Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 1995. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Memphis State University, 1989. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-161).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1926. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-190).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1934. / Vita. On cover: Columbia university. Bibliography: p. 122-123.

Thesis (PH. D.)--Columbia University, 1926. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-190).

This thesis aims to identify the status of management accounting practices in the Jordanian financial sector in terms of both its usage and sophistication level and to examine the contingency factors that influence that status. The main objectives of the research are: to obtain a broad overview of management accounting practices in general, including the extent of usage of management accounting practices; examine the sophistication level of management accounting practices and at which phase, based on the IF AC model, the Jordanian financial sector is currently placed; investigate the effect of the contingent variables upon both the extent of usage and the sophistication level of management accounting practices. To attain these objectives, a combination of research methods has been conducted, namely, questionnaire and semi-structured interview; 64 valid questionnaires were returned, giving a 67.3% response rate, followed by 14 interviews. Several statistical analyses were used to analyse the responses, namely, descriptive analysis, bivariate correlation analysis (KendalFs tau test and Kruskal-Wallis test), and multivariate statistical tests. The results of the life cycle stages revealed that 67.2% of the respondent companies are located in the first two stages. In terms of the usage of management accounting practices, the research reported that traditional practices are still widespread and highly used, rarely using the more sophisticated or advanced practices, and that there is a diversity of practices used in the financial sector context. In general, the research revealed that budgeting practices and financial measures are heavily used, and there is a lack of usage of decision making practices and strategic analysis practices. Concerning the sophistication level of management accounting practices, the research revealed that almost all of the Jordanian financial sector companies are located in the first stage by 64.1% and 29.7% of companies in the second stage based on the IF AC model, thus indicating the simplicity of information that they require. This, in turn, reflects the simplicity of practices that are used in the Jordanian financial sector. In terms of the association between each contingency variables and the extent of usage of management accounting practices, the research reveals that the age of the company (number of years since establishment), net sale growth, number of employees, sophistication of operations, professional certificates, life cycle stages, and business type have a significant impact on the extent of usage of management accounting practices. In addition, it reveals that the age of the company, sophistication of operations, attendance of training courses, professional certificates, life cycle stages, and business type are the main contingency variables that influence the sophistication level of management accounting practices. The research's findings provide a broad overview of management accounting practices in the Jordanian financial sector. This overview is vital in improving the understanding of management accounting practices, particularly contemporary practices within the Jordanian financial sector in order to encourage practitioners to adopt contemporary practices of management accounting. In addition, the research informs practitioners of the main variables that influence the usage and sophistication level of management accounting practices and of those variables that need to be taken into account when planning the adoption or development of management accounting systems. Finally, the research's findings attempt to fill the gap between theory and practice in management accounting in Jordan.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the separation of rehabilitation from production costs in vocational rehabilitation workshops. The problem exists within production operations of workshops where production and rehabilitation efforts are intertwined and the two kinds of costs are incurred simultaneously.

M.Bibl. / The problem discussed in this study, is to determine whether information can be seen as a marketable product. Taking this into consideration, the study provides guidelines how to formulate a price strategy so that information products can be sold. In chapter one, concepts such as product, price and price strategy are described. The characteristics of products and services are used to describe information as a product. The marketing of information products is related to the pricing of information products and in chapter two the role of marketing and pricing of information products are described. Price as part of the marketing mix forms the highlight of this chapter. The methods of determing a pricing strategy are described in chapter three. Different authors' perceptions are taken into consideration with the emphasis on the work of G.H.G Lucas. Three scenarios forms the basis of chapter four. The scenarios are used to illustrate the formulation of different pricing strategies for different information products. The information products used as examples in these scenarios are a CD-ROM database, a training programme and a report on the involvement of mechanical engineers with the RDP project. The overriding purpose of this study is to provide guidelines to library and information services in determing a pricing strategy for information products.

This paper investigates the rationale of using standard costing in modern manufacturing organisations. Researchers argue that standard costing does not easily fit in with the modern idea of continuous improvement. The benefits and limitations of standard costing and other modern alternative approaches in Eastern Cape manufacturing organisations are examined. Furthermore the factors affecting the accuracy of standards are investigated. Lastly, it is concluded that standard costing is used in Eastern Cape manufacturing organisations and those organisations using standard costing have considered the benefits and limitations.

This dissertation consists of three separate essays, each dealing with a different aspect of the sunk cost phenomenon. The first essay proposes a multiattribute utility model of the sunk cost phenomenon. We argue that this phenomenon, the tendency toward over-investment in losing courses of action, is the result of tensions between economic and psychological factors such as cognitive dissonance. We formalize this tension by decomposing the investor's total utility into its economic and psychological components, and develop a two-attribute utility model which describes sunk cost behavior. We establish the interaction between the economic and psychological factors, which determines the form of the resulting model, both for decisions under certainty and under uncertainty. The model helps reconcile past explanations of sunk cost behavior, and also generates new predictions. We explore the behavioral ramifications of the model, and introduce formal concepts that are useful in characterizing the presence and intensity of a sunk cost effect. The model is then extended beyond the sunk cost problem, to more general allocation situations involving multiple projects or mental accounts. The second essay examines some of the strategic implications of the sunk cost phenomenon in sequential allocation decisions. Drawing from psychology and behavioral decision theory, we first present a typology of possible causes for this tendency. We then present a generic two-period allocation model of the phenomenon within a utility-maximization framework, and derive some comparative statics results - thus showing that the sunk cost phenomenon can be accommodated within formal micro-economic models. The model is used to formalize many of the possible causes of the phenomenon. We then move on to the analysis of some implications of this behavior in strategic situations. A strategic game analysis is used to derive the optimal allocations as a function of sunk cost behavior. We establish when this behavior can be used as a successful precommitment strategy by the sunk cost player, and when it is exploitable by an opponent. Numerous strategic applications of our game-theoretic approach are discussed. The third essay addresses key questions surrounding the financial implications of sunk cost behavior by using data on actual decisions made by firms, and the stock market reaction to these decisions. Specifically, using field evidence we test for the presence of a systematic sunk cost phenomenon in allocation decisions made by publicly traded firms, as recognized by the stock market and reflected in the prices of these firms' shares. We use a financial event study methodology to determine whether share prices reflect the stock market's belief that managers display a sunk cost effect, and use these results to infer the magnitude of the financial implications or "cost" of managers' sunk cost behavior to these firms. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate