Heuristic Reasoning in Management Accounting

Heuristic Reasoning in Management Accounting
Author: Jörn Sebastian Basel
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3844101608

Heuristics are short-cuts and deliberately ignore information, for instance through examining fewer cues or integrating less information. However, this collides with a view on management accountants and controllers as rational agents which seems to suggest that all available information should be considered. As their role as information supplier is often accompanied with the task to assist managers in their judgment and decision making, they have huge influence on these processes. Therefore, it is of high relevance to know if, how, and which heuristics management accountants and controllers use. Furthermore, we need to know which individual and situational factors influence their usage of heuristics. With a series of five empirical studies, applying a mixed-methods research design, the author sheds light to these research questions and addresses some central claims of the potential biases but also the stunning benefits of relying on heuristic reasoning. Central to his discussion are dual-process-approaches which are debated in cognitive psychology. Scholars of these approaches claim that we should distinguish between two distinct processes (or systems) of the human mind. Following this interpretation, heuristics are processes which are described as intuitive, automatic, fast, and unconscious. They are routinized cognitive processes which are based on experience in certain social environments and thus often exhibit ecological rationality. Overall, this book picks up an up-to-date topic in behavioural accounting research, which not only is of relevance for researchers but as well for practitioners.

Management Control Systems and Cross-Cultural Research

Management Control Systems and Cross-Cultural Research
Author: Michael Hanzlick
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2015-01-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3844103805

A fundamental challenge that management faces in the twenty-first century is how to exercise adequate control, i. e. how to guide and direct the behaviour of their subordinates. With increasing globalisation firms witness a cross-cultural impact too. Of particular interest is the question of whether to use the standardized form of control similar to the home base of firms or whether to adapt their control practices to the local specificities. Given the meagre state of the literature in management control with a cross-cultural emphasis, this study addresses a real world problem, namely the question whether management control practices are configured similarly or differently across cultures. Relying on a generalized industry sample across four countries (Belgium, Canada, Germany and Poland), this study sought to shed light on one of the more intriguing questions – “does culture matter” – for specific control areas, in particular for performance measurement, performance evaluation and reward systems. The theoretical foundations are grounded in the cultural framework of the GLOBE project accompanied by thoughts of new institutionalism, stakeholder theory and contingency thoughts. Hypotheses are tested by mean comparisons (ANOVA, ANCOVA). The empirical findings highlight cultural differences for a broader set of control practices and deliver new insights into the intersection of culture and management control. This dissertation crafts a novel topic with high relevance for both researchers and practitioners. The study demonstrates areas for which management control practices should be adapted to the local needs and areas for which those practices could be harmonized in the whole company. This monograph stresses some areas in which future empirical cross-cultural research can benefit, and some areas where conceptual thoughts could be advanced.

Maintaining Sustainable Accounting Systems in Small Business

Maintaining Sustainable Accounting Systems in Small Business
Author: Carvalho, Luísa Cagica
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2018-06-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1522552685

Accounting systems and sustainability management are vital for company management and performance. This is particularly difficult for small businesses. As such, it is necessary to understand the features and issues of sustainable accounting systems, with a particular focus on small business. Maintaining Sustainable Accounting Systems in Small Business is a critical scholarly resource that explores sustainability accounting systems with small businesses and how the economic, social, and environmental aspects are related to each other in the company’s management and performance. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as management control system, integrated reporting, and small and medium enterprises, this book is geared towards entrepreneurs, business managers, academicians, business professionals, and graduate-level students seeking practical information about the different sustainable accounting systems from strategic, organizational, and accounting perspectives.

Disruptive Technology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications

Disruptive Technology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
Author: Management Association, Information Resources
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 2227
Release: 2019-07-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1522592741

The proliferation of entrepreneurship, technological and business innovations, emerging social trends and lifestyles, employment patterns, and other developments in the global context involve creative destruction that transcends geographic and political boundaries and economic sectors and industries. This creates a need for an interdisciplinary exploration of disruptive technologies, their impacts, and their implications for various stakeholders widely ranging from government agencies to major corporations to consumer groups and individuals. Disruptive Technology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines innovation, imitation, and creative destruction as critical factors and agents of socio-economic growth and progress in the context of emerging challenges and opportunities for business development and strategic advantage. Highlighting a range of topics such as IT innovation, business strategy, and sustainability, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, business executives, business professionals, academicians, and researchers interested in strategic decision making using innovations and competitiveness.

