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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.

In recent years it has been often claimed that quality is one of most critical success factors for organizations. Managers introduced quality‐based programmes – such as total quality management – assuming that performances would improve. However, many quality‐based initiatives failed. There are several reasons that could explain the failure of quality‐based strategies in a number of firms; suggests two causes: the lack of effective decisional tools for evaluating the most effective investment(s) among a set of potential programmes; and the lack of specific goals to be assigned to each investment in order to monitor the actual results of the programmes on time. In small firms these problems are greater because of the limited availability of financial and managerial resources which make more difficult the identification of the most effective decisional solutions. Identifies a conceptual framework aimed at supporting the choice of most effective models for evaluating quality‐related investments in small firms, particularly an approach which balances different decisional needs such as completeness, urgency of evaluation, measurability of output and structural characteristics.

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 investigate whether business strategy influences strategic management accounting (SMA) usage. Business strategy has been operationalized through strategic pattern, mission and positioning.

The paper is based on an internet questionnaire survey of Italian companies. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the impact of strategic variables (pattern, mission and positioning) on SMA usage. Company size is included as control variable.

Several SMA techniques appear to be used in Italian companies as they are in other countries investigated in different studies. Customer accounting, competitive position monitoring, competitor performance appraisal based on published financial statement and quality costing represent the most widely used SMA techniques in the Italian sample. From the regression analysis, both defender‐ and cost leader‐type of strategy are found to be more willing to use SMA techniques addressing cost information.

The issue, common in contingent research, of business strategy definition and operationalization constitutes the main limitation of the paper; in an attempt to restrict its effect, it uses three strategic typologies (pattern, mission and positioning) and employs a measurement method used in previous studies. A second issue concerns the definition of SMA techniques. There is no concurred list of SMA techniques in the literature and further discussion is expected in the future.

First, empirical evidence is provided to a field (SMA) where empirical research is needed in order to be comparable with traditional management accounting techniques. Second, for the first time in SMA studies, a framework is employed that considers all of the three main strategic variables (pattern, mission and positioning) used in management accounting literature. As a result, the loose coupling between SMA techniques and business strategy typologies indicates (with the possible exception of cost‐related SMA techniques) that the same SMA technique can support different strategic approaches of the company.

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.

Quality management is gradually becoming an area of interest among management accounting practitioners and scholars because of its significant effects on performance and increasing adoption by organizations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between these two broad disciplines and provide guidelines for their joint consideration.

Two specific management innovations are analyzed in detail: strategic management accounting (SMA) and ISO 9000 quality management system (QMS). Such an analysis includes a literature review of both frameworks, the identification of benefits associated with their simultaneous application and the design of a comprehensive model integrating their individual principles.

It is concluded that these management schemes are compatible and complementary from a theoretical standpoint; and that, therefore, their combined implementation might help organizations improve overall performance. It is also argued here that their use in conjunction could facilitate the spread of SMA techniques and the full exploitation of QMSs.

A new management system proposing the incorporation of SMA tools into traditional QMSs is introduced, and some recommendations for its practical use are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a framework that examines the effectiveness and efficiency of managing knowledge in organizations for competitive advantage.

Reviews knowledge management and strategic cost management literatures to identify key elements that determine and facilitate the enhancement of competitive advantage. Develops a cost‐knowledge management (CKM) framework that integrates these elements and enables the analysis of how knowledge utilization in organizational activities can be made more effective and efficient.

The CKM framework is usefully applied to a sample of four Italian firms operating in the mechanical industry. Both the results of applying the CKM framework and the insights that are generated are discussed.

The CKM framework allows organizations to analyze the activities performed in terms of cost structure and cost drivers, value created, and knowledge utilized, the latter in terms of knowledge specificity and type. The framework can also be used to highlight specific areas of effectiveness improvements in terms of identifying which activities should be leveraged and how knowledge can be better mobilized. In addition, the framework enables an assessment of the non value added but required and waste elements of organizational activities and the specific drivers of costs in these activities, thereby enabling an identification of efficiency improvement opportunities.

This paper integrates strategic cost management and knowledge management perspectives to examine how organizations can usefully analyze and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of managing knowledge for competitive advantage. Thus far, this integration has not occurred in either literatures.

The specific purpose of this article is to describe customer profitability analysis and evaluate its compatibility with quality management systems. Besides, its more general objective consists in shedding further light on the links between management accounting and quality management, which is still an emerging topic.

The first part of the document presents a theoretical description of the disciplines and tools that are relevant to the study. Afterward, an explanation of the way in which customer profitability analysis is operationalized in practice is provided. Subsequently, a framework for the incorporation of customer profitability analysis into a quality management system is introduced. The final section includes some recommendations for future research.

Through the analysis of the benefits of the incorporation of customer profitability analysis into an ISO 9000 model, the study provides further support to the premise that the joint consideration of management accounting techniques and quality management tools is beneficial to organizations.

The article combines two disciplines closely related in practice but seldom concurrently addressed in the literature.

Since the 1980s, firms have searched for better ways to align their cost management systems with the realities of their business environments. The advent of accelerated global competitiveness, reduced product life cycles, rapid technological advancements, and inter‐organizational supply chains have drastically increased the need for more effective approaches to cost management. In recent years, activity‐based, constraint‐based, and hybrid cost management systems have been adopted by some firms to dampen the effects of their traditional (full‐absorption) costing methodologies. However, a holistic approach is needed to facilitate strategic cost management based upon organizational objectives, organizational needs and capabilities, and customer requirements. The Theory of Constraints provides the foundation for developing cost management systems that are global, integrative, and strategic in nature. A framework is presented in this paper for using a constraint‐based approach to strategic cost management.

An important management topic across a wide spectrum of firms is reconfiguring the value delivery system – defining the boundaries of the firm. Profit impact should be the way any value chain configuration is evaluated. The managerial accounting literature refers to this topic as “make versus buy” and typically addresses financial impact without much attention to strategic issues. The strategic management literature refers to the topic as “level of vertical integration” and typically sees financial impact in broad “transaction cost economics” terms. Neither approach treats fully the linkages all along the causal chain from strategic actions to resulting profit impact. In this paper we propose a theoretical approach to explicitly link supply chain reconfiguration actions to their profit implications. We use the introduction by Levi Strauss of Personal Pair™ jeans to illustrate the theory, evaluating the management choices by comparing profitability for one pair of jeans sold through three alternative value delivery systems. Our intent is to propose a theoretical extension to the make/buy literature which bridges the strategic management literature and the cost management literature, using A-P-L and SCM, and to illustrate one application of the theory.