Christoph Endenich, Rouven Trapp and Michael Brandau
This study aims to compare styles of management accounting (MA), i.e. the way in which MA influences corporate decision-making, in German and Spanish companies. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to compare styles of management accounting (MA), i.e. the way in which MA influences corporate decision-making, in German and Spanish companies. The study illustrates relevant differences by comparing the role of management accountants in decision-making processes and puts a particular emphasis on their networking activities in a corporate context.
Design/methodology/approach
This study builds on field study data from semi-structured interviews with senior management accountants in German and Spanish companies. The authors analyze the data within the framework of the actor-network theory (ANT).
Findings
In the sampled German companies, strong networks between management accountants and other corporate functions have been established, whereas the corresponding Spanish networks are emerging but remain fragile because of interference from anti-programs, mistrust and defensive departmental attitudes. Although MA in Spain has established only few accepted routines and remains distant from managerial decision-making, it enjoys an unquestioned standing in the German companies, because its routines and procedures are embedded into corporate culture. This embedding is facilitated by not only information technology but also relatively simple tools such as templates, timetables and standardized agendas.
Research limitations/implications
The present study underlines how combining the field study approach with rationales from ANT can provide relevant insights into MA practices in its corporate context.
Practical implications
The present study provides guidance for management accountants striving for an increased influence on corporate decision-making and an improved collaboration with corporate management.
Originality/value
The authors extend the traditional spectrum of theoretical approaches in comparative MA studies. The ANT lens allows to show how styles of MA are shaped by interdependencies between institutional settings and networking processes. In this way, this paper complements previous cross-country research, which has mainly relied on contingency theory to examine static, country-specific differences in relation to distinct environmental and cultural conditions.
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Christoph Endenich, Andreas Hoffjan, Anne Krutoff and Rouven Trapp
This paper aims to study the internationalisation of management accounting research in the German-speaking countries and to analyse whether researchers from these countries rely…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the internationalisation of management accounting research in the German-speaking countries and to analyse whether researchers from these countries rely on their intellectual heritage or adapt to the conventions prevailing in the international community.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides a research taxonomy of 273 papers published by management accounting researchers from the German-speaking countries between 2005 and 2018 in domestic and international journals with regard to topics, settings, methods, data origins and theories of these papers. The study also systematically compares these publications with the publications by international scholars as synthesised in selected prior bibliometric studies.
Findings
The findings suggest that German-speaking researchers increasingly adapt to the conventions prevailing in the international management accounting literature. Indicative of this development is the crowding out of traditional core areas of German-speaking management accounting such as cost accounting by management control topics. The study also finds that German-speaking researchers increasingly rely on the research methods and theories prevailing internationally.
Research limitations/implications
The paper documents considerable changes in the publications of management accounting researchers from the German-speaking countries. These changes raise the question how other national research communities internationalise and whether these processes lead to a greater homogenisation of international management accounting research, which might impair the advancement of management accounting knowledge.
Originality/value
This paper provides first empirical evidence on how management accounting research conducted in the German-speaking countries has changed in the course of the internationalisation of the research community and builds an important basis for future research in other geographic settings.
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Julia Kornacker, Rouven Trapp and Katharina Ander
The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of the “globalisation” of management control systems (MCSs) by investigating whether and why budget control structures…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of the “globalisation” of management control systems (MCSs) by investigating whether and why budget control structures established in German headquarters (HQs) are transferred to their Chinese subsidiaries and whether and why these structures are (not) used as intended by the HQs.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a field study comprising 23 multinational companies (MNCs). Following a dyadic research design, representatives of the German HQs and Chinese subsidiaries were interviewed. Data were collected during 58 semi-structured interviews with 78 management accountants and managers. Based on cross-case analyses, commonalities and differences were identified that provide insights into contextual influences that shape the way, in which global MCSs are de facto used at the subsidiary level.
