pp. 1-22 ISSN: 1309-2448 www.berjournal.com
The Relevance of Theoretical Concepts in Practice: A Study of Management Accounting Concepts in 130 Large
Swedish Companies
Krister Bredmar
aAbstract
Abstract Abstract
Abstract: Management concepts in general and management accounting in particular may be studied in three contexts: practical, textbook and research. This paper shows that the three contexts are connected and a common image of management accounting is presented.
Drawing from twelve American management accounting textbooks and one research article (Luft and Shields, 2003) that analysed research within management accounting; 24 questions were asked to 130 out of the 200 largest Swedish companies. Results indicate that the major focus of textbooks is calculation. This focus is missing in management accounting research, but interestingly companies do not put a high value on it. It is also possible to identify several relationships showing organizations that encourage employee’s participation and commitment can attain a higher level of satisfaction and performance in relation to budget.
Key Key
Key Keywords words words words: Management accounting, Practice, Survey, Textbooks, Swedish companies JEL JEL
JEL JEL Classification Classification Classification Classification: M16, M40
1 1
1 1. Introduction . Introduction . Introduction . Introduction
The subject management may be described and analysed from several different perspectives. Basically, it is a craft that naturally fits within an organization. The concept may also be understood as a curriculum subject where tomorrow’s leaders are taught theories, subsequently, to be used in management work within an organization.
Partly of the origins of this idea may be traced back to Luca Pacioli of medieval Italy. He compiled a description of local commercial techniques that even today is the foundation of modern accounting (Puxty, 1993). We continue to utilise such concepts as debit, credit, and double-entry bookkeeping. Yet another dimension or perspective on the management concepts is that new theories and knowledge develop around it and that it is the object of research. Unlike other studies, this paper investigates how these three areas can be described and which connections can be perceived between them. In other words, there is no contradiction between the theories and the practice. They are instead dependent on each other. This dependency is expressed by Macintosh (1994) in the following way.
“ Theory is always there in practice, regardless of how implicit or commonsensical it may appear. Likewise, practice is always present in the theory, no matter how thinly disguised .”
Theories become a translation or interpretation of a practical course of events, an ongoing process in an organization. Accounting can then be understood from its historical and social context (Hopwood, 1987; Tinker, 1991). The theory is limited by the variables selected and constitutes, in many cases, a simplification of a more
a