S. Mark Young

The impact of contextual and process factors on the evaluation of activity-based costing systems

Abstract This paper investigates associations between evaluations of activity based costing (ABC) systems, contextual factors, and factors related to the ABC implementation process using interview and survey data from 21 field research sites of two firms. Structural equation modeling is used to investigate the fit of a model of organizational change with the data. The results support the proposed model; however, the significance of specific factors is sensitive to the evaluation criterion. The model is stable across firms and respondents, but is sensitive to the maturity of the ABC system.

Factors influencing the performance of activity based costing teams: a field study of ABC model development time in the automobile industry☆

Abstract This paper examines how the group dynamics of activity based costing (ABC) development teams and the level of organizational resources devoted to model development affect model complexity and development time. A theoretical framework is developed based on the organizational literature on teams. The framework is tested using objective data from 18 ABC projects in two automobile manufacturing firms and survey data from ABC team members. Results show that ABC team cohesion is the key determinant of the time it takes to develop the first ABC model. Further, ABC models become more complex in the presence of an external consultant and as the level of competition increases.

Assessing the organizational fit of a just-in-time manufacturing system: Testing selection, interaction and systems models of contingency theory☆

Abstract The adoption of new manufacturing practices such as just-in-time (JIT) and total quality management (TQC) is only a first step to improving manufacturing performance. Even more critical is the fit between manufacturing practices and organizational design, structure and processes. Using archival and survey data, this paper reports the results of a field study within a Fortune 500 company that tests three operationalizations of contingency theory as discussed by Van de Ven and Drazin (1985) [The Concept of Fit in Contingency Theory, Research in Organizational Behavior, pp. 333–365]. Results show that the misfit between worker empowerment required by JIT/TQC practices and existing authoritarian management partially explain relative workgroup performance as do other conflicts within workgroups and between operators and supervisors.

Management Accounting: A Bibliographic Study

Abstract The 20-year period from 1981 to 2000 was a period of change for the field of management accounting. During this period new topics were investigated, new journals came into existence, and different research methods were emphasized. This chapter has two parts. The first part charts the field. To do this we split the 20-year period into two decades and then compare the kinds of topics studied, the research methods used, and the source disciplines employed across 10 journals in accounting and between decades. The second part focuses on the community of accounting scholars, analyzing citations and social network measures that reveal the links between, and influence of, individuals in management accounting research.

Dysfunctional behavior and management control: An empirical study of marketing managers

Abstract This paper reports the results of a study that developed and tested a causal model of dysfunctional behavior among a large sample of marketing managers. The results indicate that three contextual variables (goal congruence, perceived peer dysfunctional behavior and information asymmetry between superiors and subordinates) predict, in varying degrees, the extent of persson-role conflict and job tension experienced by the manager. In turn, role conflict increases job tension and job tension increases the extent of dysfunctional behavior. However, no effects for the person-role conflict/dysfunctional behavior link were found.

Doing Management Accounting Survey Research

Abstract This chapter addresses the quality of survey research in management accounting. Specifically, we use a framework containing the five key elements of a well-designed survey to assess the quality of all mail surveys in management accounting published in eight accounting journals over a 20-year period (1982–2001). Our analysis shows that survey research in management accounting has improved over time. However, more attention to improving the ways in which the survey method is deployed is essential if credibility of the data is desired.

Evaluating Human Judgments And Decision Aids

One goal of applied decision research in accounting is to improve decision making (Libby and Lewis [1982]). The typical approach is to identify situations in which human judgments diverge from the output of a formal (normative) model and then recommend a decision aid to eliminate or reduce the divergence. The mere fact that human judgments diverge, however, does not mean that decision aids are always appropriate; and even if they were, the type of aid which might be employed is not obvious from such an observation. First, the opportunity cost of divergence from formal models must be sufficient to justify the cost of developing and implementing decision aids. Second, the reasons for divergence must be understood before the appropriate aids can be identified. The accounting literature is weak in both of these areas. With respect to opportunity costs, most researchers have ignored the problem of trying to estimate the benefits to be obtained from decision aids. Regarding causes of divergence, few accounting researchers have attempted to analyze the components of decision processes. This holds both for lens model studies and those involving the study of heuristics and biases. Each can be characterized as an input-output method in which causes of divergence are inferred from the relationships between the information provided to the decision maker (the inputs) and the judgments or responses of the decision maker (the outputs).

MANUFACTURING CONTROLS AND PERFORMANCE: AN EXPERIMENT.

Abstract This paper reports the results of an experiment that tests the effects of three manufacturing controls—inventory and production (pull vs push), incentives (fixed vs contingent) and quality control (process vs output)— on performance effectiveness and efficiency. The results indicate that both incentive and quality control systems affect performance efficiency, and incentives also had a significant effect on performance effectiveness. We also hypothesized and found a significant interaction of the production/inventory control system and the quality control system on performance effectiveness and efficiency.

Value Creation and the Possibilities for Management Accounting Research in the Entertainment Sector: the United States Motion Picture Industry

Abstract The management of intellectual property has become a core competence of successful enterprises. This is particularly true for firms in the entertainment and creative industries, where battles are waged for the rights to new ideas. Our focus and purpose in this chapter is to show that the US motion picture industry has the potential to provide a fruitful research field for management accounting researchers. The industry has high economic importance and is appealing to researchers because it offers rich data sets that cover the entire product lifecycle for new products and a number of challenging problems especially related to the management of talent and intellectual property. Academic research in this area, particularly in accounting, is in its infancy. In this chapter, therefore, we discuss critical management accounting and control issues faced by the motion picture industry, review cross-disciplinary literature on those issues and outline promising research directions.

Management of Revenue Streams of Intellectual Properties in Sequential Markets

We study life cycle revenues of a particular category of intellectual property (IP), motion pictures, which sell in different formats in two sequential markets: the theatrical market and the home video market. We combine data collected from numerous public and proprietary sources and form a final sample of 654 motion pictures. Then we perform ordinary least square (OLS) analysis on the relationship between measures of the upstream market performance and downstream revenues. We document the positive impact of financial and nonfinancial measures of performance in the upstream theatrical market on subsequent revenues in the downstream home video market. We next examine the relevance of the nonfinancial measures in the managerial decisions regarding the product life in the upstream market. We find that the same set of performance measures influence the managerial decision regarding the motion picture’s theatrical life span. Finally, we study the relationship between the quality of managerial decisions and return on investment. We find that the quality of this decision is positively associated with total returns on investment in production and advertising of the motion picture. This study suggests that a set of financial and nonfinancial measures of performance in one market of IP can predict future performance in subsequent markets of the IP. These measures are also relevant in managerial decisions. This study differs from prior research in that it focuses on product level rather than firm level analysis.