Professional Documents
Culture Documents
com
Dec.2005,Voi
.1,No.
7(Mont
hly)
Jour
nal
of
Modern Account
ing
and Audi
ting,ISSN1548・
6583,USA
Eval
uat
ion
of
Several
Phas
es
in
the
Devel
opm ent
of
M anagem ent
Account
ing
Chaomi
Zhang’ Nan
in
f g
Uni
ver
sit
y Qi
nru
Qi
an” Shanghai
Uni
ver
sit
y o
fFi
nance&Economi
cs
Abs
tra
ct:Thi
s pape
r di
scus
ses
thr
ee
iss
ues
.ra
ised
by
Rel
evanc
e Lo
st(
Johns
on& Kapl
an,1
987)
,about
hi
stori
cal
eval
uat
ion of t
he devel
opment
of management
account
ing.The f
irs
t i
ssue i
s when management
account
ing sys
tem
was
for
med;t
he second
is
how
to eval
uat
e i
ts
devel
opment
in
subsequent
decades;t
he
thi
rd
is
how
to eval
uat
e t
he
devel
opment
of
practi
ce
n d
a research
of
management
account
ing
in al
most
twent
y years
af
ter
Rel
evance Lost
was publ
ished.The r
ole of
Rel
evance Lost
in pract
ice a
n d t
heoret
ical
research of
management
accou
n ti
ng i
s wi
del
y r
ecogni
zed,a
n d t
he di
sagr
eement
wi
th i
t i
n t
his
paper i
s i
n t
he speci
ic ar
f e a of t
he
devel
opment
hi
stor
y of
management
account
ing.The
aut
hor
s of
thi
s paper
bel
ieve t
hat
the devel
opment,t
hrough
havi
ng i
ts ups
and downs
over
ti
me,i
s gener
all
y speaki
ng a cont
inuous pr
oces
s,not
separ
ated by di
sconnect
ed
phases, l
eapi
ng fr
om one t
o anot
her
. Al
ong wi
th t
he pr
ogress i
n pract
ice and r
esear
ch,resea
rcher
s a
n d
pract
iti
oners
a1
=
e deepeni
ng t
hei
r u
n der
stand
i ng about
the t
heor
eti
cal
fou
n dat
ion a
n d pr
a ct
ical
devel
opment
of
ma
n agement
accou
nti
ng.T
h e hi
stor
y of devel
opment
of
management
accou
nti
ng i
s consi
stent
wi
th t
he proces
s
peopl
e gr
adual
ly
unders
tn d
a it.
Key
words:hi
stor
y of
devel
opment
of
management
accou
n ti
ng;t
heor
y ;pract
ice;met
hods;behavi
or
1.Is
sues
Rai
sed
by
Rel
evance
Lost
i
n Di
vidi
ng
His
tori
cal
Phas
es
Are
Sti
ll
Uns
olved
I
t
is
not
a
bit
of
exagge
rat
ion
to
say
tha
t Re
lev
ance
Los
t:t
he
Rise
and
Fnl
l
ofManage
ment
Acc
ount
ing
by
J
ohns
on a
nd Kapl
n (
a 1
987)had s
hoc
ked t
he whol
e pr
ofe
ssi
on of
ma
nage
ment
acco
unt
ing.I
t ha
s g
rea
tly
i
nfluenced
the
global
ma
n agement
account
ing
pract
ice a
n d
brought
about
it
s vi
gor
ous
development
in
mor
e t
han
a
decade.However
,upon ent
eri
ng t
he new
mil
lenni
um,mos
t at
tent
ion of
accou
nti
ng r
esear
cher
s a
n d pr
act
iti
oner
s
has
been
drawn
to
one
after
anot
her
accou
nti
ng sca
ndal
a
n d
the discussi
on
of
management
accou
n ti
ng
issues
ha
s
be
en a
t l
ow
poi
nt.Pe
rha
ps now i
s t
he t
ime
for
mana
geme
nt a
ccou
nti
ng t
o s
top a
n d t
hink,a
s i
t ne
eds
ca
lm
r
etros
pect
and car
eful
consi
der
ati
ons,af
ter
a per
iod of r
api
dly devel
opment
wi
th so many new met
hod
s and
cone印 ts.
Rel
evance
Lost
has
rai
sed
at
lea
st
three i
ssues
in
eval
uat
ion
of
devel
opment
of
management
accou
nti
ng.Fi
rst
.
when management
accou
n t
ing was
for
med?I
n t
radi
tional
theor
y ,i
t wa
s i
n t
he 1
950s,but
Johnson a
n d Kapl
n
a
s
itf
f t
ed i
t t
o t
he l
920s.Second,how shoul
d we eval
uat
e i
ts devel
opment
in decades
af
ter
it
s f
ormat
ion? I
n
t
radi
tional
theor
y t
his
per
iod
of
sever
al decades
was
a
per
iod
of“great
progr
ess”。but
Johnson
and
Kapl
n
a t
hought
i
t wa
s a
per
iod
of“st
agn at
ion”.TI
lir
d,whet
her
h e
t great
cha
n ge
in
theor
y n d
a pract
ice of
man agement
accou
nti
ng ,
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eval
uat
ion
of
Several
Phas
es:
n t
he
Devel
opme
nt
of
M anagement
Aeeoun
whi
ch
Johnson
and
Kapl
an
predi
cted
and
promot
ed
ver
y hard,had
real
ly
happened
in
the
las
t t
wo
decades?How
t
o e
val
uat
e t
he
res
ear
ch
wor
ks
of
mana
geme
nt
acc
ount
ing
in
the
se
two
deca
des
?
Pr
ofess
or Joan L.Luft
,M i
chi
gan St
ate Uni
versi
ty,had made t
h e f
oll
owi
ng comment
s on t
he st
udy of
mana
geme
nt a
ccount
ing
hi
stor
y f
rom a
hi
st
or
ica
l vi
ewpoi
nt(
Luf
t,J.
L.1
997
),t
hat
mai
nst
rea
m a
ccount
ing
esear
r ch
had
lit
tle
int
er
e st
in
hist
ory
study
for
h e
t sake
of
hist
ory:She
bel
ieved
ther
e wer
e m ai
nly
w o
t reasons
for
mana
geme
nt
acc
ou
nti
ng
to
be
int
ere
ste
d i
n hi
stor
y.(1
)Hi
stor
ica
l s
tudi
es
might
ma
ke
it
ea
sie
r or
f
us
to
n de
u rst
and
present
-day
pra
cti
ce
ha
t n nal
a ysi
s
of pr
esent
—day
dat
a can.(
2)St
udies
on
present
-ay
d pract
ice
ha
d bee
n n de
u r he
t
inf
luence,and
subj
ect
t
o t
he li
mits
,of i
mpor t
nt
a hi
stor
ical
wor
ks
of t
he 1
960s
and 1
970s,t
hus t
he
cr
iti
ques of
h ese
t wor
ks
in
subsequent
hi
stor
ical
su di
t es
coul
d be
hel
pful
in
highl
ight
ing
these
limi
tat
ions.
W e m
a y des
cri
be t
he t
w o ki
nds
of
mot
ivat
ions as “summ a
rize t
h e past
to under
stand t
h e pr
esent
”an d
‘
'cr
iti
cize
today
wih
t hel
p f
rom hi
stor
y ”.or
we can cal
l t
he t
wo st
yles
as‘
'under
standi
ng f
ocus
’’a
n d‘
‘cr
iti
cizi
ng
f
ocus
”.Acc
ordi
ng t
o t
he comment
s of
K.Luk
ka
nd M.Gr
a nl
a und(
2002)
,cit
rica
l s
tudi
es ai
m a
t f
urt
heing
r
emanci
pat
ion,t
h ei
r agenda i
s f
u ndament
all
y val
ue-l
aden and
com i
tted.Appar
ent
ly,t
h e hi
stor
y expl
orat
ion i
n
Rel
evance
Lost
shar
es
thi
s f
ocus.
Per
haps,f
o r
the pur
pos
e of
prom ot
ing r
eforms of
man agement
accou
nti
ng pr
act
ice at
t
h at
ti
me,t
o f
it t
h e
rapi
dly
cha
n gi
ng
sit
uat
ion
of
int
ernat
ional
compet
iti
ons
as
the
res
ult
of
infor
mati
on
technol
ogy
devel
opment
n d
a
economi
c gl
obal
izat
ion,t
he aut
hor
s of
Rel
evance Lost
mad
e st
rong cl
aims t
o ch
all
enge t
h e t
radi
tional
way of
hi
t nki
ng i
n management
accou
n t
ing,t
yi
r ng t
o compl
etel
y change t
he exis
ting eval
uat
ions a
n d asser
tion of
management
account
ing
hist
ory .They
sai
d:
‘
‘One
audi
ence f
or
h e
t book
wil
l be
h e
t innovat
ive
ina
f n ci
al
n d
a gener
al
man agers
who
r e
a cont
empl
atn g or
i
i
mpl
ement
ing f
und
a ment
al cha
n ges i
n t
hei
r or
gani
zat
ions’ma
n agement
account
ing syst
ems.W e hope t
hey f
ind
val
ue
in l
ear
ning t
he r
ich hi
stor
ical
t
rad
iti
on
for
t
hei
r efor
ts
as
wel
l as
the reasons
why
so l
itt
le
innovat
ion has
occurr
ed
dur
ing
the pas
t hal
f-cent
ury.Understandi
ng
the reasons
behi
nd t
he
obsol
escence
of
exi
sti
ng
syst
ems
s
houl
d pr
ovi
de
an
improve
d r
ati
onal
e f
or
organi
zat
ional
c
hange.
