New Directions in Management Accounting Research: Insights from PracticeFrank H. Selto
University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Melbourne
Sally K. Widener
Rice University
August 2002

We acknowledge and thank Shannon Anderson, Phil Shane, Naomi Soderstrom and participants at the2002 MAS mid-year meeting, a University of Colorado at Boulder workshop and the AAANZ-2001
conference for their comments and suggestions for this paper.

Appears in Advances in Management Accounting, 2004iNew Directions in Management Accounting Research: Insights from Practice

Abstract
Although the “new economy” once again resembles the old economy, the drivers of success for many
firms continue to be intangible or service-related assets. These changes in the economic basis of businessare leading to changes in practice which are creating exciting new opportunities for research.
Management accounting still is concerned with internal uses of and demands for operating andperformance information by organizations, their managers, and their employees. However, current
demand for internal information and analysis most likely reflects current decision making needs, whichhave changed rapidly to meet economic and environmental conditions. Many management accounting
research articles reflect traditional research topics that might not conform to current practice concerns.
Some accounting academics may desire to pursue research topics that reflect current problems of practice
to inform, influence, or understand practice or influence accounting education.
This study analyzes attributes of nearly 2,000 research and professional articles published during theyears 1996-2000 and finds numerous, relatively unexamined research questions that can expand the scopeof current management accounting research. Analyses of theories, methods, and sources of data used bypublished management accounting research also describe publication opportunities in major research
journals.

Data Availability
Raw data are readily available online, and coded data are available upon request from the authors.

iiNew Directions in Management Accounting Research: Insights from PracticeIntroduction and Motivation
While some aspects of the “new economy” reflected an unrealistic bubble, many firms continue to be
driven by intangible assets, the highly competitive global economy, and increasing technological change
to forge changes in what accountants have thought of as their “traditional” accounting responsibilities. In
many cases, accountants and financial staff are leading the way in changing their internal roles.
Accountants find themselves managing new business practices, such as outsourcing, focusing more on
cost control and process re-engineering, and expanding their involvement with strategic planning andimplementation. The expansion of accountants’ duties beyond traditional budgeting and reporting isoccurring rapidly and is creating numerous opportunities for academic management accountants to
conduct innovative research.
According to a recent IMA study of practicing “management accountants” [IMA, 2000],1 apparently
no management accountants are left in practice. Professionals in practice overwhelmingly have favoredjob titles such as financial analyst, business advisor, and consultant over “cost accountant” or“management accountant.” Perhaps this is not a purely cosmetic change. The IMA study also shows thatcurrent job titles reflect broader duties than traditionally executed by accountants. Instead of viewing thischange as the end of management accounting, a more optimistic viewpoint is to see this as an opportunity
to broaden management accounting, both in education and in research. This opens doors for exciting new
research opportunities.
Some accounting researchers conduct research that is explicitly oriented to or has application topractice. Others might seek to do so. Several related motivations or objectives for practice-oriented
research include desires to (1) gain increased understanding of why organizations use certain techniques
and practices, (2) gain increased understanding of how and which techniques used in practice impact
organizational performance, (3) inform practitioners, (4) increase the applicability of accounting
textbooks, coursework, and programs (5) satisfy personal taste, (6) and increase consulting opportunities.
While researchers pursuing any of these might find this study interesting and helpful, this study is
explicitly motivated by the first four objectives.
One desirable outcome of practice-oriented research may be a positive impact on accounting
enrollments. Many university accounting programs in the US are in decline, perhaps because of (1)increased education requirements for accounting certification in many states, (2) relatively greater
1

See www.imanet.org/content/Publications_and_Research/IMAstudies/moreless.pdf

1employment opportunities and salaries in other business fields, such as finance, (3) competitive
educational efforts by industrial and professional firms, (4) focused financial support of only selectuniversities by employers of accounting graduates, and (5) perceived greater job-relevance of othercourses. Many of the factors that can contribute to declining enrollments in accounting are beyond thecontrol of accounting academics. Because research surely informs teaching, accounting faculty might help
increase accounting enrollments by managing what is researched.2
Research Objectives
Management accounting research, researchers, and education (and perhaps other accounting subfields by analogy) might benefit from identifying interesting, less researched topics that reflect issues ofcurrent practice. More influence on external constituents might lead to greater prestige, esteem, andresources for researchers, and, perhaps, improvements in practice [e.g., Anderson, 1983]. The objective of
this study is to use observed divergences between management accounting research topics and issues ofpractice to identify interesting, practice-oriented research questions.
The study assesses and interprets correspondence (or lack thereof) between published research topics
and topics of the practice literature. High correspondence can be misleading because it might represent
good synergy, coincidence, or little interest. Low correspondence might present opportunities forinteresting new research. Thus, this study examines both types of topics as potential sources of interesting
research questions. Finally, the study then addresses the equally important issue of matching theseresearch questions with theory, data, and research methods. Without these matches, management
accounting research will have difficulty moving beyond pure description or endless theory building. It
also might be possible to increase the probability of publication of these new questions by assessing
journals’ past publication histories.
This study is unlike recent, more focused reviews of management accounting research, which include
Covaleski and Dirsmith [1996] – organization and sociology-based research; Elnathan et al. [1996] –benchmarking research; Shields [1997] – research by North Americans; Demski and Sappington [1999] –empirical agency theory research; Ittner and Larcker [1998] – performance measurement research; andIttner and Larker [2001] – value-based management research. The present study is in the spirit of
Atkinson et al. [1997], which seeks to encourage broader investigations of management accounting
research topics. The present study extends Atkinson et al. by documenting and identifying practiceoriented, innovative research questions in major topic areas based on observed divergences between
practice and research.

2

Although the data are available, we have resisted the temptation to classify the practice orientation of management

accounting researchers or educational institutions.

