Birgit Feldbauer-Durstmüller

The changing role of management accounting in the transition from a family business to a non‐family business

Purpose – The purpose of the present paper is to investigate whether the transition from a family business to a non‐family business affects the institutionalisation of management accounting.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on an online survey among all large and medium‐sized Austrian firms. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to test the impact of the level of family influence on aspects of the institutionalisation of management accounting. Firm size is included as the main control variable.Findings – A lower level of influence from the controlling family was found to be correlated with the institutionalisation and intensification of management accounting in medium‐sized firms. For large firms, such a linear relationship could not be drawn. The level of education of management accountants was inversely correlated with the level of family influence in both large and medium‐sized firms.Research limitations/implications – Further research into the reasons, underlying d...

Family Influence and Management Accounting Usage – Findings from Germany and Austria

Although contingency-based research finds many factors that influence a firm’s management accounting (MA) system, despite the vast economic importance of family firms in most Western countries, researchers have not considered family influence as a contingency variable for MA systems. Using survey results from Germany and Austria, we explore the effect of the level of family influence on selected aspects of MA usage. We find that firms with higher levels of family influence use fewer strategic and operational MA instruments, formalize their strategic plans to a lesser extent, establish fewer discrete MA departments, and employ fewer management accountants with academic degrees.

INSTITUTIONALISATION OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN FAMILY BUSINESSES — EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRIA AND GERMANY

This study investigates whether family businesses (FBs) differ from non-family businesses (NFBs) regarding the institutionalisation of management accounting. Furthermore, it analyses whether FB-specific contextual factors such as the existence of non-family management and the level of family influence affect the establishment of discrete management accounting departments. Six hypotheses are formulated and tested based on survey results from 479 firms from Austria and 418 firms from Germany. Our results indicate that FBs establish fewer management accounting departments than NFBs do and that the heads of management accounting in FBs are less likely to hold a university degree compared with their counterparts in NFBs. Moreover, within FBs, larger firm size and the existence of non-family management are positively correlated with the establishment of management accounting departments, where firm size acts as the strongest predictor. As firm type (FB vs. NFB) emerged as a significant contextual factor for the institutionalisation of management accounting, this factor should be included in future studies of the organisation and set-up of the corporate management accounting function. Moreover, deeper investigation into the drivers and outcomes of FB-specific management accounting institutionalisation is needed.

What can the corporate world learn from the cellarer

Purpose – Benedictine abbeys are highly stable organisations that have existed for almost 1,500 years. The extant literature ascribes this stability in part to the notion of Benedictine governance, which centres on the Rule of St Benedict (RB). An integral part of Benedictine governance is the cellarer, who plays a role comparable to that of a chief financial officer (CFO) in a traditional corporation. Unlike corporations, however, in which the CFO has emerged into a more important role over the past few decades, the cellarer has been an official position in Benedictine abbeys since the introduction of the RB in the sixth century. The present paper aims to explore the cellarers role and assesses which parts of it could be reasonably transferred to the corporate world. Design/methodology/approach – Informed by organisational role theory, the authors conducted a single case study in an Austrian Benedictine abbey. The authors used group discussions and semi-structured interviews as the main research instrum...

The Relationship between Corporate Governance Configuration in Family Businesses and the Use of Management Accounting

Extant research has shown that family businesses use less management accounting practices than non-family businesses. In our study, we extend the research in this field by analysing the effects of various corporate governance configurations in family businesses on the usage of management accounting. We find that the composition of the supervisory board (with or without family members) does not have a positive impact on management accounting usage, whereas the introduction of non-family members into the top management team partly does. Our findings suggest that the mere existence of corporate governance bodies such as the supervisory board in family businesses is positively associated with the use of management accounting. Our study also indicates that management accounting information may play a pivotal role in the communication between the top management team and the supervisory board of a family business.

Enterprise Size Impact on the ERP System Implementation

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems belong to the prevalent issues of contemporary business management. Many enterprises implement ERP systems to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes. Thus, only a few research works have investigated the effects of the context factor enterprise size on ERP systems. The present article addresses this research gap and examines the impact of the context factor enterprise size on the ERP system implementation. The research results show a positive correlation between the context factor enterprise size and the ERP system implementation.

