Previous applied empirical research is limited. This research builds a bridge between management accounting 'normative theory' and current practice, through the development of 'positive budgetary theory'. In order to achieve this a series of objectives were set, relating to: developing a statement of textbook 'normative' theory; identifying industry practice; analysing practice in relation to theory; critically reviewing the rationale for practice; and developing a model of 'positive' budgetary theory appropriate for UK hotel organizations. The methodological stance was interpretive and corpus based. Individual corpus (body of knowledge) were developed related to 'normative' theory and hospitality industry practice. An interpretative approach was used to interrogate the corpus in order to ascertain 'positive' theory, concerning budgeting in the hospitality industry. The methodological approach adopted required a multi-method approach, which allowed triangulation of results. Methods used were content analysis, postal census survey, semi-structured interviews and a qualitative questionnaire. The content analysis results identified aspects of budgeting that were 'normative', 'probably normative', 'probably not normative', and 'not normative' in textbooks. Of the sixteen aspects of budgeting reviewed ten were considered normative (at the primary coded level) but others such as zero base budgeting was probably not normative. Findings from industry research established aspects of practice in line with 'normative' theory. Positive theory developed was informed by practice, normative theory and the rationale for industry practice. No general 'theory/practice' gap was identified for budgeting. For many aspects such as the need for participation in the budgeting process, or the marginal reporting of zero base budgeting, there was agreement. However flexible budgeting was viewed has having little use in the industry, whilst it was normative in textbooks. The results also identify aspects that need to be reconsidered by industry, particularly participation at lower levels in the organization and the financial training needs of non-financial managers.

This study aimed to explore investment in accounting information system (AIS) in the commercial banks in Libya. It focuses on the extent and nature of AIS investment in the Libyan commercial banks, resultant changes in business processes and the significance of training and up-skilling of the workforce in delivering systems benefits. Following an initial literature review, the research reviewed AIS investment in all Libyan commercial banks and established top line profiles of nine of the thirteen existing banks (the other four being close to merger with, or acquisition by, other banks). Three banks were selected for detailed case study analysis, representing a cross-section in terms of size, staff, age profile, and ownership of the banks. Three methods were adopted to collect data - individual questionnaires with key bank personnel, semi-structured interviews and review and analysis of pertinent bank documents. The study researched and analysed the recent investment in advanced IT in the case study banks, where AIS packaged software and communications infrastructure had been implemented. The banks that use developed global systems have more efficient and effective systems than the banks that use local systems, and in general there are no adequate policies or plans in place for training and up-skilling of staff using these new systems. The study also found that investment in AIS and associated technological infrastructure had impacted on all main business processes, bringing about significant process improvement in some cases. Contributions to knowledge include a qualitative assessment of AIS in Libyan banks, which has not been done before, and the identification of some of the benefits and problems that result from major systems deployment. The study has also shown that models formulated for application in the developed world can be adapted and applied to assess information systems in a developing world commercial environment.

International accounting scandals around the world have triggered a wave of interest and discussion on the transparency and integrity of financial statements. Prior literature has stated that due to a variety of motivations and by using different techniques, the management of corporations might intend to influence the figures in financial reporting. The preferred term used in the accounting literature to describe this issue is 'earnings management', which is a very interesting and topical issue for researchers. Therefore, this research investigates the earnings management phenomenon in the Libyan environment. In this research, secondary data, which was accruals-based models, and primary data analysis, which included a questionnaire survey combined with semi-structured interviews, were used to achieve the objectives of this research, that are: to determine the existence and the direction of earnings management in the Libyan context; the motivations and techniques behind that; and the earnings management constraints, which include internal accounting standards, corporate governance mechanism and audit quality. The analysis of secondary data examined the existence and the direction of earnings management in Libyan companies. Accruals-based models were applied on a sample of state-owned and private companies. The results indicated that the majority of the companies that engaged in earnings management by using income-increasing policies accruals were state-owned companies. However, the majority of the companies that engaged in earnings management by using income-decreasing policies accruals were private companies. The above results indicated that there are linkages between the direction of earnings management and the nature of company ownership in the Libyan environment. Further, as regards the relationship between the direction of earnings management and company size, the results of the state-owned companies group indicated that company size was positively and significantly associated with discretionary total accruals. On the other hand, the results of the private companies group indicated that company size was negatively and significantly linked to discretionary total accruals. The primary data analysis was used to investigate three main issues: the motivations behind the practice of earnings management; the most frequently used techniques to practice earnings management; and the earnings management constraints, which include accounting standards, internal corporate governance mechanism and audit quality. These subjects were investigated by using a questionnaire survey administered to external auditors, financial managers and senior accountants, internal auditors, lenders, tax officers and accounting academics. Also, a series of semistructured interviews was combined with the questionnaire survey, which was conducted with selected respondents to the survey. Results indicated that the main incentives for practising earnings management in Libyan state-owned companies were: to mitigate the threat of displacement (i.e. safeguard job position) and/or enhance management reputation, to report profits, to increase the value of management compensation, and to meet regulatory objectives. On the other hand, the main incentives for the private companies were to decrease the amount of taxes and to enhance the chance of obtaining bank loans. Further, the results showed that manipulation of the value of inventory, improper assets revaluation, incorrect capitalising rather than expensing of expenditures, manipulation of accrual estimation, incorrect use of expenses on asset acquisition, and related-party transactions were the most frequently used techniques to practice earnings management in Libya. Finally, the results showed a consensus among respondents on the importance of accounting standard. internal corporate governance mechanisms, audit quality as policies to constraint earnings management in the Libya environment.

