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7. Conclusions
Section:
Our paper has sought to provide insight into the associations among cost accounting systems structure characteristics and cost information quality properties. In order to test our research hypotheses, we used the responses provided by 119 leading manufacturing firms in Greece. In general, our data provide supportive evidence that positive associations among cost systems structure attributes and cost information quality properties exist. More specifically, the cost accounting structure in terms of detailed information existence, variance calculation and frequency in reports preparation exerts an influential role on the relevance, accuracy, timeliness, usability, compatibility, up‐to‐datedness, reliability and thoroughness of information for decision‐making purposes. On the contrary, the systems' ability to disaggregate costs according to behaviour and to generate customized reports was not found to be statistically significantly associated with information quality.
Also, contrary to expectations, it was found that detail of information, as measured by the extent to which costs are analysed by cost centre, product and activity, is negatively associated with cost information relevance. Since relevance reflects the system's ability to provide the information managers consider as important to perform a number of tasks, it could be inferred that a cost system that analyses information according to usually encountered and general in nature criteria, such as cost centres, products and activities does not necessarily provide the appropriate information for multipurpose decision making that is involved when a variety of managerial tasks is undertaken.
Overall, our findings support the theoretical argument put forward in the management accounting literature that more functional cost accounting systems provide information of higher quality. For example, Pizzini (2006) suggests that cost systems that supply more detailed information and classify costs to a greater extent provide more relevant and useful data and ultimately assist managers to make performance‐enhancing decisions. Similarly, Al‐Omiri and Drury (2007) found a positive relationship between the importance given to cost information and the level of cost system sophistication, while Feltham (1977) suggests that the expected effect of decisions based on aggregate information is likely to be less compared to that based on detailed information. In the same vein, Nicolaou (2003) claims that perceptions of a cost system's effectiveness can be a valid indicator of how well the system is designed to support decision making, and Kaplan (1983) underlines the need to employ MAS that provide information useful for planning and control decisions.
Moreover, our empirical results indicate that the correlations that exist among all cost accounting systems structure features are positive and strong in terms of statistical significance. This is an indication that even though the cost accounting systems developed in practice may take several forms there is an internal consistency within their underlying features. Additionally, the correlations that exist among the information quality characteristics are also positive and statistically significant. Thus, while each cost information quality dimension reflects a distinct feature in relation to cost information usefulness for decision‐making purposes in the same time it is highly related with the other quality dimensions that characterize any given cost accounting system.
The research conclusions of our study have important implications for both professionals and researchers. Firstly, the paper presents an integrated model that captures various aspects of the design and use of cost accounting systems. In our paper, we present an application of this model in the manufacturing sector. However, thanks to its generic nature, the model is easily applicable to different industry settings as well. Second, the study indicates that managers recognize the importance of receiving sophisticated cost information during the decision‐making process, while at the same time the design of cost systems was found to be a significantly explanatory factor of the quality of cost information. These findings could, therefore, sensitize the designers of cost systems technical facets to the underlying qualities of information that users perceive as useful. Moreover, the instruments of information quality that were examined in this study could provide a useful basis for measuring and evaluating the level of satisfaction users perceive from their existing company cost accounting system. Such an evaluation could also be performed within the context of a post‐implementation review. Within that scope, the objective might be to identify those areas that should be addressed in future system development projects.
The above discussion of results suggests a number of useful directions for future research. The fact that our study was constrained to manufacturing firms only, limits the ability to generalize the results to other industries. Thus, the study would be repeated in other sectors of the economy, so as to achieve a better generalization of the results. Finally, our research framework has relied on perceptual measures of both cost systems structure and information quality. Future research could examine the effects of cost system design choices in quantifiable measures of firm performance such as the profitability and cost structure. Finally, the unexpected negative sign in the relation between the level of detail of cost accounting information and relevance raises an important question that could trigger a more thorough study on the attributes of detailed cost information that are related to relevance enhancement.
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