”(Hi
ghl
ight
ed
by
he
t
aut
hor
s)
However
,it
seems
that
the
aut
hor
s ofRel
v ance
e Lost
focused
onl
y on
techni
cal
met
hods
when eval
uati
ng
he
t
de
vel
opme
nt of
mana
gement
ac
cont
u i
ng,t
hat
is
,they c
ons
ide
red t
he t
rend of
devel
opment
of
ma
nage
ment
accou
ntng was“r
i isi
ng,
’in 1
920s
as most
tech
nical
met
hods
whi
ch ar
e st
ill
in use i
n pres
ent
-days had been
devel
oped;i
n t
he
subs
equent
per
iod
it
was“f
all
ing’
’because onl
y a
ver
y s
m al
l number
of
new
met
h ods
had
been
devel
oped;t
hen i
t“s
topped’
’when ha
r dl
y any new t
ech
nical
met
h ods
in ma
n agement
account
ing had bee
n
devel
oped.
,
I
n et
r r
ospe
ct
oft
he
his
tor
ical
de
vel
opme
nt
ofma
nage
ment
ac
count
ing,Pr
ofe
ssor
R.
Sca
pens(
1991
)sa
ys,
‘
'
he
t r
e
is
n
a a
ppa
ren
t g
ap
bet
wee
n he
t
the
ory
nd
a
pra
cti
ce
of
man
age
men
t a
cco
unt
ing
,at
l
eas
t
two
ap
pro
ach
es
al
e
a
vai
labl
e‘t
o n yone
a who
wi
shes
to
expl
ore
hi
t s
appa
rent
ga
p.’
’One
appr
oach
is
to
sudy
t in
det
ail
s he
t
tra
dit
ional
met
hods
in
man agement
accou
nti
ng,so
s
a t
o ind
f out
he
t gap
bet
ween
hes
t e met
hods a
n d
he
t need
ofmanagement
pr
act
ice。a
n d
make
sugges
tions
or
f
improvement
s.One s
uch
exampl
e i
s t
hat
Kapl
an
n d
a his
col
leagues
had
tri
ed
t
o expa
n d t
he t
radi
tional
techni
cal
met
hods
of
man agement
account
ing t
o f
it t
he
newest
devel
opm e
nt i
n gl
obal
market
compet
iti
ons
n d
a progress
in
manuf
act
ure
n d
a tech
n ol
ogy.They
wer
e i
n fact
sear
chi
ng
f0r“nl
e best
tool
s'’ .
Prof
essor
Scapens
na
m es
thi
s n gl
a e of
hist
ory
obser
vat
ion
as“i
n management
account
ing” Anot
her
.
approach
is
to
r
eeva
luat
e a
n d a
s SeSS management
accou
nti
ng t
h eor
y .Some
schol
rs
a a
re i
nves
tigat
ing ma
n agement
account
ing
pr
act
ice
nd
a
tryi
ng t
o n der
u sta
nd
he
t
appl
ica
tio
ns of
tec
n ol
h ogy
and
met
hods
of
mana
geme
nt
acco
nt
u i
ng
n a
i
wi
der
backgr
oun d of
orga
nizat
ion and soci
ety,r
ather t
han i
n a si
mpl
iied economi
f c mode1 Pr
ofessor
. Scapens
2
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eval
—
uati
on
of
Several
—
Phases
in
the
Deve
lopment
of
M anagem ent
Ac
count
ing
names
thi
s angl
e of
studyi
ng
as“on
management
accounti
ng”.
Rel
evance Lost
has huge i
nfluence on Chi
nes
e management
account
ing professi
on,t
heref
ore for
bet
ter
under
standi
ng
of
management
account
ing
pract
ice i
n t
oday’
s wor
ld
and
o r
f deepeni
ng f
utur
e st
udy
in
management
account
ing,i
t i
s necessar
y t
o cl
ar
ify cer
tai
n poi
nts
on whi
ch Rel
evance Lost
had made bi
ased or u
n bal
anced
as
ser
tion.The pur
pose
of
thi
s paper
is
to expl
ain some i
deas
a
n d
shar
e t
hem
wit
h conf
erees.The
basi
c argument
about
the devel
opment
hi
stor
y of
man agement
account
ing i
s t
hat
t
h e hi
stori
cal
devel
opment
,through havi
ng
its
ups
and downs
over
ti
me,i
s gener
all
y speaki
ng a cont
inuous process,not
sepa
r at
ed by di
sconnect
ed phases,
l
eapi
ng
from one
to
anot
h er
.
2.Hi
stori
cal
Eval
uat
ion
on
the
Phase
bef
ore
1950s
Before Rel
evance Lost
was
publ
ished i
n 1
987.t
her
e was
not
much di
sagr
eement
about
the t
race of i
nit
ial
devel
opment
of
management
accou
nti
ng.Accordi
ng t
o t
h e ma
n agement
account
ing t
ext
books
publ
ished i
n ear
ly
st
age
aft
er
man agement
accou
nti
ng
was
int
roduced
int
o Chi
na,t
he
general
ly accept
ed
idea
was“The s
tandard
cos
t
sys
tem bas
ed on Tayl
or’
s sci
enti
ic management
f is t
he embr
yoni
c f
orm of management
account
ing… It
has
devel
oped
int
o cont
empor
ary
management
account
ing
since 1
950s”.
I
n hi
s Adv
anc
ed Manage
ment
Ac
count
ing(
2 edi
ti
on,1
982)
,Rober
t Ka
pln a
a nd Ant
hony
At
kins
on,
f
oll
owi
ng
Hor
ngr
en(1
975)
,di
vided
he
t de
vel
opme
nt
of
manage
ment
ac
count
ing
int
o s
eve
ral
hi
stor
ica
l pha
ses
,
whi
ch
ca
n been
seen
as
the
common
view
at
h at
t ti
me:
“M a
n agement
accounti
ng
is a
rel
ati
vel
y r
ecent
phenomenon,es
peci
all
y when
compar
ed
to
the l
ong
hist
orical
devel
opment
of
inanci
f al r
epor
ting f
o r
ext
ernal
par
ties
such as
owners,credi
tors,regul
ators a
n d t
, ax aut
hor
iti
es.
Cost
account
ing was
t
h e f
irst
mani
fest
ati
on of
the cur
rent
management
account
ing syst
em .Cost
accou
nti
ng
was
devel
oped t
o f
ill
a need generat
ed by t
he f
ina
n ci
al r
epor
ting pr
ocess. Cost
s had t
o be al
locat
ed so t
hat
pr
oduct
—rel
ated
expendi
u res
t coul
d be
separat
ed
bet
ween
cost
of
goods
sol
d and i
nvent
ory The
emphasi
. s was
on
f
ull
y a
ll
oca
ting
al
l
cos
ts
in
n
a ob
jec
tive
nd
a
unambi
guous
wa
y.Peopl
e
debat
ed
over
whi
ch
all
oca
tion
mehod
t was
more“accur
ate” or
more“f
air,
” but
few doubt
ed t
hat
resear
ch coul
d event
ual
ly est
abl
ish t
he act
u al
cost
s of
a
gi
ven
prod
uct
.Hor
ngr
en(
1975)r
efer
s
to
thi
s
per
iod
as
the
sea
rch
for“
true
cos
ts”or
the
ab
sol
ute
tr
uth
appr
oac
h.
