Date of Award
1995
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Bachelor of Business Honours
Faculty
Faculty of Business
First Supervisor
Vincent Chong
Abstract
This thesis is an empirical examination of the role of strategic business unit (SBU) strategy and perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) en the relations between 'management accounting systems (MAS) design and SBU performance. Two extreme strategic postures of Miles and Snow's typology were used in this study. They were prospector and defender. MAS design was defined in terms of the extent to which managers' use of broad scope MAS information characteristics for decision making; A survey research methodology was used in this study. The responses of 62 SBU managers, drawn from a cross-section of manufacturing companies in Western Australia, were used in the data analysis. The companies included in the sample were randomly selected from a list of manufacturing companies published in Kompass Australia (1994/95). A path analytic technique was used to test the hypotheses developed in this thesis. The results indicated that under high (low) PEU, the use of broad (narrow) scope MAS information by managers operating in firms pursuing prospector (defender)-type strategy led to effective decisions, thus contributing to improved SBU performance
Recommended Citation
Chong, K. (1995). Strategy, perceived environmental uncertainty, management accounting systems and performance: An empirical investigation. Edith Cowan University. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses_hons/665