Impact Objectives• Investigate the concept of tension and highlight the negative impactof management accounting• Identify ways to incorporate the perspective of tension management
into the design and operation of management accounting systems

Achievingorganisational prosperity
Professor Eisuke Yoshida is interested in management accounting and how, by incorporating tension
management, this can have significant benefits for businesses
Could you introduce
management
accounting and thepurpose of yourresearch?
The practice ofmanagement accounting is to smoothly
run the PDCA (plan-do-check-action) cycle
for performance management and costmanagement towards the realisation of abusiness strategy in order to achieve setgoals. It is important to note that even if acertain organisation can achieve its shortterm goals, it will not gain a sustainable
and competitive advantage if, in achieving
these goals, it sacrifices its long-term aim
and stretches individuals beyond theirlimits. Therefore, my research focus ison the concept of tension; highlighting
the negative impact of management
accounting, and aiming to incorporate theperspective of tension management into
the design and operation of management
accounting systems. Tension is inherent inan organisation and resembles dilemmas,contradictions and conflicts.
What is your research background and what
led you to become involved in this field?
I was born and raised in Japan. Obviously,
there are many global companies in Japan,
and the lifestyle of most of the Japanese isassociated with the concept of the ‘corporateman’, whereby one’s life revolves around the
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company they work for and it is common
for a person to just work and have no otherhobbies (although, in recent years, more
and more people value their time outside ofwork). For someone like me, who believes
that the Japanese are diligent, well-educated,selfless and hardworking, I am scepticalof the Japanese way of working, which cancome at the cost of many sacrifices. For thatreason, I am interested in the discipline ofmanagement accounting and, in particular,
research focusing on the negative aspects
that can come with businesses aiming foroperational efficiency.
Could you explain more about the concept oftension in the context of your research?
Organisations usually set their goals throughthe design and operation of management
accounting systems, as they aim to achieve
their goals while managing and monitoringbusiness processes. ‘Tension management’in management accounting does not focus
on only the result of management (forwardfunction) in the design and operation ofmanagement accounting systems, butalso tension (side effects and reversefunctions) that leads to an excessive load
on a specific individual or department andthe deterioration of a product or quality ofservice, which we are aiming to put into
practical management.
Conceptually, tension is neither goodnor evil, it is just the occurrence ofconditions such as organisational conflicts,unreasonable burdens, collisions andconflicts. As the saying goes, after raincomes fair weather and it would be great if
we could provide creative solutions to thetensions that occur in individuals, products
and services through organisational support
such as communication, co-ordinationand judgment without overlooking theoccurrence of such tensions, which arecalled dynamic or creative tensions. ‘Tension
management’ in management accounting
emphasises organisational support so thatbusiness goals will not be overwhelming andwill remain as challenges.
What do you anticipate the impact of yourresearch will be?
The ultimate impact of my research is toprovide a different perspective to previous
research and to introduce excellent
corporate practices that are different fromconventional wisdom, since we believethat theorising the pattern of conformity
between the organisational context andthe management system will have a global
impact rather than simply showing thediversity of corporate practices throughempirical research.
Every large organisation and its people will
benefit from the findings. We believe thattension management is key to achieving anorganisation’s long-term and sustainable
prosperity, as well as personal wellbeing. l

Tension management fororganisational sustainability
Collaborative research underway by a team based in the Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio
University, is exploring tension management; paving the way for long-term sustainability in businesses
and promoting the wellbeing of employees

Tension in the form of dilemmas,
contradictions and conflicts exists inorganisations. It can be managed throughmanagement controls, including management
accounting, thereby optimising organisationalperformance. Management accounting uses
all quantitative and qualitative information inaddition to accounting information to assist
managerial decisions, ultimately helping abusiness to achieve its goals. As part of this,tension management, which is a relatively
new research topic, can not only enable longterm business goals to be achieved, but canalso help attain the individual wellbeing ofemployees. This is the premise of the researchof Professor Eisuke Yoshida.
The research themes of Yoshida, who
is based in the Faculty of Business andCommerce, Keio University, Japan, encompass
management accounting, business structure
and organisation design and management.
He is interested in the mechanisms behind
optimising organisational performance,with a specific interest in management
accounting. ‘My area of expertise, which ismanagement accounting research, aims toelucidate the mechanism for achieving thebest organisational performance throughmanagement controls such as organisational
design, goal setting, performance evaluation,compensation and communication,’ Yoshidahighlights.

