---TRINH HUU LUC FACTORS AFFECTING ATTITUDE AND INTENTIONTO USE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING – RESEARCH ON THE MEKONG DELTA ENTERPRISES Major: AccountingCode: 9340301 SUMMARY OF T
Trang 1-TRINH HUU LUC
FACTORS AFFECTING ATTITUDE AND INTENTIONTO USE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
ACCOUNTING – RESEARCH ON THE MEKONG DELTA ENTERPRISES
Major: AccountingCode: 9340301
SUMMARY OF THE THESIS
HO CHI MINH CITY - 2024
Trang 2Thesis supervisor:1 PhD Nguyen Thi Thu
2 PhD Pham Ngoc Toan
Trang 31 Trịnh Hữu Lực, Tăng Thành Phước Các yếu tố ảnhhưởng đến việc công bố báo cáo phát triển bền vững – Trường
hợp các doanh nghiệp tại Việt Nam Tạp chí Khoa học, Đại họcMở TP.HCM, ISSN: 1859-3453, 14(3), 2019.
2 Trịnh Hữu Lực, Tăng Thành Phước, Nguyễn Văn Ngoan.Các nhân tố tác động đến ý định sử dụng kế toán quản trị môi
trường tại các doanh nghiệp thủy sản tỉnh Bạc Liêu Tạp chíKinh tế & Phát triển, ISSN: 1859-0012, 285(2), tháng 3/2021.
3 Trịnh Hữu Lực, Nguyễn Thị Thu Nhận thức về vai tròcủa kế toán quản trị môi trường dưới góc nhìn từ các nhân tố
tình huống Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Tài chính – Marketing, ISSN1859-3690, 14(4), 2023.
4 Trịnh Hữu Lực, Lê Huỳnh Như Vai trò trung gian của kếtoán quản trị môi trường trong mối quan hệ giữa chiến lược và
thành quả môi trường Tạp chí khoa học, Đại học Mở Thànhphố Hồ Chí Minh, e-ISSN: 2734-9578, 19(7), tháng 5/2024.
5 Trịnh Hữu Lực, Phạm Ngọc Toàn Vai trò trung gian củaThái độ trong mối quan hệ của các nhân tố ngẫu nhiên và Ýđịnh sử dụng Kế toán quản trị môi trường – Trường hợp nghiên
cứu tại các doanh nghiệp Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long Tạp chíkhoa học, Đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, e-ISSN: 2734-
9578, dự kiến 20(4)
Trang 4INTRODUCTION1 The necessity of the topic
Vietnam is a developing country and is in a strongerintegration trend than ever Although the government has madeefforts to promulgate and implement guidelines and policies onenvironmental protection, Environmental issues in general andresearch into recording environmental issues in the accountingsystem in particular are a big problem Particularly in theMekong Delta region, although most of the goals of ResolutionNo 21-NQ/TW have been basically completed, it has had apositive impact on economic and social development,promoting potential and advantages of the region, making agreat contribution to the overall achievements of the wholecountry But the Mekong Delta is facing many risks of resourceand environmental degradation and the impact of climatechange Resources and the environment in this region are facingserious challenges
In such a context, the issue of sustainable developmentreceives more attention from people, and the mention ofenvironmental factors in the accounting practice systembecomes more and more focused Environmental managementaccounting (EMA) is expected to be an effective support toolfor businesses in recording and evaluating costs, benefits andeffectiveness of management activities related to theenvironment (Jasch, 2003)
Trang 5In fact, many companies in developed countries have longbeen aware of the issue of collecting and distributinginformation related to the natural environment (Burritt et al.,2002; KH Lee, 2011), so EMA appears and is applied mainly inthis type of manufacturing enterprise in developed countries.However, most developing countries are lagging in theapplication of EMA methods and techniques compared todeveloped countries (Xiaomei, 2004), and that includesVietnam Therefore, researching any related issues that promotethe development of EMA in Vietnam is also worthy ofrecognition.