Duri
ng t
he 1
950s a
n d 1
960s, accou
ntnt
a s
gr
adual
ly di
scover
ed t
hat
pr
oduct
cost
s, whi
ch had been
const
ruct
ed
for
inanci
f al r
epor
ting
pur
p oses,were
bei
ng
taken
seri
ousl
y by operat
ing
execut
ives Execut
i
.ves
wer
e
usi
ng
h e
t cost
of
a pr
oduct
,as
comput
ed
by
account
ant
s… W i
th
a gr
eat
er
real
izat
ion of
these
int
em al
uses
of
cost
accou
nti
ng dat
a … One coul
d now t
hink of
recordi
ng cos
t dat
a f
o r i
nternal
pur
p oses
in a
m anner
di
fer
ent
f
rom
t
hat
us
ed
for
ext
ernal
pur
poses… No
uni
que
cost
assi
gnment
was
equal
ly
rel
evant
or
f
all
deci
sions . Thi
s was
h e
t
st
art
of
management
account
ing,whi
ch emphasi
zes
cos
t al
locat
ion f
or
int
ernal
deci
sions and cont
rol
rat
h er
tha
n
or
f
inanc
f ial
r
epor
ti
ng.Hor
ngr
en(
1
975
)ref
ers
t
o t
his
us
er-
ori
ent
ed
or
deci
sion.
model
appr
oac
h t
o cos
t
acco
nt
u i
ng
as
he
t condi
tional
-trut
h appr
oach;t
hat
is,t
rut
h depends
on
how
the
cost
assi
gnm ent
wi
ll
be
used . Thi
s approach
wi
ll
be
feat
ured
throughout
the
book.
”
Fi
ve
years
aft
er
the
book was
publ
ished,Kapl
an
n d
a his
col
leagues
chal
lenged t
he
tradi
tional
common
view .
They sai
d t
he st
art
ing poi
nt of ma
n agement
account
ing shoul
d be pushed back t
o 1
920s because “By 1
, 925
vi
rtual
ly al
l ma
n agement
accou
n ti
ng
pract
ices
used t
oday
had
been devel
oped” On t
.
l1e ot
her
ha
n d,si
nce 1
930s,
“cos
t accou
nti
ng has
los
t i
ts rel
evance t
o cost
ma
n agement
”.“Today’
s management
account
ing i
nfor
m at
ion .
dr
iven
by
the
procedur
es
n d
a cycl
e of
the
orga
nizat
ion’
s inanci
f al
report
ing sys
tem i
s t
oo
l
,ate,t
oo
aggregat
ed,and
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eva
luat
ion
of
Several
Phas
es
in
the
Devel
opment
of
M anagement
Account
i
t
oo
dis
tort
ed
to
be
rel
evant
for
manager
s’pl
n ni
a ng
n d
a cont
rol
deci
sions.
’’
I
f we caref
ull
y read
Homgren’
s vi
ew
on t
he hi
stor
ical
phases
of
management
account
ing,ci
ted
in Kapl
n’
a s
bOOk i
n 1982,t
hen i
t i
s qui
te obvi
ous t
h at
Kapl
an et
a
l ar
e not
the f
irst
one t
o argue t
h at
si
nce
the 1930s
t
h e
accou
ntn g
i resea
r chers
n d
a pract
iti
oners
put
much emphas
is
on t
he f
inanci
al accou
n t
ing pr
inci
ple sys
tem,whi
ch
had i
ts i
mpact
s on i
nter
nal
funct
ion of accou
n t
ing i
nfor
mat
ion,l
eadi
ng t
o t
he “i
rrel
eva
n ce” of accou
nti
ng
i
nfo
rma
ti
on t
o mana
gement
ne
eds
.Act
ual
ly j
ust
bec
aus
e of
thi
s vi
ew,t
he“
condi
ti
onal
tr
uth c
it
r e
ion”i
r s
i
ntr
oduced.whi
ch r
equi
res“di
fer
ent
deci
sion—maki
ng
uses
di
ferent
cost
inf
ormat
ion”,because
he di
t ference
in
deci
sion—
maki
ng i
s,mos
t i
mport
ant
ly,t
he di
ffer
ence bet
ween out
side i
nves
tors’deci
sion—
maki
ng and i
nsi
de
manager
s ,deci
sion.maki
ng.The di
ference i
n vari
ous
int
er
n al
deci
sion-
maki
ng and cont
rol
ling i
s secondar
y.I
n
0l
mer
wor
ds.t
he
n de
u rst
n di
a ng
hat
t t
he
inf
ormat
ion
sys
tem
bas
ed
sol
ely
on
ina
f n ci
al
acco
unt
ing
pr
inci
ple
ca
nnot
support
t
h e needs of i
nter
nal
ma
n agement
had pushed f
o rwa
r d t
he set
up of t
oday’
s ma
n agement
accou
n t
ing
syst
em .
I
n r
e vi
ewi
ng t
hose
chal
lenges
to t
radi
tional
thi
nki
ng i
n hi
stor
y,we bel
ieve
that
besi
des emphasi
zing t
hat
management
account
ing
coul
d no l
onger
sol
ely be
bas
ed
on
inanci
f al r
e port
inf
orm at
ion a
n d
it
had
to
be
cha
n ged
t
o s
ati
sfy
h e
t needs
ofmanagement
,Re&vance
Lost
al
so expressed
the
fol
lowi
ng
ideas:
(
1)Se
t
up
a ma
nage
ment
ac
count
ing
inf
oma
r t
ion
sys
tem
whi
ch
is
i
nde
penden
t of
ina
f nci
al
acc
ount
ing
sys
tem.
Si
nce t
he 1950s.whi
le i
t was
emphasi
zed that
ther
e wer
e diferences i
n i
nfor
m at
ion char
act
er
ist
ics
bet
ween
management
accou
nti
ng a
n d f
ina
n ci
al account
ing s
yst
ems,al
most
al
l or
gani
zat
ions had col
lect
ed management
a
cco
nt
u i
ng
inf
ormat
ion
fr
om
ina
f nci
al
ac
count
ing
sys
tems
,wi
th
cer
tai
n ad
jus
tme
nts
bas
ed
on
manage
ment
ne
eds
(
suc
h as
di
st
ingui
shi
ng
bet
wee
n va
ria
ble
cos
t nd
a ixed
f cos
t,C
Oml
non
cos
t a
nd
spe
ciic
f
cos
t,t
aki
ng
int
o a
ccount
s
unk
cos
t nd
a
oppor
tuni
ty
cos
t,et
c.)
.Ka
plan
nd
a
his
col
lea
gues
want
ed
to
bui
ld
w o
t set
s of
sys
tems
compl
ete
ly
i
ndependent
of
each ot
her
to ser
ve sepa
r at
e goal
s respect
ivel
y.That
was why t
hey vi
ewed
highl
y h e pr
t e-1920s
pr
act
ice.At
t
hat
ti
me
mana
geme
nt
acc
ount
ing
sys
tem
and
ina
f nci
al
acc
ohnt
ing
sys
tem
wer
e t
wo
sepa
rat
e s
yst
ems
.
However
,aRer 1
930s,t
he concept
of
cost
account
ing l
inked t
he bal
ance sheet
a
n d i
ncome s
tat
ement
toget
her
,
made i
t possi
ble
h at
t int
er
n al
a
n d ext
er
n al
ser
vices
used t
he
same i
nfor
m at
ion
syst
em .Kapl
an
n d
a his
col
leag
u es
admi
tted t
h at
the s
ingl
e sha
r ed s
yst
em was
reasonabl
e at
that
ti
me,but
they hoped t
h e r
a pi
dly devel
oped
i
nfor
mat
ion
technol
ogy
woul
d al
low
it
to
be
cha
n ged.
(
2)Look f
or i
nnova
tions
in
pra
cti
ce.Anot
her
re
ason
tha
t J
ohns
on and
Ka
plan
viewed
the
ma
nage
ment
accou
nti
ng pr
act
ice bef
ore 1
920s f
avorabl
y was t
hat
techni
que pr
ogres
s a
n d i
n ovat
ions
wer
e al
l f
rom
pr
act
iti
oners,not
schol
ars.No
mat
ter
whet
her
in
ea
rly
text
ile
mil
l,rai
lway,st
eel
pl
nt
a 。met
al
processi
ng f
act
ory,or
l
ater
in DuPont
a
n d GE,i
t was engi
neers,ent
erpri
ser
s and ma
n ager
s who brought
about
tech
n ol
ogy pr
ogr
ess.
ARer
1
930s,schol
rs
a became t
he domi
nant
force t
o devel
op
theor
y n d
a met
hods.Rel
evance
Lost
cr
iti
cizes
hem
t
ser
iousl
y h at
t they l
ost
touch wi
th
h e needs
t in
real
ity.Accor
ding t
o t
he case st
udy t
radi
tion
of
Har
var d
Busi
ness
School
,as
wel
l s
a h e f
t iel
d st
u dy
m et
hod
whi
ch
Kapl
an
act
ivel
y advocat
ed i
n t
he
begi
ning
of
1
980s,Kapl
an
n d
a
is
h col
leag
u es hoped t
o f
ind new met
hods f
rom pract
ice t
o s
uppo ̄ Amer
ica
n ma
n uf
act
ure t
o deal
wi
h gl
t obal
comp.
eti
tion,t
o cha
n ge
he
t siuat
t ion
that
Ameri
ca
n compa
nies
fol
lowed
Japanes
e exper
iences
step
by
step,a
s hey
t
ad
h do
ne s
inc
e 1
970s.At
t
hat
ti
me,i
nova
tive
me
thods
li
ke“
act
ivi
ty—
bas
ed cos
ti
ng'
’(ABe)an
d"ba
lnce
a d
s
cor
eca
rd”were
about
to
emer
ge
n d
a Rel
evance
Lost
was
the
irs
f t cal
l or
f them.