2Research Design and Method
The study’s research design is to first compare topic coverage of research and professional
publications. Differences between research and practice topics are indications of correspondence between
the domains of inquiry. The study measures correspondence by levels and changes in relative topic
coverage. The study further analyzes research articles’ use of theory, sources of data, and methods ofanalysis, which are sorted by topic and publication outlet. The remainder of this section describes thestudy’s research domain, sampling plan, data collection, and data analysis.
Research Domain
The study’s research domain is limited to published articles that address conventional management
accounting topics (i.e., as reflected in management accounting textbooks) plus several that additionallyare salient in the professional financial and accounting literature (described in the next section). Bothpublished research and practice topics are assumed to be reasonable proxies of issues and questions ofinterest to researchers and practitioners. Several problems arise in the use of these proxies. (1) It is wellknown that time between completion and publication of articles differs between the research and practiceliteratures. This study examines various time lags between research and practice topics to account for the
publication lag. (2) Not all research efforts or practice issues appear in the published literature. This study
assumes that unpublished research articles do not meet academic quality standards, although someresearchers might harbor other explanations. This study also compares the practice literature to the IMA’s
study of practice to confirm conformance between the practice literature and issues expressed by surveyed
practitioners (see footnote #2 and the later discussion of aggregate results).
The study considers an article to be of direct interest to “management accountants” if it addresses one
or more of the following topics:•

Accounting software•

Budgeting•Business process improvement•

Improving profits•

Cash management•

Internal control•

Compensation plans•

Management accounting practices•

Cost accounting•

Management control•

Cost management•

Outsourcing•

Effects of financial reporting on internal•

Performance measurement

systems•

Research methods•

Shareholder value•

Effects of information technology oninternal systems

3

Sampling
The study analyzes articles that appeared in print during the years 1996-2000. This five-year period
witnessed dramatic changes in technology, business conditions, and the responsibilities of financial andaccounting professionals. There is no reason to believe that future years will be any less volatile. The
study further defines the domain of management accounting research as articles fitting the above topics
that were published in the following English-language research journals:• Academy of Management Journal (AMJ)• Journal of Accounting and Economics (JAE)• Academy of Management Review (AMR)• Journal of Accounting Research (JAR)• Accounting and Finance (A&F)• Journal of Management Accounting Research (JMAR)• Accounting Organizations and Society (AOS)• Management Accounting Research (MAR)• Advances in Management Accounting (AIMA)• Review of Accounting Studies (RAS)• Contemporary Accounting Research (CAR)• Strategic Management Journal (SMJ)• Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance• The Accounting Review (TAR)(JAAF)
We assume that the research literature in other languages either covers similar topics or is not related tothe practice literature aimed at English-speaking professionals.3
Similarly, the study defines the domain of management accounting practice to be articles fitting the
topical boundaries that were published in English-language professional magazines and journals aimed atfinancial managers, executives, and consultants. We, therefore, assume that articles published in theprofessional literature accurately reflect issues of importance to professionals themselves. The
professional literature sources include:•

Strategic Finance (SF)•

Sloan Management Review (SMR)•

Management Accounting (MA-US and UK)•

Harvard Business Review (HBR)•

Journal of Accountancy (JOA)•

Business Finance (BF)•

Financial Executive (FE)

Data Collection
The study uses the online, electronic contents of the abstracts of management accounting articles fromresearch and practice journals published during the years 1996 – 2000 as its source of data. The study
includes the entire contents of explicitly named management accounting journals (e.g., Advances in

3

Some management accounting researchers are placing work in other management and operations journals, such as

Management Science. Omitting these articles could be a source of sampling bias if this is a growing trend.

6Management Accounting, Strategic Finance) and selected articles from other journals and magazines if
articles matched the topic domain. The database of management accounting articles consists of
information on•

373 research articles•

1,622 professional or practice articles

Data Analysis
Qualitative method. The study uses a qualitative method to label, categorize, and relate themanagement accounting literature data [e.g., Miles and Huberman, 1994]. The study uses Atlas.ti
software [www.atlasti.de], which is designed for coding and discovering relations among qualitative
data.4 The study began with predetermined codes based on the researchers’ expectations of topics,
methods, and theories. As normally happens in this type of qualitative study, the database contains
unanticipated qualitative data that required creation of additional codes. This necessary blend of coding,analysis, and interpretation means that the coding task usually cannot be outsourced to disinterested
parties. Thus, this method is unlike content analysis, which counts pre-defined words, terms, or phrases.
Table 1 contains the complete list of research-literature codes used in this study. The practiceliterature codes are identical except for journal codes. Codes shown in capital letters (e.g., ARTICLE) aremajor codes, or “supercodes,” that contain related minor or subcodes (e.g., article-ABSTRACT). An“other” code collects topics that apparently are of minor interest at this time. Figure 1 displays sample
information related to one of the data records. The left-hand panel shows a typical article’s data, while
the right-hand panel contains the codes applied by the researchers to the data. An article may cover
several topics and use several methods and theories; thus the numbers of topic, method, and theory codes
exceeds the number of articles in the sample.
Table 1Figure 1
The software’s query features allow nearly unlimited search and discovery of relations among coded
data. These queries form the analyses that follow in this study.
Measures of correspondence. The study measures correspondence between research and practice tocapture different dynamics of information exchange between the realms of inquiry. The study defines
differences in changes and levels of topic frequency as measures of correspondence. Research andpractice topic frequencies are scaled by the total number of research or practice topics to control for the
relative sizes of the two outlets. The study examines contemporaneous and lagged differences, as the data
4

Malina and Selto [2001] describe this qualitative method in more detail.

7permit, for evidence of topic correspondence. Furthermore, the study investigates whether research topic
frequency leads or lags practice.
Validity issues. One researcher coded all of the practice article abstracts in the database and a 5
percent random sample of the research abstracts. Another researcher coded all of the research abstracts
and a 5 percent random sample of the practice abstracts. Inter-rater reliability of the overlapped coding
was 95%, measured by the proportion of coding agreements divided by the sum of agreements plus
disagreements from the 5 percent random samples of articles in the research and practice databases.5
Because the measured inter-rater reliability is well within the norms for this type of qualitative research(i.e., greater than 80 percent) and because hypothesis testing or model building is not the primaryobjective of the study, the researchers did not revise the database to achieve consensus coding.
Aggregate analysis. Figure 2 shows the most aggregated level of analysis used in this study, whichreflects the levels of research and practice frequencies of major topics. The three most frequent practice
topics in figure 2 are (1) software, (2) management control, and (3) cost management. 6
Figure 2
The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) analyzed the practice of management accounting[1997, 2000] in part by asking respondents to identify critical work activities that are currently importantand that are expected to increase in the future. The IMA reports that 21 percent of respondents identified
computer systems and operations as one of the five most critical current work activities and 51 percent
believe that this work activity will increase in importance in the future. Eighteen percent of respondents in
the IMA practice analysis state that control of customer and product profitability is one of the mostcritical work activities; however, 59 percent of respondents believe that this is one of the work activities
that will increase in importance in the future. The topic code “management control” includes sub-topics
related to control of customers, customer profitability, quality, and new products. Finally, the IMApractice analysis found that 25 percent of respondents stated that “financial and economic analysis” wasone of the most critical current work activities. Forty-two percent believed it would be more important in
the future. The topic code “cost management” includes cost reduction, efficiency, activity-based
management, and activity-based costing.

5

Ninety-seven article abstracts (containing 126 supercodes) were dual coded by both researchers. Five articles

contained multiple codes of which one super code in each article was not in agreement between researchers.
6

The term “software” reflects selection, implementation, and management of software systems and the hardware to

run them. “Cost management” refers to activities to create more value at lower cost and is distinguished from costaccounting, which measures costs.

8

The aggregate results of applying this study’s coding scheme to the practice literature are consistent
with those of the IMA’s practice analysis. The similarity of aggregate results from this study and the
IMA’s survey of practice support the validity of this study’s coding scheme.

Analysis of Topic Frequency Changes
The qualitative software enables several types of “drill-down” analyses at major topic and subtopic
levels. These analyses support the statistical and graphical analyses that follow. The basic analysis in
Figure 2 guides all subsequent analyses. Relatively large differences in overall topic frequency areevident in this graph (e.g., budgeting, management control, performance measurement, and software), butmore detailed analyses are used to identify less researched questions.
Associated changes in topics can be evidence of information exchange between research and practice.
If researchers and practitioners are communicating about topics of mutual interest, one expects changes in
topic frequency (contemporaneous or lagged) to be closely associated over time. Creating tables of topic
frequencies for each year (by disaggregating the data underlying figure 2) supports an investigation ofcontemporaneous and lagged topic changes. The study finds no significant correlations (α = 0.10)
between changes in research and practice topic-frequencies that are either contemporaneous or lagged(plus or minus one year). Analysis of topic levels finds numerous opportunities for communication andexchange of findings between research and practice.

Analysis of Topic Frequency Levels
Contemporaneous Frequency Levels
Analysis of contemporaneous levels shows some evidence of topic correspondence. For example, aglance at Figure 2 shows visual correspondence. The contemporaneous overall correlation coefficient,which equals 0.45, is highly significant (p < 0.0001). We obtain similar overall results for individualyears (0.3 < R < 0.6). Note that these annual correlations do not reflect a monotonic increase ofcorrespondence over time. However, the data show that modest contemporaneous correspondence of
research and practice topics exists.
Lagged Frequency Levels
Analysis of lagged topic frequency levels also shows similar correspondence. Examining whether
practice leads research by 1 year yields an overall correlation coefficient (rounded) of 0.4 (p < 0.0001).
Annual correlation coefficients range between 0.3 and 0.5 for each lagged year. These are also highly
significant and reflect a “U” shaped pattern over time. Testing if research leads practice by 1 year
generates an overall correlation coefficient of 0.5 and 0.3 < R < 0.6 for each lagged year (all highly

9significant). Furthermore, coefficients of research leading practice increase monotonically, suggesting
increasing correspondence over time.
Thus, this study finds mixed evidence of correspondence between research and practice: Analysis oflagged topic frequency levels suggests increasing correspondence, but changes in topic frequency show
no evidence. This suggests that evidence of correspondence may reflect coincidence rather than active or
causal exchange of information between researchers and professionals. To resolve this ambiguity we look
more closely at topic levels.

Analysis of Correspondence of Topic Levels
One can observe many instances in Figure 2 where topic frequency differences are less than 5 percent,which indicate high correspondence between research and practice. Most of these topics apparently are of
relatively minor interest to both researchers and professionals (i.e., total frequency of either practice or
research is less than 5 percent). While these low frequency topics may represent emerging areas for both
realms, we focus here on topics that also have at least 5 percent7 of the total article coverage in either
practice or research. The only major topic meeting these criteria is “cost management.”
Cost Management
Topics coded as cost management comprise approximately 14 percent of all practice topics and 13
percent of research topics, leaving only a 1 percent difference. Is this high correspondence the result ofcoincidence or cross-fertilization? To answer that question, one can drill down into the database tocontrast cost-management subtopics. The result of this analysis is shown in figure 3.
Figure 3
A close look at figure 3 indicates that general cost-management correspondence is questionable.
Benchmarking is the only subtopic with appreciable topic frequency and relatively high correspondence,comprising roughly 13 percent of practice and 9 percent of research subtopics. Examination ofbenchmarking-research articles shows they are evenly split between prescription and statistical analysesof the properties of benchmarks. There are, however, no research studies of the impacts of benchmarking.
Practice articles are either prescriptions or self-reports of implementation or reports of organizational
improvements attributed to benchmarking.
Benchmarking questions. Several benchmarking research questions seem obvious, including:7

The 5 percent cutoffs are arbitrary but retain the great majority of research and practice articles for study. Withoutsome cutoff, the research would resemble an annotated bibliography of 2,000 articles. We do run the risk of ignoring
particularly interesting but relatively unreported topics.

