Search results

1 – 10 of 10
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 18 September 2017

Jari Huikku, Timo Hyvönen and Janne Järvinen

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the initiation of accounting information system projects. Specifically, it examines the role of the predictive analytics (PA) project…

1635

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the initiation of accounting information system projects. Specifically, it examines the role of the predictive analytics (PA) project initiator in the integration of financial and operational sales forecasts.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a field study method to address the studied phenomenon in eight Finnish companies that have recently adopted PA systems. The data are primarily based on 19 interviews in the companies and five interviews with the PA consultants.

Findings

The authors found that initiators appear to play a major role regarding the degree of integration of financial and operational sales forecasts. The initiators from an accounting function have a tendency to pay more attention to the integration than the representatives from other functions, such as operations and sales.

Practical implications

The study also makes a practical contribution to companies in showing and discussing the important role of the accounting department as an initiator of a project if the target is to achieve a tight coupling of financial and operational forecast figures, i.e., “one set of numbers”.

Originality/value

Even though companies have increasingly adopted PA systems in recent years, we still know little about how the initiation affects the design of accounting information systems overall. The central contribution of the paper, therefore, is to show that if a PA project is initiated by the accounting department, data integration becomes more likely. It contributes also to the discussion related to the appropriateness of data integration in the context of forecasting.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 20 March 2017

Matias Laine, Janne T. Järvinen, Timo Hyvönen and Hannele Kantola

Voluntary corporate social responsibility reporting has developed into an everyday activity for many commercial organizations, and scholarly interest in these practices continues…

1759

Abstract

Purpose

Voluntary corporate social responsibility reporting has developed into an everyday activity for many commercial organizations, and scholarly interest in these practices continues to increase. This paper focusses on one subset of these disclosures, namely the figures relating to environmental expenditures and investments published by various organizations. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the nature, role and significance of such financial environmental information. Despite their seeming accuracy and preciseness, little is known about how such financial environmental information is constructed and subsequently used in organizational settings.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a qualitative case study focussing on a Finnish energy company. The authors build the investigation primarily on 26 semi-structured interviews with employees at all organizational levels, which the authors supplement with various documentary sources. The interpretation draws on the notion of loose coupling, which the authors use as a method theory to provide a better understanding of this complex organizational practice.

Findings

The authors highlight the ambiguous and imprecise nature of the outwardly accurate figures provided by the company. The authors argue that disclosed financial environmental information is only loosely coupled with various dimensions, including the organization’s actual activities, its environmental impacts and organizational decision making.

Originality/value

The findings contrast with those of some prior research, which has considered financial environmental information highly valuable. As for broader implications, the paper discusses the accuracy of public records based on such ambiguous organizational figures.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 27 July 2012

Timo Hyvönen, Janne Järvinen, Lasse Oulasvirta and Jukka Pellinen

This paper aims to explore the emergence of accounting shared service centers (SSCs) in the municipal sector.

2449

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the emergence of accounting shared service centers (SSCs) in the municipal sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework of this interpretative study draws on institutional entrepreneurship that highlights the importance of actors and agency for institutions and institutional change.

Findings

The paper finds that institutional entrepreneurs operate on many institutional levels simultaneously. On the organizational field level they must find groups of actors with whom they share interests. At the organizational level the institutional entrepreneurs must find and recognize critical audiences that are receptive to their agenda.

Research limitations/implications

The authors' data comprise interviews and archival data; they were not present to observe the institutional entrepreneurs in action.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the accounting literature by investigating institutional entrepreneurship at the organizational field level, which has not been much empirically researched.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 May 2006

Timo Hyvönen, Janne Järvinen and Jukka Pellinen

This paper aims to analyse how cost accounting knowledge is mediated in a large multinational organisation employing a company‐wide enterprise resource planning system and…

3146

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse how cost accounting knowledge is mediated in a large multinational organisation employing a company‐wide enterprise resource planning system and off‐the‐shelf activity based costing software to create a uniform profitability management system within the organisation.

Design/methodology/approach

The case analysis is informed by the theoretical notions of dis‐and re‐embedding of expert knowledge, expert systems and standards.

Findings

The results indicate that standardised cost accounting software packages may be useful not only because of their superior data processing properties and technical efficiency, but also because of their usability in overcoming resistance to change. It is suggested that software packages and some degrees of freedom in the implementation process may actually enhance actors' “blind” commitment to the system and reduce resistance to the new system.

Originality/value

It is of interest to researchers and practitioners alike how ready‐made software packages may be successfully used in implementing the changes needed in the management accounting systems of large organisations. It is also particularly interesting to find reasons why software packages seem to be so useful in driving these changes.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Available. Content available
585

Abstract

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 20 February 2017

444

Abstract

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Lili-Anne Kihn and Salme Näsi

Several scholars have recently highlighted the narrowness of accounting research regarding it as a threat to scholarly developments in the field. The aim of this study was to…

1283

Abstract

Purpose

Several scholars have recently highlighted the narrowness of accounting research regarding it as a threat to scholarly developments in the field. The aim of this study was to chart progress in management accounting research using a sample of doctoral dissertations published in Finland. In particular, the study examines the range and diversity of research strategic choices in Finnish dissertations over time, including the topics and methodological and theoretical approaches chosen. The authors also briefly compare findings over time and with other progress studies.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal historical investigation was selected. All of the 80 management accounting doctoral dissertations published in Finnish business schools and departments during 1945-2015 were analysed.

