Graeme L. Harrison

Customer-focused manufacturing strategy and the use of operations-based non-financial performance measures: A research note

This note follows and extends Abernethy and Lillis (Accounting, Organizations and Society, 1995) by examining: (i) whether firms which maintain a customer-focused manufacturing strategy also maintain an emphasis on non-financial (operations-based) measures in their performance measurement systems; and (ii) whether such an emphasis is associated with enhanced performance for those firms. Data are obtained via questionnaire survey of a random sample of manufacturing firms in Sydney, Australia. Support is found for the hypothesized association between customer-focus strategy and the use of non-financial performance measures (and hence for Abernethy and Lillis) but not for the link to organizational performance.

Cross-cultural research in management control systems design: a review of the current state

Abstract This paper reviews cross-cultural research in management control systems (MCS) appearing in English-language journals over the past 15 years. The objectives are to examine these studies for their convergence or otherwise with respect to the state of our understanding of cultural effects on MCS design, and to analyse their theoretical and methodological strengths and weaknesses to guide future research. The review identifies four major weaknesses seen to apply collectively to this research: (i) a failure to consider the totality of the cultural domain in theoretical exposition; (ii) a tendency to not consider explicitly the differential intensity of cultural norms and values across nations; (iii) a tendency to treat culture simplistically both in the form of its representation as a limited set of aggregate dimensions, and in the assumption of a uniformity and unidimensionality of those dimensions; and (iv) an excessive reliance on the value dimensional conceptualization of culture, which has produced a highly restricted conception and focus on culture, and placed critical limits on the extent of understanding derived from the research to date. ©

Reliance on accounting performance measures in superior evaluative style — The influence of national culture and personality☆

Abstract This paper reports an examination of the influences of culture and personality on the relation between reliance on accounting performance measures in the evaluative style of superiors and work-related attitudes of subordinates. Hypotheses tests use survey data from respondents in Singapore and Australia. These nations proxy for high power distance and low individualism, and low power distance and high individualism cultures, respectively. Support is found for the influence of culture but not for personality. The results have implications for the design of management accounting systems.

Cultural influences on informal information sharing in Chinese and Anglo-American organizations: an exploratory study

Abstract This study examines cultural factors which may facilitate or impede the sharing of informal information in the context of face-to-face meetings in Chinese compared to Anglo-American organizations. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through personally conducted interviews with middle level managers in a sample of Taiwanese and Australian manufacturing firms. The results suggest the importance of individual differences, individual assertiveness, and corporate culture in influencing informal information sharing in Australia; and the trade-off between collective interests, respect for hierarchical status and concern with face in Taiwan.

Culture and accounting change: A new perspective on corporate reporting regulation and accounting policy formulation

Abstract This paper proposes and illustrates a new methodological framework for studying corporate reporting regulation and accounting policy formulation at the nation specific level. The process of corporate reporting regulation is viewed as a social system, and change analysis is used to determine the essential properties of such a system. The framework allows examination of the systems norms and values; the nature of its interdependencies both internally and with other social systems; the factors to which the system is especially sensitive; and the way in which culture influences the form and functioning of the systems elements.

THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS: EVIDENCE FROM TAIWANESE LOCAL AND US AFFILIATED FIRMS

Abstract This study examines the organizational cultures of public accounting firms with data from US affiliated international accounting firms in Taiwan and Taiwanese local firms. Hypotheses are tested about the impact of the national culture of the US firms on their Taiwanese affiliates, and about cultural differences across function and rank. The study extends previous research by (1) examining an oriental country whose culture is significantly different from that of the US, (2) using the Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D. D., & Sanders G. (1990). Measuring organizational cultures: a qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 286–316 practices-based measure of organizational culture, and (3) examining the importance of the fit between employee preferences and organizational culture in influencing organizational commitment, job satisfaction and propensity to remain with the organization. Support is found for the cultural impact and fit hypotheses. Additonally, while culture is found to be relatively homogeneous across function, differences are found across rank.

Diffusion of transfer pricing innovation in the context of commercialization--a longitudinal case study of a government trading enterprise

This paper examines the diffusion of transfer pricing as an innovation in a government trading enterprise as it moved from protected monopolistic status to commercialization. Using data from semi-structured interviews and documentation, the paper draws on theories of transfer pricing choice and diffusion of innovation to analyse and explain events surrounding the introduction, abandonment and reintroduction of transfer pricing in the case organization over the ten year period from 1991 to 2000. The study demonstrates the importance of multiple theories and perspectives in understanding how and why management accounting innovations diffuse or not, as well as the importance of focusing on the secondary stage of innovation adoption and on organizational values, norms and past experiences as they affect secondary adoption. The study also provides support for the role of transfer pricing as an accounting mechanism to effect cultural and strategic change in organizations and for the reciprocal relationship between transfer pricing and organizational strategy over time.

Cash to accrual and cash to accrual: A case study of financial reporting in two NSW hospitals 1857 to post-1975

This study traces the development of financial reporting in two publicly funded hospitals in New South Wales over the period 1857 to post‐1975, with particular focus on the use of cash and accrual accounting. The historical analysis draws on process and contextual change and stakeholder theory, and uses both primary and secondary data, to describe patterns of change (and non‐change) in the hospitals’ financial reporting and to identify the social and political influences associated with such reporting. The study provides historical context for recent developments in public sector reporting and accountability in Australia, particularly the (re)introduction of accrual accounting, and provides insights into the nature of accounting change both in public sector organizations and generally.

Cultural influence on corporate and governmental involvement in accounting policy determination in Japan

Abstract This study examines the impact of culture on the motivation for, and mode of involvement of, the corporations and the government in accounting policy determination in Japan. Three propositions are developed and evaluated against the events that occurred in the formulation and implementation of the 1976 ordinances on consolidation. Data are derived from source documentation and personal interviewing. Cultural determinants are seen to position the corporations and bureaucracy as influential and conflicting interest groups in accounting standard-setting in Japan and to predetermine a mode of conflict resolution in policy determination that maintains the “balance of forces” between those parties.

Satisfaction, tension and interpersonal relations: a cross‐cultural comparison of managers in Singapore and Australia

Reports the results of a study into differences in the levels of job satisfaction, job tension and stress, and interpersonal relations with superiors and peers, between managers in Singapore and Australia. The study draws on Hofstede′s concept and classification of national culture to predict that job satisfaction will be lower, job tension higher, and interpersonal relations poorer for managers in the high power distance, collectivist cultures of East Asian nations than for managers in the low power distance, individualist cultures of Anglo‐American nations. A study of 115 middle‐level managers in Singapore and 96 in Australia corroborates these differences. Discusses how different approaches to managing budgetary planning and control processes may improve these personal and interpersonal work‐related conditions.