10

“What are the costs and benefits of benchmarking at the process, service, or firm levels?” Oneshould be able to measure costs of benchmarking activities, but, as is usually the case,benefits may be more elusive. Attributing improvements in processes to benchmarking may
be more feasible than attempting to explain business unit or firm-level financial performance.
“What are the attributes of successful or unsuccessful design and implementation ofbenchmarking?” Addressing this question perhaps should follow the first unless one wants toproxy costs and benefits with user satisfaction measures.
Given that apparent correspondence at the cost-management subtopic level yielded new researchquestions, examination of other cost management subtopics also might bear fruit. For example, only three
percent of research studies exist in the area of activity-based management (ABM) – a difference of nearly
8 percent – which seems surprising given this topic’s high profile over the past decade, and no researchon shared services – a difference of 6 percent. Several interesting research questions for these topics
include:Activity-based management questions. Several ABM research questions from practice are:
Does ABM lead to observable improvements in processes, products, services, and financial
performance? Self-reports indicate that ABM delivers improvements, but one suspects thatthese self-reports are censored and most reports of failures are either not written or published.
What are determinants of successful ABM efforts? Determinants may include communication,team structure, management style, and management support and involvement.
How can organizations successfully move from ABM pilot projects to wider deployment? Most
ABM self-reports reflect results of limited pilot projects. Does implementation of ABM
spread? How?
Shared services questions. The topic of shared services refers to centers that provide businessservices, such as finance, human resources and legal. This service center would contract with business
units, much as an outsourced-service provider would. Questions include:
What are the efficiencies of locating business services in shared service centers? Cost savings arepart of the equation, but effects on usage and quality of service also are important. This leads
to related considerations of transfer pricing and performance evaluation.
Is ABM necessary to justify shared or outsourced services? Is ABM the tool to use to identify
opportunities, communicate rationales, and ease transition to shared service centers?
What are the organizational impediments and arguments for shared services versus distributed oroutsourced services? Alternative organizational structures and contracting may have inertia
and power considerations as well as economic.

11

Relatively more research than practice exists in several cost-management areas, including activitybased costing (ABC) – a difference of 29 percent – and strategy – a difference of 5 percent. However,
perhaps surprisingly, numerous practice-oriented questions remain relatively un-researched.
Activity-based costing questions. Practice-oriented research questions in this area include:
What is the optimal complexity of ABC systems? Costs and benefits of complexity include design
and maintenance costs, cognitive complexity, and value of finer information. Standard
costing systems are notoriously expensive to maintain; are ABC systems even more so? Is it
possible to prescribe optimal complexity or describe the complexity of apparently successful
ABC systems? Are different levels of complexity appropriate for different purposes (e.g.,
product costing versus strategic decision making)?
Are objectivity and precision of measurement incompatible with efficient ABC systems? What are
the information quality tradeoffs? This has added importance for ABC systems that are
intended to serve multiple purposes, including reporting, costing, decision making, andperformance measurement.
Strategy questions. Most research studies use measures of strategy as independent variables to
explain performance or other organizational outcomes. Practical concerns related to strategy include:
What are appropriate ratios or indicators to measure whether an organization is meeting its
strategic goals, which may be heavily marketing and customer oriented? Are these indicators
financial, non-financial, or qualitative? Numerous practice articles argue that strategic
management is possible only with the “right indicators.” But what are they? How are they
used? With what impact?
Is the balanced scorecard an appropriate tool for performance evaluation, as well as forstrategic planning and communication? The BSC is offered as a superior strategic planningand communication tool. Many organizations are inclined to also use the BSC (or similar,
complex performance measurement models) as the basis for performance evaluations. Whatcomplications does this extension add? With what effects?
Are scenarios from financial planning models effective tools for strategic management? Financial
modeling is an important part of financial and cost management. Do strategic planners needor use scenarios from these models? Why or why not? With what effects?
Relatively less research than practice exists in the area of cost reduction/efficiency – a difference of
22%. Practice coverage of this topic is fairly uniform over the 5-year study period. Although researchcoverage peaked in 1998, some coverage continued into 2000.

12

Cost reduction/efficiency questions. Perhaps accounting researchers consider issues of cost reductionand efficiency to be too basic for research inquiry. Practice is concerned with interesting developmentsthat could benefit from a research perspective. Sample questions from practice include:“What is the efficiency of spending to increase customer satisfaction?” Though a number of
researchers have addressed this issue (e.g., tests of statistical relations between customer
satisfaction and profitability), it is of continuing interest to practice, particularly at the levelof developing guidelines for efficient management of customer relations.
“What are the effects of IT and organizational changes on efficiency?” There appears to be no
research that addresses this type of question. Relevant contexts abound, including
telecommuting, outsourcing, and internal support services.
“What are the effects of IT on total costs and productivity?” The information systems literaturecommonly focuses on measuring IT-user satisfaction while larger issues of efficiency remain
under-researched. Application contexts include finance, human resources, procurement,
payables, travel, payroll, customer service.
Perhaps surprisingly, observed major-topic correspondence yields much evidence of low
correspondence and many interesting, less researched questions. Even when researchers and professionals
address similar topics, they focus on different questions. An examination of topics with more obvious low
correspondence yields even more research opportunities.

Analysis of Low Correspondence of Topic Levels
Low correspondence is defined as topic-frequency differences in excess of 5 percent. These
differences include topic areas where research exceeds practice: budgeting (6.5 percent difference),
management control (14 percent difference), and performance measurement (16 percent difference).
The data also reveals major topic areas where practice exceeds research, including business processes(5 percent difference), internal control (6 percent difference), electronic business (7 percent difference),and software (19 percent difference). Perhaps these are areas of particularly abundant new research
opportunities.8 The study presents analysis of low correspondence where budgeting research exceeds
practice and where practice writings on electronic business issues exceed research. The appendix contains
similarly identified research questions from each of the other topic areas.
Budgeting (Research > Practice)8

In concept, one might prefer to separate practice descriptions of emerging problems from advocacy for preferredsolutions. Some also might argue that research naturally investigates different topics than practice. This study
regards all differences as opportunities for interesting research.

13

Budgeting is a venerable management accounting research topic, and one might think that there are
few un-researched questions remaining. If so, have researchers not communicated results to practice, or
are they pursuing less practice-oriented topics? As before, one can drill down into the data to thebudgeting sub-topic level to assess budgeting correspondence. Figure 4 presents topic frequencies ofbudgeting sub-topic coverage.
Figure 4
The data contain no practice publications in topic areas of budget slack (Difference = 10%) andbudget variances (Difference = 16%). More research than practice exists in the areas of capital budgeting(Difference = 11%) and participative budgeting (Difference = 21%). These topics appear to be of little
current, practical interest, but they continue to attract research efforts, perhaps because of tradition and theinteresting theoretical issues they present. It also is possible that researchers’ long concern with budgetaryslack still leads practice. For example, excess budget slack conceivably might be included with otherdysfunctional actions designed to manipulate reported performance and targeted for elimination by
financial reforms. Conversely, the data contain no research in topic areas of activity-based budgeting(Difference = 10%) and planning & forecasting (Difference = 65%). The latter area, planning andforecasting, has a large topic difference and has grown in practice coverage each year of the study period.
Planning and forecasting questions. Just a few questions from practice include:“What are the determinants of effective planning and forecasting?” Effective planning andforecasting can be defined as (1) accurate, timely, and flexible problem identification, (2)communication, and (3) leading to desired performance. Researchers may findenvironmental, organizational, human capital, and technological antecedents of effectiveplanning and forecasting methods and practices. Whether these are situational or generalconditions would be of considerable interest.
“What exogenous factors affect sales and cost forecasting?” This includes consideration of therelated question, “What is a parsimonious model?” Nearly every management accounting
text states that sales forecasting is a difficult task. Likewise, cost forecasting can be difficult
because of the irrelevancy or incompleteness of historical data. Yet both types of forecasting
are critical to building useful financial models and making informed business decisions.
“What are effects of merging BSC or ABC with planning & forecasting?” ABC and the balanced
scorecard represent current recommendations for cost and performance measurement.
However, the research literature has not extensively considered the uses or impacts of thesetools, which may be particularly valuable for planning and forecasting.

