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Worldwide efforts to transform the public sector under the theme of “New Public Management” have been concerned with the issues of organizational change management. The change in the Accounting sector is one of the pillars of such efforts. This paper promotes the importance of leadership roles within the accounting change process by studying them within the context of a corporatized public sector entity. It offers a longitudinal analysis (1998‐2005) through the framework of “levers of control”. Leadership roles within the accounting scenario are compared with leadership roles within the engineering scenario to demonstrate the importance of accounting in mediating leadership roles, and in the end, promote the organization’s operational and financial performance. Through the framework of levers of control, this paper examines the different approaches and styles of an organizational leader in aligning beliefs systems among the workers, and creating management control systems through the mobilization of accounting calculative and constitutive power. This paper argues the importance of studying the characteristics of good leadership with in the organizational transformation process, particularly within the change management accounting practice that could lead to better organizational performance of the organization.

The purpose of this paper, as an empirical investigation of a contingency theory, is to examine the relationship between technology (as a contingent variable) and management accounting system (MAS) characteristics on managerial performance. The main focus of this study is on the four information characteristics of MAS – scope, integration, aggregation and timeliness.

Based on the MAS characteristics defined by Chenhall and Morris, a contingency-based “intervening” model is proposed in which MAS plays a significant intervening role between technology (TECH) and managerial performance. Using survey data from managers in Iranian financial organizations and PLS–structural equation model analysis, the MAS characteristics are collectively analyzed in relation to technology and managerial performance.

The study uncovered the existence of direct relationships between technology and MAS, and between MAS and managerial performance. The study also confirmed that the relationship between technology and managerial performance is mediated by MAS. The findings provide valuable insight to guide managers in financial organizations to improve their performance through suitable MAS by applying new technologies and considering internal and environmental factors. Recommendations on how to improve MAS and managerial performance are provided accordingly.

Previous research studies show that there is no unique and universal MAS for all organizations, since this depends on internal firm characteristics and environmental features. However, there has been a lack of empirical evidence on MAS research studies in the service organizations.

In Malaysia, as in most of the developing countries, small businesses play pivotal roles in the economy. Yet, despite the contribution of small businesses, previous researchers have overlooked the fraud issues that are threating the sustainability of those businesses and instead focus mainly on large and public listed companies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify how small businesses can prevent fraudulent activities.

This study used self-administer questioners and distributed 126 questionnaires to general managers, financial managers and supervisors in Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Multiple regression was used to test the theoretical model.

The output of multiple regressions showed that culture of honesty and high integrity, anti-fraud processes and controls and appropriate oversight functions has a positive and significant effective on fraud prevention mechanisms.

Overall, this study suggests effective fraud prevention measures to mitigate the fraud risk surrounding Malaysian SMEs and other SMEs in emerging countries.

There has been a dearth of empirical studies on the effect of culture of honesty, anti-fraud processes and appropriate oversight functions on effective fraud prevention in non-western context, and this study has fulfilled the need for this research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between management accounting and risk management. The paper measures the extent to which management accounting practices help in managing risks and the extent of the integration between these two important managerial functions.

The study used a mail survey of financial institutions listed in the Malaysian Central Banks' web site. The respondents to whom 106 questionnaires were sent were the chief financial officers; the response rate was 68 percent. A total of 16 post‐survey semi‐structured interviews were also conducted with selected respondents to gain further insights into the survey findings.

The findings from the survey indicate that analysis of financial statements was perceived to contribute most towards risk management. The majority of the respondents were of the view that the management accounting function was greatly involved in the organization's risk management. Consistent with the survey findings, the interviewees also perceived that budgetary control, budgeting, and strategic planning played important roles in managing risk.

This is a study conducted in Malaysian financial institutions and thus, results may not be generalizable to other contexts. The findings of this study strengthen the importance of both management accounting and risk management in complementing each other to form part of the corporate performance management systems.

This paper contributes to the literature as very few studies have examined the significant link between management accounting and risk management.

This paper aims to identify the influence of business strategy on enterprise risk management (ERM) adoption and organizational performance (OP). In addition, the mediation effect of ERM on the relationship between business strategy and OP is assessed.

A cross-sectional analysis of primary data gathered from 174 public listed companies in Malaysian Bourse through survey was conducted.

Companies with cost leadership business strategy are more eager to implement ERM compared to companies with differentiation strategy. The results also indicate that ERM implementation has a significant positive impact on OP. Though ERM is a partial mediator of the relationship between cost leadership strategy and OP, it does not mediate the relationship between differentiation strategy and OP.

One of the limitations of this study was the small number of respondents, comprising only 174 public listed companies. In addition, the manifest variables adopted from previous studies may not be the best indicators to measure latent variables. Nonetheless, this study fills the gaps in ERM studies by determining the impact of different kinds of strategy on ERM adoption and investigating the mediating effect of ERM on the relationship between business strategy and OP.

Although the trend in Malaysia seems to move toward ERM adoption, evidence shows that it is not widely practiced among Malaysian firms. Directors of Malaysian companies can understand better the impact of enterprise business strategy on the adoption of risk management and how ERM influences OP. The results of this study also provide valuable insights for the corporate governance regulatory authorities.

This paper is among the few to assess the impact of firm’s strategy on ERM adoption and to determine the mediation effect of ERM on the relationship between business strategy and OP.

