管理会计双语材料

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Baidu Nhomakorabea
INTERNATIONAL ADVANCES IN ECONOMIC RESEARCH
An important aspect of cost management is the integration of accounting data in the strategic planning process. Strategic cost management focuses upon the role of developing and implementing internal accounting information useful in strategic planning. A cost management system must provide financial and nonfinancial data to support the strategy of the organization, and customer demands of quality, flexibility, service, and cost. Shank [1989, p. 50] defines strategic cost management as the blending of three underlying themes: value chain analysis; strategic positioning analysis; and cost driver analysis [Shank, 1989, p. 50]. Underlying the concept of strategic cost management is value chain analysis. The value chain has been defined as " . . . the linked set of value-creating activities all the way from basic raw material sources for component suppliers through the ultimate end-use product delivered into the final consumer's hands [Shank, 1989, p. 50]." The value chain broadens the traditional internal focus of managerial accounting while focusing on exploiting linkages with customers and suppliers. Creating product value encompasses quality, price, service, and other relevant factors. Knowledge of the cost structure and value chain of the organization allows examination of the major cost elements of each value added activity. Another underlying theme of strategic cost analysis is cost driver analysis [Shank, 1989]. The emphasis is on determining the causes of costs. Establishing cause and effect relationships of costs with their cost drivers provides a basis for elimination or reduction of non-value-added costs, while also providing a basis for the integration of cost information into strategic planning. Cost driver analysis can also be expanded to other activities within the organization, thereby moving away from the limited traditional cost accounting focus of inventory valuation to the broader based cost management. Numerous studies have examined the content of the management/cost accounting curriculum in the United States and Asia (for example, Lander and Reinstein; Bromwich and Wang; AnyaneNtow) to determine if educators are responding to the needs of practitioners. Generally these studies have focused on the views of accounting practitioners and/or educators concerning the importance of selected management accounting topics, or desirable knowledge and skills that should be included in the Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) for management accounting. The results of this study provide information for educators and practitioners, in both the United States and Asia, by examining the importance and use of various management accounting practices and techniques. METHODOLOGY The purpose of this study is to examine trends in the adoption of new management accounting techniques and practices by manufacturing firms in the Asian Pacific rim region. The study involved mailing a questionnaire (in both English and Chinese to those countries with large Chinese populations) to a sample of 550 manufacturing firms in the major developing and developed economies of the Asian Pacific Region. The practices and techniques used in the survey were taken from topical coverage at recent professional conferences, and domestic and international practitioner and academic accounting journals. The questionnaire consisted of two pages and asked respondents about general demographic data, as well as the perceived importance of both traditional and "cutting edge" management accounting techniques and practices. The questionnaire also asked respondents to indicate whether various innovative practices and techniques were being currently used in their companies, and if they were not being currently used, would they be used in the near future. At the time of this writing, completed questionnaires were still being received from the respondents and a total of 41 usable responses, representing a 7.4 percent response ratio, had been received.
Trends in Management Accounting in the Asian Pacific Region
ZABIHOLLAH ~ Z A E E , JOSEPH Z. SZENDI, CONNIE SHUM, AND ROBERT C. ELMORE* INTRODUCTION The usefulness of the traditionalmanagement accounting information system has been challenged by a changing economic environment coupled with increased global competition and the emergence of new manufacturing technologies. The past five years have been characterized by the criticism and reexamination of management accounting practices and techniques. Critics view management accounting as contributing to the loss of competitiveness of the United States in the global economy. Much of the criticism has led to a strong impetus in adopting "cutting edge" management accounting techniques by manufacturers as well as academics. Numerous Asian countries emulate the American business school paradigm and use a very similar curricular approach to the teaching of management accounting, however, little has been said about the management accounting practices utilized in some of the developing economies of the Asian-Pacific region. Additionally, few empirical studies provide insights into management accounting education or practices in those countries. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine trends in the adoption of new management accounting techniques and practices by Asian-Pacific manufacturing firms. BACKGROUND Over the last decade, critics of management accounting have questioned the relevancy of many traditional techniques and practices. For example, Goldratt [1983] contended that traditional management accounting undermines production and is the number one enemy of productivity. Cooper and Kaplan [1988] and Kaplan [1988] have argued that the traditionalaccounting techniques may no longer be valid as the production process changes. These techniques fail to provide relevant, useful, and timely information about processing activities that management needs for planning and control purposes. Traditional management accounting systems are often considered incompatible with modem production systems [Jayson, 1987; Umble and Srikanth, 1990]. Also, traditional systems have typically used direct labor as an allocation base, often inappropriately [Shank and Govindarajan, 1988]. One result of the changing economic environment has been the emergence in the literature of cost management. Cost management as an integrative area " . . . combines elements from three other fields: management accounting, production, and strategic planning [Cooper, p. xiii]." This broadening of the traditional management accounting environment involves emphasis on activity based costing, cost management systems, advanced manufacturing technologies, cost planning and control, quality costs, performance measurement, and strategic cost management [Brinker, 1990]. *Middle Tennessee State University, Texas A & M University at Corpus Christi, Pittsburg State University, and Tennessee Technological University.