Studies on how small‐ and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs) can use strategic management accounting techniques to meet the challenges imposed by rapidly changing technology and increasing global competition are limited. Tapping into both contingency theory and upper echelon theory, a new framework for leaders of SMEs highlights the effect of perceived environmental uncertainty, advanced manufacturing technology, and CEO characteristics on their decisions regarding the use of strategic management accounting techniques, which ultimately may have an impact on firm performance. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics and involvement in networks on strategic management accounting (SMA) and, in turn, the indirect effect of SMA on company performance. Design/methodology/approach A model is advanced and tested using partial least-squares path modelling and data were collected from a sample of 121 service small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Findings The results indicate significant and positive relationships between the CEO education and the application of SMA as well as between involvement in networks and SMA. Moreover, it is found that SMA has an indirect effect in relations of CEO education, involvement in networks and company performance. Practical implications SMEs’ leaders may realize their important role in affecting outcomes by their choices, which are in turn affected by their characteristics and activities. Originality/value This study provides an empirical evidence on the impact of two new factors on the SMA by considering contingency theory and upper echelons theory simultaneously for explaining relationships and developing a new model.

Although studies focused on contingency theories of enterprise risk management (ERM) as a critical facet of an organization's management control system abound, they have yielded few significant results. A review of the literature on ERM contingency theory and the factors that can affect ERM leads to a discussion of the impact of decentralization, organization size, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Several hypotheses on possible interactions result in a contingency-based model for managing enterprise risk that takes into account the effects of these three factors on ERM practices, and offers organizational leaders guidance on how best to improve performance. C⃝ 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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