Management accounting in the digital economy edited by alnoor bhimani

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY This page intentionally left blank MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY Edited by Alnoor Bhimani Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © the several contributors The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2003 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-926038-9 10 Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., Guldford and King's Lynn CONTENTS List of Contributors List of Figures List of Tables Digitization and Accounting Change Alnoor Bhimani Part The Transformation of Accounting and Management Controls Dis-Integration through Integration: The Emergence of Accounting Information Networks Franco Amigoni, Ariela Caglio, and Angelo Ditillo Management Accounting for the Extended Enterprise: Performance Management for Strategic Alliances and Networked Partners Shannon W Anderson and Karen L Sedatole Technology-Driven Integration, Automation, and Standar dization of Business Processes: Implications for Accounting Chris Chapman and Wai Fong Chua Expenditures on Competitor Analysis and Information Security: A Managerial Accounting Perspective Lawrence A Gordon and Martin P Loeb The Changing Role of Management Accounting and Control Systems: Accounting for Knowledge Across Control Domains Frank G H Hartmann and Eddy H J Vaassen vii xiv xvi 13 15 36 74 95 112 vi CONTENTS Part Reflections on Organizational Shifts Management Accounting Inscriptions and the Post-Industrial Experience of Organizational Control Paul Andon, Jane Baxter, and Wai Fong Chua Operations, Purchase, and Sales in Hyperreality: Implications for Management Control from the Perspective of Institutional Sociology Salvador Carmona and Paolo Quattrone Not for Profit—for Sale: Management Control in and of an Internet Start-Up Company Jan Mouritsen and Kristian Kreiner 10 Management Accounting in the New Economy: The Rationale for Irrational Controls Leif Sjöblom Part Reshaping Accounting 11 Management Control and E-Logistics Maurice Gosselin 12 Internet-Based Information Systems in the Not-for-Profit Sector Hans-Ulrich Küpper 13 Paradoxes of Management and Control in a New Economy Firm Kari Lukka and Markus Granlund 14 Management Accounting and the Knowledge Production Process Hanno Roberts Index 133 135 152 169 185 203 205 218 239 260 284 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS AMIGONI, Franco, is Full Professor of Management Accounting and Control Systems at Bocconi University and Senior Lecturer at the Management Accounting and Control Department of SDA Bocconi School of Management From 1991 to 1996, he was the Dean of SDA Bocconi School of Management He has published several papers on the design of management control systems and the impact of information technologies on the evolution of accounting His research interests are in the fields of integrated performance measurement systems, innovations in management accounting and corporate governance ANDERSON, Shannon, is an Associate Professor of Management at the Jesse H Jones Graduate School of Management of Rice University Prior to joining the faculty at the Jones School she taught for years at the University of Michigan Business School She earned a doctorate in Business Economics at Harvard University and a BSE in Operations Research at Princeton University Her research focuses on designing and implementing performance measurement and cost control systems to support management decision-making and has been published in the Accounting Review, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Accounting Horizons, Production and Operations Management, the International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems, and the Journal of Management Accounting Research She is also co-author of the book Implementing Management Innovations Before returning to school to pursue her doctorate, Professor Anderson worked as an engineer for General Motors Corporation Professor Anderson is a member of the American Accounting Association and INFORMS and currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Management Accounting Research and Management Science and on the editorial boards of the Accounting Review, Management Accounting Research, Accounting, Organizations and Societies, and Service Operations Management ANDON, Paul, M.Com (Hons.) CA is a Lecturer from the School of Accounting at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Paul currently teaches undergraduate financial and management accounting His main research interests are in the areas of customer reporting/profitability, knowledge management and ‘new economy’ performance measurement Prior to joining UNSW, Paul was employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers within their Assurance and Business Advisory Services division, specializing in technology, communications, and entertainment clients Paul is an Associate of the viii LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia He has published in the Australian Accounting Review and Pacific Accounting Review BAXTER, Jane, Ph.D FCPA is from the School of Accounting at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Jane teaches and researches in the area of management accounting Jane has designed and teaches courses on stakeholder value management, innovation and intangible resources Her current research interests encompass innovation, knowledge management, and the structuring of the accounting and finance function Jane has