Findings
The study provides evidence for different receptions at the subsidiary level. While the budget control structures established in the German HQs guide managerial decision-making in some cases, they get modified or even rejected in others. The findings suggest that these receptions are particularly contingent on the perceived utility of budget control structures among the locals, which is interrelated with the perceived predictability of future developments. In particular, the findings suggest that HQs may impact the paths of travel, given that an ex ante adjustment of global budget control structures may reinforce the reproduction of practices at the local level. The decision to adjust the structures is contingent on organisational characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The paper encourages further research on the contextual influences that impact how MCSs established at the HQ level are used at the subsidiary level. The paper focuses primarily on environmental peculiarities, which are potentially less important for management control devices other than budget control. Thus, the generalisability of the findings of this paper to other management control devices may be limited.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that MNCs should consider how foreign employees receive global MCSs established at the HQ level and take the locals’ perception of the utility of structures into account. Adjusting global structures without undermining them may reinforce their reproduction at the local level.
Originality/value
Based on a field study approach, the paper provides the first cross-case analysis that sheds light on the contextual influences on the ways, in which global budget control structures are used in foreign subsidiaries. Moreover, the simultaneous consideration of the HQ and subsidiary levels allows for an exploration of the complex interplay between actions and perceptions at the different levels. Eventually, the paper provides first evidence on the globalisation of management control structures within a setting with considerable economic, political and cultural disparities. The paper encourages and serves as a point of departure for further research culminating in a framework comprising important drivers of the globalisation of MCSs at different levels (e.g. environmental, organisational, individual).
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Christoph Endenich, Andreas Hoffjan, Teresa Schlichting and Rouven Trapp
The purpose of this study is to explore if and how companies strive for a harmonization of management accounting systems in their international business units to support…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore if and how companies strive for a harmonization of management accounting systems in their international business units to support company-wide consistent strategy implementation and to analyze the underlying drivers and pitfalls. Our paper is motivated by the tension between the need for consistent strategy implementation in the different international business units of multinational companies and the traditional differences in management accounting practices across countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The field study comprised semi-structured in-depth interviews with management accounting experts in selected German and Spanish business units of 15 major German multinational companies.
Findings
The authors identified strong efforts for company-wide harmonization of management accounting practices and found that beside explicit initiatives set by corporate headquarters, more implicit pressures such as the education of management accountants, the work of global consultancies and the use of standardized ERP-systems constitute strong drivers of the identified harmonization.
Practical implications
The findings highlight implicit pressures as important drivers of the harmonization of management accounting systems in the international business units of multinational companies. Taking these implicit pressures into consideration can help multinational companies striving for a harmonization of business unit management accounting for consistent strategy implementation.
Originality/value
Building on a unique sample of pairs of German and Spanish business units of 15 major German companies, the field study explores harmonization practices and its drivers in multinational companies.
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Maik Lachmann, Thorsten Knauer and Rouven Trapp
The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the use of strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques in hospitals under competitive market environments. The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the use of strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques in hospitals under competitive market environments. The paper analyses the dissemination of SMA techniques in consideration of structural characteristics and perform a cluster analysis in order to investigate performance differences between various groups of hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper collected empirical data in a nationwide survey of German general hospitals. Analyses are based on questionnaires from 116 hospitals.
Findings
Results show that strategies are applied and regularly adjusted in most hospitals. However, SMA techniques are not in widespread use. The paper explores performance differences between the clusters comprised. The paper finds evidence that the use of SMA techniques varies among hospitals based on their structural characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' exploratory analysis suggest that further study exploring both the determinants and effects of the use of SMA techniques in hospitals represents an interesting path for future research. This study is subject to limitations, particularly concerning the limited number of contextual variables and performance measures taken into consideration.
Practical implications
Considering the limited use of SMA techniques, this paper conclude that hospitals should consider the adoption of additional practices. The paper identifies particular potential for development in the areas of risk management and capital budgeting methods.
Originality/value
This study provides the first comprehensive overview of SMA techniques used in hospitals and advances the literature, which primarily includes case study evidence on single SMA techniques or analyses of the impact of strategies and health reforms on “conventional” management accounting practices. This paper, then, constitutes a useful starting point for further research on SMA practices in hospitals.