I
t i
s n de
u st
r a
nda
ble
ha
t t
in
order
to
clea
n t
he
way
or
f
in ovat
ion,t
o over
come
he
t
ine
rti
a f
rom
pr
act
it
ione
s
r 。
Johnson a
n d Kapl
n had t
a o make some st
rong “over
tum i
ng t
radi
tion” comment
s.But
from poi
nt of
view of
academi
c r
esear
ch,t
her
e must
be some gener
all
y accept
ed cri
ter
ia f
or cl
aimi
ng a new di
sci
pli
ne has f
orm ed .
4
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Ev a1
.
uat
.
ion o fSeveral
. . .
Phases
. .
in
the
.
Dev el
.
opment
. .
ofM anagement
. . .
Account
. .
ing
. . . . . . . . . —
. — . — — — — — —
The
se c
rit
eia
r i
ncl
ude
pr
ope
rly-
def
ine
d bou
nda
rie
s wi
th r
elat
ed s
ubj
ect
f
iel
ds,t
he s
peci
ic
f me
thodol
ogy a
nd
s
ubj
ect
s of
the
new
dis
cipl
ine
,and a
s a
n appl
ied
sub
ject
,it
s ba
sic
conc
ept
s a
nd
met
hods
shoul
d be
gene
ral
ly
accept
ed
n d
a widel
y appl
ied
by
pract
iti
oners
to cer
tai
n l
eve1.Therefor
e,t
h e aut
h or
s of
hi
t s
paper
bel
ieve
that
the
t
radi
tional
vi
ew
h at
t management
accou
nti
ng
was
for
med
in 1950s
is
fact
—based
and
val
id.
3.Eval
uat
e t
he
Phas
e up
to
the
End
of
1980s
As
me
nti
one
d a
bove,j
udgi
ng by t
he n
umbe
r of
newl
y de
vel
ope
d t
echni
cal
met
hods
of
ma
nagement
accou
nti
ng i
n t
his
pha
s e,Kapl
n a
a n d hi
s col
leagues consi
dered i
t t
he st
agnant
phase i
n t
h e devel
opment
of
ma
n agement
account
ing.But
Professor
Scapens
bel
ieves
h at“Over
t the past
for
ty
years
management
accou
nti
ng
has
devel
ope
d as
a
pract
ical
ai
d t
o bus
ines
s a nage
m r
s nd
a a
s a
subj
ect
for
aca
demic
te
achi
ng
nd
a res
ea
rch”.I
n hi
s
book Management Account
ing.
"A Re vie
w o f Conte
mporary Develo
pment,he revi
ewe
d a
nd summar
ized
management
accou
n ti
ng st
udi
es dur
ing t
his
per
iod i
n det
ail
.Based
on t
he mat
er
ial
provi
ded
by Rel
evance
Lost
nd A Re
a viw o
e f Cont
empor
ar
y De
vel
opment
,we
ca
n s
ee i
t i
s t
he hi
stor
ica
l pha
se whe
n r
esea
rcher
s an
d
pr
act
iti
oner
s gradual
ly deepen t
hei
r u
n der
stand
ing of t
he t
heoret
ical
ba
sis a
n d pract
ical
devel
opmen
t rul
es of
management
accou
nti
ng.The hi
stor
y of
devel
opment
of
man agement
accou
nti
ng i
s consi
stent
wi
h t
t h e
process
peopl
e gradual
ly
underst
and
it.Bel
ow,we
ivi
d de
hi
t s
per
iod
int
o t
w o
sub*
per
iods
n d
a provi
de
a br
ief
sur
vey.
3,
1 From 1950s t
o the Begi
nni
ng of 1970s:The Ef
fort
to Bui
ld‘
‘Cl
oser
to Real
ity’
’Deci
sion-making
M odel
s
The
st
u di
es
in 1
950s- 1
970s
had
recei
ved
most
cr
iti
cism,as“wa
ste
of
ti
me"--
-cr
eat
ing
man y
model
s wi
th
no
appl
icat
ion
in
pract
ice.However
,we
bel
ieve
thi
s peri
od
has
a de
m its
his
tor
ical
cont
ribut
ion.
In
an
ea
rli
er
devel
opment
st
age,m
a nagement
accou
n t
ing
knowl
edge
syst
em
had
not
onl
y accu
m ul
ated
lot
s of
management
and
cont
rol
ling
tool
s whi
ch
wer
e based
on
ina
f n ci
al accou
n ti
ng
inf
ormat
ion
n d
a wer
e cr
eat
ed
bef
ore
t
went
iet
h cent
ury ,but
al
so adopt
ed mi
croeconomi
c model
s a
n d met
hods based on m
a r
ginal
anal
ysi
s.Yet
,th ose
model
s wer
e si
mpl
iied,bas
f ed on l
inea
r rel
at
ionshi
ps and cer
tai
nty assumpt
ions,t
her
efore t
h ey were obvi
ousl
y
not
consi
stent
wi
th
real
ity.Fr
om 1
950s
to t
h e begi
nni
ng of 1
970s,t
o get
the deci
sion—
maki
ng model
s cl
oser
to
r
eal
ity,schol
rs
a had expa
n ded t
heor
eti
cal
bases,i
ntr
oduci
ng
new model
s wi
th revi
sed ass
umpt
ions— non—
linea
r
r
elat
ionshi
p,u
n cert
aint
y,pr
obabi
lit
y di
str
ibut
ion of r
andom vari
abl
es, s
tat
ist
ical
met
h ods
an d compl
ica
ted
oper
ati
ona
l research t
ech
n i
ques.M a
n y schol
rs
a wi
h mat
t h a
n d engi
neer
ing backg
r ou
n d,i
ncl
udi
ng R.Kapl
n
a
hi
msel
f,ent
ered
thi
s f
iel
d,so ma
n agement
account
n g
i resear
ch
reached
its
high
tide,pr
oduci
ng
man y
compl
ica
ted
de
cis
ion—
maki
ng mode
ls a
nd r
ese
rc
a h pa
pes,s
r ome
of
them (
1i
ke e
conomi
c i
nvent
or
y q
uant
it
y,l
ine
ar
pr
ogr
ammi
ng)ca
n be
ou
fnd
in
text
books
nd
a prof
ess
ion
al
qua
liica
f tion
exa
nls
.
I
t
is
a c
ommon
vie
w t
hat
in
middl
e 1
960s
modem
manage
ment
t
echni
que
s(i
ncl
udi
ng
ope
rat
ions
res
ea
rch)
was
ext
remel
y popul
r .But
a a decade
lt er
a ,appa
ren
tly
they
had
been
compl
etel
y forgot
ten
by
busi
ness
managers.
Ref
lect
ing
upon
hi
t s
epi
sode,i
n a
n ef
for
t t
o l
ink
theor
y2 a
n d
pract
ice
mor
e cl
osel
y ma
n y
man agement
accou
nti
ng .
st
udies
swi
tched
to
use quest
ion ai
re s
urvey i
nfor
mati
on a
n d
tried
to f
ind out
how vari
ous
tech
nical
met
hods
of
ma
n agement
accou
n ti
ng
had
been
appl
iedt
o rea
l wor
ld
n d
a whet
her
h ey
t had
been
usef
ul
or
not.I
t ca
n be
seen
as
h e
t begi
nni
n g
that
infor
m at
ion
economi
cs
was
int
roduced
int
o management
accou
n ti
ng.
I
t i
s cl
ear
that
ther
e woul
d be
no expa
n ded model
ing st
udi
es i
f t
her
e wer
e no si
mpl
iied model
f s f
irs
t.a
n d
1
The
two
books even
, thr
ough
havi
ng
difer
ent
focus
es
and
opi
nions
,pr
ovi
de
simi
lar
his
tor
ical
mat
er
ial
‘Ma
inl
y t
he
tec]
ani
cal
met
hods
in
text
books.
5
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eval
uat
ion
of
Several
Phas
es
in
the
De
vel
opm e
nt
of
Ma
nagem en tAccou n ti
n
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....................................— —
t
her
e woul
d be
no“coSt
and
benef
it”t
radi
ng—of
consi
der
ati
ons
in
appl
ying
management
account
ing
techni
ques
to
pr
act
ice i
f t
her
e wer
e no
compl
icat
ed
model
s creat
ed
n d
a then
aba
n doned earl
ier.Thi
s hi
stor
ical
st
age up t
o t
lle
begi
nni
ng of 1970s
made i
ts cont
ibut
r ion t
o t
he devel
opment
of
management
account
ing,and can’
t be cut
of
f
f
rom
its
hi
stor
y.
3.
