point for further research on SMA practices in hospitals.

To benchmark the degree to which companies in Slovenia, a country that has experienced success in its transition to a market economy, apply strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques.

Survey data collected in Slovenia has been benchmarked to survey data collected in similarly sized Australian companies.

For the Slovenian sample, while none of the techniques investigated are applied extensively, it has been found that competitor focused SMA techniques are the most popular. A group of SMA techniques that have a costing orientation are applied more extensively in Slovenian companies than in the Australian benchmark sample. It has also been found that some techniques that have a relatively high popularity ranking in one country, rank relatively lowly in the other country.

In addition to the generally accepted limitations of survey research, it should be noted that there is no definitive listing of SMA techniques and debate concerning this matter can be expected to continue. A further shortcoming is evident in the cross‐country comparison aspect of this study, as a disappointingly small number of Australian financial controllers committed themselves to participating in the study.

It appears likely that systematic differences between the economies and culture of countries contribute to differential use of SMA. This highlights the importance of management considering economic and commercial context when designing management accounting systems.

Despite considerable normative commentary, there is still a paucity of empirical research concerned with SMA. A particularly significant facet of this study concerns its extension of our appreciation of SMA application in a novel international context.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to apply regulatory mix theory as a framework for investigating the use of management accounting techniques by Australian large listed companies in constraining their carbon emissions.

Semi-structured interviews are conducted with senior managers involved with managing their companies’ carbon emission risks. Analysis of the interview data is undertaken with a view to provision of insight to the impact of the regulatory framework imposed to deal with carbon emissions.

The findings reveal that regulation impacting companies’ economic interests rather than requiring mere disclosure compliance is much more likely to be behind focusing top management and board attention and use of management accounting techniques to set targets, measure performance and incentivise emission mitigation. However, there remains much scope for increased use of accounting professionals and accounting techniques in working towards a carbon-constrained economy.

The usual limitations associated with interpretation of interview data are applicable.

Under-use of management accounting techniques is likely to be associated with less than optimal constraint of carbon emissions.

Carbon emissions are accepted as being involved in harmful climate change. To the extent effective techniques are under-utilised in constraining emissions, harmful consequences for society are likely to be heightened unnecessarily.

The topic and data collected are original and provide valuable insights into the dynamics of management accounting technique use in managing carbon emissions.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive review of empirical research on performance management (PM) in former communist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, to evaluate the state of knowledge in this area and suggest possible directions for future research.

An examination of the literature was undertaken to review the empirical studies treating on PM in ex-communist countries from CEE. A total of 96 journal articles, PhD thesis, and conference papers were identified, categorized, and analyzed according to research questions, methodology, and theoretical framework. Contributions are classified by countries, according to progress in transition process (post-transition/transition countries) and membership in the Soviet Union (Soviet/non-Soviet countries). The review examines publications in four languages (English, French, Romanian, and Russian).

The literature review identified various stages of development of PM research and practice in the different groups of CEE countries.

In post-transition CEE countries, PM research follows the trends settled up in the developed countries (quantitative studies examining the extent of usage of different PM tools, influence of contingent factors, relationship PM-strategy, and impact on company’s performance). Also, the findings illustrate the modernization of PM practices: increasing importance of nonfinancial indicators and integrated performance management systems (PMS), although financial indicators are prevailing.

On the contrary, in transition countries PM research and practices are at an early stage, the reviewed literature highlights some specific issues related to transition context: the dynamic aspect of PM, change management, importance of informal systems, cultural aspects, and business traditions.

Because of the large number of CEE countries and the diversity of their national languages, many studies conducted in native languages have not been addressed in this literature review, which is essentially based on publications in English and French. Only for three CEE countries (Russia, Romania, and Moldova) publications in national language were considered.

This literature review may be useful for practitioners, providing insights on the extent of diffusion and usage of different PM tools and identifying difficulties and pitfalls to avoid in their implementation.

The chapter represents one of the first contributions to the knowledge about PM research and practice in former communist CEE countries. The adopted framework for reviewing and classifying the literature allows identifying the differences in PM research and practices between post-transition/transition and Soviet/non-Soviet countries.