14

“What are the roles of IT & decision-support systems in improving planning & forecasting?”
Most large organizations use sophisticated database systems, and accessing and using
information can be facilitated by intelligent interfaces and decision support systems. Yet weknow little about the theoretical and observed impacts of these tools in general and almost
nothing about their effects on planning and forecasting.
Electronic Business (Practice >> Research)
Topics coded as electronic business comprise approximately 7 percent of all practice topics, yetthere is no management accounting research in this area. To determine if perhaps researchers areinvestigating electronic business issues and publishing in journals outside of mainstream management
accounting journals, we also reviewed Information Systems research journals (MISQ, JMIS, JIS) andfound no evidence that research in this area is being conducted in these journals. Due to the increasingemphasis of the role that technology plays in business in today’s competitive, global and fast-changing
world, a 7 percent difference in this topic with no research seems surprising. Surely, electronic business is
a research topic guaranteed to generate practical interest.
Figure 5
An in-depth look at Figure 5 shows that there are several main categories of sub-topics withinelectronic business. Approximately 31 percent of electronic business topics are articles of a generalnature, 25 percent are related directly to issues on electronic commerce, 22 percent are concerned with theinternet and websites, 16 percent are about processing transactions electronically, and the remaining 6
percent focus on the use of XML (extensible markup language).
Electronic business (general) questions. General electronic business issues center on thereengineering of business processes and business models to take advantage of electronic means oftransacting business and creating efficiencies and enhanced performance for the firm. This generates
opportunities for research questions related to the successful start-up of e-ventures, the changes inunderlying business models, and the use of technology to reduce costs.
“What are appropriate management controls, internal controls, and performance measures forE-business ventures?” This includes the related question, “Do they differ from conventional business?”
Doing business in the “New Economy” has impacted the underlying business model of most firms thus
impacting the design of the firm’s management control system, internal control environment, andperformance measurement system.
“What technologies drive enhanced productivity and efficiencies in the firm?” Firms must beable to perform cost/benefit analysis weighing the potential benefits to be gained from employing new15

technologies against the cost of implementing that technology and reengineering the business process.
Two related questions are “What is the optimal capital budgeting model for electronic business?” and“Which business processes lend themselves to a reengineering process that would result in increased
efficiencies and reduced costs?”
Electronic commerce questions. Practitioners appear to be primarily concerned with the
management of costs in the electronic commerce space and the proper tracking and measurement of
performance. These concerns lead to several promising research questions:
What is the optimal amount for web-retailers to spend on customer acquisition costs? The
prevailing business model among e-tailers was to increase traffic on the website and worry about
revenues later. But what is too much to pay to acquire a new customer? How do e-tailers know how muchto spend on customer acquisition costs?
What performance metrics do firms need to track to effectively manage electronic customers andthe integration of e-commerce with their current business model? How does a firm evaluate investments
in e-commerce? What metrics are appropriate for measuring the performance of e-commerce initiatives?
Not too long ago metrics focused on traffic, now firms are more focused on the generation of revenue.
Identifying the appropriate drivers, outcome measures, and the timing and pattern of associations between
the two are interesting areas for potential research.
How does electronic data interchange affect the management control system? Electroniccommerce is changing traditional business practices in areas such as increased use of bar coding oftransactions and inventory, and the use of electronic procurement. How do these new business practices
impact the design of the MCS?
Internet and website questions. The internet both facilitates the timeliness, exchange, and availabilityof information. Practice is particularly concerned with the impact the internet has on the reporting and use
of financial information.
What are the characteristics of an effective website? Firms are implementing intranets andwebsites for communication of information within the firm. This question includes a related question:“What characteristics of websites facilitate effective exchange of accounting information between thefirm and its investors? Or between users and/or business units within the firm?”
What is the impact of displaying financial information on a web site on the firm’s business risk?
Firms now distribute financial accounting information on company websites. How does this practice
impact the firm’s internal control environment? How does it impact a company’s risk of litigation? Are
there controls that the firm can implement to reduce the associated risk?
Electronic processing. The processing of accounting transactions can be a tedious and timeconsuming task. Electronic processing of transactions can create efficiencies within organizations.
16

Questions of interest are primarily related to how electronic processing can improve firm performanceand efficiencies.
How should accounting workflows and transaction processing be reengineered to take advantage
of electronic processing? Firms need to know how to integrate an environment that traditionally generates
lots of paper and incorporates many formal controls with an electronic processing environment that may
not generate any paper and dispenses with some of the traditional controls.
What is the impact of electronic processing on the firm’s control environment? With the potential
for increased efficiencies arising from the reduction of traditional paper documents, there may not be apaper trail left to substantiate and document transactions. What is the impact on internal control? Is apaperless environment cost effective?
Extensible markup language. Extensible markup language (XML) (also, extensible business
reporting language, XBRL, and extensible financial reporting markup language, XFRML) is fast
becoming the language of accounting. XML is used for a multitude of purposes including reporting
accounting information to investors via the firm’s website, uploading of SEC files and so forth. This leads
to the question:
How do accountants successfully use extensible markup language (XML) to facilitate theexchange and communication of accounting information?

