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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY NGUYEN QUYNH TRANG MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING FOR SHORT-TERM DECISION-MAKING IN VIETNAMESE MACHANICAL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES Major : Accounting Cod : 9.34.03.01 PHD IN ECONOMICS THESIS SUMMARY Hanoi, 2021 The thesis was completed at the Thuongmai University Full name of Instructors: Assoc Prof PhD Tran Thi Hong Mai Assoc Prof PhD Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong Reviewer 1: …………………………… Reviewer 2: …………………………… Reviewer 3: …………………………… The thesis will be defended under the evaluation of the School-level Thesis Evaluation Council at the Thuongmai University At hour day month year The thesis can be found at: - National Library - Library, Thuongmai University LIST OF WORKS PUBLISHED DURING THE DOCTORAL COURSE RELATED TO THE THESIS [1] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2017), The role of managerial accounting information in the decision–making process of corporate executives, Viet Nam Trade and Industry Review, July 2017, P 401 – 406 [2] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2019), The impact of accounting information quality characteristics on the decision-making of Vietnamese enterprises in the period of Industrial Revolution 4.0, National Conference "Accounting - Auditing Vietnam in the context of Industry Revolution 4.0: Opportunities and challenges", October 2019, P 238 – 252 [3] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2020), Improve the quality of accounting information for enterprises, Journal of Accounting and Auditing, February 2020, P 55- 62 [4] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2020), The effect of accounting information quality on the decision – making process of Vietnamese Enterprises, Journal of Trade Science, June 2020, P.33 - 44 [5] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2020), Research on the impact of the quality of accounting information on the decision-making process of Vietnamese enterprises, Research project in Thuongmai University, 2020 [6] Quynh Trang Nguyen (2020), The effect of accounting information quality on the decision – making process of Vietnamese Enterprises, Journal of Trade Science, October 2020, P18 - 32 [7] Thanh Hung Nguyen, Quynh Trang Nguyen, Le Dinh Hoang Vu (2020), The effects of accounting benefit, ERP system quality and management commitment on accountants’ satisfaction”, Accounting (2021) 127–136 [8] Quynh Trang Nguyen (2020), Influence of competition and the requirements for production process on management accounting for decision-making and its impacts on firm performance: A survey in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises, International conference for Young Researchers in Economic & Business 2020 [9] Thanh Hung Nguyen, Quynh Trang Nguyen (2021), Management accounting for decision-making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises: Factors affecting and inpact on firm performance, The International Conference on Management and Business – COMB 2021 [10] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2021), The use of life-cycle costing management: A survery in Vietnamese machanical manufacturing enterprises, Journal of Trade Science, October 2021, P76 - 85 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research motivations Mechanical manufacturing is an industry that plays an important role in the industrialization and modernization of Vietnam However, in the context of international economic integration, Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises (VMMEs) are facing many challenges, especially competition with enterprises in the same industry in the region and all over the world In order to run the business, the managers need to make the right and timely management decisions Therefore, administrators of these enterprises have a great demand for modern management knowledge and the support of these tools Managerial accounting provides reasonable information to help administrators make the most appropriate decisions in the internal management process Nevertheless, VMMEs have distinct characteristics in terms of manufacturing technology process, production and management level These characteristics greatly influence management accounting practices in general and managerial accounting for decision-making in particular In fact, VMMEs are increasingly interested in management tools, including managerial accounting However, many enterprises are still confused in the process of practising managerial accounting Content of managerial accounting are being implemented very simply and ineffectively The information which has been provided by managerial accounting has not met the requirements of managers Therefore, managerial accounting for decision-making in VMMEs needs to be completed to match the requirements of corporate governance in the context of economic integration with the region and the world From a research perspective, in the last two decades, managerial accounting has been a topic which has been interested by accounting researchers in Vietnam, with many different approaches, possibly according to the work-based or cyclebased approaches of accounting , according to the function of providing information, or organizational applying management accounting techniques Research issues often specialize in some specific content such as: managerial accounting of elements of the production and business process, managerial accounting for costs, revenues and performance Indirectly, these studies have oriented towards the goal of managerial accounting which provides information and data about activities, processes, business units, products, services, customers to advise managers to make decisions more effectively However, there have been no studies that directly address the content of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making