The emerging roles of management accountants as either hybrid accountants or business partners are a cause for much debate in the literature. Of the two characteristics related to these roles, namely information provider and interpreter, and decision-maker, the latter remains under-researched. The present study adds to the decision-maker debate by examining business decision-making involvement. Survey responses from a diverse sample of mostly Institute of Management Accountants (USA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) members were obtained and analysed to examine their current business decision-making involvement, including an investigation guided by role theory into possible contextual factors associated with different levels of decision-making involvement. The business decision-making involvement of management accountants varies significantly, and is less pervasive than widely believed. A significant proportion (53%) of management accountants in traditional management accounting positions report no, or limited, business decision-making involvement. Management accountants employed in smaller firms, and middle-aged professionals, are more likely to be involved in making business decisions. The inverted u-shaped association between age and decision-making involvement identified in this study, requires further investigation. The large cross-sectional analysis of the present study extends prior research which was mostly narrowly focussed due to its case study nature. The varying levels of decision-making involvement, and contextual variables associated with higher level involvement, shed some light on the intricacies of the role of management accountants. Professional associations and educators should note that the roles of today’s management accountants vary greatly between information provider and decision-maker.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether there is any difference in the management accounting systems (MAS) of conventional and Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia.

The paper was based on a survey of 45 conventional and IFIs listed on the Malaysian Central Bank's web site. The respondents were the chief financial officers (CFO). Post‐survey semi‐structured interviews were also conducted with eight respondents to gain further insights into the survey findings.

The survey results indicate that IFIs use MAS information that is broader in scope, more timely, more integrated and more aggregated than conventional financial institutions. The post‐survey interviews provide deeper and contextualised insights into this issue. The interview findings illustrate that IFIs normally develop and adopt an integrated accounting and enterprise system. Within this comprehensive enterprise system, the management accounting function is integrated with other functions of the organization.

Since this study was conducted in the context of Malaysian financial institutions, the results may not be generalizable to other organizations. The findings of this study highlight the importance for IFIs to have integrated enterprise systems. Besides assisting in complying with Shari'ah and regulatory requirements, the integrated systems also support better decision making.

The paper fills a gap in the literature, as very few studies have examined the issue of management accounting in financial institutions. The paper is also one of the limited studies that explore the issue of MAS in IFIs.

This paper aims to examine the effect of management accounting–strategy coalignment on the maqasid Shariah-based performance of Islamic banks in Indonesia. The study also examines the role of the corporate life cycle of Islamic banks in influencing the relationship between management accounting–strategy coalignment and performance.

Management accounting practices, management control systems, strategy and maqasid Shariah-based performance are measured using questionnaires which were distributed to 97 directors and heads of Islamic banks. The model of this study is analyzed using structural equation model.

This study finds that the coalignment between low cost-oriented strategy, strategic management accounting practices and mechanistic management control system has positive impact on improving maqasid Shariah-based performance. However, this study is unable to verify that corporate life cycle strengthens the positive relationship between management accounting–strategy coalignment and performance.

Limited indicators of management accounting practices in this study illustrate less comprehensive management accounting practices. Further studies may add other relevant management accounting as described by the International Federation of Accounting Committee to provide a more comprehensive management accounting practices.

This study provides recommendations to the management of Islamic banks to design management accounting practices and management control systems that fit to their strategic orientation.

This paper fulfils limited empirical studies on management accounting practices and strategy in Islamic banking industry.

The macroenvironment constitutes a widely acknowledged source of firms’ risk in international business. A substantial body of research on macroenvironmental risks encapsulates a variety of measurement approaches, antecedents, and managerial consequences. However, a review of established macroenvironmental risk measures reveals that these measures strongly focus on the quality of the macroenvironment, assuming a rather static perspective and mainly excluding dynamic aspects. Building on prior research on macroenvironmental risk as well as on environmental dynamism, we argue that macroenvironmental dynamism – i.e. the frequency, intensity, and predictability of macroenvironmental variation – is a pivotal source of risk in international business, which so far only received limited attention. Moreover, we suggest that macroenvironmental dynamism influences firms’ risk management activities, a measure we use to empirically investigate firm implications of macroenvironmental dynamism. We explore this effect using primary survey data on risk management activities from 158 foreign subsidiaries in six emerging countries and secondary data on the macroeconomic context in these countries. We find evidence that macroenvironmental dynamism, if compared to macroenvironmental quality, exerts a strong influence on firms’ risk management activities. Our findings enhance the understanding of the dynamic nature of macroenvironmental risk in international business as well as provide a concept to more comprehensively measure macroenvironmental dynamism that future research can build upon.

This study examines the association between the use of strategic management accounting (SMA) practices and competitive advantage and the moderating role of four aspects of organisational culture – teamwork orientation, outcome orientation, innovation orientation and attention to detail orientation – on this association. Online survey data were collected from 408 accountants in Australian business organisations, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data. The results indicate a positive association between the use of SMA practices and competitive advantage with such an association positively moderated by one cultural dimension, teamwork orientation. Specifically, the findings indicate that the positive effect of SMA practices on competitive advantage is dependent upon the fit between the use of SMA practices and teamwork orientation with more (less) teamwork-oriented organisations exhibiting a stronger (weaker) association between the use of SMA practices and competitive advantage.