published in Behavioral Research in Accounting, Journal of Management Accounting Research, Pacific Accounting Review, Australian Accounting Review and Accounting, Organizations and Society BHIMANI, Alnoor (Al), is a Reader in Accounting and Finance at the London School of Economics where he has been teaching since 1988 He obtained an MBA from Cornell University (US) and a Ph.D from the LSE and is also a Certified Management Accountant (Canada) Al has co-authored a number of books, including Management Accounting: Evolution not Revolution (CIMA 1989), Management Accounting: Pathways to Progress (CIMA 1994) and Management and Cost Accounting (Pearson 2003) He has also edited Management Accounting: European Perspectives (OUP 1996) Al has written numerous articles in scholarly journals and serves on the editorial board of several journals He has undertaken management accounting related fieldwork in a variety of global enterprises and has presented his research to corporate executives and academic audiences in Europe, Asia, and North America CAGLIO, Ariela, Ph.D in Economia Aziendale e Management at Bocconi University, is an Assistant Professor of Management Accounting and Control Systems at Bocconi University and Lecturer at the Management Accounting and Control Department of SDA Bocconi School of Management She has published some contributions on the evolution of the accounting profession, integrated information systems, and internet-based companies Her research interests relate to the impacts of information technologies on both the organization of accounting activities and accounting system and management control of networked firms Salvador Carmona is a Professor of Accounting and Management Control at Instituto de Empresa Salvador's research interests are management acounting in high-tech environments and management accounting change from an historical perspective His papers have been published in journals such as Abacus; Accounting Historians Journal; Accounting, Organizations and Society; the European Accounting Review; the European Journal of Operational Research; The International Journal of Production Economics; Management Accounting Research; Management Learning; and The LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS ix Scandinavian Journal of Management He serves on the editorial board of several academic journals CHAPMAN, Chris, gained his doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science before moving to the University of Oxford as a University Lecturer in Management Studies and Fellow in Accounting at Linacre College His research interests focus on the role of accounting and accountants in financial management and performance evaluation Emphasizing the social and organizational aspects of these processes he has published in journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, Management Accounting Research, and European Accounting Review Chris sits on the editorial board of Accounting, Organizations and Society CHUA, Wai Fong, took up the headship of the School of Accounting at the University of New South Wales in 2000 where she has been a Professor since 1994 Prior to joining UNSW in 1985, Wai Fong taught at the University of Sheffield (1981–1982) and Sydney University (1983–1985) She teaches and researches primarily in the area of management accounting Her current research projects include an examination of the role of financial and nonfinancial controls in the professional service firms and the operation of ‘digitized’ accounting technologies Her other research interests include the historical professionalization of accounting and accounting in the public sector She has published widely in international journals including The Accounting Review, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, and the Journal of Management Accounting Research She is on the editorial boards of several journals and on the Academic Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia DITILLO, Angelo, Ph.D in Economia Aziendale e Management at Bocconi University, is an Assistant Professor of Management Accounting and Control Systems at Bocconi University and Lecturer at the Management Accounting and Control Department of SDA Bocconi School of Management He has published papers on financial shared service centres, transfer pricing, and knowledge-based organizations His main research interests are in the area of management accounting and control of knowledge-intensive firms, multinational corporations, and networks GORDON, Lawrence A., is the Ernst & Young Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance, and the Director of the Ph.D Programme at The Robert H Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park His Ph.D is in Managerial Economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute He is the author of more than seventy-five articles, published in such journals as The Accounting Review, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Accounting, Organizations and Society, .. .MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY This page intentionally left blank MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY Edited by Alnoor Bhimani Great Clarendon Street,... contingencies relating to accounting information Scholars in management accounting have in the past shown much interest in the structural contingencies between management accounting systems characteristics... journals including The Accounting Review, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, and the Journal of Management Accounting Research