2 From
1970s
to 1980s
,Inf
orm at
ion
Cost
and
Behavi
or
Studi
es
in
M anagement
Accounti
ng
Af
ter
ret
rospect
in
the 1
970s,i
t was general
ly
accept
ed t
hat“Ther
e i
s a l
ag
bet
ween t
heor
y a
n d
pract
ice I
n
ma
nage
ment
acc
ount
ing”
.Sca
pens(1
99
1)poi
nte
d out
t
hat
t
he
exper
iences
i
n t
he
pas
t t
wo
deca
des
di
rec
ted
to
two
appr
oaches:t
he
heoret
t ical
st
udy approach
and
the
pract
ical
st
udy
appr
oach
whi
ch
we
can
go
along
wit
h t
o sol
ve
h e
t probl
em.
Bas
ed on aut
hors’ u
n der
standi
ng, t
he so—cal
led t
h eor
eti
cal
sm dy approach was
the cont
inuati
on of
deci
sion—
maki
ng model
of t
he 1
950s
an d 1
960s.Suppor
ted by i
nformat
ion economi
cs and agent
t
h eor
y,t
his
a
ppr
oac
h bui
lds
a
mat
hema
tica
l mode
l t
o s
ele
ct
acco
nt
u i
ng
sys
tem
by
imi
ta
ting
the
pr
oces
s a
de
cis
ion-
make
r(a
n
i
nfor
mat
ion
eva
lua
tor
)is
conf
ront
ed
wih
t a
se
lect
ion
of
acc
ou
nti
ng
sys
tems
,eac
h s
ubj
ect
t
o nce
u rtai
n c
ost
s nd
a
benef
its.A
gener
al concl
usi
on of
infor
m at
ion
economi
cs
is“whet
her
one cost
asses
sment
al
ter
nat
ive i
s pr
efer
red
t
o a
n ot
her
is a
n i
nher
ent
ly cont
ext
ual
quest
ion”.I
t means t
hat
appr
opri
ate accou
n t
ing t
echni
ques can be
det
ermi
ned onl
y i
n t
he cont
ext
of
h e deci
t sion si
u at
t ion
n d
a in
par
ticul
ar,by ref
erence t
o t
he s
peci
ic cos
f ts a
n d
benef
its
of
he
t infor
m at
ion f
or
h at
t deci
sion.Thi
s i
s h e“cos
t tly
trut
h”approach.“Cost
ly
trut
h’’i
mpl
ies
that
even
if
t
rut
h ca
n be
at
tai
ned(
i.
e.a
pr
efe
rred
acco
nt
u i
ng s
yst
em ca
n be
ide
nti
ied)i
f t wi
ll
va
ry f
rom
one
si
uat
t ion
to
n ot
a her
ac
cor
ding
to
the
cos
ts and
be
neit
f s
of
inf
orma
tion.Tr
uth,i
n t
his
sens
e,i
s t
he
nor
mat
ivel
y det
ermi
ned
accou
nti
ng
syst
em… t
he
syst
em
hat
t ought
to
be
used。gi
ven
all
the
rel
eva
nt
cost
s n d
a benef
its
infor
mat
ion.
An i
mpor
ta
nt cont
ibut
r ion of i
nfor
m at
ion economi
cs t
o ma
n agem ent
accou
nti
ng res
earch i
s t
hat
it
e
ncou
rage
s r
ese
rcher
a s t
o di
sti
ngui
sh i
nfor
mat
ion
sys
tem
sel
ect
ion
rom
f inf
or
m at
ion s
yst
em
des
ign.Pr
evi
ous
ly
r
esear
cher
s had
focused
excl
usi
vel
y on
the
desi
n i
g ssue,whi
ch
had pr
oduced a
ser
ies
of
new a
n d
mor
e n d
a more
compl
icat
ed t
echni
ques.However
,the knowl
edge of
the i
nfor
mat
ion syst
em sel
ect
ion l
ed som e res
ear chers
to
expl
ore
he cost
t s and
benef
its
of
appl
ying
cer
tai
n management
accou
nti
ng t
ech
niques
to pract
ice
and,es
peci
all
y,
t
o exami
ne t
he r
elat
ive advant
ages
of si
mpl
e a
n d compl
icat
ed model
s.Thei
r wor
k i
ndi
cates t
hat
no gener
al
pr
escr
ipt
ions
exi
st.Thi
s concl
usi
on sugges
ts t
hat
the t
radi
tional
syst
em of ma
n agement
accou
nti
ng does
not
necessar
ily
provi
de
he
t basi
s or
f
best
pr
act
ice,al
though
it
may
provi
de
tech
niques
hat
t car
l be
usef
ul
n der
u cer
tai
n
ci
rcumst
n ces.So
a pract
iti
oner
s shoul
d not
be cri
tici
zed
for
fai
ling
to
impl
ement
cer
tai
n met
h ods
recommended
by
schol
ars.
The
inf
orm ati
on
economi
cs
model
is
a
nor
mati
ve model
,an d
its
pur
pose i
s t
o show
how i
nfor
mat
ion
sys
tem
shoul
d be
sel
ect
ed.So even
its
mai
n advocat
ors
al
so admi
t t
hat
ther
e are t
oo many vari
abl
es
to
be
ident
iied
f n d
a
h e
t model
is
too compl
icat
e t
o be
han dl
ed.As
the oft
consequence he compari
.
son of
simpl
iied and
f compl
icat
ed
●
t
model
s i
n t
er
m of
cos
ts
n d
a benef
its,t
he subsequent
resear
ches
become mor
e concer
ned
wih
t expl
anat
ion
of
he
t
speci
ic pract
f ices,r
ather
tha
n m aki
ng normat
ive st
atement
s.I
t i
s t
he pr
act
ical
st
udy appr
oach t
o deal
wi
th t
he
phenomenon
that“ma
n agement
account
ing
h eor
t y l
oses
the
touch
wit
h pr
act
ice”.
The
search
for
expl
n at
a ion
to
man agement
accou
nti
ng
pract
ical
behavi
or
represent
s a
fundamental
change
in
management
accou
n ti
ng research,l
eadi
ng f
urt
her
mor
e t
o a new school
of ma
n agement
accou
nti
ng.Pr
evi
ousl
y
ma
nag
eme
nt
acco
unt
ing
schol
ars
spec
ial
izi
ng
in
qua
nti
at
t i
ve
study
wer
e mai
nly
conce
rned
wih
t de
cis
ion-
maki
ng
pr
ogr
ess.Si
nce 1980s
pr
ocess
cont
rol
has
become t
h e cent
ral
issue.Resear
chers
real
ized t
hey needed t
o use
e
mpi
ica
r l s
udi
t es
to
tes
t whe
ther
obs
erve
d phe
nomena(
e.g.c
etai
r n me
hods
t we
re
used
and
he
t y
prod
uce
d ce
rtai
n
6
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eval
uat
ion
of
Seve
ral
Phas
es
in
the
De
vel
opme
nt
of
M anagement
Account
ing
e
fec
ts)we
re r
elat
ed t
o ce
rta
in s
pec
iic
f c
ircumst
ance
s.The
y bega
n t
o us
e s
urve
y,f
iel
d or
cas
e s
tud
y mor
e
f
requent
ly,a
n d
start
ed
to
conduct
behavi
oral
exper
iment
s t
o expl
ore
issues
evoked
by
fhe
agency
mode1
.
To
summari
ze。on
one ha
n d
in
thi
s per
iod
there
wer
e cont
inued s
tudi
es on
deci
sion—
maki
ng
model
s based
on
expanded t
heor
eti
cal
basi
s of
economi
cs,wi
th
int
roduct
ion of
he
t concept
of
inf
ormat
ion cost
int
o mathemat
ical
model
s.wh
ich
lat
er
bec
ame
he
t
bas
is
of
na
a l
yti
cal
sudi
t es.At
t
he
san
le
ime,bec
t aus
e nor
mat
ive
heor
t y pr
edi
cted
conti
ngent
fact
ors of
deci
sion
maki
ng,whi
ch l
ed t
o empi
ical
r test
of
behavi
or
st
u dy,t
he f
ocus of
management
account
ing
st
u dy expanded
from
deci
sion—maki
n g
to
behavi
or-cont
rol
ling,provi
ding
a basi
c pl
atf
orm f
or
today’
s
r
ich a
n d col
orf
ul m
a nagement
accou
nti
ng empi
ical
r resear
ch.So ma
n agement
account
ing st
udy i
n t
his
st
age
pl
ayed
h e
t rol
e i
n l
inki
ng
st
ages
bef
ore
n d
a aft
er
it.
4.Hi
stori
cal
Eval
uat
ion
of
M anagement
Account
ing
since
1990s
I
n t
hei
r Assessi
ng
Empi
rical
Resear
ch i
n Management
Account
ing.
