In the sixties the business environment first experienced over- capacity. This led to the rise of competition, marketing and strategy. The orientation of MAS was towards short term, internal, financial control. New MAS must deal with the long term, and with external competitive forces. In many cases financial measures confuse price and quantity measures, and involve serious estimation errors.
More useful information is provided by measures of time, quality, productivity and effectiveness.
Continual changes in technology, product quality, information systems, education and marketing techniques require accountants to adapt MAS to support related strategic initiatives. Strategy implementation requires an understanding of behavioural, political and incentive systems within the organisation. The value chain concept is useful in examining the sources of profitability, and in identification of decision useful information. Cost driver analysis provides a tool for understanding the cost structure of an organisation. Organisations have moved from regarding environmental compliance as an irritation, to an understanding that environmental risk management is crucial to shareholders and other stakeholders, and that creative management teams can exploit new products and new markets associated with increasing environmental consciousness.