Strategic Management Accounting Practices in Croatia
Branka Ramljak, Professor and Vice Rector of the University of Split, Croatia
Andrijana Rogošić, PhD, Faculty of Economics, University of Split, Croatia
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into strategic management accounting practices and their
implications on relevance and timeliness of information used managers. The research is based on a questionnaire
survey of the large-sized Croatian companies. Activity based costing and quality costing represent the most widely used
strategic management accounting techniques in the Croatian sample. The results of the empirical research indicate that
the fundamental purpose of strategic management accountig, and that is providing broad scope of relevant and timely
information, is fulfilled. It was hypothesized that synergistic effect of the different strategic management accounting
techniques implementation has a positive impact on cost control and reduction. The empirical results provided the
support to that hypothesis. Thus, strategic management accounting techniques are complementary and their combined
effect is very useful for the cost control.
INTRODUCTION
The business environment has become intensively dynamic and increasingly unpredictable in recent decades and,
correspondingly, managing company has become more demanding. To achieve competitiveness, companies apply
different strategies and management accounting should be used as one of the main supporting system for strategy
implementation. For this purpose strategic management accounting and strategic cost management have been developed.
Kenneth Simmonds is considered to be the founder of strategic management accounting when he introduced the concept
in 1981. Simmonds (1981: 26) defines strategic management accounting as monitoring and analysis of management
accounting information of the enterprise and its competitors in order to develop and control strategy. Bromwich (1990:
28) believes that strategic management accounting provides financial information about the market in which the
company sells its products and the costs and cost structure of competitors.
From its traditional emphasis on the financially oriented decision analysis and budgetary control, management
accounting has evolved to encompass a more strategic approach that emphasizes the identification, measurement, and
management of key financial and operational drivers of shareholder value (Ittner and Larcker, 2001: 350). The
importance of strategic management accounting in measuring multidimensional aspects of performance is rapidly
increasing (Fowzia, 2011: 62) although many companies still use traditional management and/or cost accounting
techniques.
From a historical perspective, it is possible to determine that the cost accounting developed much earlier than
management accounting (Kaplan: 1984). Cost accounting transformed into management accounting in the period 1945
to the 1960s (Langfield-Smith, 2008: 207). Given that (traditional) management accounting focuses on financial
information, the business context in which decisions are made and implemented is not included. The inclusion of nonfinancial information and information about the business environment in order to implement the company's strategy has
transformed management accounting into the strategic management accounting.
Strategic management accounting or strategic cost management (the term more commonly used in USA) can be
defined by the techniques employed. The most used techniques are (in alphabetical order):
Activity based costing – a method based on the definition of the activities performed by the company. Those
activities are considered the ultimate causes of indirect costs (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010: 234).
Attribute costing – the costing of specific product attributes that appeal to customers. Attributes that may be
costed include: operating performance variables, reliability, warranty arrangements, the degree of finish and trim,
assurance of supply and after sales service (Guilding et al., 2000: 131).
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7 Number 2, October, 2012
93
Benchmarking – the comparison of company performance to that o fan ideal standard (Cinquini and Tenucci,
2010: 258).
Brand value budgeting – the use of brand value as a basis for managerial decisions on allocation of resources to
support/enhance a brand position, thus placing attention on management dialogue on brand issues (Guilding et al., 2000:
131).
Brand value monitoring – the financial valuation of a brand through the assessment of brand strength factors such
as: leadership, stability, market, internationality, trend, support, and protection combined with historical brand profits
(Guilding et al., 2000: 131).
Competitive position monitoring – the analysis of competitor positions within the industry by assessing and
monitoring trends in competitor sales, market share, volume, unit costs and return on sales. This information can
provide a basis for the assessment of a competitor's market strategy (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010: 258; Guilding et al.,
2000: 131).
Competitor cost assessment – the provision of regularly scheduled update estimate of a competitor unit cost. Such
information could derive from different sources (direct observation, common suppliers or customers or competitors exemployees (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010: 258).
Competitor performance appraisal based on published financial statements – the numerical analysis of a
competitor's published financial statements as a part of an assessment of a competitor's key sources of competitive
advantage (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010: 258; Guilding et al., 2000: 131).
Customer accounting – analysis directed to appraise profit, sales or costs deriving from customers or customer
segments (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010: 258).
Environmental Management Accounting - represents a combined approach that provides for the transition of data
from financial accounting, cost accounting and mass balances to increase material efficiency, reduce environmental
impacts and risks and reduce costs of environmental protection (Jasch, 2003: 667).
