Traditional Vs. Contemporary Managerial/Cost Accounting Techniques Differences Between Opinions Of Educators And Practitioners

Abstract

From the mid 1980s, the start of new movements in the field of managerial/cost accounting, a gap has emerged between the opinions of academia and practitioners regarding the degree of usefulness of managerial/cost accounting techniques. It is believed that practitioners generally prefer managerial/cost accounting techniques which are simple, practical and economically applicable. On the other hand, many authors and academia believe that the traditional managerial/cost accounting techniques are obsolete and not effective for managerial decision-making purposes. As stated by one author, most of the traditional management/cost accounting information are usually too late, too aggregated, and too distorted to be relevant for decision-making purposes. 

Despite the considerable criticisms to the traditional techniques and increasing interest in developing new managerial/cost accounting models in recent years, the traditional management/cost accounting techniques are still widely used by many organizations. 

Based on the above and many other studies, some disagreements appear to exist between the perception of academia and practitioner regarding the degree of usefulness of some traditional and contemporary (emergent) managerial/cost accounting techniques and practices. The objectives of this research were to determine (a) whether a real gap existed between the perceptions of academia and practitioners regarding the usefulness of traditional and contemporary managerial/cost accounting techniques and practices and (b) if such a real gap existed, should the practitioner follow academia or should academia modify their theoretical thinking according to practitioners’ practical experiences. In addition, it was planned in this research to determine the degree of usefulness of different managerial/cost accounting techniques and practices, as well as the type of skills and characteristics demanded from our graduates, from the view points of academia and practitioners. The outcomes of this study were expected to provide useful and empirical information to the authorities in the higher education for the development of more effective curriculum in the field of managerial/cost accounting.