In the 1960’s, the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota developed target costing – a management accounting model that reduces the risk of releasing unprofitable products. The method eventually spread to Swedish firms. The study starts by summing recent previous research on target costing in Sweden (full description of these studies is available in Appendix I). Looking at this research, it is noted that there is an inconsistency with regards to what principles of target costing are used, and which are not. It is also noted that some firms are claimed to be used target costing and some firms are claimed not to be using it. No study, however, has tried to find an explanation to why some principles are implemented and why some are not. This is also the theoretical contribution of this thesis. More specifically, the research problems are therefore: (1) is target costing really implemented in a different way in Sweden as compared to Japan and (2), if so, why are there differences? It is further assumed that ideology could be a good explaining variable for the possible differences in implementation. In answering the first question, target costing is firstly described according to well-known books and articles on the subject. Following normative description, a presentation is made how target costing has been employed in Sweden. Secondary data based on three quantative studies is used here. These two descriptions are then contrasted against each other and it is found that target costing is implemented in a different way as compared to normative Japanese literature. Next, the second question is answered by constructing a theoretical framework based on ideological- and managerial assumptions of Japan and Sweden, respectively. This framework is then used to try to explain the differences mentioned above. Through the analysis it is observed that the Swedes’ lower priority of financial goal as well as their orientation towards the future are often used to explain the differences. These two aspects are also two of the main differences between Swedish and Japanese ideologies. It is therefore concluded that the differences might be explained using ideological assumptions, although there are probably other important factors as well. An implication of the result is that it is questionable whether target costing even will reach popularity in Sweden. Finally, it is also concluded that Likert-scales are not usefil when measuring target costing implementation

<p>In the 1960’s, the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota developed target costing – a management accounting model that reduces the risk of releasing unprofitable products. The method eventually spread to Swedish firms.</p><p>The study starts by summing recent previous research on target costing in Sweden (full description of these studies is available in Appendix I). Looking at this research, it is noted that there is an inconsistency with regards to what principles of target costing are used, and which are not. It is also noted that some firms are claimed to be used target costing and some firms are claimed not to be using it. No study, however, has tried to find an explanation to why some principles are implemented and why some are not. This is also the theoretical contribution of this thesis.</p><p>More specifically, the research problems are therefore: (1) is target costing really implemented in a different way in Sweden as compared to Japan and (2), if so, why are there differences? It is further assumed that ideology could be a good explaining variable for the possible differences in implementation.</p><p>In answering the first question, target costing is firstly described according to well-known books and articles on the subject. Following normative description, a presentation is made how target costing has been employed in Sweden. Secondary data based on three quantative studies is used here. These two descriptions are then contrasted against each other and it is found that target costing is implemented in a different way as compared to normative Japanese literature.</p><p>Next, the second question is answered by constructing a theoretical framework based on ideological- and managerial assumptions of Japan and Sweden, respectively. This framework is then used to try to explain the differences mentioned above. Through the analysis it is observed that the Swedes’ lower priority of financial goal as well as their orientation towards the future are often used to explain the differences. These two aspects are also two of the main differences between Swedish and Japanese ideologies.</p><p>It is therefore concluded that the differences might be explained using ideological assumptions, although there are probably other important factors as well. An implication of the result is that it is questionable whether target costing even will reach popularity in Sweden. Finally, it is also concluded that Likert-scales are not usefil when measuring target costing implementation</p>

In today’s world information and knowledge is the most valuable asset and an increasing number of people are working with selling their specialized knowledge. In this knowledge economy professional services are increasing in importance and consultants play an increasingly important role. This master thesis investigates the interplay between management control and the strategizing process in IT-Consultancy firms. With the purpose of gaining an understanding on how management control systems are being sed in IT consultancy firms and to identify the role it plays within the strategic dimension a case study approach was utilized. The method is based on a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews as the mean for data collection. A total sample of 7 respondents from two IT-consultancy firms and one Management Consultant participated. The interviewees possess different positions within the two organizations ranging from top management down through the organizational levels in order to achieve a triangulation of the studied phenomenon. A framework consisting of different perspective on strategic management accounting, performance measurement in professional services, Levers of control and IT-Consultancy was built and used in order to analyze the collected data. The data shows that the strategizing process is for the main part conducted in the front line of the organization where the consultantsinteract with the customer on a daily basis. The conclusion drawn is that the interaction between strategizing process and management control systems is that the management control is designed in a way that not only allows for a clear strategizing activity to take form in the lower levels of the organization, but to constantly assure that this is what is done throughout the organization.

