Management Control Systems and Contextual Variables in the Hospitality Industry

Purpose – The paper examined management control systems (MCS) in Indonesian hospitality sector. This study examines the impact of six contextual factors at one time to determine the importance of each factor on the design of MCS. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based upon data collected through a survey sent to “star” hotels in Central Java, Indonesia. Using Chenhall (2003) design, a regression equation is run to examine the relationship between MCS and the contextual variables of environment, technology, structure, size, strategy and culture. Findings – The paper finds that higher levels of the contextual variables of technology, structure, and culture are related to more sophisticated MCS while size is related to more traditional MCS. Research limitations/implications –These findings are related to the hospitality industry in Indonesia. Future research could examine different settings (i.e. country, industry, etc) and investigate the effect of each contextual variable on the relationships between MCS and firm performance. Originality/value – The present study extends the scope of MCS system in accounting literature by testing Chenhall (2003) works on the relationship between contextual variables and MCS. It attempts to fill the gap in contingency-based studies that have previously focused on one aspect of contingency by considering six contextual factors. Furthermore, this paper also contributes to a fuller understanding of MCS practices in Indonesia and the hospitality industry and helps management in determining its most effective design. Keywords Hospitality management, Management Control Systems, Indonesia, Contextual Variable

The Performance Implications of Fit Among Environment, Strategy, Structure, Control System and Social Performance

Purpose – The paper examined concept of corporate performance. The paper seeks to examine the impact of corporate social performance on the relationship among business environment, strategy, organization, and control system and corporate performance. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a synthesis of the existing literatures in strategic management and accounting filed. Findings – The paper finds that corporate social performance defined as stakeholder relationship become one important dimension of the strategic behaviors that an organization can set to improve corporate performance. Research implication – the contextual variables as discussed in strategic management and accounting domain will be contingent upon strategic behaviors, which are behaviors of members in an organization. Originality/value – The paper integrates the contextual variables including business environment, strategy, organization structure, and control system with corporate performance by using corporate social performance as moderating variable by means of a recent literatures study from strategic management and accounting field. Keywords Contextual variable, strategic behavior, corporate social performance, corporate performanc

Retention and intentions of professional accountants

This paper enhances understanding of factors underlying professional accountants’ high turnover rates. Various researchers, institutions and government bodies have identified accountants’ retention is of concern. However, traditional explanations, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment, do not sufficiently account for the turnover rates observed in the accounting profession. A New Zealand (NZ) sample of professional accountants enabled us to identify a range of factor. Intentions to stay were very low, 50% of accountants expected to leave their current employer within 3 years of the survey date. Satisfaction with two core job characteristics, feedback and skill variety, in addition to work life balance (WLB) accounted for 65% of the variance of overall job satisfaction. WLB, or at least a lack of access to flexible work arrangements was strongly indicated as the primary consideration when choosing to remain with the present employer

The role played by interdependences in ERP implementations : an empirical analysis of critical factors that minimize elapsed time.

We analyzed the role played by different module types that influence the time spent on an ERP implementation. By using the concept of interdependences together with organizational integration theory, we distinguished between business-support and value-chain modules and affirmed that their respective implementation times would differ. We also highlighted the existence of time-savings and facilitator mechanisms that could reduce the total elapsed time for an ERP implementation with these module types. We found empirical support for our hypotheses by using data from 141 organizations and using econometric duration models. Through contextual, organizational, and project specific controls, our results lead us to the conclusion that value-chain modules take longer than business-support modules to implement. Furthermore, we found empirical evidence of time-savings and facilitator mechanisms in the ERP implementation process.ERP implementation; Elapsed time; Interdependences; Organizational integration; Facilitator mechanisms; Time savings; Duration models;

Complexity in action: Untangling latent relationships between land quality, economic structures and socio-spatial patterns in Italy

Land quality, a key economic capital supporting local development, is affected by biophysical and anthropogenic factors. Taken as a relevant attribute of economic systems, land quality has shaped the territorial organization of any given region influencing localization of agriculture, industry and settlements. In regions with long-established human-landscape interactions, such as the Mediterranean basin, land quality has determined social disparities and polarization in the use of land, reflecting the action of geographical gradients based on elevation and population density. The present study investigates latent relationships within a large set of indicators profiling local communities and land quality on a fine-grained resolution scale in Italy with the aim to assess the potential impact of land quality on the regional socioeconomic structure. The importance of land quality gradients in the socioeconomic configuration of urban and rural regions was verified analyzing the distribution of 149 socioeconomic and environmental indicators organized in 5 themes and 17 research dimensions. Agriculture, income, education and labour market variables discriminate areas with high land quality from areas with low land quality. While differential land quality in peri-urban areas may reflect conflicts between competing actors, moderate (or low) quality of land in rural districts is associated with depopulation, land abandonment, subsidence agriculture, unemployment and low educational levels. We conclude that the socioeconomic profile of local communities has been influenced by land quality in a different way along urban-rural gradients. Policies integrating environmental and socioeconomic measures are required to consider land quality as a pivotal target for sustainable development. Regional planning will benefit from an in-depth understanding of place-specific relationships between local communities and the environment

