ACCOUNTING IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.
This article reports some of the findings of intensive research on management's use of accounting in decision-making. The core of the research is 44 case studies of decision making in small firms. In recent years, the issue of accounting in decision making has received considerable attention, but there is a dearth of large scale empirical evidence to suggest how managers actually use accounting data. Accordingly, the objectives of this research were, to describe how managers use accounting data in decision-making, to evaluate the consistency of accounting data with the logic of economic analysis, and to prescribe the role of accounting data in decision making. Because of space limitations, the descriptive element will be emphasized here. The case studies indicate that management uses accounting data as a means of recognizing the need for a decision and for comparing alternative courses of action. The remainder of this paper discusses those factors which influence the extent of management's use of accounting data in each of the two phases and concludes with suggestions for a general framework of thought concerning managerial accounting.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-7104434
- Volume
- 38 (3)
- Pages
- 492-500
- Language
- en
- Export
- BibTeX
- Sources
- openalex crossref