Benchmarking the incidence of strategic management accounting in Slovenia

Abstract

Purpose – To benchmark the degree to which companies in Slovenia, a country that has experienced success in its transition to a market economy, apply strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques.

Design/methodology/approach – Survey data collected in Slovenia has been benchmarked to survey data collected in similarly sized Australian companies.

Findings – For the Slovenian sample, while none of the techniques investigated are applied extensively, it has been found that competitor focused SMA techniques are the most popular. A group of SMA techniques that have a costing orientation are applied more extensively in Slovenian companies than in the Australian benchmark sample. It has also been found that some techniques that have a relatively high popularity ranking in one country, rank relatively lowly in the other country.

Research limitations/implications – In addition to the generally accepted limitations of survey research, it should be noted that there is no definitive listing of SMA techniques and debate concerning this matter can be expected to continue. A further shortcoming is evident in the cross-country comparison aspect of this study, as a disappointingly small number of Australian financial controllers committed themselves to participating in the study.

Practical implications – It appears likely that systematic differences between the economies and culture of countries contribute to differential use of SMA. This highlights the importance of management considering economic and commercial context when designing management accounting systems.

Originality/value – Despite considerable normative commentary, there is still a paucity of empirical research concerned with SMA. A particularly significant facet of this study concerns its extension of our appreciation of SMA application in a novel international context.