Both theoretical and practical perspectives confirm the role of managerial accounting in general, including managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking In-depth and systematic study content of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making will contribute to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of management, thereby improving firm performance Stemming from the above reasons, the author chose to research topic "Managerial accounting for short-term decision making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises" for my doctoral thesis 1.2 Literature review and research gap The author has synthesized domestic and foreign studies from 2000 related to the research topic according to groups of basic content: - Approaches in researching managerial accounting; - The studies related to the content of managerial accounting for decisionmaking; - The studies on factors affecting management accounting practices From the literatureview of previous studies, the author explores that the researche gaps: - Firstly, the researches that closely connect the issues of managerial accounting for decision-making in general, including short-term decisionmaking, are limited in number Some studies have mentioned this issue but only researched theory with hypothetical situations and based on inference, few actual surveys, especially surveying people who use management accounting information to make decisions - Seconly, although there have been a number of studies that have investigated the management accounting information needs of managers, there has not been any research that fully systemizes the information needs for each type of decision related to the manager's functions as well as linking the work and techniques which managerial accounting applies to have useful information to advise administrators to make decisions - Thirdly, there has not been any research discussing the factors affecting the application managerial accounting for short-term decision- making in terms of impact on the information process: collecting information, processing, analysising and providing management accounting information - Fourthly: There has been no research on managerial accounting for shortterm decision- making in VMMEs , while mechanical manufacturing is an important industry for the development of the economy From the above findings and gaps, the thesis approaches managerial accounting for short-term decision- making in VMMEs from the perspective of applying management accounting techniques in the information process to obtain appropriate information advising managers to make decisions in the process of performing management functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling 1.3 Research objectives and questions 1.3.1 Research objectives General objective: Research and propose solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term decision- making in VMMEs to meet the requirements of administrators in the context that enterprises have applied Information Technology in processing management accounting information To achieve the above objectives, the thesis identifies the following specific objectives: (1) Systematized, analyzed, contributed to supplement and clarified more theories about managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in manufacturing enterprises, approach from the perspective of research the application of management accounting techniques in collecting, processing and analysing information to have useful information which is provided to administrators to make decisions in the planning, organizing, leading and controlling activities of enterprises (2) Assess the factors affecting managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking in manufacturing enterprises (3) Find out the characteristics of VMMEs and short-term decisions in these enterprises (4) Survey actuality of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making and factors affecting the application of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs (5) Propose feasible solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term decision-making to provide useful information for executives 1.3.2 Reasearch questions (1) What are the contents of managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking and the factors affecting managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking in manufacturing enterprises? (2) How does the actuality of managerial accounting in VMMEs? Does it meet information’s managers demand? What are the problems that need to be solved? (3) What are the solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs? 1.4 Object and scope of the study 1.4.1 Object: The thesis focuses managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking on the aspects of theory, status and solutions in VMMEs 1.4.2 Scope: - Content: Theoretical issues of managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking and the actuality of managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking in VMMEs - Size: 79 enterprises out of a total of 146 ones under the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry (VAMI), including state-owned and private enterprises, evenly distributed in large industrial cities in Vietnam - Research time: The thesis was conducted in the period from October 2017 to the September 2021 Oriented solutions for the period from 2022 to 2025 1.5 Research method and process 1.5.1 Research method The thesis used a combination of qualitative research methods and quantitative research methods In particular, qualitative methods are used to codify the rationale and understand the actuality of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs Quantitative methods are used to survey and assess the factors affecting the actuality of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs 1.5.2 Research process The process of thesis research was carried out with steps: (1) Collect secondary data; (2) In-depth interview; (3) Design preliminary questionnaire; (4) Group discussion and completion of the questionnaire; (5) Test investigation; (6) Formal investigation; (7) Presenting research results and proposing perfect solutions 1.6 New contributions of the thesis The thesis has systematized, analyzed, contributed to supplement and clarified more theories about managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in manufacturing enterprises through the parallel approach of management and accounting science From there, the thesis has established a theoretical framework on the content of managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking from the perspective of applying management accounting techniques in collecting, processing, analyzing and providing information to managers, as a basis for them to make short-term decisions related to planning, organizing, leading and controlling The thesis has evaluated the current situation, determined the level of meeting the demand for management accounting information for short-term decisionmaking, analyzed and proposed solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMES In addition, the thesis has explained and clarified the influence of factors on the application of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in surveyed enterprises based on reliable and scientific theoretical and experimental studies The content of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in terms of theory, reality and solutions is placed in the context of enterprises that have applied Information Technology in processing management accounting information Solutions aimed at effectively exploiting all resources and improving competitiveness for enterprises The thesis is a useful reference for administrators in manufacturing enterprises to study and complete managerial accounting for short-term decision-making, especially VMMEs 1.7 Research structure of the thesis In addition to the introduction, conclusion, table of contents, references and appendices, the thesis is structured with chapters Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework on managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in manufacturing enterprises Chapter 3: The actuality of managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises Chapter 4: Solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises 10 CHAPTER THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ON MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING FOR SHORT-TERM DECISION-MAKING IN MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES 2.1 Overview of short-term decision and information for short-term decision-making 2.1.1 Short-term decision 2.1.1.1 Management decisions In this content, the thesis has presented the basic theoretical issues about management decisions: concepts, characteristics and requirements for management decisions The thesis has systematized management decisions according to different criteria, including according to the function of the administrator associated with the time and effect of the decision for the enterprise This is a comprehensive, basic and appropriate approach to the process of using management information, including managerial accounting information 2.1.1.2 Characteristics and requirements for short-term decisions Short-term decisions are usually professional decisions for business operations, have a period of effect, impact and enforce within a relatively short period of time within a business cycle, daily, weekly (Tran Thi Hong Mai & Dang Thi Hoa, 2020) In order for short-term decisions to be effective, it is necessary to ensure the following requirements: economic, timely, flexible, specific, scientific and legal 2.1.1.3 Identify short-term decisions in a manufacturing business According to the identified point of view, short-term decisions mentioned in the study include: Decisions related to planning; Decisions related to the organizing; Decisions regarding leading and controlling 2.1.2 Information for short-term decision-making 13 according to the standards and objectives of the enterprise to have a basis for consulting for managers to decide on choosing the best option 2.3 Content of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making 2.3.1 Collecting managerial accounting information for short-term decisionmaking Collecting information is the first step in the managerial accounting process, which is decisive for the quality of information provided by managerial accounting, thereby affecting the effectiveness of decisions In order to have appropriate information to meet the requirements for short-term decision-making, the process of collecting managerial accounting information is carried out in the sequence of steps: (1) Determine the content of management accounting information to be collected: internal standards, performance results information and forecast information (2) Select sources of information collection: internal and external sources of the enterprise (3) Conduct collecting information according to the type of information and the identified sources of information collection (4) Control the quality of information collected to ensure that it is available and suitable for users and adequately protected against loss of confidentiality, misuse, or loss of integrity 2.3.2 Processing and analyzing managerial accounting information for shortterm decision-making For decisions related to planning Managerial accounting supports decision-making related to planning through budgetin, which provides managers with a detailed plan of goals to be achieved, combined with the ability to mobilize resources and use resources in the manufacturing process and business activities in the future of the enterprise according to specific criteria in terms of quantity and value 14 For decisions related to organising Managerial accounting often uses techniques to process and analyze