Why ABC is Not Widely Implemented?

6 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2009 Last revised: 28 Aug 2012

See all articles by Davood Askarany

Davood Askarany

University of Auckland Business School

Hassan Yazdifar

University of Glasgow

Date Written: March 31, 2009

Abstract

This paper uses the results of two survey studies to explore the most important contextual factors influencing the implementation of activity based-costing across firms. The results of the first survey, carried out in 1997 within the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association (PACIA) in Australia proposed the perceived advantages and disadvantages of management accounting techniques as the most influential contextual factors influencing the implementation of accounting changes. The findings of the second survey carried out in 2002 within industries registered with CPA Australia as well as with PACIA highlight the significant impact of attributes (advantage/disadvantage) of innovation on decision to implement or not management accounting innovations. Using the results of above surveys, this paper examines the level of association between attributes of innovation and the diffusion of activity based-costing. The findings suggest that the relatively low implementation of ABC across firms implies that decision makers remain unconvinced that whether ABC's advantages over traditional accounting techniques are high enough to pursue them to implement ABC in practice. In other words, this study suggests that one of the main influential factors significant to the implementation of ABC links to its attributes in terms of its relative advantage over traditional techniques; its complexity; its compatibility; the observability of its results and its trialibility.

Keywords: management accounting change, diffusion and innovation, contextual and influencing factors and implementation of ABC

Suggested Citation

Askarany, Davood and Yazdifar, Hassan, Why ABC is Not Widely Implemented? (March 31, 2009). International Journal of Business, Vol. VII, No. 1, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1370758

Davood Askarany (Contact Author)

University of Auckland Business School ( email )

12 Grafton Rd
Private Bag 92019
Auckland, 1010
New Zealand

Hassan Yazdifar

University of Glasgow ( email )

Main Building
Glasgow, G12 8QQ
United Kingdom
+44 (0)141 330 5666 (Phone)
+44 (0)141 330 4442 (Fax)

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