科技改變、競爭、組織規模對管理會計組成問題之影響：以美國製造業公司為證

Abstract

科技的改變嚴重地影響到製造業營運的本質。同時，貿易障礙的解除(如:歐洲共同體、北美自由貿易協定)更增加了全球市場的競爭。為確保管理會計系統能夠幫助管理者有效地面對環境改變的挑戰，因而了解科技改變及競爭之如何影響管理會計問題是很重要的。本研究乃在探討上述關係的本質，主要目的並非在於發展改進式的管理會計系統，而是提供在這個新環境中，如何努力俾能增進管理會計的有效性。本研究調查了美國56家高、低科技的製造業公司，研究結果包括三項。第一、科技改變及競爭環境交互影響了企業所面對的管理會計組成問題。第二、兩個主要的組織特性一資本密集與規模，並非獨立地影響著管理會計之問題。第三、在管理會計程序中，各問題之大小具有顯著性的差異，其中最大的問題在於營業預算及經營績效的衡量與評價。上述發現，引申出未來有關改善管理會計有效性的研究必須將焦點放在科技改變及競爭的情況，及管理會計程序的選擇上。

Technological change is dramatically affecting the nature of manufacturing operations. At the same time, the dismantling of trade barriers (e.g., European Community, North America Free Trade Agreement) is increasing the competitiveness of global markets. To ensure that management accounting systems can assist managers to meet effectively the challenges of this changing environment, it is important to understand how technological change and competition affect the mix of management accounting problems. This study explores the nature of this relationship. The objective is not the development of improved management accounting systems, per se. Rather, it is to provide a basis for identifying research topics and developmental efforts most likely to enhance management accounting effectiveness in this new era. A survey of 56 U.S. manufacturing firms in high tech. and low tech. industries yielded three major results. First, technological change and competition interacted to affect the mix of management accounting problems encountered by firms. Second, capital intensity and size, two key organizational characteristics, did not independently affect management accounting problems. Third, problem size differed significantly across management accounting processes. The two largest problem areas were operating budgeting, and measuring and evaluating operating performance. These findings suggest that future research to improve management accounting system effectiveness does need to focus on the effects of technological change and competition and to be selective with respect to management accounting processes.