Organization strategy, management techniques and management accounting practices : contingency research in Thailand

There have been the recent calls for additional research in order to enhance the understanding of potential contingency factors which explain the adoption of management accounting practices (MAPs). This, allied to a lack of knowledge in relation to current use of MAPs, especially in developing countries, is the motivation for this research. Thus, this research attempts to explore the adoption and perceived benefit of MAPs as well as to examine their relationships with contingency factors affecting organizational performance in a developing country, Thailand. Two potential contingency factors are adopted for this research including a comprehensive set of strategic typologies and management techniques (MTs). Three forms of contingency fit, selection, interaction, and systems approaches, have been adopted in order to develop research questions and hypotheses.A triangulation approach combining a survey and interviews is used in this research. The questionnaire was delivered to 'accounting managers' of 451 companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). There were 135 returned and usable responses, resulting in 29.9 percent response rate. Semi-structured interviews of seven companies provide qualitative findings, which are in line with, but explain further, those from the survey.The findings confirm the popularity of the use of, and high perceived benefit from, traditional MAPs and reveal disappointing adoption rates of, and relatively low perceived benefit from, contemporary MAPs. There are some alignments between MAPs and strategic typologies and between MTs and strategic typologies. However, only a few moderation effects are detected. In line with expectations, the companies under differentiation/ prospector/ entrepreneurial/ build strategies tend to have higher organizational performance when they obtain higher benefit from contemporary MAPs and MTs concerning quality, employee empowerment, customization and flexibility. It was also found that the companies pursuing cost leadership/ defender/ conservative/ harvest strategies tend to have higher performance when they obtain higher benefit from traditional MAPs and MTs relating to cost reduction processes.This study adds to the limited body of knowledge of MA in Asian countries, in particular Thailand. It represents a comprehensive survey and explanation of MAPs in Thailand. It is anticipated that this research will make academics and practitioners aware of the capability of alternative MAPs combined with the right match of MTs to improve firms' efficiency and effectiveness as well as its fit with the strategies. It is also expected that the findings of this research will provide valuable insights into the nature of MAPs, and assist the academics and practitioners in improving management accounting rules and practices in Thailand.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (Sponsor)GBUnited Kingdo