An analysis of the impact of electronic data processing equipment on the education of students wishing to pursue a management accounting career

Includes bibliographical references (pages 160-169)Pages 1-85 are missing.The objective of the study is to determine the\ud adequacy of the collegiate education management\ud accounting students are currently receiving to face\ud the challenges of an increasingly computer oriented\ud environment. To gain a better insight into the profession of\ud accounting its history was first examined. This\ud showed that the development of accounting was primarily\ud in response to business needs which arose with changes\ud in the economic structure of our environment. Next, the purposes of management accounting\ud were analysed. Particular emphasis was given to the\ud influence the growing application of electronic data processing is having on the management accountant and what this may portend for the future. The education\ud of the management accounting student is currently receiving was then evaluated to determine if it was sufficient to meet the needs of modern business. Interviews with business executives, industrial\ud surveys, reading materials and correspondence with prominent accounting educators were utilized in making this study. The results of the study indicate that the education management accounting students are\ud currently receiving is still adequate to meet the challenge of the dawn of the computer age. However, this may not continue to hold true in the future.\ud Progress will have to be made in constantly updating the\ud management accounting curriculum to keep pace with the\ud continuously increasing rate of change in the mode of\ud operation of contemporary business. If this does not\ud occur, accountants may find themselves with a reduced\ud role in the area of decision making