"A Val
ue-
based
M anagement
Per
spect
ive
(
200
1)
,Ch
ris
tophe
r D.I
tt
ner
and Da
vid F.La
rcke
r poi
nted
out
tha
t“t
he pas
t t
wo dec
ades
ha
ve wi
tne
sse
d
consi
der
abl
e cha
n ge i
n m a
n agement
accou
nting pract
ice”.Begi
nni
ng i
n t
h e mi
ddl
e of 1
980s,ma
n agement
accou
nti
ng was no l
onger
conf
ined t
o pl
n ni
a ng a
n d cont
rol
ling,i
t was
more concerned wi
th pr
ocess,wi
h
t
reduci
ng r
esour
ce wa
s te,wi
th non-
fma
n ci
al a
s pect
s s
uch a
s qual
ity,operat
ions
a
n d ha
n dl
ing.By
the mi
ddl
e of
1
990s,ma
n agement
accou
n t
ing swi
tched i
ts focuses
from t
radi
tion
al fi
nanci
al deci
sion-maki
ng anal
yses
an d
budget
cont
rol
to st
rat
egi
c met
hods.I
n t
his
phas ̄a set
of“new ”m
a nagement
account
ing t
echni
ques
were
i
ntr
oduced,wi
h f
t ocus
on
val
ue addi
ng,i
ncl
udi
ng
the
devel
opment
of
bal
n ced
a scor
eca
rds
whi
ch
coul
d serve as
he l
t eadi
ng a
n d l
aggi
ng i
ndicat
ors
for
econom
i c success
, economi
c val
ue meas
ures
that
ar
e cl
imed t
a o
appr
oxi
mat
e sha
r ehol
der
ret
urns, a
n d st
rat
egi
c ma
n agement
accou
nting syst
em s
that
pr
ovi
ded i
nfor
mati
on
concer
ning
he
t cur
rent
n d
a expect
ed
stat
es
of
strat
egi
c n cer
u ta
int
ies.
I
tt
ner& La
rcker。
(2001
)bel
ieve
that
pa
ral
lel
ed t
o de
vel
opme
nt of ma
nageme
nt a
ccou
nti
ng pr
act
ice
,
management
accou
nti
ng
resea
rch
si
nce 1
990s
has
devel
oped
in
he
t sam e
directi
on.Empi
ical
r st
udi
es
of
budget
ing
n d f
a ina
n ci
al
cont
rol
pr
act
ices
re gi
a ying
way
to
res
earch
on
a va
riet
y of‘
‘new”t
echni
ques
such
as
act
ivi
ty—based
cos
ting,t
h e bal
anced scoreca
r d,st
rat
egi
c account
ing a
n d contr
ol syst
ems,a
n d economi
c val
ue per
for
m a
n ce
m easures.
‘
Thus
it
can
be seen
that
Rel
evance
Lost
n deed
i had
impor
ta
nt i
nf
luence 0n
man agement
account
ing
pra cti
ce
n dt
a h eor
eti
cal
st
u dy.
I
tt
ner&Lar
cke
r(2
00
1)poi
nte
d o
ut
mana
gemen
t ac
cou
nti
ng
sudi
t es
in
the
phas
e ha
d t
hre
e not
abl
e f
eat
ures
.
Fi
rst
,the pr
act
ice-or
iented nat
ure of
hi
t s r
esear
ch,whi
ch mea
ns managem ent
accou
nti
ng r
esea
rchers
had pai
d
gr
eat
at
tent
ion
to
he
t
cit
r i
cis
m i
n t
he
198
0s
n d
a 1990s
…the‘
‘i
rrel
eva
nce
ofmanage
ment
acco
nt
u i
ng
res
erch
a to
its
pr
act
ice”,a
n d
they
made ef
for
t t
o i
mpr
ove
h e si
t tuat
ion.The
second
feat
ure,whi
ch
is
rel
ated
to t
he
irs
f t one
n d
a
mi
ght
have
shown
the
wea
knes
s of
sudi
t es
in
thi
s phas
e,i
s ha
t t
the
tende
ncy
of
foc
uAng
on
pra
cti
ce
lea
ds
to
he
t
fadd
ish n
atur
e i
n ma
n agement
accou
nti
ng
lit
erat
ure.Many
papem were
purel
y mot
ivat
ed by t
he
popul
ar l
evel
of
n
a empi
ical
r topi
c i
n commer
cial
newspaper
s a
n d
magazi
nes,wi
th l
itt
le efor
ts t
o put
t
he pr
act
ice i
nto broader
heoret
t ical
backgr
oun d a
n d expl
ore t
he
princi
ples
n d r
a ules.The
hi
t r
d feat
ure may have
a l
onger
hi
stor
y.Tha
t i
s,
he
t
dive
rsi
y
t i
n s
ampl
ing,r
ese
rch
a met
hods
,an d
he
t or
ies
us
ed
by
res
erche
a s,a
r re“ma
king
it
di
所cul
t
to
gener
ali
ze
r
esul
ts
rom
f mana
geme
nt
acc
ou
nti
ng
sudi
t es”(
It
tne
r&Lar
cke
r,200
1)
.
Based on aut
h or
s’l
imi
ted obser
vati
on i
n r
ecent
year
s,we don’
t compl
etel
y agr
ee wi
th It
n er& Larcker’
t s
7
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eval
uat
ion
of
Several
Phase
s i
n t
he
Devel
opme
nt
of
M anage
ment
Aeeount
in
above
argument
s and
wil
l expl
ain
bel
ow.
4.
1 Theoreti
cal
St
udi
es
Focus
on
Practi
cal
Issues
W e agr
ee wi
th t
he st
atement
that
management
accounti
ng research i
n r
ecent
yea
rs had r
elat
ed cl
oser
to
pr
act
ice,but
we t
hink
thi
s shoul
d not
been s
een as
si
mpl
y a r
esponsi
ve cor
rect
ion t
o cr
iti
cism.So f
ar we have
descr
ibed
he
t phases
of
man agement
account
ing
devel
opment:si
mpl
iied
f model
s・-
・
--
-compl
icat
ed
model
s・
-・
--
・model
s
wi
h
t l
itt
le
appl
icat
ions— r
efl
ecti
ons… cost
n d
a benef
it s
tudi
es— behavi
or
studi
es,i
t i
s a
process
pursui
ng t
he
goal
h at“t
t h eori
es gui
de,expl
ain a
n d predi
ct pr
a ct
ice”.Therefore f
ocusi
ng on empi
ical
r iss
ues i
s not
onl
y t
he
nec
e ssar
y condi
tion for
management
account
ing t
heor
ies t
o pl
ay a r
ole i
n pr
act
ice,but
al
so t
he basi
s f
or
e searchers
r to under
stn d a
a n d
expl
ain t
h e
behavi
or r
ules
of
management
accou
n t
ing,t
o push
for
war
d t
heoret
ical
s
udi
t es.The
whol
e t
hing
shoul
d be
seen
as
pos
iti
ve
rat
her
tha
n passi
ve
act
ion
of
academi
c ci
rcl
es.
I
n onr
lit
er
ature
search
for
empi
ical
r sudi
t es i
n he
t pas
t decade
or
so,we
did s
ee
that
qui
te
man y
sudi
t es cover
a
reas
li
ke
new
manu
fact
uri
ng
env ̄on
ment(
e.g.J
IT)
,new
org
ni
a za
tion
st
ruct
ure(
e.g.t
eamwor
k),n
ew
tec
hni
que
met
hod(
e.
g.ac
ti
vit
y-ba
sed
cos
tng,bal
i anc
ed s
cor
ecrd)a
a nd n
ew a
ccount
ng
i f
iel
d(e.
g.cus
tome
r nd s
a uppl
ie
r
a
cco
unt
ing)er
e.
.Ma
ny
pape
rs
used
the“f
iel
d”met
hod
nd
a showe
d a
ne
w l
ook
in
es
r ea
rch.Howev
e ̄a
cl
ose
look
at
he
t pape
rs
publ
is
hed
in
seve
ral
l
eaingj
d our
nal
s wo
uld
show
hat
t ma
ny
oft
hos
e s
udi
t es on
new
topi
cs
in
a new
envi
ronment
st
illhadt
he
sal
Tle
concerns
oforgani
zat
ionbehavi
ora
n d
sti
llu
n dert
hei
nf
luence
ofcont
iIl
gencyt
heor
y,
nher
i it
ed
from
ea
r whe
n a
gent
heor
t y domi
nat
ed.Thos
e pa
er
p s
ar
e conc
erne
d wi
h
t he
t i
nf
lue
nces
of
nt
i er
nal
n d
a
ext
ernal
fact
ors
of
or
gani
at
z i
ons
on
he
t sel
ect
ion
of
rnanagement
cont
rol
ling
sys
tems,t
ryi
ng
to
ind
f the
reasons
why
he
t
same
tec
hni
cal
met
hods
pr
oduc
e ife
d rent
re
slt
u s
n
i di
fer
ent
or
gani
zat
ions,r
at
her
th
an
to
ind
f a“bes
t me
ho
t d”
whi
ch
can
be
appl
id
o t
o a
ll
orga
niza
ti
onal
envi
onme
r nts
.As
Ge
orge
Fos
ter& S.Ma
rk
Young(1
997)s
aid:“
Fr
om
a
r
esear
ch s
tandpoi
nt,a
key r
ole
is
st
ill
bui
ldi
ng
h eor
t ies/
framewor
ks
h at
t expl
ain a
n d pr
edi
ct
whi
ch f
irms
wil
l adopt
sp
e ci
ic met
f hods.Academi
cs h
a ve mor
e f
ocus on
under
lyi
ng f
orces
afect
ing behavi
or
than on
he s
t h ort
-run ‘
ir
f e
ight
f ing’t
hat
occupi
es
much
time
of
management
or
on
del
iver
ing
shor
t-nn
r benef
it
as
do
many
cons
ult
an ̄.
