title: Linking competitive strategy, product life cycle, the use of broad scope MAS information, and organisational performance : a comparative study of food-processing and electronics industries in Thailand
Creators: name: Bangchokdeee, Sirilak
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Management Accounting Systems
subject: Product life cycle
subject: Competitive strategy
subject: Food-processing

description: Today’s business organisations are facing a more uncertain environment due to increasing competition, globalisation, change in product and process technologies, and change in customer needs and preferences. Many researchers have argued that in this uncertain environment, managers are required to use more broad scope management accounting systems (MAS) information – external, nonfinancial and future-oriented – for their decision-making. By using this information, managers are able to gain a better understanding of uncertain situation and thus are able to make more effective decisions in response to the situation. Broad scope MAS information thus becomes more important for managers in today’s business organisations. In spite of the potential importance of broad scope MAS information, there has been fairly little research on antecedents and consequences of managers’ use of broad scope MAS information. This has motivated the present study to examine the relationships (a) between competitive strategy, stages of product life cycle (PLC) and use of broad scope MAS information, and (b) between competitive strategy, stages of PLC, use of broad scope MAS information and organisational performance following the concept of balanced scorecard (BSC). BSC incorporates performance in four perspectives: financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth. This study also seeks to investigate the moderating effect of uncertainty at industry level on these relationships. Multiple research methods – first a questionnaire survey and second an in-depth interview – were used. Quantitative data collected through the survey were used for testing the hypothesised relationships. These data were analysed using path analysis. Qualitative data collected through the interviews were used to provide additional understanding of the relationships as well as to clarify the results of the survey. ii A total of 108 general managers of manufacturing companies in the food-processing and electronics industries returned completed and usable questionnaires. The foodprocessing and electronics industries were selected because they have contrasting levels of uncertainty. The food-processing industry faces relatively low uncertainty, while the electronics industry faces relatively high uncertainty. As well as testing the hypothesised relationships by using full data from both industries, the present study tested such relationships for each of the two industries. The results of the two industries were then compared in order to investigate the moderating effect of uncertainty at industry level. The present study highlights a number of findings. First, the results reveal significant and positive relationships between the competitive strategy, stages of PLC and use of broad scope MAS information. Second, this study found a significant and positive relationship between the competitive strategy and organisational performance in four perspectives of BSC. Third, the stages of PLC were significantly related to financial performance, but not to performance in other perspectives of BSC. Fourth, the relationships between the use of broad scope MAS information and organisational performance, relating to financial, customer, and internal business process, were found to be positive and significant. Fifth, the relationships (a) between competitive strategy, stages of PLC and use of broad scope MAS information, and (b) between the use of broad scope MAS information and organisational performance were significant for the electronics industry, but not for the food-processing industry. Thus, the moderating effect of uncertainty at industry level on these relationships was evident. Finally, for both industries, the relationship between competitive strategy and organisational performance was significant. Therefore, there was no support for the moderating effect of uncertainty at industry level on this relationship.