Integrated performance measurement systems (BSC or non-financial indicators) – a measurement system, which
focuses typically on acquiring performance knowledge based on customer requirements and frequently encompasses
non-financial measures. These measures imply the monitoring of factors for the attainment of customer satisfaction and
competitive advantage (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010: 258).
Life cycle costing – the appraisal of costs along all stages of a product or service life. In general, these stages may
include design, introduction, growth, decline and eventually abandonment (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010: 258; Guilding
et al., 2000: 132).
Quality costing – the costing of quality related activities. Quality costs can be classified into three categories:
prevention, appraisal and failure costs. Quality cost reports are produced for the purpose of directing management
attention to prioritize quality problems.
Strategic costing – the use of dana based on strategic and marketing information to develop and identify superior
strategies that will sustain a competitive advantage (Guilding et al., 2000: 132).
Strategic pricing – the analysis of strategic factors in the pricing decision process. These factors may include:
competitor price reaction, price elasticity, market growth, economies of scale and experience (Guilding et al., 2000:
132).
Target costing – a method used during product and process design that involves estimating a cost calculated by
subtracting a desired profit margin from an estimated (or market-based) price to arrive at a desired production,
engineering, or market cost. The product is then designed to meet that cost (Guilding et al., 2000: 132).
Value chain costing – an activity based costing approach where costs are allocated to activities required to design,
procure, produce, market, distribute, and service a product or service (Guilding et al., 2000: 133).
The implications of strategic management accounting implementation have not been sufficiently explored. The
aim of this paper is to determine the effects of the implementation of strategic management accounting techniques in
large Croatian companies.
94
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7, Number 2, October, 2012
LITERATURE REVIEW ON STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING PRACTICES
Much of the domain of conventional management accounting appears to be more associated with the
„tactical“ than the „strategic“. The conventional management accounting system does not tend to adopt a long-term,
future-oriented stance, nor is characterized by a marketing or competitive focus. With respect to management
accounting's time frame, the financial year predominates (Guilding et al., 2000: 117). Strategic decisions usually
involve the longer-term, have a significant effect on the organization and, although they may have an internal element,
they also have an external element. In order to make strategic decisions and monitor strategic programs it is necessary
to use strategic management accounting methods (techniques). Langfield-Smith (2008: 206) points out that a range of
techniques have been included under umbrella of strategic management accounting, and that some commentators define
strategic management accounting in terms of its techniques. These include target costing, life cycle costing, strategic
cost analysis, competitor cost analysis, activity based costing, activity based management, attribute costing and strategic
performance measurement systems. Guilding, Cravens and Tayles (2000) have included 12 strategic management
accounting practices in their international study (attribute costing, brand value budgeting, brand value monitoring,
competitor cost assessment, competitive position monitoring, competitor appraisal based on published financial
statements, life cycle costing, quality costing, strategic costing, strategic pricing, target costing and value chain costing).
Shank (1989) believes that the real novelties in strategic management accounting are the product life cycle costing,
value chain analysis and quality costing. According to him, other methods represent the elaboration and supplement of
the concepts established long ago (he particularly commented on the activity based costing). Although the focus of
activity based costing is cost allocation (not strategic support), it can be used for strategic planning. In addition to above
mentioned the balanced scorecard is the most widely used strategic management technique among the integrated
performance measurement systems.
The balanced scorecard, and to lesser extent activity based costing, are strategic management accounting
techniques which have a wider recognition beyond the accounting discipline (Langfield-Smith, 2008: 212). Various
empirical studies have shown that in some countries certain methods are more employed. Competitive position
monitoring is the most used technique in UK, USA and New Zeland (Guilding et al., 2000). In Italy, higher usage
scores are registered for customer accounting, competitive position monitoring, competitor appraisal based on published
financial statements and quality costing (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010). On te other hand, the research carried out on
manufacturing organizations in Bangladesh revealed that only activity based costing, target costing and strategic costing
techniques are significant to achieve strategic effectiveness (Fowzia, 2011). Activity based costing and the balanced
scorecard turned out to be most used techniques in Finnish companies (Hyvönen, 2003).
Cinquini and Tenucci (2010) found out that linking strategy orientation and strategic management accounting
techniques has limited significance. Only relationship between costing techniques of strategic management accounting
(activity based costing, life cycle costing, quality costing, target costing and value chain analysis) and strategy was
empirically supported. The evidence provided in that study suggests that “defenders” make greater use of costing
techniques. The results of the same research show that the usage rate of costing techniques is higher in “cost leaders”
than in “differentiators”.
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Considering the results of aforementioned studies it can be assumed that costing techniques provide more useful
information to the management for strategic decision making. The results show that costing techniques of strategic
management accounting support the company strategy more consistently than the customer and competitor oriented
techniques. This leads to assumption that costing techniques are better employed and have wider use in practice.