”
‘
‘Bui
ling
d sou
n d
heor
t y i
s one
basi
s whi
ch
separat
es
academi
cs
from
cons
ult
nt
a s.Theor
y bui
ldi
ng
n d
a test
ing
over
comes
the cr
iti
cism
of
some
pract
iti
oner
s t
hat
acad
emi cs
re mer
a ely
scri
bes
whose
ask
t is t
o docum ent
wh
at
pr
act
iti
oner
s do.
’’
Ther
e have
been‘
't
rend-f
oll
owers”i
n t
heoret
ical
st
udi
es i
n a
n y
hist
ori
cal
st
age,t
he
phenomenon
coul
d not
nf
iluenc
e he
t
bea vi
h or
ofl
eadi
ng
peopl
e n d
a cn’
a t
bec
ome
the
symbol
ic
fea
tur
e ofa
n y
sta
ge.I
fwe
sa
w a
hot
t
opi
c,
be
for
e avi
h ng
bee
n s
uf
ici
ent
ly
sudi
t ed,was
re
plac
ed
by
othe
rtopi
cs,i
t
miht
g
be
due
to
the
re
son
a tha
t i
t
was
n
a
i
mmat
ure
iss
ue.In
fact
。topi
cs
like“budget
’’a
n d‘
‘per
for
man ce
eval
uat
ion”had
epeat
r edl
y become
popul
r
a t
opi
cs.
I
f onl
y one
ki
nd
of
manage
ment
act
ivi
ti
es
exi
sts
in
prac
tic
e,cor
res
pondi
ng
manage
ment
me
hod
t and
bea vi
h or
woul
d ai
r s
e di
fer
ent
ques
tions
acc
ordi
ng
to
cha
nges
in
envi
onme
r nt。a
n d
in
tur
n t
hos
e ques
tions
wi
ll
be
come
the
concer
n of
academi
a.
4.
2 Empi
rical
Studi
es
Gui
ded
by
Theory
Accor
ing
d to our
observat
ion,t
he past
decade wi
tnessed a
tend
r hat
t basi
c t
heor
ies
become more
a
n d mor
e
i
mpor
tant
i
n empi
ical
r researches of
management
account
ing3 For
.
exa
m pl
e,empi
ical
r researches
of 1
980s
were
mai
nly ba
s ed on econom i
c t
heor
y whi
ch had d
ificul
f ties
in expl
aini
ng cert
ain phenomena Af
.ter t
at
h ma
n y
schol
ars wer
e s
eeki
ng for
new approaches
by i
nt
roduci
ng soci
ology,psychol
ogy,st
rat
egi
c management
an d
s
tru
ctur
e t
he
or
y.Ac
cor
ing
d to
Shi
els(
d 1
997)a
nd
a t
abl
e i
n Sca
pens& Br
omwi
ch(
2001
),of
al
l
the
paer
p s
he
t y
3
W eca
nal
so
seet
he
samet
rendi
nfinanc
ialaccount
ingandma
nager
ialt
heor
y
.
8
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eval
uat
ion
of
Sever
al
Phas
es
in
the
Devel
opment
of
M anagement
Account
ing
were r
evi
ewi
ng,t
her
e were onl
y 1
2% and 34% paper
s wi
h out
t ident
iiabl
f e t
heor
eti
cal
bases,i
n USA
and UK
r
espe
cti
vel
y(a
s s
hown
in
Tabl
e 1
).
Tabl
e 1
The
Di
str
ibut
ion
of
Theori
es
The
per
cent
age
ofpa
per
s us
ed
theor
ies
USA % )
UK (% )
Eco
nomi
cs 54 54 24 24
Soci
olog
y 6
Soci
aI t
heory 7
Conti
ngency t
heor
y 6
6 20
I
nst
itut
ionaI
theor
y 4
Cul
tur
al
theor
y 3
Ps
ychol
ogy l
0 l0 3
Ps
ychol
ogy
and
behavi
oraI
sci
ence
3
Or
gani
zat
ional
behavi
or l
2.5
Or
gani
zat
ion
theor
y 9
Pr
oducti
on and oper
ati
ons
management
(
or oper
ati
ons
l1
265 . 3
l6
management
)
St
rat
egi
c management
3 2
M anagement
cont
rol
theor
y 2
Hi
stor
y 0.
6
Mi
scel
laneous
3
None 1
2 34
Thi
s t
rend
re
minds
us
onc
e ag
ain
ha
t t
empi
ic
r al
st
udi
es
cannot
be
ca
rri
ed
out
wi
th
jus
t a
set
of
dat
a.To
a
gr
eat
ext
ent
the
resul
t of
empi
ical
r research
rel
ies
on
how
wel
l
researcher
s under
stand
heor
t y and
how
stict
r ly t
hey
compl
y wi
h resea
t r ch nor
m .W i
thout
good t
rai
ning t
h ey Cal
l nei
ther
bui
ld appropr
iat
e hypot
hes
es,nor
expl
ain
st
ati
sti
cal
evi
dences
convi
nci
ngl
y.Thi
s i
s ver
y i
mpor
tant
to
Chi
nese schol
ars
in a
time
when empi
ical
r resea
r ches
become s
o popul
ar.
4.
3 The
Wide
Range
of
Topi
cs
in
Em pi
rical
Research
As
mor
e and
more empi
ical
r st
udi
es have
been conduct
ed,t
he r
ange
of
st
udy t
opi
cs i
s get
ting wi
der
.Bas
ed
on
the
aut
hors’observat
ion,i
n recent
yea
r s,t
h e
diversi
ty
in s
u dy
t sampl
es,resear
ch
methods
and
gui
ding
theor
ies ,
n d
a he
t r
esul
ted
var
iey
t of
indi
f ngs
of
he
t
studi
es,ha
ve
att
rac
ted
mor
e at
tent
ion
of
re
sea
rcher
s of
mana
geme
nt
account
ing.Ther
e a
r e l
iterat
ures on t
his
speci
ic phenomenon.Some schol
f ars
tr
y t
o use cer
tai
n f
ram ework t
o
i
nteg
rat
e di
fer
ent
res
ear
ch r
esul
ts.For
exa
mpl
e,I
tt
ner& Lar
cke
r(200
1)put
a g
reat
ma
ny l
it
era
ur
t es
int
o a
“val
ue-
bas
ed
management
fr
amewor
k”.Some schol
rs
a t
ry
to under
stn d t
a he di
ficul
ties
of
int
eg
r at
ing di
ferent
s
u di
t es and f
ind t
he way t
o overcome t
he di
ficul
ties,t
hrough a
n al
yzi
ng di
ferent
un derl
ying t
h eori
es a
n d
met
hod
ologi
es
of
dife
rent
genr
es.For
exa
m pl
e,Ma
rk
A.Co
val
eski
et
al(
2003)anal
yze
budge
ting
res
ea
rch
in
t
hre
e t
heo
ret
ical
pe
rspect
ives(
eco
nomi
cs,ps
ychol
ogy
and s
oci
ology)
,foc
usi
ng on i
mpor
tant
si
mil
ri
a t
ies
and
di
fer
ences
acr
oss
per
spect
ives
wi
th res
pect
to t
he pr
imar
y resea
r ch quest
ion l
evel
s of anal
ysi
,
s,ass
umpt
it
ns
about
at
r i
onal
ity
n d
a equi
libr
ium ,budget
ing
n d non-
a budget
ing
vari
abl
es a
n d causa1
, .model
for
ms.They i
dent
ify
f
our
int
errel
ated
crit
er
ia
or
f
sel
ect
ive
int
egrat
ive
res
earch.