Since its inception until now, there have been many studiesgiving us an overview of EMA However, according to Boumaand van der Veen (2002) and Qian et al (2011), explaining thecurrent state of EMA development from a theoreticalperspective is still lacking This is the basis and the goal for theauthor to conduct this research to expand understanding andknowledge about EMA development in the theoretical aspect.In this study, the author uses Contingency theory andStakeholder theory to pose and explain issues related to EMA.And in this thesis, the author chose to revolve around theissue of attitude and intention of chief accountants towardsusing EMA with impact factors stemming from the two theoriesmentioned above First, the intention is a fairly new approachwhen most research in Vietnam goes in the direction of
Trang 6influencing the implementation of EMA (Nguyen Thi HangNga, 2019; Nguyen Thi Minh Cam, 2018; Nguyen Thi MinhTram, 2021) Second, according to Jasch (2006), EMA does notexist as a parallel system but is an integrated part ofmanagement accounting, in which EMA adjusts the enterprise'saccounting system related to the practice of EMA tosystematically link traditional monetary and non-monetaryinformation Based on the above factors, the author chose thetopic: "The impact of factors on the attitude and intention to useEnvironmental Management Accounting - research on theMekong Delta enterprises" to carry out this thesis.
2 Research objectives and research questions
The objective of this study is to identify and measure theimpact of factors on the attitude and intention to use EMA ofchief accountants of enterprises in the Mekong Delta region.Based on the research results, the author suggests someimplications for the development of EMA in Vietnam in thefuture
To address the above objectives, the followingcorresponding questions are raised:
- Question 1: What factors affect the attitude of chiefaccountants towards the use of EMA at the Mekong Deltaenterprises? What is the level of impact?
- Question 2: What factors affect the chief accountant'sintention to use EMA at the Mekong Delta enterprise? What isthe level of impact?
Trang 73 Subjects and scope of the research3.1 Research subjects
With the above objectives and research questions, the authordetermines that the research object of the thesis is the attitudeand intention to use EMA at enterprises in the Mekong Delta
4 Research Methodology
The study uses a combination of qualitative researchmethods and quantitative research methods Qualitativeresearch is used to explore and review the appropriateness ofthe scale of variables when used in a new research space.Quantitative research is used to test the measurement model andthe structural model, thereby solving the research objective
5 Contribution of research
Theoretical contributions
First, the research contributes to expand understanding ofEMA as this is a very new field for most businesses in Vietnam.Second, the results of the study further contribute to explainthe formation and development of EMA from a theoreticalperspective This is something recommended by many
Trang 8researchers This result once again confirms the relevance of thegroup of social system-based theories in studying EMA.
Third, the results of the study contribute to further discoveryof the group of background factors in behavioral predictiontheory On the other hand, the use of contingency theory andstakeholder theory as the basis for identifying underlyingfactors motivates more than other research to apply andintegrate theories, thereby forming the basis more solid whenchoosing background factors
Practical contributions
First, the research results are the basis for managers to havemore specific and clear plans in the process of establishing andapplying EMA to accounting information system
Second, the results of the study have certain implications forthe policy-making process Clarifying the relationship ofseveral factors to the intention to use EMA of the accountingdepartment at the enterprise, the results of the study areexpected to be a small piece of the puzzle for relevantmanagement agencies in managing the overall economic pictureassociated with the environment
6 Thesis structure
The thesis is designed into 5 chapters.Chapter 1: Research overview In this chapter, the authorwill discuss research related to EMA in the world as well as inVietnam The author will comment and give opinions on the
Trang 9results of these studies, thereby recognizing gaps and issues thatneed to continue to be researched.
Chapter 2: Theoretical basis In this chapter, the authordelves into the content of theories that serve to clarify researchissues, especially systematizing background theories that serveto make arguments and identify research hypotheses The resultof this chapter is the proposed analytical framework or researchmodel
Chapter 3: Research Methodology The author describes indetail the steps and stages in the process of collecting,describing, analyzing, and evaluating data for qualitative andquantitative research
Chapter 4: Research results This chapter is based on theresults of the quantitative and qualitative research process toconduct analysis and evaluation, thereby providing discussionson those results
Chapter 5: Conclusion and implications The authorsummarizes the results of the research From there, we give ouropinion and propose some theoretical and managementimplications in the coming time to serve the goal of bringingEMA into practice for businesses in Vietnam, and furthersustainable development orientation and internationalintegration Finally, there are limitations of the study andsuggestions for future research directions
Trang 10CHƯƠNG 1: RESEARCH OVERVIEW
1.1 Foreign studies1.1.1 Studies on awareness, attitude, and intention1.1.2 Studies on factors influencing the use of EMA1.1.3 Studies on the use of EMA
1.2 Domestic studies1.2.1 Studies on awareness, attitude, and intention1.2.2 Studies on factors influencing the use of EMA1.2.3 Studies on the use of EMA
1.3 Review of research overview1.3.1 Types of research related to EMA
In fact, the above brief studies have demonstrated theexistence in Vietnam of almost all types of EMA studies.However, the time of appearance of studies has a certain lagcompared to foreign studies of the same type and relativelylimited number, which has not satisfied the need for knowledgefor this tool
1.3.2 Theories
Like research in other fields, theory plays a huge role duringthe process of exploring and analyzing EMA While EMA isstill new in Vietnam, continuing to learn and explain EMA froma theoretical perspective is something that should be maintainedin the future
1.3.3 Implementing country and survey subjects
Trang 11Most developing countries are lagging in the application ofEMA methods and techniques (Xiaomei, 2004) In addition,when surveying, most authors prioritize choosing managers asdata providers.