Findings

The findings reveal that an expansion of doctoral education has led to an increasing diversity of research strategic choices in Finland. Different issues have been of interest at different times; so, it has been possible to cover a wide range of cost, management accounting and other topics and to use different methodological and theoretical approaches over time. Consequently, management accounting has become a rich and multifaceted field of scientific research.

Research limitations/implications

While this analysis is limited to doctoral research in Finland, the results should be relevant in advancing the understanding of the development of management accounting research.

Practical implications

Overall, the findings support the view that there have been, and continue to be, many ways to conduct innovative research in the field of management accounting.

Social implications

Dissertation research in this field has been extensive and vital enough to educate new generations of academics, guarantee continuity of the subject as an academic discipline and make management accounting a significant academic field of research.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to current research on management accounting change by an analysis of a sample of doctoral dissertations.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 12 March 2018

Antti Ylä-Kujala, Salla Marttonen-Arola and Timo Kärri

The role of management control is frequently emphasized in connection with inter-organizational relationships and value networks. For example, boundary-spanning cost and…

8351

Abstract

Purpose

The role of management control is frequently emphasized in connection with inter-organizational relationships and value networks. For example, boundary-spanning cost and accounting control techniques have been studied in multifaceted empirical settings. The prevalence of such techniques is, however, currently unknown in conjunction with companies’ interests to increase inter-organizational integration in general. Additionally, also the nexus between the internal state of cost management and the company’s willingness to develop inter-organizational relationships requires further investigation. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on an extensive survey that was responded to by more than 1,500 CEOs and CFOs from large, medium-sized and small Finnish enterprises in a variety of industries. As the authors chose the mixed-methods approach, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected for the study.

Findings

The findings suggest that companies can be allocated to five clusters: “the cost experts,” “the trustful,” “the holdouts,” “the trailblazers” and “the uncertain”. When the networking-oriented clusters, “the trustful” and “the trailblazers” are combined, the authors can conclude that 40 percent of the studied companies are interested in increasing inter-organizational integration. However, only 7 percent have boundary-spanning techniques in use. There is also a correlation between interest in integrating and developing cost management.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contains several theoretical implications, although further research, e.g. comparative studies, is required to verify the findings. The scarcity of managerial implications can be regarded as a limitation.

Originality/value

This paper fills several untapped research gaps by studying inter-organizational integration in the cost management context from multiple, complementary perspectives with a particularly large set of data.

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 21 March 2008

Eric Korpi and Timo Ala‐Risku

Despite existing life cycle costing (LCC) method descriptions and practicable suggestions for conducting LCC analyses, no systematic analyses on actual implementations of LCC…

11453

Abstract

Purpose

Despite existing life cycle costing (LCC) method descriptions and practicable suggestions for conducting LCC analyses, no systematic analyses on actual implementations of LCC methods exist. This paper aims to review reports on LCC applications to provide an overview of LCC uses and implementation feasibility.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of LCC cases reported in academic and practitioner literature. Case reports were compared against one another and against the defining articles in the field.

Findings

Most of the reported LCC applications were far from ideal. Compared to the methods suggested in the literature many of the case study applications: covered fewer parts of the whole life cycle, estimated the costs on a lower level of detail, used cost estimation methods based on expert opinion rather than statistical methods, and were content with deterministic estimates of life cycle costs instead of using sensitivity analyses.

Research limitations/implications

This review is limited to reported LCC applications only. Further research is encouraged in the form of a field‐based multiple‐case study to reveal context‐specific dimensions of LCC analysis and implementation challenges in more detail.

Practical implications

This review highlights the difficulty of conducting a reliable LCC analysis, and points out typical problems that should be carefully considered before drawing conclusions from the LCC analysis.

Originality/value

First systematic analysis of LCC applications that gives directions for further research on the LCC concept.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 19 March 2018

Alastair W. Watson, Babak Taheri, Steven Glasgow and Kevin D. O’Gorman

Augmenting employees’ commitment is of important interest to hospitality managers, particularly in the branded restaurant industry where the workforce is often transient. This…

10316

Abstract

Purpose

Augmenting employees’ commitment is of important interest to hospitality managers, particularly in the branded restaurant industry where the workforce is often transient. This paper aims to identify and analyse if levels of personal motivation and flow are drivers of commitment, and if the relationship between the variables is moderated by length of service, age and gender.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is a large-scale empirical investigation of hospitality staff in the UK branded restaurants through 1,133 survey responses, measuring levels of personal motivation, flow and commitment, as well as the moderating effects of multi-group differences among age, gender and length of service. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used for analysis of data.

Findings

Using PLS-SEM found personal motivation to be important in determining employees’ level of flow and, in turn, employees’ commitment. Using multi group analysis, results revealed that relationship among personal motivation, flow and commitment played superior role for older employees and working for a long time in a hospitality organisation than those younger and working less than five years. No significant differences between male and female staff are found.

Research limitations/implications

Through finding flow and personal motivations to be drivers of commitment, branded restaurant practitioners can focus on emphasising these elements in their employees to increase commitment. Further, part-time roles are often taken by people likely to be non-committal in their job needs, e.g. students funding their studies. By focussing on extending lengths of service to meet the optimum years identified, managers can fortify their businesses.

Originality/value

The paper is one of few large-scale quantitative studies to examine personal motivation, flow and commitment in the context of UK branded restaurants. It identifies that employees exhibit higher levels of commitment through intrinsic values over time, and establishes relationships between the constructs of flow, personal motivation and commitment.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

1 – 10 of 10
Per page
102050