<p>In today’s world information and knowledge is the most valuable asset and an increasing number of people are working with selling their specialized knowledge. In this knowledge economy professional services are increasing in importance and consultants play an increasingly important role.</p><p>This master thesis investigates the interplay between management</p><p>control and the strategizing process in IT-Consultancy firms.</p><p>With the purpose of gaining an understanding on how management control systems are being sed in IT consultancy firms and to identify the role it plays within the strategic dimension a case study approach was utilized.</p><p>The method is based on a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews as the mean for data collection. A total sample of 7 respondents from two IT-consultancy firms and one Management Consultant participated. The interviewees possess different positions</p><p>within the two organizations ranging from top management down through the organizational levels in order to achieve a triangulation of the studied phenomenon.</p><p>A framework consisting of different perspective on strategic management accounting, performance measurement in professional services, Levers of control and IT-Consultancy was built and used in order to analyze the collected data. The data shows that the strategizing process is for the main part conducted in the front line of the organization where the consultantsinteract with the customer on a daily basis.</p><p>The conclusion drawn is that the interaction between strategizing process and management control systems is that the management control is designed in a way that not only allows for a clear strategizing activity to take form in the lower levels of the organization, but to</p><p>constantly assure that this is what is done throughout the organization.</p>

Thesis (MTech (Cost and Management Accounting))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa play a pivotal role in the economy. However, sustainability and operational problems are hindering these business entities, and researchers continue to report extremely high rates of business failure. Arguably, not making adequate use of management accounting practices (MAPs) could be a contributory factor to this status quo. These MAPs are a set of established accounting tools and techniques that have been developed through practice to provide timeous, accurate and relevant information for decision making in a firm. In this regard, MAPs can be used to aid operational efficiency and improve the overall performance of the business. This study sought to determine the extent of MAPs utilisation and the relationship with perceived organisational performance in manufacturing SMEs located in Cape Town. A quantitative approach was adopted using a structured questionnaire to collect data. Through a stratified random sampling technique using sub-industries in the manufacturing sector as the basis for stratification, a total of 104 usable responses were obtained. This data was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The results showed that the mostly utilised MAPs were costing, budgeting and performance measurement techniques. Decision support systems were used to a lower extent, and strategic management accounting techniques were rarely used. The intensity in competition and rising costs of productions were cited as the most influential factors in the adoption of MAPs. These results implied that manufacturing SMEs relied on basic MAPs and did not fully utilise the more sophisticated ones. Using the Spearman’s rank of the correlation coefficient, the associative relationship between MAPs utilisation and perceived organisational performance was tested. Results showed a moderate positive significant relationship between costing, budgeting and performance measurement techniques utilisation and increasing operating profits. A weaker positive significant relationship was found between decision making support, strategic management accounting techniques and increasing operational profits. These results implied that there was a positive relationship between MAPs utilisation and perceived organisational performance represented by operational profits. This study extends the current knowledge of MAPs utilisation and performance links in SMEs particularly in developing economies. Also, this research is vital to SME owners in considering adoption of MAPs, and it is recommended that they take the initiative to explore these tools. Furthermore, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) can incorporate strategic MAPs in their training materials. Lastly, accounting advisory firms need to expand their services rendered to the SMEs to include the utilisation of relevant MAPs.

Purpose: This thesis examines the perception of the usefulness of SMAT, its adoption, and expected outcomes among SMEs in the food processing industry of Nigeria. Research Questions: Three research questions have been addressed in this thesis; (1)What is the perception of the usefulness of SMAT among SMEs in the food processing industry in Nigeria? (2) What leads to SMEs adoption of SMAT (antecedents) among SMEs in the food processing industry in Nigeria? and (3) What outcomes (consequences) are believed to result from using SMAT among SMEs in the food processing industry in Nigeria?  Methodology: Qualitative studies are employed to handle empirical data gathering by semi structural interviews from four SMEs in the food processing industry in Nigeria. The data has been analyzed and thoroughly discussed in the light of previous theories, and findings are presented. Findings: A significant positive perception of the usefulness of SMAT among the selected SMEs in the food processing industry in Nigeria was observed. With few exceptions, costing techniques, customer-focused techniques, and competitors' accounting are moderately and highly perceived while customer accounting techniques are not in use. The most adopted technique is target costing, and the other including; pricing strategy, competitor position tracking, brand valuation, and life cycle costing. Moreover, the management of the sample SMEs thought that benchmarking is the most suitable method to meet their operational targets. The perception of usage of SMAT positively and significantly impacts the perception of increasing customer base and obtaining competitive advantage. The findings imply that SMAT could replace the traditional management accounting practices such as budget and budgetary control in SMEs. Further, human capital is a more influential factor for SMEs than technology because human capital is better positioned to decide which technological tools are more effective for the firms to implement them in their business processes and operations to achieve the organizational goals. Significance of the Study: The research work contributes towards the literature by increasing the knowledge regarding the perception of the usefulness of SMAT and the implications of SMAT practices and its awareness in the SME sector. The larger and smaller firms' policymakers, owners, and managers can benefit through the knowledge and awareness of SMAT and its implementation in their day-to-day business operations. Moreover, the knowledge of using SMAT can enhance the effectiveness of the organizations in achieving their goals that would result in the overall prosperity of the economy of any country. Limitations: The study is restricted to the perception of the usefulness of SMAT, level of adoption, and outcomes among SMEs operating in the food processing industry with a sample size consist of four companies and limited to participants’ in particular geographic regions of Nigeria; therefore, provided information may not be valid for other areas and markets. This fact limits the global generalizability of our findings.