Representations of Family Businesses in Russian Popular Culture

Being a significant source of growth, prosperity and welfare, family businesses play a major role for the economies of countries all over the world. It is widely acknowledged that family firms differ from non-family businesses in many aspects, such as financing, organizational structure and human resources. The majority of perceptions of family firms is formed by the family business scholars and owners and illustrates therefore an “insider-perspective”. Despite the increased attention to theoretical and empirical research in family businesses in the last years, the relevance of external images of family firms has been neglected by scholars. Maintaining the ways in which the wider population perceives family firms is significant not only for better understanding the roles of family businesses in society and preserving respectability, but also for attracting the best talents, achieving a sustainable competitive advantage and ensuring the survival of family firms. One of the ways to study external images of family businesses is to examine their portrayals in popular culture. In this paper we analyze the public perceptions of family businesses in Russia throughout history, using popular culture as a field material. The main reasons for choosing Russian family businesses as objects for the present study are the current low level of knowledge about the development of family firms in Russia and their remarkable historical development. This paper is the first step to close the existing research gap addressing the following research questions: What is the image of modern family businesses in Russian popular culture? How did the political, economic and social changes influence the public perceptions of family firms over the years? Are there any misconceptions about family firms promoted through the mass media? To answer these research questions, we conduct a qualitative study of Russian fiction and movies before the October Revolution, during the Soviet era and after the fall of the Soviet Union. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the identity-oriented approach. Our study includes a review and content analysis of 9 novels and 10 movies released from 1882 till 2010. The results of the study illustrate that Russian popular culture promotes a one-sided negative image of (family) business. Moreover, there is a significant gap between the self-reflection of family firms and the public perceptions towards them in Russia. The positive characteristics of family businesses are hardly reflected by the general public, and the external image of family firms needs to be urgently improved.

Workplace chaplaincy: a literature review

Abstract Interest in workplace spirituality has risen over the past few decades and it continues to garner increasing attention as evidenced by interdisciplinary scholarship and corporate interest. Workplace chaplaincy can be considered to be a special approach to spirituality in companies and therefore is described as a growing and concrete manifestation of workplace spirituality. Workplace chaplaincy can be called a phenomenon with a long history but partial scholarly study. This specialized manifestation of workplace spirituality has not yet received adequate academic attention and few empirical studies exist, but there are clear signs of emerging academic interest in this field of research. In this paper, we present an interdisciplinary systematic literature review focusing on the main topics in the available literature. As workplace chaplaincy is organized in different ways in different countries, the review aims to present diverse models of chaplaincy in various states. Furthermore, the question arises of whether workplace chaplaincy represents the real integration of spirituality or if it is just exploited by instrumentality, which means that workplace chaplaincy is solely regarded as an opportunity to improve the efficiency and performance of organizations.

Stabilität über Jahrhunderte – Corporate Governance österreichischer Benediktinerklöster

Birgit Feldbauer-Durstmuller und Maximilian Neulinger OSB Kloster, die sich auf die 1.500 Jahre alten Regeln Benedikts von Nursia berufen, zeigen im Vergleich zu anderen Institutionen eine sehr lange Lebensdauer. Eine Studie der Universitat Zurich 2 aller jemals existierenden Benediktinerkloster in Bayern, Baden-Wurttemberg und der deutschsprachigen Schweiz belegt, dass die untersuchten Kloster ein durchschnittliches Lebensalter von 600 Jahren aufweisen und nur ein Viertel der Klosteraufhebungen auf Fuhrungsversagen zuruckzufuhren ist. Die Ergebnisse der Studie lassen schliesen, dass es sich bei Benediktinerklostern um eine auserst langlebige, stabile und somit wirtschaftlich nachhaltige Organisationsform handelt.

Qualitativ-empirische Fallstudien zu Corporate Social Responsibility in Familienunternehmen

Unternehmen sind heutzutage vermehrt mit unterschiedlichen sozialen, okologischen und politischen Problemen konfrontiert, z. B. Fachkraftemangel trotz hoher Arbeitslosenraten, Umweltverschmutzung, Migration aus Kri-sengebieten, gestiegene Anforderungen an die Arbeitsplatzqualitat, Urbanisierung. Wahrend in der Vergangen-heit vorwiegend Regierungen und offentliche Institutionen fur die Losung derartiger Probleme Verantwortung ubernommen haben, ruckt das soziale, okologische und okonomische Engagement von Unternehmen unter dem Begriff Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) zunehmend in den offentlichen Fokus. Diese Entwicklung betrifft sowohl Familienunternehmen (FU) als auch Nichtfamilienunternehmen (NFU), wobei erstere die Unternehmenslandschaft weltweit dominieren und eine grose Relevanz aufweisen. FU nutzen CSR-Masnahmen v. a. zur Erreichung ihrer sozialen, okologischen und wirtschaftlichen Ziele sowie zur Befriedigung der emotionalen Bedurfnisse der Unternehmerfamilie. Aufgrund der gestiegenen praktischen Relevanz und der vermehrten wissenschaftlichen Thematisierung von CSR in FU werden innerhalb dieses Beitrags qualitativ-empirische Fallstudien zum Themengebiet CSR in FU, die im Rahmen einer Schlagwortsuche in sieben Datenbanken identifiziert wurden, systematisch analysiert.