This book serves as a guide to strategic management accounting. It introduces new and useful concepts on how to collect, analyse, and evaluate options to enable managers to steer corporate directions and write strategic plans for the long-term success of the corporation. Starting with basic techniques and the latest strategic management approaches, the book then presents cases that show the techniques employed step by step. By demonstrating how easily the ideas can be translated into action, it is a valuable resource for business practitioners, as well as for students taking advanced management accounting courses.
It would generally be safe to assume that finance and accounting especially strategic managerial accounting (SMA) would be anathema to the software professional. This book, written from the perspective of a software professional, attempts to address that belief. SMA is a prognostic as well as a diagnostic tool and therefore useful for making key day-to-day decisions. However the common view, especially in the IT industry, is that accounting is for the accountants, despite the fact that IT professionals are regularly confronted by financial situations such as project pricing, measuring performance, estimating risk, allocating costs, and so on. This means that every proposal needs to be vetted by the respective specialists. While this may be desirable and even necessary, the speed and reliability of the process could improve if the people who originate the proposal had knowledge of the fundamentals that go into the decision-making process. Another distinguishing feature of the IT and services industry is their unique cost structure, quite different from the manufacturing industry on which traditional managerial accounting is based. Different categories of the industry such as software products, software development (outsourcing), online services, and IT-enabled services have their own distinct cost structure requiring different metrics. The situation is becoming further differentiated as most IT companies shift to the cloud and software ownership is replaced by licensing. These aspects are not adequately addressed by existing books on managerial accounting which are generally manufacturing centric. The online services and mobile app industries constitute the fastest growing and most exciting segment of this industry. However there is hardly any published literature in this area for the software lay person. One chapter is entirely devoted to this subject. This book focuses on strategic managerial accounting in context of the IT software industry, where activities are typically organized as projects which have specific goals and finite life. It seeks to equip the IT professional with some of the knowledge and skills that are generally delegated to the managerial accountants, in an attempt to assist them in making more informed decisions.
This book explores two combined approaches (strategy and accounting) from a cross-disciplinary perspective in order to improve knowledge of value creation in various contexts. Existing studies on this topic have generally adopted a purely account-based or strategy-oriented approach to address this issue. However, this book draws upon a number of well-defined theoretical and empirical backgrounds and methodologies. Since the 1980s, many changes have occurred and companies have increasingly focused their strategies on value creation. Consequently, new strategic directions have emerged, especially for managerial accounting. Management accounting and alignment with strategy could thus improve performance. This book encourages further thought and reflection on these issues which should be pursued in the future as firms face new challenges associated with the acceleration of digital transformation.
* Challenging and provocative book * Shows how management accounting techniques can be integrated into the strategic decision making process * Extensive use of practical examples from a variety of contexts.An introduction to business strategy for management accountants, financial accountants or managers with an accounting orientation. The book places management accounting clearly within the context of strategic management of the business. Offers qualified accountants a sound introduction to strategic management, and with practical examples and mini-cases provided throughout, this book is comprehensive yet concise. Keith Ward addresses strategic management accounting as a continuous process of analysis, planning and control. Management accounting is about supplying the right information to the right people at the right time, and this can only be expressed in the context of the business strategy and strategic plan. The implementation of appropriate management accounting systems to complement different strategies is discussed in detail. Applications and examples include multinational organizations, non-profit organizations and varying organizational structures. Finally the author covers methods of using management accounting for strategic advantage.
Ideas about the role of management accounting systems in a firm's strategy have changed in recent years, and this book explores the ways in which this has happened. Management control systems have frequently been seen as irrelevant to strategy, or even damaging. Controlling Strategy draws out the various ways in which management control systems can build and sustain valuable strategic roles. The book explores topics such as: *Strategic measurement; *Strategic data analysis; *The Balanced Scorecard; *Capital budgeting; *Strategy coordination; Written as an introduction to the strategic role of management control systems Controlling Strategy provides a synthesis of important work in the fields of strategy and management accounting. Academics and Advanced Students of Accounting, Strategy, or Management Studies will find the book an indispensable guide to this area.
This text explores the nature of these industry sectors and how these impact on the strategic managerial accounting (SMA) tools used by decision makers in the industry. Formerly known as Managerial Accounting in the Hospitality Industry by Harris and Hazzard, this new edition builds on this successful and well known text.
Increasing business competition is compelling managers not only to develop realistic and achievable strategies but also to analyze goals in financial terms and to evaluate performance. Whether in manufacturing, service, or the non-profit sector managers need to know the key methods and techniques of cost analysis. The interaction of the organisation's activities, the influences of the external world and the responsibilities of managers need to be captured in financial terms to plan, control and make decisions. Sales managers, production managers, HR managers, amongst others, are recipients of financial information which they are expected to understand. They need to appreciate the impact of their decisions on costs, selling prices, investment decisions and profit. They must be able to analyse, communicate and act on financial information to be a valuable member of the management team. This text explains in simple language the methods and techniques of cost analysis that can be applied strategically at any level in an organization. The busy manager will find that the cost information provided will help them plan and control the activities for which they are responsible and also make strategic decisions in the most effective way. Whether you are in a manufacturing or service organisation, the book will help you to answer the four questions: What did it cost? What should it have cost? How can we improve? What is our next strategic move? No prior knowledge of accounting or statistics is required. The book defines all key terms and emphasizes the essential knowledge of analyzing cost in a strategic context.
This book responds to key issues in strategic management control beyond the numbers. Grounded in research but written with practitioners and students in mind, this second volume addresses the most up-to-date management control issues in the public sector, forecasting, budgeting and controls in international organisations.
In the 1980's and 1990's management accounting was criticised for being too operationally focused and failing to aid strategic decision making. As a response the term strategic management accounting, along with new techniques, were promoted to address the issue. Despite the emergence of articles and books explaining the strategic management concepts and techniques, the term has not become an accepted element in the lexicon of accounting practitioners. Research, however, suggests that practitioners do use a variety of management accounting techniques to support the achievement of strategic objectives. This book, rather than just explain the techniques, takes a different approach and utilises the strategic management framework to indicate how management accounting can aid the strategic management process and hence strategic decision making. It takes the view that management accounting should aid management decision making whether it be operational, business or strategic. A range of strategy models and accounting techniques are covered in the book together with an explanation of how they can be combined to aid the analysis, development, implementation and evaluation of strategy. The book will aid students who are studying accounting courses as well as those studying courses for which business strategy forms a part of the content. There are books that cover accounting techniques, and books that cover strategy models, but few that emphatically link the two together to provide guidance on how management accounting can aid the strategic management process. The book will also benefit practitioners wishing to understand how the accountant can make a significant contribution to the strategic management of an organisation to ensure its continued success.
This book explores two combined approaches (strategy and accounting) from a cross-disciplinary perspective in order to improve knowledge of value creation in various contexts. Existing studies on this topic have generally adopted a purely account-based or strategy-oriented approach to address this issue. However, this book draws upon a number of well-defined theoretical and empirical backgrounds and methodologies. Since the 1980s, many changes have occurred and companies have increasingly focused their strategies on value creation. Consequently, new strategic directions have emerged, especially for managerial accounting. Management accounting and alignment with strategy could thus improve performance. This book encourages further thought and reflection on these issues which should be pursued in the future as firms face new challenges associated with the acceleration of digital transformation.