Opportunities for Publication
This section of the study addresses designing research for publishability. Because the major portion of
the study has focused on identifying new research questions, it seems only prudent to anticipate theopportunities to publish this novel research. It is one thing to recommend that researchers take risks andtackle new research questions, but it might be quite another to get these efforts published in quality
research journals. The analysis that follows finds that some research journals, which publishedmanagement accounting articles during the period of study, have specialized but others have been moregeneral. Certainly, publication history might be an imperfect predictor of future publications
opportunities, but a Bayesian might condition estimates of publication probability with priors based on
history. Prudence (or a strategic approach to conducting research) also suggests that researchers conceiveand design their efforts to meet target journals’ revealed preferences.
The study next analyzes the management accounting research database for topic coverage by major
journal. The study also analyzes each journal’s past publication practices regarding underlying theory,sources of data, and methods of analysis. This analysis is not intended to be a cookbook, but rather it isintended as realistic guidance based on historical evidence. Figure 6 displays coverage of major
management accounting topics by journal. Figure 7 shows theories used in management accounting
17

articles by journal. Similarly, figure 8 shows sources of data by journal. Finally, figure 9 shows methodsof analysis by journal.
Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9
Topic coverage
Figure 6 shows some evidence of journal specialization by topic, although all the research journals
have published at least some articles addressing these topics. For example, management control topics
have appeared most often in AOS and MAR, both UK-based journals. Performance measurement issues
have appeared most often in the North American journals, JAR, CAR, TAR, and JAE, and these journals
also publish management control articles. This concentration may reflect editorial policies or results ofyears of migration of topics. Apart from concentration of performance measurement and management
control, it appears that all the surveyed journals are open to publishing various management accounting
topics.
Theories
Figure 7 shows some strong evidence of theory specialization by journals. For example, virtually the
only theories used in management accounting articles published in JAR, etc. are economic in nature(agency or microeconomic theories). This is true also for management accounting articles published in
predominantly management journals, SMJ, etc. Nearly the only outlets for papers using contingency
theory are the UK journals, AOS and MAR. These journals plus AIMA and JMAR appear to be thebroadest in using alternative theories.
Methods of analysis
As shown in figure 8, articles in JAR, etc. tend to use either analytical or statistical methods, butalmost never use qualitative analyses. On the other hand, management accounting articles in otherjournals rarely use analytical methods, though they often use statistical methods. For example, articles in
AIMA, AOS, and JMAR most often use statistical methods. Qualitative analysis appears mostly in the
UK journals, AOS and MAR, followed by AIMA and JMAR.
Sources of data
Figure 9 shows specialization by journals in their uses of alternative data sources. JAR, etc. articles
predominantly use archival data, though data from laboratory experiments also appear in JAR, etc. Field
study and survey data appear most often in AOS and MAR, the UK journals. AIMA appears to be themost balanced in its data sources. JMAR, though a small player, publishes papers with a wide range ofdata, as does MAR and, to a lesser degree, AOS.
Conclusions about publication opportunities

18

Authors want to place their work in the most prestigious journals (a designation that varies acrossindividuals and universities) and also want to receive competent reviews of their work. Thus it seems
sensible (or perhaps explicitly strategic) to design research for publishability in desired outlets. As apractical matter, this strategic design perspective may lead researchers, who themselves specialize intheories and methods, to design practice-oriented management accounting research for specific journals.
Historical evidence indicates that all surveyed journals may be open to new topics. Although several
journals seem open to alternative theories and methods (AIMA, JMAR, MAR, AOS), the major North
American journals have been more specialized. This may reflect normative values and practical difficultyof building and maintaining competent editorial and review boards. Thus, if one wants to pursue a new
topic in research aimed at JAR, etc., for example, one perhaps should use a theory, source of data, andmethod that these journals have customarily published.

Conclusion
There is no shortage of interesting, potentially influential management accounting research questions.
From an analysis of published research and practice articles, this study has identified many more than
could be reported here. Even where research and practice topics appear to correspond, considerable
divergence in questions exists. Identified research questions offer opportunities for ALL persuasions ofaccounting researchers. Synergies between management accounting and accounting information systems
seem particularly obvious and should not be ignored. Furthermore, research methods mastered byfinancial accountants and auditors can be applied to management accounting research questions.
Even with efforts to design practice-oriented management accounting research for publishability,
challenges to broader participation and publication might remain. Some of the challenges to publishing
this type of management accounting research might include lack of institutional knowledge of authors,
reviewers, and editors. To be credible, authors must gain relevant knowledge to complement theirresearch method skills. For example, research on management control of information technology andstrategic planning should be preceded by knowledge of the three domains, in theory and practice.
Furthermore, editors and reviewers who want to support publication of practice-oriented research should
be both knowledgeable of practice and open minded, particularly with regard to less objective sources ofdata. However, it does not seem necessary or desirable to lower the bar on theory or methods of analysis
to promote more innovative research. In summary, we hope that this paper encourages management
accounting researchers to take on the challenges of investigating interesting, innovative questions oriented
to today’s business world and practice of management accounting.

19

Table 1
Article Database Codes
ARTICLE
article-ABSTRACT
article-AUTHOR(S)article-DESCRIPTORS
article-journal-A&F
article-journal-AIMA
article-journal-AMJ
article-journal-AOS
article-journal-CAR
article-journal-JAAF
article-journal-JAE
article-journal-JAR
article-journal-JMAR
article-journal-MAR
article-journal-RAS
article-journal-SMJ
article-journal-TAR
article-TITLE
article-VOLUME & PAGES
article-YEAR
article-year-1996
article-year-1997
article-year-1998
article-year-1999
article-year-2000
buddgeting-soc psych
budgeting-agency
budgeting-contingency
budgeting-econ-otherbudgeting-jdm
budgeting-org change
budgeting-soc justicebudgeting-systems
GEOGRAPHY
geography-ANZ
geography-ASIA
geography-EUROPE
geography-INTERNATIONAL
geography-LATIN AMERICA
geography-NORTH AMERICAMETHOD
method-ANALYSIS
method-analysis-analyticalmethod-analysis-qualitative
method-analysis-statisticalmethod-ARCHIVAL
method-EXPERIMENT
20

