2004 Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 3-18
We are in the age of continuous innovation. The manufacturers can no longer produce and market larger volumes of standard products with a relatively stable market and technological environment. Their management accounting systems must reinforce a top-to-bottom commitment to process and product innovation. They must motivate all employees to move toward the strategies of the companies, which determine the direction of that innovation. The following three elements together constitute the new theme of management accounting: market-driven management, a learning organization, and a strategic focus. With a market-driven philosophy, top management must ensure that employees should stay close to their customers. Fixed specialization must be taken over by flexible specialization and network organization. We have to study how to design management accounting for management control of the network organization.
