Multiple measures in management accounting systems and contextual variables: an empirical study in the automotive industry

The content of Management Accounting Systems (MAS) is changing in order to better satisfy the information needs of managers. The use of multiple performance measures (MPM) in MAS is becoming more and more popular. The manner in which non financial measures (NFM) are used and combined with financial measures (FM) seems to be even more varied than the number of models proposed by scholars and practitioners. Furthermore, it is argued that when firms attempt to improve some critical activity areas (such as product, processes, customers and market development) this implies that the company is trying to integrate and coherently coordinate organizational efforts. For this reason it is appropriate to analyse the new performance measurement "packages" used in practice. The various aspects of these "packages" are worth investigation and the paper focuses the different “pathways” adopted by companies working in Italy by examining the variables that cause variety of behaviour in the implementation of NFM in MAS. The approach adopted also calls for the analyses of these pathways by studying the perceived outcomes of the new practices. In order to test these pathways, data was collected from 35 automotive manufacturing units. The principle findings of this survey, which took into account a qualified sample of large and medium firms, underlined that the articulation of FM and NFM in MAS varied in each firm belonging to the sample. Therefore the paper, firstly investigated into the relationship between the different structures of MAS and some contingent variables (e.g. size, strategy, adoption of ERP Systems, …), secondly, it examined the relationship between the contingent variables and the perceived outcomes of multiple measures systems. Consistent evidence was found of firms using multiple measures, but our results indicate that there was a significant relationship among these pathways and few “classic” contextual variables. On the contrary, our results indicate more interesting behaviors by combining these variables in smaller segmental groups of firms. Finally, the important role of the controller in managing effectively the MPM is highlighted in the study. The paper is a consequence of a wider research project focused on the analysis of the integration process between FM and NFM in MAS.