information: Using costs in decision-making, determining selling price; relevant information analysis to help managers make a number of decisions such as: selfproduce or buy out, decide whether to remove or continue trading, cost - volume - profit analysis to determine the break-even point, the safe range, and the revenue that needs to be realized to achieve the desired profit of the managers to help the managers have a basis make decisions: adjust selling price, cost, structure of goods sold, sales volume to maximize profits For decisions related to leading and controlling Managerial accounting applies responsibility accounting: Classification of organizational structure into responsibility centers From the activities that each responsibility center is performed according to its function, the responsibility accounting controls and evaluates management activities by measuring the results of the implementation of the plan of revenue, cost, profit of each responsibility Center After that, they implement variance analysis the difference between the actual results and the budget, finally analyze the causes of the differences 2.3.3 Providing managerial accounting information for short-term decisionmaking From the initial information collected, processed and analyzed, management accounting is based on the content and nature of decisions and managers information needs to determine the level of service provision information that is suitable and flexible with the operation process and management method of the enterprise Managerial accounting report is an effective means for management accounting to convey the information that needs to be provided to managers On the basis of identifying information needs for short-term decision-making of managers, the thesis outlines the managerial accounting reporting system in manufacturing enterprises, including types respectively: Oriented reporting 15 system; Performance reporting system; Control and evaluate reporting system; Prove the management decision reporting system The application of the method of providing information depends on the extent to which the enterprise is equipped with facilities to support management in general and accounting work in particular 2.4 Factors affecting managerial accounting for short-term decision-making 2.4.1 Theories In order to consider the impact assessment of the factors affecting managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs, author choose three foundation theories: Contingency theory, Psychological theory, Cost and benefit theory With each theory, the thesis outlines the characteristics and determines the influence on the research content 2.4.2 Research model for factors affecting applying managerial accounting for short-term decision-making Based on the theories mentioned above, there are many studies on the factors affecting management accounting practices Synthesizing empirical studies, there are 11 factors mentioned in many, including: managers participation, accountants’ competence, enterprise size and level of management decentralization, corporate culture, foreign ownership rate in enterprises, manufacturing technology, level of support facilities (application of information technology), business strategy and awareness of environmental instability , the level of market competition and customer resources Thereby, the thesis proposes a model to study the influence of factors on "applying managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in manufacturing enterprises": "managers participation”, “accountants’ competence", "market competition" and "application of information technology" With the research context of VMMEs, besides factors mentioned above, it is necessary to conduct interviews and discussions with directly related subjects such as managers, chief accountants of enterprises and researchers to have a basis to adjust the appropriate model The research model and results are presented in detail in Chapter 16 CHAPTER THE ACTUAL MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING FOR SHORT-TERM DECISION-MAKING IN VIETNAMESE MECHANICAL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES 3.1 Overview of Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises In this section, the thesis presents the history of the formation and development of the mechanical manufacturing industry in Vietnam, the characteristics of production and business activities, management, and accounting in VMMEs as well as the application of Information Technology in accounting process The characteristics are related to managerial accounting in general and to short-term decision-making in particular 3.2 Short-term decisions and information needs of the managers for shortterm decision–making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises 3.2.1 Short-term decisions in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises Through the survey, there are not many differences in the types of short-term decisions in each enterprise, often focusing on solving the problems related to cost, and resource consumption to deploy the budget and evaluate the results 3.2.2 Information needs of the managers for short-term decision –making Of the four types of processed information, managers are interested in information on performance results most (mean = 4.13/5) Next is information on orientation business (mean = 3.96/5) Information that substantiates managerial decisions and Information on controlling and evaluating performance received less attention (mean = 2.94 and 2.811 respectively) 3.3 Results from empritical research of managerial accounting for shortterm decision–making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises 3.3.1 The actuality of collecting managerial accounting information for shortterm decision-making Determine the content of management accounting information to be collected: 40/79 answers (50.63%) base on the needs of administrators to this, 7/79 votes (8.86%) based