The purpose of this paper was to contribute to the limited body of knowledge concerning the ways in which management accounting practices and management techniques combine to enhance performance, under various strategic priorities. Hypotheses were used to isolate relevant variables and instruments were developed to measure these variables. These measures demonstrated acceptable levels of construct validity and internal reliability and may be useful in further research.
The application of a systems approach, employing cluster analysis, provided a basis to test hypotheses concerning the extent to which a wide range of variables affected organizational performance. While not without methodological limitations, relating clusters to organizational performance provided insights that may be used to direct future research into the reasons underlying the effectiveness of different combinations of variables. It is likely that case studies examining how the identified variables developed and interrelated over time may provide valuable explanations into causal connections. Additionally, further survey-based research could target more focused combinations of strategy, management techniques and management accounting. For example, a conclusion of this study is the importance of a holistic approach to developing management techniques and management accounting practices. Research targeting the most effective ways of developing management accounting systems to assist in achieving holistic change would be a useful extension to the current study.
In interpreting the results of this study, certain limitations must be acknowledged. First, a major criticism of research into the way contemporary management accounting enhances organizational performance is the lack of strong theory to explain observations. This may be due, in part, to a tendency to explain management accounting by relating it to concurrent developments in areas such as manufacturing, human resource management and strategy. These disciplines provide arguments based on the insights of researchers and practitioners more often than tightly argued theories founded in core disciplines such as economics or psychology. Given the exploratory nature of this study and the range of variables examined, the hypotheses placed considerable reliance on the insights of authorities reporting on contemporary management accounting. Where the analysis did not support the expected effects, reasons were identified to explain results, thereby providing the basis to extend or modify theory. Also, it is recognized that the only way to validate the findings of exploratory research, such as this study, is by a process of replication.
A further limitation is that the study did not examine the moderating effects of other environmental and organizational variables, except size and industry category. While it is possible that other variables (such as manufacturing technology) are implicated in the relationships examined, there is no reason to believe that the exclusion of contextual variables represents a misspecification of the model. As is common in management accounting research, future studies can add to our understanding of the research problem by considering the role of additional relevant variables.
Despite these limitations, the study provides evidence on the way in which a selection of variables related to strategy, management techniques and management accounting practices combine to affect performance. In particular, it provides a demonstration of how a systems approach, using cluster analysis, may be applied to management accounting research.
The purpose of this paper was to contribute to the limited body of knowledge concerning the ways in which management accounting practices and management techniques combine to enhance performance, under various strategic priorities. Hypotheses were used to isolate relevant variables and instruments were developed to measure these variables. These measures demonstrated acceptable levels of construct validity and internal reliability and may be useful in further research.The application of a systems approach, employing cluster analysis, provided a basis to test hypotheses concerning the extent to which a wide range of variables affected organizational performance. While not without methodological limitations, relating clusters to organizational performance provided insights that may be used to direct future research into the reasons underlying the effectiveness of different combinations of variables. It is likely that case studies examining how the identified variables developed and interrelated over time may provide valuable explanations into causal connections. Additionally, further survey-based research could target more focused combinations of strategy, management techniques and management accounting. For example, a conclusion of this study is the importance of a holistic approach to developing management techniques and management accounting practices. Research targeting the most effective ways of developing management accounting systems to assist in achieving holistic change would be a useful extension to the current study.In interpreting the results of this study, certain limitations must be acknowledged. First, a major criticism of research into the way contemporary management accounting enhances organizational performance is the lack of strong theory to explain observations. This may be due, in part, to a tendency to explain management accounting by relating it to concurrent developments in areas such as manufacturing, human resource management and strategy. These disciplines provide arguments based on the insights of researchers and practitioners more often than tightly argued theories founded in core disciplines such as economics or psychology. Given the exploratory nature of this study and the range of variables examined, the hypotheses placed considerable reliance on the insights of authorities reporting on contemporary management accounting. Where the analysis did not support the expected effects, reasons were identified to explain results, thereby providing the basis to extend or modify theory. Also, it is recognized that the only way to validate the findings of exploratory research, such as this study, is by a process of replication.A further limitation is that the study did not examine the moderating effects of other environmental and organizational variables, except size and industry category. While it is possible that other variables (such as manufacturing technology) are implicated in the relationships examined, there is no reason to believe that the exclusion of contextual variables represents a misspecification of the model. As is common in management accounting research, future studies can add to our understanding of the research problem by considering the role of additional relevant variables.Despite these limitations, the study provides evidence on the way in which a selection of variables related to strategy, management techniques and management accounting practices combine to affect performance. In particular, it provides a demonstration of how a systems approach, using cluster analysis, may be applied to management accounting research.
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