Management Accounting and Entrepreneurship. The relationship between management accounting and entrepreneurial orientation

Abstract

Interest in entrepreneurship and research within the field of entrepreneurship has increased, although the aim and direction of the research has changed. In today’s studies there is more focus on the entrepreneurial process on firm level within organisations, than on entrepreneurship by individuals. It is also stressed in scientific and academic research that renewal of the economic system is important for a healthy economic development. It is essential that old ideas are replaced by new ones and that old products, services and processes are substituted by those which are better and more effective. For several firms, entrepreneurship and the development of new products have become a central dimension in the strategies. It is not only important for a firm to support the process of new product development, but also to utilize old ideas. This can be done by well structured management accounting systems, which combine new and old ideas and creates a balance that bring out the best of both.

Little research has been pursued within management accounting and entrepreneurship which gives the conclusion that no precise knowledge about how management accounting systems are designed and used in entrepreneurial organisations exists. However, there has been research done in fields close at hand and these studies may be useful for understanding the context of entrepreneurship.

The objective of this study is to illustrate current practice of management accounting in firms with different level of entrepreneurial orientation. We will use a measurement instrument developed by Brown, Davidson and Wiklund (2001) to characterise the level of entrepreneurial orientation within the researched firms. The purpose is to chart and compare how management accounting systems are designed and used in organisations with different levels of entrepreneurial orientation. The focus lies on different selected parts of the management accounting system with basis in the formal, less formalized, and organisational instruments of control, respectively incentives programs. With these bases an overall understanding can be obtained of how firms with different levels of entrepreneurial orientation work with and use their management accounting.

The findings indicate that there exist some differences in the design and use of management accounting in different levels of entrepreneurial orientation. These lie in three main categories: formal or informal control, internal or external orientation and financial or non-financial grounds for decision-making. A lower entrepreneurial profile coincides with a heavier reliance on formal control whereas a higher such profile implies an equally heavier reliance on informal control. Firms with a lower score tend to support a larger proportion of their decisions with financial information, while firms with higher entrepreneurial orientation consider more non-financial information in their decision-making processes although financial information is also considered. It is also indicated that firms with a higher entrepreneurial orientation tend to be more externally oriented, while firms with lower entrepreneurial orientation are more internally oriented.