only on ability of the accounting department to collect information and the remaining, 32 votes (40.51%) combinate two factors above Based on that, accountants have identified three types of initial information to be collected: internal standards, performance results information and forecast information In which, internal standards are prioritized by the accountants to 17 collect the most (mean = 4.395/5), followed by performance results information (mean = 4.388/5) The frequency of collecting forecast information about the business environment and the ability of enterprises to mobilize and use resources is very modest (means = 2.580 and 3.447 respectively) Select sources of information collection: 66/79 enterprises (83.54%) said that to collect the identified information, accountants choose sources to collect: internal and external sources of the enterprise Only 13 enterprises (16.46%) completely collect information only from internal No business only collects information from external sources of the enterprise Conduct collecting information according to the type of information and the identified sources of information collection: - Collect information about internal standards from internal sources 100% of enterprises have established internal data on maintenance regimes, machinery maintenance, employee working modes and standards of direct material expenses, direct labor expenses (100%), and overhead expenses (41.77%) Others such as standards of selling expenses, administrative expenses have not been set - Collecting performance results information: Because all enterprises organize managerial accounting under the model combined with financial accounting, the accountants in the operating sections simultaneously undertake the work of financial accounting and managerial accounting, so the collection of performance results information are generally favorable The accounting software of enterprises helps accountants "screen" the accounting objects that have been coded according to accounts and detailed accounting books according to certain principles - Collecting forecasting information: When necessary, accountants summarize from the plans of functional departments in the enterprise and related statistical reports or directly contact relevant functional departments concerned to offer is provided Control the quality of information collected: 67/79 enterprises (84.81%) have controlled the quality of information collected at a good level, the rest is not good 3.3.2 The actuality of processing and analyzing managerial accounting information for short-term decision-making For decisions related to planning 18 79/79 VMMES surveyed (100%) have made budget or plan by the incremental method with the order from the bottom up, including: Sale budgeting, production budgeting, direct raw material, direct labor, overhead, capital, cash budgeting Meanwhile, the budget of cost of goods sold of selling expenses, administrative expenses, financial situation and performance have not been implemented The main reason is that the accountants did not collect enough relevant data 12 enterprises (15.2%) pointed that the Accounting Department assigned to act as the focal point for synthesizing and building the overall estimate for the whole enterprise; 14 enterprises (17.7%) assigned this task to the Sales Department; 53 enterprises (67.1%) said that the Accounting Department coordinated with other departments to summarize the plans of the functional departments and build the overall estimate For decisions related to organising Using costs in decision-making 79/79 surveyed enterprises (100%) apply Absorption costing No enterprise determines Variable costing 76 enterprises (96.2%) applied both methods simultaneously: Process costing and Job costing; only enterprises (3.8%) use only one method of determining Job costing 47 enterprises (59.5%) have approached Target costing to determine the cost of new products introduced into the market Determining selling price in short-term For products sold to the market, 100% of enterprises determine the selling price by adding to the cost base a certain percentage according to the profit target of the administrator With special orders outside the business plan of the enterprise, managers often rely on experience and speculation to decide on the selling price, accept or reject The advisory role of accountants has not been clearly demonstrated Relevant information analysis Relevant information analysis has been used by 23 enterprises (29.1%) to analyze information to advise managers in some short-term decision-making situations such as deciding to continue or discontinue production, manufacture some products at a loss, decide whether to continue production or sell semi-finished products immediately, decide to self-manufacture or buy out parts and products Cost – volume – profit analysis (CVP) 19 Only 13 enterprises (16.45%) initially analyzed CVP to determine revenue and break-even output for the entire inter-product but not yet determined for each specific product No enterprise has analyzed CVP for appropriate information when the administrator makes decisions related to adjusting selling price, adjusting cost, sales volume … For decisions related to leading and controlling Currently, VMMEs have preliminarily formed responsibility centers in three basic forms: cost centers, revenue centers and profit centers The investment center has not been clearly shown In short-term, responsibility accounting has controlled and evaluated management activities through the responsibility centers, which are carried out periodically (monthly, quarterly, annually) through variance analysis between the performance results compared to the plan Approved costs of production and sales The variance analysis in inventory, receivables, payables, selling expenses, administrative expenses, , cost of goods sold, profit has been rarely done 3.3.3 The actuality of providing managerial accounting