This interest stems from a desire to optimise
the working environment and ensure thatwork doesn’t come at the expense of other,outside interests. Yoshida says this is because
often achieving operational efficiency is
associated with negative consequences. Using
management accounting, with incorporated
tension management, he believes it is possible
to avoid these. For example, in Japan targets
tend to be difficult to achieve, and failure
to achieve targets has become the norm.
‘This creates a state of tension, which is notnecessarily a negative thing. It will be a trigger
for creating new ideas and collaboratingwith others,’ outlines Yoshida. From his
perspective, creating a theoretical framework
for tension management is an important partof addressing this.
INTERRELATED PROJECTS
Yoshida’s research on managementaccounting encompasses several interrelated
projects. These include ‘Complementary
effects of stretch target costs and concurrent
processes on cost reduction: A dynamic
tension perspective’, in which he examined
the joint effects of stretch target costs andconcurrent processes on cost reductionin order to explain how and why the joint
use of stretch target costs and concurrent
processes are associated with superiorperformance. ‘Unfortunately, after conducting
a questionnaire we couldn’t find a statisticallymeaningful relationship between the joint

effects and cost reduction,’ Yoshida confirms.
‘From further analysis by industry, we foundthat the joint effects enhance cost reduction
for firms in process industries, but it was notpossible to confirm from this study about
those in assembly industries that have beenstandardising parts in recent years.’ Hecontinues to explain that analysis of processindustry firms suggested concurrent processes
enhance cost reduction when target costs are
set at high stretch levels.
Another project of Yoshida’s, entitled ‘The
Role of Management Accounting as Tension
Management – An Empirical Analysis ofTarget Cost Management and Management
Control’, sought to clarify the function ofmanagement accounting from the point ofview of management accounting as tension
management. He looked at the impact ofperformance targets and control mode on
target cost management and management
control and investigated the relationshipbetween these metrics and organisationalperformance.
Findings from this work included thatstretch target costs set at relevant levels
were effective, cross-functional activities attarget cost management were effective inboth manufacturing and non-manufacturingindustries, and both interactive anddiagnostic control were effective for achieving
performance targets. ‘My research team
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tackled target cost management and focusedon interaction with interdepartmental
collaboration in order to explore therequirement that the potential tension ofstretch cost target sublimates into dynamictension,’ outlines Yoshida. From the analysis
that was undertaken, which was based on thedata gathered from the mail questionnaire
survey, it was confirmed that the interaction
between the challenging target cost and theinterdepartmental collaboration is effective
for cost reduction in the process industry. ‘In
addition, we took up a potential tension called

For Yoshida, collaboration is invaluable, notonly for research success but for making theresearch enjoyable. ‘Collaboration is essentialfor research. You can come up with researchideas individually but, when conducting
dozens of company surveys in a year, it is
only possible to observe the phenomenon
from different viewpoints by implementing itwith multiple members. Also, by exchanging
opinions among researchers, new ideas may
be born,’ he observes. ‘Moreover, the creationof questionnaires can be brushed up by having
multiple researchers and business people

Collaboration is essential for research. You can come up
with research ideas individually but, when conducting
dozens of company surveys in a year, it is only possible
to observe the phenomenon from different viewpoints byimplementing it with multiple members
budget rigidity and analysed the impact of theinteraction of budget rigidity, subjectivity ofperformance evaluation and environmental
uncertainty on financial performance,’
continues Yoshida. ‘As a result, it was clarified
that in a highly uncertain environment,
lowering the budget rigidity and increasing
the subjectivity of performance evaluation
increases financial performance ROA (returnon assets) and sales growth rate.’
EMPIRICAL AND
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
In their research, the team is using anempirical methodology. ‘Research methods
are centred on empirical research based on
statistical analysis of the data collected frommail questionnaire surveys and web surveys,
as well as in a field study of the companies.’
Collaboration is indispensable to the work.
He is working with researchers from otheruniversities as well as with business people,
with around 10 team members from otheruniversities and companies.
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check it, and data entry and analysis becomes
more rigorous when multiple people check it.
Above all, having team members to discuss
the research and dissertation writing with on adaily basis makes the work more fun.’The researchers plan to continue theirresearch, in order to fill gaps in knowledge.
For example, Yoshida considers there
is insufficient knowledge regarding thecontribution of management accounting to
the creation of dynamic tension in tension
management research in management
accounting, and so there is more to be done.
Yoshida is also working on research thatis different from the tension management
studies. As a part of this, the team publishedpapers on Cost Variation Risk Managementof Fuji Xerox, which supports activities forgoal achievement in the product development
stage. ‘Furthermore, we are conducting
surveys by visiting several companies,
mainly Japanese companies, with the aim ofintegrating these findings in the context oftension management for theoretical purposes,’he points out.
Ultimately, Yoshida and his team believe theirwork could help organisations to achieve
long-term sustainability and a competitive
advantage, as well as promoting the wellbeingof the members. It may have a positive impact
on the management style of businesses inJapan and beyond. l

Project Insights
FUNDING
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science(JSPS), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research
CONTACT DETAILS
Professor Eisuke Yoshida
T: +81 3 5427 1079
E: eyoshida@fbc.keio.ac.jp
W: https://www.fbc.keio.ac.jp/~eyoshida/
BIO
Professor Eisuke Yoshida has a PhD
in Business Administration from Kobe
University, Japan. He was a member of theCertified Public Accountants Examination
Committee, Japan between 2017 and 2018.
Yoshida is President of the Institute ofPractical Management Accounting andfirst issue editor-in-chief of Management
Accounting Review, Japan Cost Accounting
Association. He has published a numberof books and articles on the topic ofmanagement accounting, some of whichhave won book and article awards.