method-FIELD/CASE STUDY
method-LOGICAL ARGUMENT
method-SURVEY
THEORYtheory-AGENCY
theory-CONTINGENCY
theory-CRITICAL
theory-ECONOMIC CLASSIC
theory-INDIVID/TEAM JDMtheory-ORGANIZATION CHANGE
theory-POSITIVE ACCOUNTING
theory-SOCIAL JUSTICE/POWER/INFLUENCE
theory-SOCIAL/PSYCH
theory-SYSTEMS
theory-TRANSACTION COST
TOPIC
topic-BUDGETING
topic-budgeting-activity based
topic-budgeting-capital budgeting
topic-budgeting-general
topic-budgeting-participation
topic-budgeting-planning&forecasting
topic-budgeting-slack
topic-budgeting-variances
topic-BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
topic-BUSINESS PROCESSES
topic-business processes-credit management
topic-business processes-fixed assets
topic-business processes-inventory management
topic-business processes-procurement
topic-business processes-production management
topic-business processes-reengineering
topic-business processes-travel expenditures
topic-CASH MANAGEMENT
topic-cash management-borrowings
topic-cash management-collections
topic-cash management-credit policies
topic-cash management-electronic banking
topic-cash management-electronic exchange
topic-cash management-foreign currency
topic-cash management-investing
topic-cash management-payments
topic-COMPENSATION
topic-compensation-accounting measures
topic-compensation-design/implementation
topic-compensation-executive
topic-compensation-pay for performance
topic-compensation-stock options
topic-CONTROL
topic-control-alliances/suppliers/supply chain
topic-control-complementarity/interdependency
21

topic-control-cost of capital
topic-control-customers/customer profitabilty
topic-control-environmental
topic-control-information/information technology
topic-control-intangibles
topic-control-international/culture
topic-control-JIT/flexibility/time
topic-control-org change
topic-control-quality
topic-control-R&D/new product develop
topic-control-risk
topic-control-smart cards/purchasing cards
topic-control-strategy
topic-control-structure
topic-control-system
topic-COST ACCOUNTING
topic-cost accounting-environmental
topic-cost accounting-general
topic-cost accounting-standards
topic-cost accounting-throughput
topic-COST MANAGEMENT
topic-cost management-ABC
topic-cost management-ABM
topic-cost management-benchmarking
topic-cost management-cost efficiency/reduction
topic-cost management-cost negotiation
topic-cost management-costing
topic-cost management-process mapping
topic-cost management-quality/productivity/tqm
topic-cost management-shared services
topic-cost management-strategy
topic-cost management-target costing
topic-cost management-theory of constraints/capacity
topic-ELECTRONIC
topic-electronic-businesstopic-electronic-commerce
topic-electronic-intranet
topic-electronic-processing
topic-electronic-web sites
topic-electronic-xml/xbrl
topic-EXPERT SYSTEMS
topic-FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
topic-financial reporting-accounting standards/SEC
topic-financial reporting-depreciation
topic-financial reporting-drill downs
topic-financial reporting-e reporting
topic-financial reporting-environmental
topic-financial reporting-general
topic-financial reporting-international
topic-financial reporting-open books
topic-financial reporting-realtime accounting
22

topic-INTERNAL CONTROL
topic-internal control-controls
topic-internal control-corporate sentencing guidelines
topic-internal control-data security/computer fraud
topic-internal control-ethics
topic-internal control-fraud awareness/detection
topic-internal control-internal audit
topic-internal control-operational audits
topic-MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING-practices
topic-OTHER
topic-OUTSOURCING DECISION
topic-PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
topic-performance measurement-balanced scorecard
topic-performance measurement-business process
topic-performance measurement-EVA/RI
topic-performance measurement-evaluation/appraisal
topic-performance measurement-group
topic-performance measurement-incentives
topic-performance measurement-individ
topic-performance measurement-manipulation
topic-performance measurement-nonfinancial
topic-performance measurement-productivity
topic-performance measurement-strategic
topic-performance measurement-system
topic-PRICING
topic-PROFITABILITY
topic-PROJECT MANAGEMENT
topic-RESEARCH METHODS
topic-SHAREHOLDER VALUE
topic-SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
topic-SOFTWARE
topic-software-ABC/product costing
topic-software-accounting technology (general)
topic-software-budgeting
topic-software-costing
topic-software-credit analysis
topic-software-data conversion
topic-software-database
topic-software-decision support
topic-software-document management
topic-software-erp
topic-software-fixed assets
topic-software-graphical accounting
topic-software-groupware
topic-software-human resources/payroll
topic-software-internet
topic-software-mindmaps
topic-software-modules
topic-software-operating system
topic-software-project accounting
topic-software-purchasing
23

topic-software-reporting
topic-software-sales/C/M
topic-software-selection/accounting platforms/implementation
topic-software-spreadsheets
topic-software-t&e
topic-software-warehousing/datamarts/intelligent agents
topic-software-workflow
topic-software-year2000 compliant
topic-TRANSFER PRICING
topic-VALUATION
topic-VALUE BASED MANAGEMENT
topic-VALUE CHAIN

24

Figure 1
Example of Coded Article Data

25

26

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Percent of total topics

Figure 2

Major Topic Frequencies, 1996-2000
Practice%
Research%

35.0%

30.0%

25.0%

20.0%

15.0%

10.0%

5.0%

0.0%

tr

27
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Pr

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lit
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os

Q

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AB

Percent of cost management topics

Figure 3

Cost Management Sub-Topics, 1996-2000

60.0%

Practice%
Research%

40.0%

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

0.0%

Pl
an

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28
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rti

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Pa

Ac

Percent of budgeting topics

Figure 4

Budgeting Sub-Topics, 1996-2000

70.0%

60.0%
Practice%
Research%

50.0%

40.0%

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

0.0%

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Percent of Electronic Business Topics

cb

tr
on
i

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i

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i

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Figure 5

Electronic Business Sub-topics, 1996-2000

35.0%

Practice %Re se arch%

20.0%

15.0%

10.0%

5.0%

0.0%

Figure 6

Management Accounting Topics
by Journal, 1996-2000

70
BudgetingNumber of times published60

Cost Accounting
Cost Management50

Mgt Control

40

Performance
Measurement

30
20
10
0
AIM A

AOS

JAR, e tc

30

JM AR

M AR

SM J, e tc

Figure 7

Theories Used in Management Accounting Articles
by Journal, 1996-2000

40

Age ncy
Continge ncy

35

Critical/Social Jus tice
M icroe conom ic

Number of times used

30

Individual/Te am JDM

25

Othe rPos itive
Acct/TCE/Sys te m s
Social Ps ych

20
15
10
5
0
AIM A

AOS

JAR, e tc

JM AR

31

M AR

SM J, e tc

Figure 8

Methods of Analysis Used in Management Accounting Articles
by Journal, 1996-2000
50