information for shortterm decision-making According to the survey results, 79/79 enterprises (100%) have prepared orientation reporting systems and performance reporting systems; 73/79 enterprises (92.40%) have built control and evaluate reporting systems; 37 enterprises (46.8%) have developed a number of reports prove the management decisions when it is necessary to advise managers in decision-making situations having more than one option selected The provision of managerial accounting information for short-term decisionmaking in VMMEs is done in two forms: (1) Providing information to senior managers is done through written reports; (2) Provide information for middle and grassroots administrators through reports that are set up depending on the level of Information Techlonogy application in administration Time to provide managerial accounting information is flexible: periodically or at the request of business leaders at certain times when making decisions No enterprises provide information in the form of models or graphs The survey results show that the managers' assessment of the requirements for the quality of information provided by managerial accounting shows that the requirements are "reliability", "confidentiality" and "understandability" of the information provided at the highest rating (mean = 4,380; 4,269 and 3,799 20 respectively) Other requirements related to "economy", "completeness and detail" were also evaluated quite well However, two fundamental requirements: "flexibility" and "timeliness for managerial accounting information for short-term decision- making have not been highly appreciated by managers The assessment of the managers in VMMEs on response to the information needs of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making is only quite average (mean from 3.333 to 3.4086/5) 3.4 The actuality of factors affecting applying managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises Based on the theoretical model and the results of expert discussion, the thesis builds a research model with factors affecting "applying managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs" (MAMD), including: "market competition" (CTR), "managers participation" (NQT), "accountants’ competence" (KTV); “manufacturing technology” (QTR) and “application of information technology” (CNT) The thesis has built a scale of variables based on privious studies The scales are adjusted to match the actual characteristics of VMMEs Overall, the sampling frame of the research project includes 79 mechanical manufacturing enterprises are members of the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry (VAMI) The thesis uses SPSS 26.0 software to process data in turn according to the following steps: descriptive statistics of the sample, testing the reliability of the scale, regression analysis and testing the research hypothesis The linear regression equation showing the relationship between " applying managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs" and the independent variables is as follows: MAMD i = 0,547 + 0,339 CTR i + 0,166 KTV i + 0,372 QTR i From the above equation, it can be seen that 03 factors: "manufacturing technology", "market competition" and "accountants’ competence" have a positive influence on " applying managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs” Meanwhile, 02 factors " managers participation " and "application of information technology" have no influence on the dependent variable 21 3.5 Evaluating the actuality of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises 3.5.1 Advantages The implementation of managerial accounting contents for short-term decision-making in VMMEs has been carried out at a basic level, demonstrating the leading role in providing information to meet the needs of managers in the unit in order to promptly survey and ensure reliability 3.5.2 Limitations About collecting of managerial accounting information Regarding determining the content of collecting of managerial accounting information, businesses have not focused on forecasting information Many enterprises not have enough information about internal standards Some information is determined by internal standards that need to be collected but cannot be collected, especially information on standard of overhead cost, selling expenses, administrative expenses Regarding performance information, enterprises have classified them into categories and groups according to management requirements, but some revenues and expenses have not been identified according to the content that it reflects The criteria for classifying cost and revenue information in the manner of managerial accounting have not been applied by many enterprises Regarding the selection of information sources: accountants in VMMES mainly collect information from internal sources but have not paid much attention to external sources The system of supporting means of collecting managerial accounting information has not taken full advantage of the performance and utility of the supporting means Accountants are still confused in updating and applying modern IT applications to accounting process On the other hand, the accounting software mostly does not integrate the system About processing and analyzing managerial accounting information For decisions related to planning Some budget that have been made are sale volume budgeting, revenue budgeting, production budgeting, direct raw material, direct labor, overhead, capital, cash budgeting, but they are not strict when costs have not been clearly clarified into the variable costs and fixed costs Enterprises have not been able to process information to made cost of goods sold budgeting, selling expenses 22 budgeting, administrative expenses budgeting, financial budgeting and profit budgeting The system budget, on the other hand, are often built fixed for a certain level of activity, but have not been built flexible for different levels