ACCA P5 Advanced Performance Management

ACCA P5 Advanced Performance Management
Author: BPP Learning Media
Publisher: BPP Learning Media
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2016-02-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1472746732

BPP Learning Media's status as official ACCA Approved Learning Provider - Content means our ACCA Study Texts and Practice & Revision Kits are reviewed by the ACCA examining team. BPP Learning Media products provide you with the exam focussed material you need for exam success.

Meta-Heuristics

Meta-Heuristics
Author: Stefan Voß
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1461557755

Meta-Heuristics: Advances and Trends in Local Search Paradigms for Optimizations comprises a carefully refereed selection of extended versions of the best papers presented at the Second Meta-Heuristics Conference (MIC 97). The selected articles describe the most recent developments in theory and applications of meta-heuristics, heuristics for specific problems, and comparative case studies. The book is divided into six parts, grouped mainly by the techniques considered. The extensive first part with twelve papers covers tabu search and its application to a great variety of well-known combinatorial optimization problems (including the resource-constrained project scheduling problem and vehicle routing problems). In the second part we find one paper where tabu search and simulated annealing are investigated comparatively and two papers which consider hybrid methods combining tabu search with genetic algorithms. The third part has four papers on genetic and evolutionary algorithms. Part four arrives at a new paradigm within meta-heuristics. The fifth part studies the behavior of parallel local search algorithms mainly from a tabu search perspective. The final part examines a great variety of additional meta-heuristics topics, including neural networks and variable neighbourhood search as well as guided local search. Furthermore, the integration of meta-heuristics with the branch-and-bound paradigm is investigated.

Advances in Management Accounting

Advances in Management Accounting
Author: Chris Akroyd
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2023-10-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1837539189

Volume 35 of Advances in Management Accounting features a diverse range of authors from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America, focusing on theoretically sound and practical management accounting research which has a cutting-edge and wide-reaching appeal to both academics and practitioners.

ACCA P5 - Advanced Performance Management - Study Text 2013

ACCA P5 - Advanced Performance Management - Study Text 2013
Author: BPP Learning Media
Publisher: BPP Learning Media
Total Pages: 690
Release: 2011-12-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1445392178

This examiner-reviewed Study Text covers all that you need to know for P5. It features plenty of recent case studies illustrating key syllabus areas and questions to hone your understanding of what you have just read. This paper tests your application of knowledge so these studies and questions are key learning tools. You will also find up-to-date information on the latest management theories and techniques which feature highly in this paper. Then there are plenty of exam tips to guide your study and help you focus on what is essential to know. Now it's up to you.

Heuristics and Biases

Heuristics and Biases
Author: Thomas Gilovich
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 884
Release: 2002-07-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780521796798

This book, first published in 2002, compiles psychologists' best attempts to answer important questions about intuitive judgment.

Managerial Judgement and Strategic Investment Decisions

Managerial Judgement and Strategic Investment Decisions
Author: Elaine Harris
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
Total Pages: 127
Release: 2009-08-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1856178978

This book presents the findings from a cross-sectional survey funded by CIMA. The project aimed to survey senior management accountants working across a range of organisations and industries with a unique focus on the behavioural side of decision making, the use of managerial judgement. Previous capital budgeting surveys have tended to focus on the quantitative evaluation tools and techniques used for project appraisal. This study was broader in that it asked about every stage of the strategic investment decision (SID) process, from initiation to post implementation review, and how different managers were involved at different stages of the process. The focus is on how decision judgements are reached. - Explains Strategic Investment Decisions (SIDs) clearly to management accountants who are expected to be involved in decision making processes - Covers all stages of the SID process, the types of SID and how multiple managers participate in the process - Will help organisations benchmark their own SID practice