Management Accounting Systems and Organisational Structure

Abstract

In recent years, research regarding managementaccounting systems (MAS) has gained greater importance. Associated withthis current research trend is the examination of potentially concurrentchanges in MAS and organizational structures. Using fuzzy logic, the researchers identify firm variations in MAS.Adescription of the previous literature thatsupports this framework isused to develop hypotheses.Data on 501 firms operatingin theBergamo area in Italy during 2001are used to test the hypotheses. Themethodology, including a definition of the phases of fuzzy logic and adiscussion of the life cycle model used to interpretthe relationship, isexplained in detail. Analysis of the data reveals three major company cluster classifications,and they include the following:a simple organization cluster withcorresponding simple MAS; a complex organization cluster with correspondingcomplex MAS; and a simple organizational cluster with a complex, developedMAS.The findings suggest that this final cluster is a transitional stagefor firms moving toward more complex organizational structures.The dataanalyses support a significant correlation between the intricacy oforganizational structures and MAS relevance. (AKP)

Keywords: Management accounting systems, Organizational life-cycles, Clusters, Organizational structures, Management techniques