of activity For decisions related to organising Enterprises often allocate general costs based on volume in the traditional way, the cost allocation criterion is usually volume, revenue or direct cost without taking into account the "cause - effect" relationship between activities incur costs and expenses Cost – volume – profit analysis and relevant information analysis have not supported much for managers to make decisions about option selection In many situations, managers make decisions based on personal experience and speculation, or just use accounting information as a reference channel but not the main information channel For decisions related to leading and controlling The variance analysis technique is applying at a simple level to analyze the variation of the indicators between the actual results and the plans Analysis of the causes of fluctuations has not been given due attention, and has not helped mechanical enterprises to detect the factors that cause fluctuations in the title indicators, thereby making appropriate adjustment and control decisions About providing managerial accounting information The information on control and evaluate reporting systems is quite simple, because only the difference in absolute and relative numbers is compared with the same indicator comparing this period with the previous period or with the plan to evaluate the results In addition, managers always have a need for information to compare options to decide on the most suitable option for enterprises, but the reports prove the management decisions has not been appreciated by many enterprises In many situations, managers need information immediately to make decisions, but accountants not provide timely information 3.5.3 The cause of the restriction There are many reasons leading to limitations in the implementation of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMEs In which, reasons from VMMES are decisive factors 23 CHATER SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING FOR SHORT-TERM DECISION-MAKING IN VIETNAMESE MACHANICAL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES 4.1 Orientation for the development and requirements for improving managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises 4.1.1 Development orientation of Vietnam's mechanical manufacturing industry According to data from the General Statistics Office, by the end of 2020, the number of mechanical manufacturing enterprises accounts for about 30% of the total number of processing and manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam The development strategy of Vietnam's mechanical industry to 2025, with a vision to 2035, approved in Decision No 319/QD-TTg dated March 15, 2018, the Government identifies mechanical manufacturing as an industry plays an important role in realizing the cause of industrialization and modernization of Vietnam In the inevitable trend of globalization and commitments to join, VMMEs need to pay more attention to accounting in general, managerial accounting and managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in particular in order to provide useful information to advise managers to make accurate and timely decisions to operate and direct production and business activities in terms of mobilizing and exploiting the best resources of the bussiness Therefore, businesses will take opportunities to develop and improve their competitiveness in the market 4.1.2 Principles and perspectives on improving managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises Because of strong impacts of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the context of global integration, solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term 24 decision-making in enterprises in general and VMMEs in particular, to ensure the integrity feasible and suitable for businesses that need to comply with global management accounting principles identified by the Global Association of Certified Public Accountants (CGMA, 2018): (1) Communication provides insight that is influential (2) Information is relevant (3) Impact on value is analyzed (4) Stewardship builds trust 4.2 Solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises 4.2.1 Solutions to improve collecting managerial accounting information for short-term decision-making The thesis proposes a process to identify the types of managerial accounting information that need to be collected and select sources of information collection : - Internal standards: The author recommends enterprises to soon complete the missing internal standards, specifying the responsibilities of other departments in coordinating with the leading department to develop standards, avoiding overlapping, pushing each other's responsibilities in providing information when required by accountants, ensuring all internal standards to be collected are available and can be collected in a timely manner - Information on performance results: Accountants should classify information on performance results into more appropriate categories and groups In addition, in the current conditions, accountants in VMMES also pay attention to collecting information about costs related to the environment (waste treatment costs, costs saved from environment ), quality costs (prevention costs, product appraisal, defective product costs), costs related to human resources, social responsibility - Forecasting information: The thesis also makes suggestions for accountants of enterprises to proactively estimate themselves by collecting information 25 related to the use of these resources at different levels in the process In the past, applying the method of maximum - minimum, least squares to analyze mixed costs into variable and fixed costs The thesis also proposes solutions to improve the way of collecting and controlling the quality of information collected through ERP software The ERP system has a closed process that allows linking, ensuring continuity and inheriting data from different parts of the enterprise, thereby supporting the management accounting in collecting, processing and providing information quickly and accurately, timely 4.2.2 Solutions to improve processing and analyzing managerial accounting information for short-term decision-making For decisions related to planning: The author establishes a process of analyzing and processing data to serve the development of internal standards so that accountants have enough information to set up all kinds of budget Morever, the thesis proposes businesses to consider making flexible budget at different levels of production and consumption For decisions related to organising: With the specific characteristics of the mechanical manufacturing industry, the author proposes accounting use "flexibly" costs in decision-making in each stage of the product life cycle: - In the research and design stage: Apply Target costing - In the mass production stage: Apply absorption costing, use ABC to allocate overhead In addition, VMMEs can refer to apply appropriate information analysis model, CVP analysis when it is necessary to advise managers in some situations such as: Adjust costs, selling prices, structure and volume of goods consumed in the short term, decide to self-produce or buy outside, set up selling prices for special orders outside the business plan of bussiness 26 For decisions related to leading and controlling: Attention should be paid to analyzing the causes of changes in indicators To find out the reason for the variation of each item, in addition to the traditional method of variance analysis technique in price and quantity, accountants can also rely on considering the fluctuations of the factors that make up the indicator 4.2.3 Solutions to improve providing managerial accounting information for short-term decision-making The complete solution of providing managerial accounting information for shortterm decision-making has been clarified by the author according to issues related to the time of providing information and the content of information provided by managerial accounting reports so that scientific and appropriate, complete and synchronous The author proposes that the managerial reporting system in VMMEs, in addition to being classified into types according to the current use purpose for each type of decision, can be classified into types according to the time of providing information: Periodic reports and quick reporting systems are made at the request of managers at certain times when it is necessary to make decisions This type of report will help administrators have more information to consider and make decisions, or based on that, make decisions immediately 4.3 Recommended implementation of complete solutions In order to well implement the above-mentioned groups of complete solutions, it is necessary to have a combination of efforts from many sides: on the side of the State and functional agencies, on the side of Vietnam's mechanical manufacturing enterprises 27 CONCLUSION The thesis "Managerial accounting for short-term decision -making in Vietnamese mechanical manufacturing enterprises" has studied theory and practice to meet the require for short-term decision-making The thesis contributes a number of results: Firstly, the thesis has systematized, analyzed, contributed to supplement and clarified more theories about managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking in manufacturing enterprises through the parallel approach of management and accounting science From there, the thesis has established a theoretical framework on the content of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making from the perspective of applying management accounting techniques in the process of collecting, processing, analyzing and providing information to managers, as a basis for them to make short-term decisions related to planning, organizing, leading and controlling Secondly, the thesis has explained and clarified the factors affecting application of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making and proposed a model of factors affecting application of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMES, including: market competition, managers participation, accountants’ competence, manufacturing technology and application of information technology Thirdly, the thesis has examined the actuality of managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in VMMES Next, the influence level of factors in the proposed research model on managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking was tested From the results obtained through the actuality survey, the author has proposed solutions to improve managerial accounting for short-term decision-making in these enterprises Fourthly, the content of managerial accounting for short-term decisionmaking in manufacturing enterprises both in terms of theory, reality and solutions is placed in the context that enterprises have applied IT in collecting, processing, analysing and providing management accounting information With the above contents, the thesis has basically answered the research questions and completed the set research objectives The author wishes to continue to receive comments from scientists, managers, and experts to further improve the thesis ... can be found at: - National Library - Library, Thuongmai University LIST OF WORKS PUBLISHED DURING THE DOCTORAL COURSE RELATED TO THE THESIS [1] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2017), The role of managerial... decision–making process of corporate executives, Viet Nam Trade and Industry Review, July 2017, P 401 – 406 [2] Nguyen Quynh Trang (2019), The impact of accounting information quality characteristics on the... distinct characteristics in terms of manufacturing technology process, production and management level These characteristics greatly influence management accounting practices in general and managerial