Purpose; this thesis is purposed to investigate Strategic Management Accounting and Control process in supporting Sustainable Integration between Strategic Supplier Relationship Management processes and Strategic Customer Relationship Management processes. Methodology; based on the purpose, the study has conducted a literature review of presenting theories to define Sustainable Integration, Strategic Management Accounting and Control process, Strategic Supplier Relationship Management process, and Strategic Customer Relationship Management process. Furthermore, the study defined how Sustainable Integration can be accomplished, which tools, techniques, and procedures are suited for supporting Sustainable Integration, and how controlling process supports the Sustainable phenomenon between business processes. The reasonable methods of conducting qualitative and exploratory studies have been employed to handle empirical gathering data by interviews with strategic business process managers in industrial Swedish Manufacturing cases. Then the data has been analyzed in a Within-case analysis and Cross-case synthesis following by interpretation and implications. Using the regressive method and advanced method, the study sent the manuscript to interviewees and went back from results to theory to add observed and found out knowledge to the theory. Findings; the study found out that Sustainable Integration is accomplished by supporting and controlling processes of harmonized and continuous flows of information, product, technology, and financial resources through strategic close inter-organizational relationship which are conducted by Strategic Management Accounting and Control process. Sustainable and competitive tools, techniques and procedures are employed to support the Sustainable Integration phenomenon between strategic sub-business processes in case of SSRM and SCRM processes. Various levels of Sustainable Integration regards the extent of harmonization and close long-term relationship are occurred based on openness, innovativeness, trust, commitment and transparency between industrial manufacturing Swedish companies. Developed and reconfigured Strategic Management Accounting and Control process supports Sustainable Integration by the aim of achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantages and Sustainable Sourcing.

Aim – The aim of this study is to explore how Management accountants (MAs) participate in strategic management processes nowadays and to explain reasons for potential differences in involvement of MAs in strategic management processes between different organizations.Method - The study is based on a multi-case study approach conducted among three independent companies in Sweden. The information from semi-structural interviews with MAs and archival data in form of job announcements for Senior MAs positions is used to analyze and cross-check the relationship. The time-horizon is cross-sectional.Findings - The study shows that involvement of MAs in strategic management processes varies a lot within organizations being influenced by the following factors: personal traits, business knowledge, relationship with management and established role. Some major variations on cross-company level are identified between subsidiary and HQ, and between representatives of different capital ownership forms.Conclusions - The study suggests that power imbalance in organizations hinders applying critical thinking and expressing objective opinion by MAs, that makes it difficult to claim a fully explicit business-partner role. Process of MAs’ involvement in the strategic management decision making presents a product of interrelation between two strategies for legitimizing of truth claims proposed by Heizmann and Olsson (2015): executing power of authority and executing power of expertise.