Management accounting systems can partly fill the information gap (the gap between the information currently
available and the information required to make the decision) by providing information that enables managers to better
understand input/output relations and by reducing uncertainty concerning the feasibility of achieving objectives that are
optimal for the firm (Bouwens and Abernethy, 2000: 226). The essential difference between traditional management
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7 Number 2, October, 2012
95
accounting and strategic management accounting is in the scope of information. Narrow scope information has been
linked with traditional accounting systems and, on the other hand, broad-scope information is associated with more
sophisticated techniques. To fill the information gap, reports prepared by accountants should be timely and with
integrated and aggregated information. Bouwens and Abernethy (2000) state that the integration dimension consists of
information about the activities of other departments within the firm as well as information as to how the decisions
made in one department may influence the performance of other departments. The aggregated dimension provides
summary information by functional area, by time period or through decisions models. In order to be useful for decision
making, the information from management accounting reports must be relevant (broad-scope of integrated and
aggregated information) and timely. Bearing the above, it can be expected that:
H1: The use of strategic management accounting techniques has a positive impact on providing management with
relevant and timely information.
Strategic management techniques complement each other and the recent studies demonstrate their coherence and
valuable synergistic effect. Steen (2005) gives the theoretical framework for the estimation of environmental costs using
the life cycle costing technique. Letmathe and Doost (2000) point out that environmental cost accounting can be used
for measuring quality costs. Jasch (2003: 670) and Epstein (1996: 12) indicate the benefits of activity based costing in
monitoring environmental costs. Some studies show that activity based costing can be employed for measurement of the
quality costs (Mrša and Smoljan, 2001; Tsai, 1998). Kaplan and Norton (2001) believe that the balanced scorecard and
activity based costing are highly compatibile and while both can be implemented independently, organizations will get
the greatest benefit from integration of those two techniques. In his comprenhesive research Schoute (2009) reveals that
at higher levels of usage for cost management purposes, cost system complexity positively affects cost system intensity
of use and satisfaction. This implies that when cost system design (i.e., its level of complexity) and its purposes of use
are better aligned, the cost system is more effective. Considering all above mentioned, it is hypothesized that:
H2: The synergistic effect of the different strategic management accounting techniques implementation has a positive
impact on cost control and reduction.
THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
A large-scale multipurpose survey was conducted during April, May and June 2011 on the use of cost systems
and strategic management accounting practices in large-sized companies. According to Accounting Law, large company
in Croatia is considered if two of the following three requirements are exceeded: total assets of 130.000.000 kunas,
income of 260.000.000 kunas and average number of 250 employees during the financial year. The largest 400
companies (in terms of turnover) were selected fot the sample in this study because of the assumption that smaller firms
may not use sophisticated cost allocation systems at all.
The questionnaire was mailed to the accounting manager or the financial manager in each firm. These managers
were chosen as respondents as they should be able to provide the information required for the purposes of this study.
The survey procedure consisted of four moments of contact: contact by phone, sending a questionnaire by mail,
reminder by e-mail and replacement questionnaire by e-mail. Together with the questionnaire, an accompanying letter
(explaining the purposes of the research and guaranteeing confidentiality) and postage-paid return envelope were sent.
The response rate is 17,75% noting that respondents did not answer to all questions which left a final usable sample of
65 cases for the analyses reported in this paper.
Most survey instruments are multi-item, use five-point Likert-type scales, and are taken or adapted from earlier
studies. Since there are many methods that are considered as strategic management accounting techniques (although
there are no consensus in literature which methods are included in this category), for the purpose of this study, the most
significant (according to the results of previous researches) costing techiques were included as well as the balanced
scorecard. Mentioned costing techniques are: activity based costing, environmental costing, life cycle costing, quality
costing and target costing.
96
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7, Number 2, October, 2012
According to the previous related research (Perčević, 2006: 663) only 5,7% of the companies in Croatia had
implemented activity based costing. The traditional management accounting techniques were predominant. After the
transition phase of Croatian economy and increased foreign investement, the developement of management accounting
system was expected. By the year 2011, at least one of the strategic management accounting techniques has been
applied in 66% of observed Croatian companies. This finding testifies to a serious perception of strategic management
accounting importance in decision making in recent years.
Activity based costing is the most used technique in the observed companies (the frequency is 40%) followed by
quality costing (39,4%). Target costing is in use in 25,8% companies while the balanced scorecard is applied in 15,2%
observed firms. The least used techniques are life cycle costing (in 9,1% companies) and environmental costing (in only
6,1% companies).