Analytical

Number of times used

45

Logical argument

40

Qualitative

35

Statistical

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
AIMA

AOS

JAR, etc

JMAR

32

MAR

SMJ, etc

Figure 9

Sources of Data in Management Accounting Articles
by Journal, 1996-2000
40

Archive

35

Field or Case StudyLaboratory Experiment

Number of times used

30

Survey
25
20
15
10
5
0
AIMA

AOS

JAR, etc

JMAR

33

MAR

SMJ, etc

Appendix: Practice-oriented Research Questions
Major
Topic
Budgeting

Sub-Topic

Selected Research Questions

Activity based

What are effects of merging ABC with planning & forecasting?

CapitalWhat is the optimal capital budgeting model for electronicbusiness?

Planning &forecasting

What are the determinants of effective planning and forecasting?
What are effects of merging the BSC with planning &forecasting?
What exogenous factors affect sales and cost forecasting? What isa parsimonious model?
What are the roles of IT & decision-support systems in improving
planning & forecasting?”

Business

Which activities in the finance function can be eliminated leading

processes

to reduced costs while maintaining high levels of support andintegrity in the accounting information?
Under what business conditions (e.g., size, industry, strategy,organization type, etc.) can the “lean support model” beeffectively implemented in the finance function?
Is the reduction in finance costs as a percent of sales “real” orhave the costs and related work simply been shifted to otherareas of the organization?
There is anecdotal evidence supporting initiatives (e.g., corporatepurchasing cards, single consolidated credit card system,
online marketplace) designed to streamline the procurement
system in order to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Which is most effective? What are the determinants ofeffective procurement initiatives?
How does technology play a role in successfully reengineeringbusiness processes such as the travel and expense process?

Management
control

Alliances

What is the nature of optimal business partner or exclusive supply
contracts?
What are the determinants of successful or failed alliances?

34

What are appropriate controls for outsourced services or
manufacturing?
How do controls differ between using sole sources and a portfolioof suppliers?
Customers/
Information
Intangibles

What are the costs, benefits, and risks of sharing information withcustomers?
What is the influence of corporate culture on control, frequency
and success of alliances?

Smartcards

How does decentralizing purchasing authority via smartcards
affect the control environment?

Structure

What is the control tradeoff between keiretsu organizations andindependence?

Cost accounting

Environmental

How can firms measure current and future environmental costs
and liabilities of products, processes, and projects?
Can ABC and ABM reduce environmental costs and liabilities?

Standards

How do cost accounting standards affect entry, exit, andprofitability of affected firms?
Do cost accounting standards result in improved contracting andperformance?

Cost

ABC

management

What is the optimal complexity of ABC systems?
Are objectivity and precision of measurement incompatible withefficient ABC systems? What are the information quality
tradeoffs?

ABM

Does ABM lead to observable improvements in processes,
products, services, and financial performance?
What are determinants of successful ABM efforts?
How can organizations successfully move from ABM pilot
projects to wider deployment?

Benchmarking

What are the costs and benefits of benchmarking at the process,service, or firm levels?
What are the attributes of successful or unsuccessful design andimplementation of benchmarking?

Cost reduction/

What is the efficiency of spending to increase customer

35

efficiency

satisfaction?
What are the effects of IT and organizational changes on
efficiency?
What are the effects of IT on total costs and productivity?

Shared services

What are the efficiencies of locating business services in sharedservice centers?
Is ABM necessary to justify shared or outsourced services?
What are the organizational impediments and arguments forshared services versus distributed or outsourced services?

Strategy

Is the balanced scorecard (BSC) an appropriate tool for
performance evaluation, as well as for strategic planning andcommunication?
Are scenarios from financial planning models effective tools forstrategic management?

Electronic

Commercebusiness

What are appropriate management controls, internal controls, andperformance measures for E-business ventures? Do they differ
from conventional business?
What is the optimal capital budgeting model for electronicbusiness?

Internet/WWW

How do on-line auctions affect transaction costs?
What are the impacts of intranet exchange of accounting
information?
What determines effective intranet exchange of accounting
information?

Processing

What is the impact of electronic processing on the firm’s control
environment?

XML

How do accountants successfully use extensible markup language(XML) to facilitate the exchange and communication of
accounting information?

Internal control

Controls

Is the implementation of controls a cost savings or a cost
expenditure (e.g., what are the costs and benefits of certain
control procedures? Which decision models can facilitate thisdecision?)36

Data security/

How do small firms, perhaps without necessary resources tocomputersupport data security, implement a strong control

fraud

environment?

EthicsWhat are the characteristics of an effective ethical environment(e.g., training programs, codes of conduct, ethical standards,
tone at the top, etc.)?

Fraud awareness/
detection

Does implementing and adhering to the Internal Control
Framework reduce the prevalence of fraud and positively
impact firm performance?

Performance

BSC

measurement

What are the observable impacts of BSC implementation anduse?
What are the effects of alternative means of BSC
implementation?

Systems

How does the design and structure of incentive compensation
systems relate to incidences of fraud?
Can action-profit-linkage chains be designed to capture affects ofinvestments in intangibles such as training, information
technology and employee satisfaction?

Strategic

What are the appropriate ratios or indicators to measure whether
an organization is meeting its strategic goals, which may beheavily marketing and customer oriented? Are these indicators
financial, non-financial, or qualitative?

SoftwareAccounting

What are the costs and benefits of maintaining dual costing
systems to satisfy demands for information related to both
strategic costing management and operational improvements?
What steps can be taken to ensure that a software conversion is
performed competently and efficiently?

ERP

What are the benefits and costs of implementing an enterprise
resource system?
What are the attributes of efficient data mining?

Human resources

What are the effects of HR software on improvements in hiring,training, retention and evaluation (e.g., linked to BSC

37

performance models)?
Selection

What characteristics of accounting software packages affect theefficiency of the organization?

38

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