The importance of research and development (R&D) as a resource of knowledge that are of a key issue for many firms to achieve and sustain competitive advantage has been extensively debated in R&D management literature and also in practice theory approach to management accounting. There is a little research on practical implementation of the R&D performance management, R&D projects management. Strategic management accounting (SMA) has rather omitted the constant themes of managerial practise such as organisational resources, innovation or R&D management. Also the implementation of Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and management of small and medium size enterprises (SME) has been neglected by researchers. The presented dissertation addresses the above mentioned limitations, therefore the main objective was identified as creating a framework of R&D performance management in SME, while dissertation is focused on information basis of SMA techniques particularly BSC. The main objective was divided in the following sub-objectives: identify the key problems of R&D management in the target population of SME in the Czech Republic, identify which SMA techniques are used in R&D performance management setting and compare the results with the findings of Donnelley (2009) in Bremser & Barsky (2004) and finally outline specific R&D metrics in a BSC framework. The research questions were based on the reference framework underlying the research. The two first sub-objectives were solved using data derived from questionnaire responses from the target population of SME in the Czech Republic. The key findings are: the vast majority of examined SME use the same metrics to measure R&D performance as found Donnelly (2000) in Bremser & Barsky (2004) such as number of approved projects ongoing, R&D spending as percentage of sales, current percentage of sales of new products, percentage of budget resources dedicated to R&D. Most of the examined enterprises use budgets and costing. The questionnaires also mapped problematic issues related to R&D performance management, while the results indicated as most problematic the following topics: inadequate organizational structure and insufficient competence settings, poor system of R&D project evaluation that neither contribute to reach the strategic nor financial goals nor to balance the R&D long term and short term objectives. The third sub-objective found support within the investigated firm that upheld the BSC implementation process suggested by Bremser & Barsky (2004). The process was slightly modified. Analysis of existing measures of R&D performance was added. One of the most intriguing findings is the practical implementation of SMA techniques that shall support greater impact of SMA in SME practice.

Familjeföretag är den mest förekommande företagsformen i världen och forskningen kring familjeföretag har ökat markant under de senaste årtiondena. I takt med globalisering och företagsmässig tillväxt ställs det allt mer krav på företags ekonomistyrning, vilken oftast har en informell karaktär bland familjeföretag. För att ekonomistyrningen ska behålla sin funktion i detta lyfter forskare fram att den behöver inkludera ett mer strategiskt fokus med strategiska styrmedel som understödjer företagsvisionen, något som kan kräva att familjeföretagen genomgår en professionalisering genom inhämtning av extern kompetens. Huruvida strategiska styrmedel används bland familjeföretag eller inte, saknas det dock kvalitativ forskning om, varpå vi har vänt oss mot en familjeföretagsintensiv region som kännetecknas av hög ekonomisk tillväxt, den så kallade Gnosjöregionen. Studiens syfte är att öka förståelsen för vilken roll strategiska styrmedel har bland familjeföretagen i Gnosjöregionen. Detta har vi ämnat försöka göra genom att fokusera kring tre utvalda strategiska styrmedel, nämligen benchmarking, ABC-kalkylering och balanserat styrkort. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod, där data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Detta för att öka möjligheten att skapa en djupare förståelse för det undersökta ämnet. Studiens resultat har påvisat att det enda av de undersökta styrmedlen som används formellt är benchmarking, detta genom kontinuerlig prestationsbenchmarking. Vidare har studiens resultat visat på tendenser att de två övriga strategiska styrmedlen ABC-kalkylering och balanserat styrkort används, men att det sker mer informellt. Emellertid ser vi ett ökat intresse och behov för dessa två strategiska styrmedel till följd av företagsmässig tillväxt. Vår slutsats är dock att för att familjeföretag lyckosamt ska kunna implementera dessa tre strategiska styrmedel, så räcker inte professionalisering genom att anställa en extern ekonomichef, utan det krävs en ytterligare professionalisering genom extern kompetens. / Family firms are the most common type of business in the world and the study of family firms has increased significantly over the recent decades. In line with globalization and business growth, the need for management accounting and control have increased which often has an informal characteristic in family firms. Scholars have warned that if management accounting and control is to maintain its relevance it needs to adapt a more strategic focus, through strategic management accounting and control instruments, to underline the vision of the business, which can create the need of professionalization of the family firm, through hiring external expertise. Whether strategic management accounting and control instruments is something that family firms are using or not, has not been investigated with qualitative research, which is why we have focused on a family firm intensive region characterized by high economic growth, the so-called region of Gnosjö. The purpose with this research is to increase the understanding of what role the strategic management accounting and control instruments have within family firms in the region of Gnosjö. We did so by focusing on three specifically chosen strategic management accounting and control instruments, explicitly benchmarking, activity based costing and the balanced scorecard. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach, in which data was collected through semi-structured interviews. This is to increase the ability to create a deeper understanding of the examined subject. The results show that only one of the three surveyed instruments that is being used formally is benchmarking, which is primarily done through continuous performance benchmarking. Furthermore, the study results show tendencies that the two other strategic instruments, activity based costing and the balanced scorecard, is used but in a more informal way. However, we see an increased interest and a need for these two strategic instruments as a result of business growth. Our conclusion is however that if these three strategic management accounting and control instruments are to be successfully implemented in a family firm, professionalization by hiring an external CFO is not enough; instead it requires a further professionalization through external expertise.