Research on Enterprise Management Accounting

<p>Management accounting plays an increasingly important role in the management and development of an enterprises because it helps with improving the production efficiency, production economic effects and economic benefits of the enterprise, reducing the cost of the enterprise, and providing useful information for the business decision-making, promoting the sustainable development of enterprises. So the application of management accounting in the business management in China is an inevitable trend of enterprise development. The analysis in this research is based on the previous studies about management accounting, and theories related to management accounting and high-quality economic development, mainly. Besides, the problems with the application process of management accounting in Chinese enterprises are summarized, including the problems with the application environment, management philosophy, and management accounting talents. At last, some feasible solutions to the problems are provided in accordance with the working experiences of the author, including learning from foreign advanced management accounting theory systems to promote the construction of my country's enterprise management accounting theory system, enhancing the propaganda of management accounting among enterprise managers, especially state-owned enterprises, constructing management accounting information system to create an advantageous environment to apply management accounting, promoting the breadth, depth and flexibility of management accounting applications, build a team of high-quality corporate management accounting talents and others. Those suggestions are expected to help Chinese enterprises make the best of management accounting to increase competitiveness of enterprises in the market and and economic benefits of enterprises. Hence, this thesis could provide useful suggestions about how to make the best of management accounting to ensure managers’ accurate decision-making, and the sustainable development of the enterprise in the future.</p>

Purpose This study aims to examine how gender is conceptualised and addressed within management accounting research, moving beyond its use as a mere “control variable” or “dummy variable”. It identifies dominant themes, highlights ongoing research gaps and proposes directions for developing more inclusive and critically engaged research. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of gender-related studies in management accounting was conducted, covering articles published in ranked “accounting journals” between 1990 and 2024. Thematic analysis was applied to synthesise key findings and highlight research gaps. Findings The study identifies four dominant themes in the literature, revealing the persistent underrepresentation of gender-focused research in management accounting. While existing studies acknowledge gender, they largely focus on workplace dynamics and overlook how management accounting practices reflect, reinforce or challenge gendered structures. The study underscores the need for deeper theoretical engagement – particularly with feminist and intersectional perspectives – to critically assess gendered power dynamics in management accounting. Research limitations/implications This study provides an impetus for advancing gender research in management accounting by promoting theoretical diversification, methodological pluralism and greater attention to intersectional and contextual dimensions. Originality/value By synthesising existing research and identifying critical gaps, this study calls for a shift from viewing gender as a control or dummy variable towards a more integrated, theoretically informed and critically engaged approach to gender in management accounting.

In this article we discuss the motivation for and role of theory in management accounting. We argue that theories in an applied field such as management accounting research should provide explanations that are useful for those we study – managers, organizations and society. We evaluate the nature of theories currently used and developed. Those theories that are considered theories by the research community are largely imported from other disciplines, but have hardly anything that makes them unique to management accounting. Those theories that are not currently regarded as theories by many of our colleagues attempt to explain how to apply management accounting to achieve superior performance. We argue that both forms of theories, at present, largely fail to provide valid support for practitioners. We contend that management accounting theory should help us to answer questions of what kind of management accounting systems we should apply, how, in what circumstances, and how to change them. We provide suggestions on how management accounting research could proceed to produce better theories in this regard.

Although empirical methods have gained momentum in the business research community lately, there has been little effort, so far, to utilize laboratory experiments for advancing the field of management accounting research. This article presents the state of the art in experimental management accounting research. First, the method’s current popularity amongst researchers in this field is established via a review of existing literature analyses covering empirical management accounting research. Second, a description of potential uses, designs and methodological limitations of laboratory experiments is given. Third, a comprehensive review of the relevant literature body, based on a specifically developed conceptual model, resulting in a map of topics and variables follows. Internationally there is evidence for the use of laboratory experiments for gaining further insights into both classical management accounting functions, decision influencing and decision facilitating. Furthermore, a wide body of research is available to further exploitation by the management accounting research community, emanating from the fields of individual decision making, decision support systems and management information systems.

Assessing the quality of evidence in empirical management accounting research: The case of survey studies

Deception in Management Accounting Experimental Research: A Tricky Issuee Revisited

With the development of information technology, already existing management thought, mode and method do not meet the needs of new era. So the climax improved of managing has been raised and these changes have certain contacts with informationization. Then we needs to study the information-based impact on management innovation of enterprises and make enterprises informatization play the function of promotes and improves in management field. On the basis of explaining the basic conception of enterprise's informationization, management innovation and BPR, This text studied the function mechanism to the management innovation of enterprise's informationization regarding BPR as the breakthrough point, define the relation between the two and put forward the information tactics based on the management innovation.

