Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present the main results of an empirical study
done in Morocco and attempts to highlight the impact of the perceived
environmental uncertainty on the activity based costing implementation and its
performance according to the perceived environmental uncertainty. Data were
collected from 62 Moroccan firms, operating in different sectors, via a
questionnaire survey. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression and Student's ttest
for a difference in means were used to analyse data. The results showed
that 12.9% of the responding companies used ABC. The results using logistic
regression indicate that the PEU influences significantly and positively the use
of the ABC. Also, we found that the management accounting system based on
ABC method results in a better performance for enterprises that have adopted
it. Finally, we demonstrated that the firms operating in an uncertain and
dynamic environment have an interest to adopt this new method of the
management accounting, but the firms operating in a certain and stable
environment are indifferent between adopting and not adopting this method.
This research adds to the understanding of the factors explaining the adoption
of management accounting innovations such as ABC, basically in a new
context like Morocco. The context of the study and the characteristics of the
innovation are important factors in explaining its adoption. These two factors
must be taken into account when choosing a costing system. This type of work
is almost absent in African countries. Previous research has studied perceived
environmental uncertainty in the context of innovations other than ABC. The
outcomes of the study are relevant to the literature on both ABC
implementation and performance of ABC, since they determine that the use of
ABC results in improving in firm’s performance.
Keywords: ABC adoption, Environmental uncertainty, Performance,