On
the
ot
her
ha
nd,Lukka& Gr
anl
n d(
u 2002)
,bor
rowi
ng
from
the
te
rmi
nol
ogy
of
ine
f ar
ts'di
sti
ng
uis
h t
hree
genr
es of
ABC resea
r ch:consul
ting r
esear
ch,basi
c r
esea
r ch a
n d cr
iti
cal
resea
r ch accord
i ng t
o t
h e i
, nter
est
s of
knowl
edge,
resea
r ch met
h ods,a
r gument
ati
on st
yles and r
es
, ul
ts of
h ese genr
t es.They i
nsi
st t
hat
enha
n ci
ng
communi
cat
ion bet
ween
var
ious
resea
r ch
cul
tures
is
a l
ong
road
requi
ring cha
n ges
in t
he f
rames
of
ref
e:
rence of
Th
?cit
reion s
r the
char
act
eri
sti
cs
of
wor
ks,r
ather
tha
n t
he
char
act
er
ist
ics
of
thei
r aut
hor
s.Some
genr
es
have
rel
ati
vel
y cons
tant
.
m em bers
through.
Bas
ed
on
Habe
rmans
’f】975)def
ini
ti
on.
9
维普资讯 http://www.cqvip.com
Eva
luat
ion
of
Several
Phase
s i
n t
he
Devel
opment
of
M anagement
Ac
count
ing
each
par
ty,and
most
of
all
,tol
erance
and
open mi
ndedness.
Some s
chol
ars t
ry t
o expl
ain reasons
of
the di
fer
ences
through cl
assi
lyi
ng met
hods
adopt
ed by di
fer
ent
wor
ks.For
exa
mpl
e,J
ona
s Ge
rdi
n& J
n Gr
a eve(
200
4)pr
ovi
de a
cl
ass
iica
f tor
y f
rame
wor
k i
n whi
ch
difer
ent
for
ms of
cont
ingency f
it
are out
lined
n d
a h en di
t scuss
t
h e ext
ent
to whi
ch t
h e di
fer
ent
f
orm s
ca
n be r
elat
ed t
o
each
oth er
.
Va
gneur& Pei
per
l(2000)c
ons
ider
the
val
idi
ty
iss
ues
cr
eat
ed
by e
vol
uti
on i
n t
he c
once
ptua
liz
ati
on
nd
a
speci
icat
f ion
of
the r
eleva
nt
var
iabl
es about
the const
ruct
of“per
for
m a
n ce
eval
uat
ive s
tyl
e’’a
n d
classi
fy
hem
t by
cal
cul
ati
on
type
in
order
to
underst
n d
a and
test
h ei
t r oper
ati
onal
di
fer
ences.
I
t i
s wort
h noti
ng t
hat
in r
ecent
years’empi
ical
r researches,t
here ar
e more deep di
scussi
ons
on r
elat
ion
bet
ween
fact
ors ,e.
g.,ma
n y
art
icl
es
test
the
hypot
hesi
s h at
t besi
des
two
mai
n fact
ors
of
int
eres
t i
n a
study,whet
her
her
t e i
s a
hi
t r
d one
pl
ayi
ng
a r
ole
of
medi
ati
on
or
moder
ati
on.Some
st
udi
es
use
st
ruc
ur
t al
eq
uat
ion
model(
SEM)
t
o t
est
compl
ex
rel
ati
ons
bet
ween
several
vari
abl
es.There
are
also st
udi
es
whi
ch
n al
a yze
and
test
the
endogenous
n d
a exogenous cha
ract
ers
of
fact
ors
in a st
udy i
n order t
o sea
r ch f
o r
the knowl
edge of f
undamental
pr
inci
ples
beneat
h i
nter
esti
ng
phenomena.
W e
bel
ieve,i
n t
he
process
of
expa
n di
ng
resea
r ch
scope a
n d
gai
ning
mor
e k
n owl
edge,i
t i
s nat
ural
to s
ee
the
di
ver
sit
y of
resea
r ch met
h ods and r
esul
m.Based on
accumul
ated
of
study
resul
ts,we
may
be abl
e t
o summari
ze
more
fundament
al and gener
al k
n owl
edge.In
hi
t s
process,communi
cati
on among schol
ars and accumul
ati
on
of
empi
ical
r evi
dence a
r e of great
impor
tance.Chi
nese schol
ars shoul
d l
ear
n more about
resea
r ch r
esul
ts a
n d
experi
ences
from for
eign schol
rs。and more act
a ivel
y part
ici
pat
e i
n i
nter
nat
ional
cooperat
ion of management
account
ing
e sea
r r ch.
Ref
erences:
1
.Coval
eski
M .A 。J.H.Eva
ns
III
,J.L.Luf
t,and
M D.Shi
elds
.Budget
ing
Res
ear
ch:Thl
ee Theol
eti
cal
Per
spect
ives
and
Cr
it
eri
aforSe
lec
tiv
eIn
tegr
ati
on,
Jouma
l
ofMa
nag
eme
ntAc
cou
nti
ng
Res
ear
ch,
200
3,Vb
l_l
5:3.
49
2
.Fo
ste
r G &S
.M.Yo
ung.Fr
ont
ier
s o
f Ma
nage
ment
Ac
coun
tin
g Re
sea
ch,J
r our
nal
of
Ma
nag
eme
nt
Acc
oun
tin
g Re
sea
rch。
l
997:3-
61
3
.Ge
rdi
n J
.& J
.Gr
eve
.For
ms
f Co
o nti
nge
ncy
Fit
in
Ma
nage
men
t Ac
cou
nti
ng
Res
ear
ch-A Cr
it
ic
al
Rev
iew,Ac
cou
nti
ng,
Or
gani
zat
ions
and
Soci
ety,2004.
Vo1
.29
4.Homgr
en.Char
les
"
M anagement
Accounl
ing: Wher
e Al
e We?“ i
n Management
Ac
count
ing and Cont
rol
,Beyer
Sympos
ium。Madi
son:Uni
ver
siy
t ofWi
scons
in,1
975
5.I
ttner
C.D.& Lar
eker
D.
F.As
sess
ing Empi
rical
Res
ear
c h i
n Mana
geri
al Account
ing:A Val
ue—
bas
ed Mana
gement
Per
spect
ive。J
our
nal
ofAc
count
ing
and
Economi
cs,
2001,Vo1
.32:349-
-41
0
6
.Jo
hns
on
H.t& R.
K.Ka
pln.
a Re
lev
anc
e Lo
st:T
he
Ris
e an
d f
』f Ma
o nage
ment
Acc
ount
in
g,l
st
ed.
.Bos
ton
.MA:
Har
vrd
a
Bus
ines
s School
Pr
ess,1
987
7
.Ka
pla
n R.S.
Adv
anc
ed
Man
ager
ial
Acc
ount
i
ng(
Sec
ond
Ed
iti
on,
Tra
nsl
at
ed
by
Boj
ing
a
Zhon
g,Zhi
sha
n Li
u,Gu
angwe
i We
n)。
Chi
na
Comme
rce
Pres
s,Fi
rst
Edi
tion,1
989
8.
Luf
t
J.L.Lon
g.t
erm
Chan
ge
in
Man
age
men
t Ac
cou
nti
ng:Pe
rspe
cti
ves
foma
r His
tor
ica
l Re
sea
rch,J
ouma
l of
Ma
nag
eme
nt
Account
ing
Res
ear
ch,1
997,v01
.9:163—197
9.Lukka K.and M.Gr
anl
und.The Fr
agment
ed Communi
cat
ion St
ruct
ure
wit
hin t
he Account
ing
Academi
a:T
he Case
of
Act
ivi
t
y-base
d Cos
ting
Res
ear
c h
Genr
es,Account
ing,Or
gani
zat
ion
and
Soci
ety,2002:1
65—1
90
1
0.Se
ape
ns
R.w
Man
aeme
g nt
Acc
ount
in
g:A
Re
vie
w f
o Con
tempo
rar
y De
vel
opme
nts(
Sec
ond
Ed
it
ion
,19
91;Fi
st
r
E ̄t
io
n
l
985)
。London:Mae
mil
lan
Wor
ld
Publ
ishi
ng
Cor
p ’
l
1.Sca
pen
s R.W nd
a
M.Bro
mwi
ch.Man
ageme
nt
Acc
oun
tin
g Re
sea
ch:
r P
Fi
rst
De
cad
e(Edi
t
ori
al
Repo
rO.Ma
nag
eme
nt
Ac
cou
nti
ng
Res
erc
a h。2
001(
12)
1
2.Shi
elds
M .D.Re
sear
c h
in
Management
Account
ing Nort
h Ameri
cans
in
the 1990
sJ
, our
n al
of
M anageme
nt
Account
ing
Res
earch,1997(3)
1
3.Va gneu
r
K.& M.Pe
ipe
1.Re
f con
side
rin
g Pe
rfor
man
ce
Eval
uat
iv
e S
tyl
e,Ac
cou
nti
ng。Or
gan
izat
i
ons
an
d So
cie
y,2
t 000:
5ll-
525
1
4.Xuyi
n Yu.
Manageri
alAccount
ing(
Fir
st
edi
ti
on)
,Li
aoni
ng
Peopl
e’s
Pr
ess
,1995:10.11
(
Edi
tedbyHe
ngZhua
n g,Er
ic
n d
a Ji
nf
a engHe
)