1.3.4 Research results
There are inconsistencies in the results obtained from theseresearch articles, especially for studies on factors affectingEMA practices or, more broadly, practices related to sustainabledevelopment
1.4 Research gap
First, in the coming years, Vietnam will face manychallenges related to the environment (Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment, 2021)
Secondly, the explanation and exploration of EMA from atheoretical perspective has not been fully implemented
Third, the diversity and inconsistency of research resultsFourth, the role of the accounting department in providinginformation has not been fully considered by the authors, eventhough these are the people who directly operate the accountingwork of the enterprise
Fifth, currently very few studies systematically explain thefactors (organizational factors) that impact the adoption ofEMA
1.5 Research direction of the author
Trang 12One is that instead of targeting practical issues, the authorchose Attitude and Intention to use EMA as the object for theresearch.
Second, continue to use social system-based theory to servethe variable reasoning process, specifically contingency theory,stakeholders, and behavioral prediction
Third, on the one hand, retest the inherited variables, and onthe other hand, expand the understanding of the variablesthrough establishing relationships between them
Finally, while most previous authors ignored the role of theaccounting department, this study identifies informationprovided from this department as the main type of data thatneeds to be collected for model testing
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CHƯƠNG 2: THEORETICAL BASIS2.1 Related concepts
2.1.1 EMA and EMA usage concepts
2.1.1.1 EMA concepts
EMA is a comprehensive tool for detecting and analyzinginformation (in the form of monetary and physical units) toserve the decision-making process of businesses regardingproduction and business activities as well as the environment
2.1.1.2 EMA usage concepts
Previous studies have identified the use of EMA as the useof different tools for different purposes (Burritt et al., 2002;Christ & Burritt, 2013) Specifically, the single application orintegration of tools (material flow accounting, life cycleanalysis, environmental cost accounting, etc.) will generateinformation (monetary or physical units) related to theenvironment such as energy, water, raw materials, and types ofwaste And this information will serve many differentmanagement purposes such as decision making or control
2.1.2 Attitude, behavioral control, intention to use EMA
- Attitude towards the use of EMA is the disposition, thetendency to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction (belief)towards the use of the EMA
- Perceived behavioral control toward using EMA is aperson's belief in the ability to perform EMA, in other words,being able to control the results of using EMA
Trang 14- Intent to use EMA are indications of a person's willingnessto use EMA
2.1.3 Stakeholder pressure
Stakeholder theory assumes that any business in the processof operation also has relationships with parties that without thesupport of the parties, the business will not be able to exist
2.2.1.1 Theory’s content
Basically, the theory assumes that human behavior alwaysexists for a reason and always comes from information orbeliefs about that behavior These beliefs come from manydifferent sources and contexts, including education, personalexperiences, and the media
2.2.1.2 Apply theory to research
If considered specifically in the EMA field, although veryfew, there are still studies mentioning the theory of planned
Trang 15behavior When discussing this theoretical model, Fishbein andAjzen (2011) believe that this is a reliable model for studyingany behavior in society.
2.2.2 Stakeholder theory
2.2.2.1 Theory’s content
According to Donaldson and Preston (1995), stakeholdertheory is used with the goal of guiding and directing theorganization, arrangement, and general activities of theenterprise In particular, this theory views a business as a unit ororganization that exists and operates in an environment withmany participants with many different purposes
2.2.2.2 Apply theory to research
For this thesis, the author uses the original theory ofFreeman (1984) with a combination of the content of all threeperspectives above, paying special attention to the content ofthe third perspective - Norms This is an appropriate approachwhen the content of this perspective focuses on deepening theaspect of adjusting business behavior to conform to businessethics from the pressure of stakeholders
2.2.3 Contingency theory
2.2.3.1 Theory’s content
Under the assumption that a business's activities are a directresult of contextual factors, contingency theory holds that whenactivities are appropriate to the situation, the business'sperformance results will be enhanced
2.2.3.2 Apply theory to research