At the descriptive level, the survey findings display a high level of importance placed on strategic management
accounting as a key to the use of accounting information for decision making. In order to verify the first hypothesis on
positive impact of strategic management accounting on providing management with relevant and timely information the
Mann-Whitney test was performed. The results of nonparametric test is shown in Table 1 and Table 2 noting that “SMA
= 0” refers to a company that does not apply any of observed technique, and that “SMA = 1” refers to a company that
has implemented at least one of the strategic management accounting techniques.
Table 1: The ranks of relevance and timeliness in companies according to strategic management accounting
implementation
SMA
N
Mean Rank
Sum of Ranks
0
22
18,11
398,50
Relevance
1
43
40,62
1746,50
Total
65
0
22
18,98
417,50
Timeliness
1
41
38,99
1598,50
Total
63
Mann-Whitney U (a)
Wilcoxon W
Z
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
Table 2: Mann-Whitney test statistics
Relevance
145,500
398,500
-4,913
0,000
Timeliness
164,500
417,500
-4,368
0,000
a)
Grouping variable: SMA
The results summerized in Table 2 indicate that there is statistically significant difference in accounting
information relevance and timeliness between companies which have implemented at least one sophisticated method
comparing to those with traditional management accounting techniques in use. This finding supports the first hypothesis.
The results of descriptive statistics show that 34,9% of companies applying strategic management accounting
have implemented just one of the observed techniques and the same percentage is of those that use two techniques.
Even 14% of companies applying strategic management accounting use three of mentioned techniques. The minority of
observed companies apply four or more techniques. Most of those companies (60%) were motivated by the financial
crisis to improve their accounting system by introducing one of those sophisticated methods.
The support to the second hypothesis is given applying the one way analysis of variance (Table 4). The mean
values of the perceived effect of the accounting instruments usage is shown in Table 3 noting that “SMA = 0” refers to a
company that does not apply any of observed technique, and that “SMA = 1” refers to a company that has implemented
one of the strategic management accounting techniques and “SMA = 2” refers to the usage of two or more techniques.
The effect of the management accounting instruments (traditional, sophisticated, synery of two or more sophisticated)
was tested based on Likert 5-item scale, where 1 represents “strongly disagree”, 2 represents “disagree”, 3 represents
“neither disagree nor agree”, 4 correspond to “agree” and 5 represents “strongly agree” that management accounting
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7 Number 2, October, 2012
97
system has inpact on cost control/cost reduction. So the mean value of cost reduction and cost control is closer to
“neither disagree nor agree” in companies with traditional management accounting while the mean value of the same
variables is closer to “agree” in companies applying at least one strategic management accounting technique and even
higher in companies that use two or more of these methods suggesting that synergistic effect is valuable in this context.
SMA
0
1
2
Total
Table 3: The mean value of the effects of management accounting instruments usage
Cost reduction
Cost control
Mean
2,73
N
22
Std. Deviation
1,316
Mean
3,54
N
13
Std. Deviation
0,877
Mean
4,22
N
27
Std. Deviation
0,847
Mean
3,55
N
62
Std. Deviation
1,224
3,09
22
1,411
4,07
15
0,799
4,43
28
0,634
3,89
65
1,147
The difference between mean values of the observed effects is tested by the one way analysis of variance. From
the results presented in Table 4 it can be seen that there is a statistically significant (p-value ≤ 0.01) difference between
cost control and cost reduction improvement in companies that do not aplly any of strategic management accounting
and the companies that use sophisticated methods. In terms of cost control and reduction, the usage of two or more
strategic management techniques can lead to better understanding of company's activities making managers more
informed.
Table 4: The one way ANOVA for the synergistic effect of the different strategic management accounting
techniques implementation
Sum of Squares
df
F
Sig.
Cost control
Between Groups
22,637
2
11,391
0,000
Within Groups
61,609
62
Total
84,246
64
Cost reduction
Between Groups
27,094
2
12,438
0,000
Within Groups
64,261
59
Total
91,355
61
The results presented in Table 4 indicate that the usage of two or more strategic management accounting
techniques has a positive effect on improvement of cost control and cost reduction. This can be explained by the fact
that each of the observed sophisticated method provides its unique range of information. The wider the range of
information is, the higher the possibility of the rational decisison making in terms of cost control and cost reduction.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Comparing to the results of a previous research carried out on Croatian enterprises (Perčević, 2006), this study's
findings indicate that in the recent five years a great change has happened. Mostly due to the financial crisis (in order to
reduce and control costs), large Croatian firms have implemented one or more sophicticated method of strategic
management accounting. In the year 2011, 66% of sample companies use (at least) one of those accounting techniques.