This study demonstrates an original contribution to knowledge by providing a deeper understanding of management accounting practices in the context of service organisations. It explores a number of traditional and contemporary tools and their relationship to service organisations. The study focuses on the extent to which both traditional and contemporary tools are utilised in practice and also the underlying reasons why some tools become embedded in practice and the barriers and enablers of management accounting change in a service sector context. The study is explanatory in nature and uses a cross sectional survey to provide an understanding of what tools are used by service sector organisations and five in depth case studies to explore the nature of how the tools are used and the factors influencing the diffusion of new tools and the replication of existing tools. The analysis of the cases is done using Stones (2005) quadripartite framework which allows a sensitising of the data to provide insights into the external and internal structures which govern and are governed by the actions of the accountants. From the empirical research it was concluded that the management accounting practices of service sector organisations are similar to those of other organisational sectors and mainly rely upon the use of the traditional tools with limited use of the more contemporary tools. The exploration of the tools used in the case studies showed the internal structures in place which allowed the traditional tools to be embedded and replicated over time and also the external structures which when coupled with the internal structures resulted in barriers and enablers of change to the management accounting tools used. This thesis contributes to knowledge by providing a greater understanding of service sector management accounting and by the development of the strong structuration model to provide valuable insights into management accounting change and to demonstrate the continued theory practice gap in management accounting.

The implementation of environmental management accounting (EMA) in Mittelstand companies is an uncharted area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the ways, benefits, and disadvantages of implementing EMA in such companies. The choice of the approach and method depended on the following reasons: As the observed phenomena took place inside a company and depended on the attitudes of its members, an interpretivist and qualitative research approach was used that regarded a company as a socially constructed entity. The research was executed with a top-down deductive method starting with a literary review (on Mittelstand-like companies using EMA), and leading to hypotheses concerning the research aim. These assumptions were tested in a qualitative case study using a German Mittelstand company from the printing industry. To this end, the study used the company’s files, personal notes from management meetings, and interviews with experts from the focal company offering the deepest insight in the focal company. The analysis found two different results. Mittelstand companies will have trouble with implementing EMA. However, after having done this, they will only experience benefits and no disadvantages. During the EMA implementation there will probably be delays due to lacking expertise, conservative attitudes, and disturbed channels of information among the staff. However, these obstacles can be overcome with external experts guiding the EMA implementation, and with financial resources to pay them. EMA will then enable a Mittelstand company to track the flows of hazardous and harmless physical entities alike and its associated environmental and conventional costs. With this information the strategic management accounting (SMA) will be able to reduce these costs, to develop eco-friendly products, and to increase its resource efficiency, profits and competitiveness. In a Mittelstand company EMA should therefore be placed at the interface of proper accounting and SMA. FCA, ABC, flow cost accounting, input/output analysis, and EBSC seem to be the optimal methods to track and analyse a company’s physical flows and its related conventional and environmental costs. The former cost type depends on the quantities of the resources, with the latter one depending on the production of waste, the excessive use of water, wood, fuel, electric energy, hazardous chemicals and the process they are used in. To capture these costs it is best to use a set of primary metrics (reflecting the quantities of the resources) and secondary metrics (focussing on the flows and dangers of these resources). Measuring environmental costs of hazardous substances is difficult, since the production processes they are used in depend on chancy circumstances like accidents. Instead, it is also possible to use an EMA that only calculates the amounts of wood, water, waste, fuel, and electric energy needed for the use of hazardous substances. After multiplying these costs with a numerical and empirically obtained factor, the related environmental costs can now be measured both accurately and easily. Such a simplified EMA seems to be a promising method for Mittelstand companies with low technical skills.