Success of activity management practices: the influence of organizational and cultural factors

Abstract

This study examines the success of activity management practices and the organizational and cultural factors affecting success at each of Gosselin's (1997) three levels of activity analysis (AA), activity cost analysis (ACA) and activity-based costing (ABC). Data were collected by survey questionnaire from a random sample of managers of Australian business units. The results indicate that activity management is moderately successful in Australian organizations, with greater use associated with higher levels of success. Two organizational factors (top management support and link to quality) were associated with success at each of Gosselin's three levels, whereas training was associated at the AA and ACA levels. The cultural factor of outcome orientation was associated with success at each level, with attention to detail important at the ABC level. Organizational factors were more strongly associated with activity management success than cultural factors. Copyright (c) The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2006 AFAANZ.

What determines ABC success in mature sites?

“…Top management support is also directly associated with local management involvement that is seen as important is garnering local union support (Anderson and Young, 1999). Baird et al (2007) examining three different levels of activity management adoption found that top management support was crucial to all levels according to their financial controller respondents.…”

ABC success: evidence from ISO 9000 certified companies in Thailand

“…If businesses integrate ABC systems with quality initiatives, such as TQM, just-in-time and other speed initiatives, the success of ABC is more likely. This is similar to Shields (1995), Krumwiede (1998), andBaird et al (2007) who stated that LIQs are important for management tools, such as the ABC system. If ABC information supports quality initiatives, the usefulness of ABC will be clear and therefore it will contribute to ABC success.…”

“…Shields (1995), Baird et al (2007), and Chongruksut and Brooks (2005) stated that ADEs encompass the time and commitment of management, accountants, and operating employees. In addition, Majid and Sulaiman (2008) argued that personal education, specifically in the use of ABC software, external consultants, and training should be considered.…”

The Information Risk in the Latest Crisis: A Driver or a Driven Factor for Global Financial Markets Equilibrium?

“…The above examination shows that ABC is the most talked about techniques introduced to practitioners in Australia. This is in line with the suggestions made by studies which examined the implementation of ABC in practice (Al-Omiri & Drury, 2007a;Alcouffe, Berland, & Levant, 2008;Alsaeed, 2005;Baird et al, 2007;Englund & Gerdin, 2008;Kallunki & Silvola, 2008;Major & Hopper, 2005). However, as Table 1 shows, there are a variety of other management accounting practices which have been addressed in the literature and introduced to Australian practitioners through professional journals, workshops and conferences in recent years.…”

“…could influence the diffusion of innovations in organizations (Adam & Fred, 2008;Al-Omiri & Drury, 2007a;Askarany, 2006;Askarany & Smith, 2004Berling, 2008;Englund & Gerdin, 2008;Qian & Ben-Arieh, 2008;Yazdifar, Askarany, Askary, & Daneshfar, 2005). However, while the majority of studies initiated by the above theories and metaphors and found some associations between management accounting changes and some contextual factors (addressed by adopted theories), the findings are inconclusive, inconsistent, and mixed (Al-Omiri & Drury, 2007a;Baird, 2007;Baird, Harrison, & Reeve, 2007;Cobb, Innes, & Mitchell, 1993;Innes & Mitchell, 1995;Innes, Mitchell, & Sinclair, 2000;Langfield-Smith, 1997;Pierce, 2004;. Furthermore, from organizations' point of views, understanding factors contributing to innovative behavior in organizations and influencing organizations' decisions to proceed with the changes have remained relatively undeveloped, inconclusive, and inconsistent (Cho & Pucik, 2005).…”