Activity-based costing technology adoption in Australian universities

Abstract

Strategic cost management is vital to the Australian university sector’s performance, and activity-based costing (ABC) is a widely accepted and used accounting technology assisting with this. We examine the status of ABC technology adoption in two categories—adopters and non-adopters of the technology—informed by Technology Diffusion Framework, Social Cognitive Theory and Dynamic Theory of Strategy. The study collected data by sending a pilot-tested survey questionnaire to senior executives for electronic completion. From the 39 universities that elected to participate, 24 usable responses were received, representing a 61% response rate. The data were analyzed using cognitive characteristics supported by Social Cognitive Theory, and organizational characteristics supported by the Dynamic Theory of Strategy of universities ABC technology adopter and non-adopter status. Cognitive characteristics provide a qualitative explanation, but selected determinants show no statistical significance. Organizational characteristics also provide a qualitative explanation and show organizational revenue is the most significant determinant; followed by universities located outside the cities, and in the southern part of Australia, have more propensity for ABC technology adoption.

Modeling Emergent Variables to Assess the Adoption of Activity-Based Costing in Tanzania: The Application of Confirmatory Composite Analysis

“…The solutions suggested in previous studies were inefficient and sub-optimal to answer the challenging research question on low rate of ABC adoption, which still persisted as of 2023 (Abeysekera & Sharma, 2023). Based on the fact that, at least two factors suggested in the studies were related, they were then combined into their respective runs using the principal component analysis (PCA) as opined by Ragab (2023).…”