The article focuses on the study of information systems for management control. During the past decade there have been many new approaches toward the study of the business entity. It is difficult to classify these approaches because each new approach usually overlaps previous approaches and is typically modified and strengthened by subsequent approaches. Recognizing the difficulty of any classification scheme, four developments are submitted as being the major movements in new approaches during the past decade. First, the psychological and sociological inquiries were combined to form the behavioral science approach toward studying the firm, with the human motivational aspects of each area given greatest emphasis. Second, advances were made in electronic data processing, and the electronic computer became a familiar expression throughout our society. Concurrent developments in electronic computers and communication equipment have provided the necessary means for rapid accumulation, calculation, processing, summarization, reporting, and transmission of data. Third, mathematical tools and techniques were applied to the study of business events. Fourth, scientific method has been applied to the study of the business entity, and applied models are frequently used in studying business situations.

The article informs that profit motive has frequently been described as the "driving force" of capitalistic society, and some of the more ardent supporters of this belief hold the profit motive in the same high esteem as their most sacred beliefs. The profit motive is assumed to be the implicit expression of society's goal for the firm. Further more, the profit motive is ascribed as being the objective of enterprise management, and this objective is assumed to be explicitly stated by the stockholders for the corporate management. The changes in the socio-economic environment, since the concept of a profit motive was first advanced, do not mean, analogously, that the profit motive is no longer a reasonable assumption regarding corporate management's goal. This paper re-examines the "profit motive" in modem society and relates the "modified profit motive" assumption to accounting practice. Thus, the paper consists of two parts. The first part describes, compares, and contrasts three viewpoints on how the motivational assumption for accounting theory can be re-interpreted in the current socioeconomic environment. The second part suggests specific extensions, from the foregoing analysis, to accounting practice.

Reviews the book "Characteristics of an Effective Management Control System in an Industrial Organization," by Robert H. Demino.

Reviews the book "Development of Information Systems for Education," by Khateeb M. Hussain.

A professional paper recently examined some of the economic considerations of a statement prepared by the American Accounting Association's Committee on Basic Accounting Theory. It represented the accounting function by an information economic model embodying a utility function of a user. The article examines this Committee's statement from a more fundamental perspective with a focus on the particular statement that accounting is an information system. Specifically, the analysis consists of four parts. First, an overview of information theory is presented. Second, a concept of formal information systems is developed. This will include a differentiation between information theory and information systems and the identification of the critical elements in formal information systems. Third, two generalized models of accounting theory are presented which culminate with a model embodying the critical elements in formal information systems. Finally, the insights gained from the latter model are used to indicate research areas in accounting theory.

Reviews the book "Financial Accounting Theory," by Harold Bierman.