The Influence of Business Environment on the Characteristics of Management Accounting Practices

The importance of management
accounting systems (MAS) to
organisations resides in their role in
providing information for planning,
controlling, evaluating performance,
developing and improving competitive
strategies and making decisions.
Despite this multifaceted importance,
little is known about management
accounting practice in the world,
particularly in emerging economies.
As an attempt to understand practice,
the contingency theory approach
which is adopted in this study, starts
from the premise that practice does
not have to be uniform. Universally
relevant MAS that fit all circumstances
and organisations simply do not exit.
Thus, an organisation’s business
environment [external and internal
factors] is seen as instrumental to the
design of an effective MAS.
Consequently, as the compatibility
between the MAS and the businesses
environment increases, a company's
performance should also improve.