Rethinking bank business models: the role of intangibles

<p>Purpose: This paper provides a new way of rethinking banking models by using qualitative research on intangibles. This is required because the banking sector has been transformed significantly by the changing environment over the past two decades. The 2007-2009 financial crisis also added to concerns about existing bank business models.</p> <p>Design/Methodology approach: Using qualitative data collected from interviews with bank managers and analysts in the UK, this paper develops a grounded theory of bank intangibles.</p> <p>Findings: The model reveals how intangibles and tangible/financial resources interact in the bank value creation process, how they actively respond to environmental changes, how bank intangibles are understood by external observers such as analysts, and how bankers and analysts differ in their views.</p> <p>Research implications: Grounded theory provides the means to further develop bank models as business models and theoretical models. This provides the means to think beyond conventional finance constructs and to relate bank models to a wider theoretical literature concerning intellectual capital, organisational and social systems theory, and ‘performativity’.</p> <p>Practical implications: Such development of bank models and of a systems perspective is critical to the understanding of banks by bankers, by observers and for their ‘critical and reflexive performativity’. It also has implications for systemic risk and bank regulation.</p> <p>Social implications: Improvement in bank models and their use in open and transparent processes are key means to improve public accountability of banks.</p> <p>Originality: The paper reveals the core role of intellectual capital (IC) in banks, in markets, and in developing theory and research at firm and system levels. </p&gt

A Role for Management Accountants in Best Practice Benchmarking

Best practice benchmarking (benchmarking for short) generally refers to the pursuit by organisations of enhanced performance by learning from the successful practices of others. Comparisons of processes which contribute to strategic success are made with other parts of the same organisation; competitors; or organisations operating comparable processes in a context which is in some way relevant. Benchmarking continues to grow in popularity in both private and public sector organisations – but does it always produce the desired outcomes? Although spectacular gains from benchmarking are claimed particularly in practitioner literature, there is also growing evidence of disappointment with the effectiveness of benchmarking. It can be very time consuming to undertake and manage, and ensuring that sharing information with competitors is to the mutual advantage of partner organisations is difficult. With this in mind, it is important to recognise that management accountants play pivotal roles at organisational interfaces and therefore could play a (more) significant part in successful benchmarking activities. This paper will report on an ongoing research project at the Open University Business School, funded by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, aimed at understanding, in depth, the processes which are undertaken by Management Accountants, in the name of benchmarking. The project team are using postal questionnaires and case studies to identify the features of successful benchmarking practice, and the characteristics of benchmarking organisations or benchmarking processes which are considered to be problematic. This research centres on an extensive survey of Management Accountants. This research has begun to identify the contribution which Management Accountants can make to successful benchmarking and the factors which have led organisations to abandon benchmarking activities. This study is also facilitating better understanding of the relationship between organisational size and level of benchmarking activity, the impact of benchmarking clubs, and the perceived costs and benefits of benchmarking to stakeholders. The final phase 3 of this research will focus on providing innovative ways to make the findings available to management accounting practitioners

A Conceptual Framework of MkIS Design: the Impact of Environmental Uncertainty Perceptions, Decision-Maker Characteristics and Work Environment Factors on the Perceived Usefulness of Marketing Information Characteristics

This paper discusses potential relationships between contextual factors and Marketing Information Systems (MkIS) design. MkIS design is defined in terms of the perceived usefulness of several information characteristics, which may be associated with a marketing information system. The paper suggests that MkIS design research should consider a range of contextual variables drawn from the organisational behaviour, behavioural decision-making and personality/cognitive psychology literatures. Drawing on empirical results from three sets of literature and from studies of information systems design (particularly management and accounting information systems design), the authors present a framework for exploring the design of a MkIS

Purchasing Organization and Design: A Literature Review

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive literature review of the organization of purchasing covering the period from 1967 to 2009. The review provides a structured overview of prior research topics and findings and identifies gaps in the existing literature that may be addressed in future research. The intention of the review is to a) synthesize prior research, b) provide researchers with a structural framework on which future research on the organization of purchasing may be oriented, and c) suggest promising areas for future research.purchasing, supply, procurement, organization, institutional structure, structure, institution, design, performance, literature review

Assessing Accrual Accounting Reform in Greek Public Hospitals: An Empirical Investigation

During the last decades, several countries worldwide have introduced financial management reforms, as an important part of the New Public Management (NPM) initiative at one or more levels of government sector, by either replacing or transforming their traditional budgetary cash accounting systems towards a business-like accrual accounting concept. Following the example of this upcoming managerial trend, the Greek government introduced in 2003 the accrual basis accounting into public hospitals, as the hospital sector is one of the areas where NPM reforms have been introduced in search of higher efficiency, effectiveness and economy in service production. The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first goal is to provide an overview of the government sector reform initiatives in Greece and to present empirical evidence regarding the adoption level of the accrual basis accounting standards in the Greek public Health sector. The second goal of the research is to investigate the impact of a range of potentially contingent factors on hospitals compliance with the accrual financial and cost accounting reform. The present analysis is based on the results of an empirical survey that took place during 2009. For the purposes of this survey, a structured questionnaire was prepared and sent to the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of 132 Greek public hospitals. In particular, a linear regression model analysis was used to examine the cross-sectional differences on a number of explanatory and implementation factors of the accounting reform adoption level. The empirical evidence reveals that the level of accrual and especially cost accounting adoption in Greek public hospitals is realized only to a limited extent. In particular, results show that the level of reform adoption is positively related to IT quality, reform related training, education level of accounting staff, and professional consultants’ support. However, no significant relationship was found between the level of reform adoption and hospital size, reform implementation cost, CEO educational background, experience effect, and absence of management-physicians conflict relationship. The main contribution of this study is the empirical evidence it provides on the approaches and processes used by the Government of Greece to implement accrual financial and cost accounting systems in the Greek National Health System (GNHS) and the role certain human, organizational and situational factors played in such implementations for enhancing researchers’ and managers’ understanding of major implementation processes and challenges as well as helping them refine models of effective implementation process and improve systems and processes on similar future projectsAccrual Accounting, Public Sector Accounting, Compliance, Public Hospitals, contingency factors