J. Burns, K. J. Euske and Mary A. Malina
This paper chronicles the evolution of the academic debate regarding diversity in management accounting research and discusses its impact on the current state of management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper chronicles the evolution of the academic debate regarding diversity in management accounting research and discusses its impact on the current state of management accounting research.
Methodology/approach
We review the stream of literature over the last 40-plus years that discusses diversity in management accounting.
Findings
Anthony’s 1972 paper in Sloan Management Review makes a call to academics to adjust the trajectory of management accounting research. Our review of the literature reveals that early responses in the 1980s and 1990s to Anthony’s call primarily came from U.S. academics who suggest a broader theoretical approach and more work in the field. After 2000, non-U.S. authors and non-U.S. journals take up the call for diversity and shift the discussion to the more fundamental topic of validating and accepting various research paradigms. The U.S. academic environment fosters a narrow yet important view of management account research. To balance the U.S. view, non-U.S. academics have the liberty of using diverse theories, paradigms, and methods.
Originality/value
The results of the study indicate that the challenge to moving management accounting research forward is for diverse research approaches to be valued and published in top accounting journals that tend to be U.S. based.
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Hervé Stolowy and Gaétan Breton
Accounts manipulation has been the subject of research, discussion and even controversy in several countries including the USA, Canada, the U.K., Australia, Finland and France…
Abstract
Accounts manipulation has been the subject of research, discussion and even controversy in several countries including the USA, Canada, the U.K., Australia, Finland and France. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the literature and propose a conceptual framework for accounts manipulation. This framework is based on the possibility of wealth transfer between the different stake‐holders, and in practice, the target of the manipulation appears generally to be the earnings per share and the debt/equity ratio. The paper also describes the different actors involved and their potential gains and losses. We review the literature on the various techniques of accounts manipulation: earnings management, income smoothing, big bath accounting, creative accounting, and window‐dressing. The various definitions of all these, the main motivations behind their application and the research methodologies used are all examined. This study reveals that all the above techniques have common elements, but there are also important differences between them.
Cecilia Gravina da Rocha, Hana B.C. El Ghoz and Sidnei Jr Guadanhim
The purpose of this paper is to examine the fundamental underpinnings of product modularity and how these can be adapted to construction and its specificities (e.g. one-off…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the fundamental underpinnings of product modularity and how these can be adapted to construction and its specificities (e.g. one-off products delivered by temporary supply chains) to create a model to design modular buildings.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopts a design science research approach. Explanation I (substantive theory devising based on the analysis of an artefact ‒ a low-income housing project) is used, followed by Solution Incubation (a model to implement product modularity in buildings design).
Findings
The model allows product modularity to be implemented at distinct levels (i.e. building, systems and components) at a single stage (building design), different from manufacturing where each level is considered at a distinct stage. This is in line with the project investigated: modularity was considered for house layouts, roof types and gable formats.
Practical implications
The model provides a hands-on tool for practitioners to design modular buildings. The low-income project is also extensively detailed: three-dimensional models, floor plans and conceptual diagrams (outlining how fundamental underpinnings were applied at each level) are presented. There is a lack of comprehensive accounts such as the one presented here to demonstrate the application of product modularity in real-world projects.
Originality/value
This paper identifies and adapts the fundamental underpinnings of product modularity to construction, and it details how these were applied to a low-income housing design at distinct levels. Based on these two endeavours, a model to implement product modularity in buildings design is proposed.
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Ralf Östermark and Kenneth Söderlund
This paper develops and applies a linear, deterministic, multiperiod firm model for strategic planning. The key property of our model is the simplicity of generating optimal firm…
Abstract
This paper develops and applies a linear, deterministic, multiperiod firm model for strategic planning. The key property of our model is the simplicity of generating optimal firm strategies. Our purpose is to maximize the discounted value of net income and dividend payouts. The key decision variables are investments, new loans, new issues, loan repayments, dividend payments, depreciations and the level of operations (i.e. turnover). The financial constraints include bounds for the decision variables, some fundamental requirements such as nonnegativity of assets and liabilities and, finally, some balance sheet and income statement relationships. Our model has been tested on some major Finnish firms and it seems to give reliable results. With the data of our sample firm for this paper, optimal dividends and optimal net income presuppose different strategies. When optimizing dividends the model balances between investing and paying out dividends, while optimizing net income results in an intensive investment program. Even if our sample firm is but one case, the results are indicative of some fundamental principles governing management decision making. The firm model was designed in PC/Windows‐environment, with access to the LINDO‐package in the optimization stage.
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The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is…
Abstract
The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the philosophical and practical compatibility of actor-network theory (ANT) and interventionist research (IVR) and search for explanations…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the philosophical and practical compatibility of actor-network theory (ANT) and interventionist research (IVR) and search for explanations for their scant combined use. The scope of investigation is limited to accounting, management and organization studies (MOS), but the findings are believed to be applicable in other social sciences as well.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis is conducted of accounting and MOS research in addition to interviewing eight accounting scholars who have applied IVR and/or ANT in their research.