Doing Management Accounting Survey Research

Agent-Based Computational Economics in Management Accounting Research: Opportunities and Difficulties

Agent-based computational economics (ACE)—while adopted comparably widely in other domains of managerial science—is a rather novel paradigm for management accounting research (MAR). This paper provides an overview of opportunities and difficulties that ACE may have for research in management accounting and, in particular, introduces a framework that researchers in management accounting may employ when considering ACE as a paradigm for their particular research endeavor. The framework builds on the two interrelated paradigmatic elements of ACE: a set of theoretical assumptions on economic agents and the approach of agent-based modeling. Particular focus is put on contrasting opportunities and difficulties of ACE in comparison to other research methods employed in MAR. JEL Classifications: C63; D8; D91; M40.

Behavioral Implications of Management Accounting Practices: A Contemporary Issue in Management Accounting

What is strategy? Management accounting researchers have often ignored this question when they say that management accounting is for implementing rather than formulating strategy. Inspired by Anthony’s seminal work (1965), where management controls and strategic planning were separated, management accounting researchers have often treated strategy as a ‘black box’. However, recent debates have paid more attention to strategy. The debates in the 1990s, for example, emphasized that the future of management accounting (e.g. Bromwich and Bhimani 1994; Ittner and Larcker 1998) is dependent on whether it can frame and conceptualize strategic issues in organizations; to articulate strategy is a way to regain the lost relevance of management accounting (Johnson and Kaplan 1987). In this chapter we study processes of constructing corporate value

Viewing Zimmerman (2001) as propagating for an economics-based monolithic paradigm to be adopted in management accounting research, we examine the nature and implications of such Kuhnian ‘normal science’. Acknowledging that normal science can produce cumulative knowledge efficiently, we examine its risks as well. Similarly as with any normal science, that based on economics also inherently offers a narrow window to the world, and creates areas of ‘non-discussables’. We illustrate how such a regime would limit our abilities to construct and examine interesting propositions and develop meaningful stories about management accounting in its social, organizational and behavioural contexts. Accepting the rule of a monolithic economics-based paradigm would limit our abilities to develop a critical stance, and threatens the ability of management accounting research community for good scientific conversation and progress. Hence, in contrast to Zimmerman, we argue for remaining open for heterogeneity in management accounting research.

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the potential of strong structuration theory in management accounting research. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explains how the ontological perspective of strong structuration theory extends the work of Giddens and explores how the perspective overcomes a number of the limitations of existing management accounting research based on structuration theory. Findings – Strong structuration theory develops and extends the work of Giddens, providing greater insights into the role of agents, improves our understanding of the diffusion of accounting practices through organisational fields, adds to our knowledge of how artefacts are used in the production and reproduction of organisational life and improves research design. Research limitations/implications – Strong structuration theory provides clear guidance about management accounting case study research design, and suggests the potential for the accounting research community to engage more actively in debates about the development of structuration theory beyond the work of Giddens. Originality/value – This paper provides a clear explanation of the ontology of strong structuration theory, its implications for research design and how it holds the potential to overcome many of the limitations of earlier management accounting studies deploying structuration theory.

By applying behavioral intention theories and the theory of diffusion of innovation in organizations, this study identified several factors influencing the intention to apply management accounting in enterprises in Vietnam. Research data was collected from the questionnaire sent to Vietnamese enterprises in 2019, collecting 542 observations from accountants and directors. The data is, then, synthesized by excel file, conformity check, and processed by SPSS 20 software with descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results showed four factors that affect the intention to apply management accounting in enterprises in Vietnam: (1) Performance expectancy; (2) Effort expectancy; (3) Perceived trust; and (4) Subjective norms. The study pointed out that the above factors explain 60.618% of the variation of "intention to apply management accounting", in which, Subjective norms has the strongest impact (regression coefficient is 0.238). The findings also show that raising the awareness of managers and accountants about the role of management accounting, improving the qualifications and knowledge of accountants, and increasing the trust of managers about management accounting information are needed to increase the level of management accounting application in Vietnamese enterprises. The study also proposes recommendations to improve the effectiveness of management accounting for managers in operation and decision-making.