The most frequently used costing techniques are activity based costing (40% firms have implemented) and quality
costing (39%). This finding is consistent with empirical results reported in the prior studies (Cinquini and Tenucci, 2010;
Fowzia, 2011).
98
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7, Number 2, October, 2012
Considering that the implementation at least one technique of stratigic management accounting will result with
broad-scope of relevant and timely information for the company management, the first hypothesis was defined. The
Mann-Whitney test was used to establish the level of information relevancy and timeliness in companies with
traditional management accounting and in those that apply one of the sophisticated methods. The first hypothesis was
confirmed and therefore the main purpose of strategic management accounting was empirically supported.
Very important finding of this research is a positive synergistic effect of the different strategic management
accounting techniques implementation. Assuming that the implementation of more then one technique will give a better
insight to non value added activities which would lead to better cost control (which implies the cost reduction), the
second hypothesis was determined. According to the theoretical framework (Jasch, 2003; Epstein, 1996; Kaplan and
Norton, 2001; Mrša and Smoljan, 2001; Steen, 2005; Tsai, 1998) which supports the use of complementary techniques,
the empirical research results confirmed the second hypothesis. In other words, all of these techniques cover some
segment of strategy and the more techniques are employed, the greater and clearer the picture becomes.
In order to obtain their market share or profit margin companies need more sophisticated management accounting
practices. Strategic management accounting becomes strong support in decision making and the guide to the future
changes.
REFERENCES
Bouwens, J., Abernethy, M. A. (2000). The consequences of customization on management accounting system design, Accounting, Organizations and
Society, 25, 221-241.
Bromwich, M. (1990). The case for strategic management accounting: the role of accounting information for strategy in competitive markets,
Accounting, Organizations, Society, 15 (1/2), 27-46.
Cinquini, L., Tenucci, A. (2010). Strategic management accounting and business strategy: a loose coupling?, Journal of Accounting and
Organizational Change, 6 (2), 228-259.
Epstein, M.J. (1996). Improving environmental management with full environmental cost accounting, 6 (1), Environmental Quality Management 11-22.
Fowzia, R. (2011). Strategic management accounting techniques: Realtionship with business strategy and strategic effectiveness of manufacturing
organizations in Bangladesh, World Journal of Management, 3 (2), 54-69.
Guilding, C., Cravens, K.S., Tayles, M. (2000). An international comparison of strategic management accounting practices, Management Accounting
Research, 11, 113-135.
Hyvönen, T. (2003). Management accounting and information systems: ERP versus BoB, European Accounting Review, 12 (1), 155 – 173.
Ittner, C. D., Larcker D. F. (2001). Assessing empirical research in managerial accounting: A value-based management perspective, Journal of
Accounting and Economic, 32, 349-410.
Jasch, C. (2003). The use of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) foridentifying environmental costs, Journal of Cleaner Production, 11,
667-676.
Kaplan, R. S. (1984). The Evolution of Management Accounting, The Accounting Review, 59 (3), 390-418.
Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (2001). Transforming the Balanced Scorecard from Performance Measurement to Strategic Management: Part II,
Accounting Horizons, 15 (2), 147-160.
Langfield-Smith, K. (2008). Strategic management accounting: how far have we come in 25 years?, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal,
21, (2), 204-228.
Letmathe, P., Doost, R. K. (2000). Environmenal cost accounting and auditing, Managerial Audit Journal, 15 (8), 424-430.
Mrša, J. Smoljan, B. (2001). The ABC accumulation model of quality costs, Proceedings of the International Conference on „Advanced Materials
Processing Technologies“, Madrid (Leganés), September 18-21 2001, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 1093-1100.
Perčević, H. (2006) Metode obračuna troškova u proizvodnom sektoru Republike Hrvatske/ The methods of cost accounting in the Croatian
production sector/, Ekonomski pregled, 57 (9-10), 647-667.
Schoute, M. (2009). The realtionship between cost system complexity, purposes of use, and cost system effectiveness, The British Accounting
Review, 41, 208-226.
Shank, J. K. (1989). Strategic cost management: New wine or just new bottles?, Journal of Management Accounting Research, 1, 47-65.
Simmonds, K. (1981). Strategic management accounting, Management Accounting, 59 (4), 26-30.
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7 Number 2, October, 2012
99
Steen, B. (2005). Environmental costs and benefits in life cycle costing, Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 16 (2),
107-118.
Tsai, W-H. (1998). Quality cost measurement under activity-based costing, The International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 15 (7),
719-752.
100
The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 7, Number 2, October, 2012