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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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Summarizes a study that consisted of an empirical analysis of organizational career planning and management techniques ‐ activities, programmes and processes that are part of the human resource management role. Focuses on the actual use of these techniques and their evaluation by management and employees in 60 high‐technology organizations in Israel and the UK. The findings illustrate the applications of these techniques, their perceived quality and their estimated necessity. Presents an analysis ofthe management perceptions and employees’ attitudes towards the various techniques. Reports findings which indicate the actual use of the career development techniques and reveal problems of organizational communication.

THE profession served by this journal lost an outstanding personality when Dr. Lillian Moller Gilbreth died at the age of 93 on January 2nd. As wife and business partner to her husband, Frank Bunker Gilbreth, she was one of the pioneers of motion study. It required rare courage for a shy and retiring person like herself to take over the responsibilities of her husband when he died suddenly in 1924. Yet within three days of that event, after a family conference about the future, she sailed for Europe to fulfil an engagement of her husband to speak at the First Congress of Scientific Management in Prague.

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 show how intelligence techniques have been used in information management systems.

The results of a literature review on intelligence decision systems used in enterprise information management are analyzed. The intelligence techniques used in enterprise information management are briefly summarized.

Intelligence techniques are rapidly emerging as new tools in information management systems. Especially, intelligence techniques can be used to utilize the decision process of enterprises information management. These techniques can increase sensitiveness, flexibility and accuracy of information management systems. The hybrid systems that contain two or more intelligence techniques will be more used in the future.

The intelligence decision systems are briefly introduced and then a literature review is given to show how intelligence techniques have been used in information management systems.

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.

This paper aims to explore the requirements of organizational knowledge management initiatives using requirements engineering techniques, identifying the optimal techniques configuration and serving as a management tool for knowledge engineers.

The method is selection attributes. Knowledge management enablers are characterized and mapped with the coverage capabilities of requirements engineering techniques, using the attributes of the elicited object and a box-plot analysis. The information is gathered from 280 references, 32 companies and 16 experts in requirements engineering.

Requirements of organizational knowledge management initiatives are got optimally by combining interviews, use cases, scenarios, laddering and focus group techniques. The requirements of structure and processes are more complex to identify, while culture requirements are the best covered.

Knowledge management enablers are analyzed according to the current studies and comprehension of engineering techniques.

Knowledge engineers need to consider the coverage capabilities of engineering techniques to design an optimal requirement identification and meet the objectives of organizational knowledge acquisition initiatives. Requirement engineers can improve the requirements identification by a staged selection process.

The requirements of knowledge management initiatives that impact the community can be identified and traced to ensure the knowledge objectives. Requirements related to culture and people, like shared values, beliefs, and behaviors, are also considered.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study about formal requirement identification of knowledge management initiatives in the organizational context, providing the optimal configuration. A novel staged process is proposed for requirements engineering techniques selection, analyzing the enablers at component level and identifying the attributes associated with the elicited object.

The paper aims to improve knowledge of how organisational career management (OCM) techniques are used within the UK retail buying and merchandising (B&M) community.

Using quantitative research methods via an online survey of B&M managers across 30 UK‐based retailers, this study explores the extent of OCM technique usage, buyers and merchandisers' evaluations of such techniques and the barriers to using them.

Internal job posting, performance appraisal for career development, induction, PDPs and competencies were the most commonly used. The most consistently favoured techniques were training/educational opportunities, career‐planning workshops, PDPs, induction and fast‐track programmes. In comparison to other studies, respondents perceived OCM techniques to be relatively unfair and identified the main barriers to their use as time/budget constraints, unsupportive management, poor technique development/implementation and poor employee attitude/ understanding.

This study provides useful direction for retailers by recommending that they implement an OCM strategy that can be realistically carried out with the resources available, encourage a wider appreciation of OCM within the overall business strategy and attempt to determine the reasons for any perceived unfairness of OCM techniques within their organisation.

This study provides comprehensive information for use when considering OCM strategies. In particular it provides previously unavailable insight into OCM technique usage within the retail B&M community and is unique in its exploration of the perceived barriers to using such techniques in addition to measuring their usage and capturing perceptions surrounding their use.

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.