财务人员如何顺应财务会计向管理会计的转型—3000英文翻译

AconceptualframeworkforteachingmanagementaccountingSajaySamuelABSTRACTThispaperproposesaconceptualframeworkforteachingmanagementaccounting.Theframeworkisrootedindistinguishingorganizationsfrommarketsanddrawsonthefast-developingfieldof“organizationaleconomics.”Marketclearingprices,infinitelydivisiblecommodities,andregimeofprivatepropertyrightsarethreeaspectsthatcantheoreticallycharacterizemarkettransactions.Thispaperarguesforconceptualizingthesubjectmatterofmanagementaccountingasaresponsetotherelativeabsenceoftheseaspectsofmarkettransactionswithinorganizations.Specifically,managementaccountingprocedurescanbeclassifiedasinstrumentsthat:coordinatethedemandandsupplyofresourcesintheabsenceofprices;measureresourceconsumptiongivenindivisibilitiesinthecostfunction;andcontrolresourceusewhentheownershipofassetsisseparatedfromitscontrol.Thisconceptualframeworknotonlylendsintellectualcoherencetothesubjectmatterofmanagementaccountingbutalsopermitsitsdiversetopicstobearrangedinalogicallyarticulatedmanner.1.IntroductionThispaperproposesaconceptualframeworkforteachingmanagementaccounting.Abouttwentyyearsago,Vangermeersch(1997,p.45)complainedthat“managementaccountingseemstobeafree-standingphenomenonwithoutadeepphilosophicalbasis(that)wouldfacilitatetheteachingofcost/managementaccounting.”Respondingtohiscall,therehavebeenmanyattemptsovertheinterveningyearstospecifyframeworksforandredefinitionsofmanagementaccounting.Thisongoingefforttothinkthroughthefoundationsofmanagementaccountingisalsolinkedtorenewedattemptstoprofessionalizethefield.Section1ofthispapersurveystherelevantscholarlyandprofessionalliteraturetoshowhowtheproposedconceptualframeworkoffersameaningfulcontributiontoit.Section2selectivelyexaminestheliteratureon“organizationaleconomics”todrawoutthoseaspectsthatcanilluminatethefieldofmanagementaccounting.Theanalysesoforganizationsareavibrantandgrowingareaofeconomics(Gibbons&Roberts,2013),anditisthedistinctionbetweenmarketsandorganizationsthatconstitutesthebedrockoforganizationaleconomics.Inparticular,itwillbearguedinSection3thatthreetheoreticallyassumedfeaturesofmarketexchanges—marketclearingprices,infinitelydivisiblecommodities,andprivatepropertyrights—canservetoconceptuallydelineatemarketsfromorganizationsascontrastingmodesoforganizingeconomictransactions.InSection4,thetypicaltoolkitofmanagementaccountingislogicallyderivedfromtheforegoingdimensionalanalysisoforganizations.Withinorganizations,managerialdecisions,ratherthanprices,fundamentallyinfluencetheallocationofresources.Moreover,unlikemarkets,organizationsarenotonlymarkedbytheseparationofownershipandcontrolbutalsobythepresenceofindivisibleorlumpyresources.Thetoolkitofmanagementaccountingcanbelinkedto,orevenmorestrongly,logicallyderivedfrom,thesefeaturesoforganizations.Specifically,whereascoordinationtools,asexemplifiedbybudgets,areneededtoreplacethemissingpricemechanism,controltoolssuchasvariances,andcostingtoolssuchasactivity-basedcosting(ABC),arenecessitatedbytheabsencewithinorganizationsofprivatepropertyanddivisibleresources,respectively.AcoherentgroupingofspecifictopicsispresentedinSection5ofthispaper.Itisshownthatmostofthetopicsdiscussedinmanagementaccountingtextbookscanbeclassifiedwithintheproposedtripartitetoolkitandacaseismadeforagroupingoftopicswhoseorderunfoldsinanarticulatedmanner.Section6takesupthetopicofmanagerialdecisionsasdiscussedinmanagementaccountingtextbooks.Suchdecisionsasdroppingaproductline,pricingaspecialorder,orevaluatingsegmentprofitabilityrelyonthecarefulcalibrationofrelevantcostsandbenefits,whichinturn,oftenexploittheconceptofcontributionmarginanditsderivatives.Thesedecisionsimplicitlyinvokethestrategicpostureoftheorganization.Otherdecisionssuchasthe“make-or-buy”and“sell-or-processfurther”explicitlyinvoketheboundaryoftheorganization.Decisionsthatimplicitlyorexplicitlyputintoquestiontheboundaryoftheorganizationdirectlyimplicateanorganization’sstrategy.Strategicconsiderationsarenotindependentofthetheoreticalreasonsgivenforwhyorganizationsexist.Accordingly,afullconsiderationofsuchstrategicdecisionsrequiresgrapplingwiththeoriesofthefirm.Evenifyetinconclusive,thereisarichliteratureineconomics,organizationtheory,andsociologydirectedatexplainingtheexistenceoforganizations.Concludingremarksreiteratethevirtuesoftheproposedconceptualframeworkfororganizingthecontentandteachingofmanagementaccounting.2.LiteraturereviewThissectionofthepaperselectivelyreviewsthescholarlyandprofessionalliteratureon“frameworks”and/or“redefinitions”ofmanagementaccountingtomakeacaseforthecontributionoftheproposedframeworktothisliterature.1Briefly,theproposedframeworkoffersatheoreticallygroundedexplanationfortheexistenceofmanagementaccountingpractices.Assuch,itnotonlypresentsacoherenttemplatetoteachthesubjectbutalsoaddressesapossiblegapintherecentprojecttoprofessionalizemanagementaccounting.However,unlikesomeothers,thisconceptualframeworkformanagementaccountinginvokesnophilosophicalwarrantthoughitisanchoredinthefieldoforganizationaleconomics(cf.forexample,Marple,1964;VanderMerwe,2007;Vangermeersch,1997).Moreover,itisdifferentintwowaysfromanotablepriorefforttospecifytheconceptualfoundationsofmanagementaccounting(Belkaoui,1980).Theproposedconceptualframeworkisfoundedonthediscriminatingfeaturesoforganizationsandmarketsasdistinctmodesofeconomicgovernance.Incontrast,Belkaoui(1980)arguesthatmanagementaccountingrestsonfourconceptualfoundations,whicharetheaccounting,organizational,behavioralanddecisionalfoundations.Second,Belkaoui(1980)leavesunderspecifiedtherelationbetweenthesuggestedmulti-disciplinaryfoundationsandmanagementaccountingproceduresandpractices.2Incontrast,theoverwhelmingmajorityofmanagerialaccountingtopicsusuallypresentedintextbookseitherderivesfromorislogicallylinkedtotheconceptualframeworkproposedhere.Thereseemstobegeneralacknowledgementthatmanagementaccountingastaughttoandperceivedbystudentscanbenefitfromanorganizinglogic.GreenbergandWilner(2015)undoubtedlygeneralizeanecdotalimpressionsinnotingthatacommoncomplainttheyhaveheardrepeatedlyoveracombinedfiftyplusyearsofteachingisthelackofaframeworkinmanagerialandcostcourses.Anorganizingframeworkformanagementaccountinghasbeenthoughtimportant,particularlyastheroleofthemanagementaccountantchangesfromcompliancewithfinancialaccountingrulesandregulationstopartneringwithdecision-makersatthehighestlevelsoftheorganization(Cooper,2006;Kittredge,2009).Unsurprisinglytherefore,therehavebeenframeworksproposedformanagementaccountingtomeettheincreasinglycomplexandchangingcontextofthepractice.Somehaveproposedframeworkslimitedtotheissueofproductcosting.Forexample,GreenbergandWilner(2015)suggestusingconceptmapsasatooltogenerateintegrativeframeworksforteachingmanagerialaccounting.Yet,theyknowinglylimittheapplicationofconceptmapstothenarrowtopicofproductcostingthusleavingoutothersubjectareas,suchasbudgeting,whichareusuallyclassifiedwithinthefieldofmanagementaccounting.Inthisrespect,theirintegrativeframeworkissimilartotheConceptualFrameworkonManagerialCostingproposedbytheInstituteofManagementAccountants(IMA),whichemphasizescostingmodelsneededformanagerialdecisions(IMA,2014;seealsoWhiteetal.,2011).Otherframeworksformanagementaccountinghaveawiderfocusandincludetopicsinmanagementaccountingbeyondproductcosting.Forinstance,inCokin’s(2001)managementaccountingframework,costmeasurementandcostusesareproposedasthetwofundamentalcomponentsofmanagementaccounting.Costmeasurementincludesthemethodsforcollectingcostdataandthoseofassigningcoststocostobjects.Ontheotherhand,costusescoverthedecisionsupportfunctionofmanagementaccountingtechniquesthatareaimedatimprovingoperationalcontrol,measuringperformance,andplanningforprofits.Similarly,Berg(2015)recommendsadirectionalframeworkforthesubjectofmanagementaccounting,whichheconceivesofbroadlyasaninstrumentforgoverningtheenterprise.Theplanningandcontrolfunctionsofmanagementaccountingmirrortheintentoflookingaheadandbackrespectively,whereasthecostanalysisandreportingfunctionsreflecttheintentoflookinginanduprespectively.Accordingly,thesetwoframeworksrecognizethatthemanagerialfunctionsservedbymanagementaccountingincludeplanningandcontrollingin1Todiscoverexistingframeworks,Ihaveconsultedallpapersonmanagerialaccountinglistedinthecomprehensivereviewsofaccountingeducationalpapers,ascompliedandreportedinApostolou,Hassell,Rebele,andWatson(2010),Apostolou,Dorminey,Hassell,andWatson(2013),Apostolou,Dorminey,Hassell,andRebele(2015,2016).Inaddition,asindicatedbythecitationsinthissection,furtherbibliographicalsearcheswereconductedonawiderdatasetthanusedbyApostolouetal.,whichislimitedtosixscholarlyjournals.2Belkaoui(1980,p.112)suggeststhateach“foundation”iscomposedof“determinants”whichare,inturn,madeupof“elements”.Forinstance,thebehavioralfoundationispartlydeterminedbymotivationtheorieswhichincludevalue/expectancytheoryasanelement.Thepossiblecombinationsbetweenalltheelementsanddeterminantsareexcessivelylargetopermitanytightlinkagesbetweenmanagementaccountinganditsfoundations.additiontocosting.However,stillotherframeworksformanagementaccountingsuggestthatitistimeto“moveawayfromnarrowtermslikeplanningandcontrol”towardsamoreexpansiveunderstandingoftheroleandfunctionofmanagementaccountingas“addingstakeholdervalue”(Brewer,2008,p.36).Thisevenwiderframingofmanagementaccountingmirrorstherenewedandongoingefforttofundamentallyreorientthefieldbylinkingittoorganizationalstrategy.Forexample,Blocher(2009)arguesforembeddingthetopics(e.g.,varianceanalysis)andtechniques(e.g.,calculationofpricevariances)ofmanagementaccountingwithinanorganizationalstrategyframework,whichisintendedtoanswerthequestionofwhythesetopicsandtechniquesareuseful.Thedeliberationsofthetaskforce,jointlysponsoredbytheIMAandtheManagementAccountingSection(MAS)oftheAmericanAccountingAssociation(AAA),areanoutstandingeffortinthisregard.Ithasfleshedoutaframeworktoguidethedevelopmentofaccountingcurriculadesignedtosparklong-termsuccessinallaccountingcareers(Lawsonetal.,2014).Thisframeworkspecifiestherangeofcompetencies—fromfoundationalcompetenciessuchascommunicationandmanagementcompetenciessuchasleadership,tosuchaccountingcompetenciesasplanning,analysisandcontrol—neededtofurtherthevaluepropositionofaccounting,whichistoenableenterpriseperformancemanagement.Inturn,theManagementAccountingCompetencyFrameworkproposedbytheIMAembedsthetopicsandtechniquesofmanagementaccountingwithintheabovespecifiedframeworkofcompetencies(IMA,2016,seealsoBots,Groenland,&Swagerman,2009).TherecentlyannouncedredefinitionbytheIMAcapturesfullythestrategy-relatedunderstandingofmanagementaccounting.In1981,theNationalAssociationofAccountants(nowtheIMA)definedmanagementaccountingasthe“processofidentification,measurement…andcommunicationoffinancialinformationusedbymanagementtoplan,evaluateandcontrolanorganization…”(quotedinIMA,2008,p.48).Breakingwiththatrelativelynarrowprocessdrivenorientation,theIMAhas