Findings
A comparison of the philosophical and other features of ANT and IVR suggests that they should be relatively easily combinable in studies. Based on interview material, three types of barriers to combining ANT and IVR are identified: perceived epistemological incompatibility, fear of going native or losing neutrality and academic tribes. However, subsequent analysis indicates that none of these forms an insurmountable obstacle to the combination.
Research limitations/implications
The combined application of ANT and IVR could benefit both IVR and ANT researchers in management accounting as it would enable them to conduct theoretically grounded studies on dynamic processes, such as the emergence and implementation of accounting innovations, to pose original research questions and to find new perspectives to accounting phenomena.
Practical implications
Employing ANT and IVR in combination could increase organizational interest in management accounting research.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the discussion on the compatibility of different research approaches and highlights ways in which researchers could benefit from combining ANT and IVR.
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Early involvement of the project team with the construction resources seems to be gaining popularity as it aims to improve the cost efficiency of a project as there is…
Abstract
Purpose
Early involvement of the project team with the construction resources seems to be gaining popularity as it aims to improve the cost efficiency of a project as there is significantly more potential to influence the project solution at that point in time. The missing price during early involvement/selection and the principal-agent setting, however, tend to leave the project owner in doubt of the reasonableness of pricing when it is fixed only later after the joint design phase involving the service provider and the owner. The purpose of this paper is to find a solution for this challenge.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-stage target-cost (2STC) arrangement has been proposed as the solution. In this model the service provider earns a bonus by suggesting a lower target cost than the reference set at the time of the involvement of the provider. The amount of bonus also impacts the cost over-run risk transferred to the service provider to avoid overly optimistic promises. Besides the initial conceptualisation of the idea, earlier research has also produced a framework for developing and assessing alternative formulations of the 2STC model. By means of mathematical modelling and optimisation and critical review the work seeks to provide formulations that meet the set requirements.
Findings
The study establishes concrete formulations that are believed to function as intended with certain reservations. Two potential mechanisms, the constant and variable share models, are generated and presented, and recommendations are given for their use in practice. In the former, the extent of cost efficiency improvement in the development phase has no impact on percentage shares, but in the latter the service provider’s relative development bonus and share of cost over-runs are the bigger, the bigger the improvement.
Research limitations/implications
The study suggests piloting the formulations in carefully selected projects in order to discover their practical feasibility.
Originality/value
The 2STC model is a unique concept and no comparable construct is known to exist. The study produced concrete formulations for a 2STC construct while ensuring and illustrating their functioning to avoid surprises in their use. The study presented in this paper forms the third stage in the overall 2STC development process focussed on benefiting project owners and the industry.
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Ralf Östermark and Eero Kasanen
The approach described is based on conceptual analysis and practical experience on large‐scale financial planning models. In the authors' view, improved ergonomics in modelling…
Abstract
The approach described is based on conceptual analysis and practical experience on large‐scale financial planning models. In the authors' view, improved ergonomics in modelling can be achieved by visualising not only the MCDM stage of the model but the whole model structure. Three visualisations are constructed that cover managerial trade‐offs, environmental uncertainty and resource requirements. The results presented are based on real‐world complex financial models in a large commercial bank. It is suggested that the quality of the model/user interface does not seem to depend so much on the interactiveness of the tools used, but on the comprehensive illustrations that guide managers to essential discussions.
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The purpose of this paper is to further develop the epistemological base of interventionist research (IR) as a valid accounting and management research methodology, through the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to further develop the epistemological base of interventionist research (IR) as a valid accounting and management research methodology, through the identification of intervention theory and an IR framework derived from social sciences. Moreover, this paper seeks to contribute to empirical knowledge of IR through a critical review of limited empirical evidence relating to intervention theory and the extant IR frameworks derived from action research.
Design/methodology/approach
Texts and academic journal papers that judiciously review intervention theory, intervention research frameworks were identified systematically; along with empirical research addressing theoretical and methodological deficiencies of IR and, providing evidence to inform practical considerations when undertaking IR.
Findings
The key findings include rare empirical evidence addressing theoretical shortcomings and application of intervention theory, an IR framework derived from social sciences with extremely limited use in accounting and management research, deficiencies in action research oriented frameworks labelled as alternative forms of IR, an alternate perspective to positivistic validity and reliability issues and other practical considerations to facilitate the conducting of IR.
Originality/value
The novelty of this paper lies in the diminution of the fragmented nature of IR that undermines its scientific value through the identification of an intervention theory and IR framework experiencing extremely limited use in accounting and management research, with the exception of a cross‐disciplinary (management accounting and information systems) doctoral study, optimising IR utilisation with greater degrees of validity and reliability and, finally, a proposed alternative research design for utilisation in IR.
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An interactive multiple criteria method for managerial decision support is presented. The approach used is aimed at meeting some of the key requirements placed on multiple…
Abstract
An interactive multiple criteria method for managerial decision support is presented. The approach used is aimed at meeting some of the key requirements placed on multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) tools by a “soft” systems view on managerial reality. This is based on two concepts: similarity of aspirations and the graphical conflict zones, and solves some of the reported difficulties in directional search methods.