The Effects of Computer Usage, Environmental Uncertainty and Management Accounting Systems on Small Business Performance

Authors

  • Ferdinanda A. Gul Division of Commerce and Administration, Griffith University, Australia
  • William Glen Division of Commerce and Administration Griffith University Australia, Australia
  • Allan Ruguang Huang Division of Commerce and Administration Griffith University Australia, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/mmj1992.1.1.4

Abstract

Using a sample of SME managers/owners as subjects, this study examined the moderating effects of perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) and computer usage on the management accounting system (MAS) or performance relationship. Performance in this study was measured using the compound growth rate of market value of the firm (GMV) and growth rate of fixed assets (GFA). SME was defined as companies with between 10 to 100 employees. Results using multiple regression analyses and partial derivatives of the regression equations showed that PEU moderated the effects of MAS on performance with MAS having a positive effect on performance under high levels of PEU. In addition, the results also showed that levels of computer usage moderated the effects of MAS on performance with MAS also having a positive effect on performance under conditions where there was a high level of computer usage. Under low levels of PEU and computer usage had a negative relationship with performance.

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Amigoni, E.(Autumn 1978). Planning Manage-ment Control Systems, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting,.279-291. Malaysian Management Journal 1(1), 35-45 (1992)

Carter, N.M. (1984). Computerisation as a Pre-dominate Technology : Its Influence on the Structure of Newspaper Organisations, Academy of Management Journal,27(2): 247-270.

Chenhall, R.H. & Morris, D. (January 1986).The Impact of Structure, Environment, and Inter dependence on the Perceived Usefullness of Management Accounting Systems, The Accounting Review, 16-35.

Cronbach, L.T. (1951). Coefficient Alpha and the Internal Structure of Tests, Psychometrica 297-334.

Duncan, R.B. (September 1972). Characteristics of Organisational Environments and Per-ceived Environmental Uncertainty, Admin-istrative Science Quarterly, 313-327.

Ferris, K.R. (1977). A Test of the Expectance Theory of Motivation in an Accounting Environment, The Accounting Review,605-615.

Galbraith, J.R. (1977). Organisation Design, Reading : Addison-Wesley.

Gordon, L.A. & Narayanan, V.K. (1984). Man-agement Accounting Systems, Perceived Environmental Uncertainty and Organisa-tion Structure: An Empirical Investiga-tion, Accounting Organisations and Soci-ety, 33-47.

Govindarajan, V. (1986). Impact of Participa-tion in the Budgetary Process on Manage-rial Attitudes and Performance: Universalistic and Contigency Perspective, Decision Science, 496-516.

Gul, F.A. (1981). The Joint and Moderation Role of Personality and Cognitive Style on Decision Making, The Accounting Review.

Gul, F.A. (Spring 1986). Tolerance for Ambigu-ity, Auditor’s Opinion, and its Effects on Decision Making, Accounting and Business Research.

Gupta, A.K. & Govindarajan, V. (1984). Busi-ness Unit Strategy, Managerial Character-istics, and Business Unit Effectiveness as Strategy Implementation, Academy of Management Journal 27: 25-41.

Lawrence, P.R. & Lorch, J.W. (1967). Organisation and Environment, London : Harvard Uni-versity Press.

Mahoney, T.A., Jordee, TH. & Caroll, SJ. (1963). Development of Managerial Perform-ance: A Research Approach, Cincinatti: South Western Publishing Co.

Mia, L. (1988). Managerial Attitude Motivation and the Effectiveness of Budget Participa-tion, Accounting, Organisations and Society, 13(5) : 465-475.

Mia, L. (1989). The Impact of Participation in Budgeting and Job Difficulty on Manage-rial Performance and Work Motivation: A Research Note, Accounting Organisations and Society, 347-357.

Nunnaly, J.C. (1978). Psyhometric Theory, New York : McGraw-Hill.

Robey, D. (September 1976). Information Technology and Organisation Design, University of Michigan Business Review, 17-22.

Robey, D. (1977). Computers and Management Structure : Some Empirical Findings Re-Examined, Human Relations,30 : 962-976.

Robey, D. (1981). Computer Information Sys-tems and Organisations Structure, Com-munications of the ACM, 24 (10) : 679-1000.

Sathe, V. (1974). Structural Adaptation to Environment: Study of Insurance Company Departments and Branch Banks, Unpub-lished PhD dissertation (The Ohio State University).

Schoonhoven, C.B. (1981). Problem with Contigency Theory: Testing Assumptions Hidden Within the Language of Contigency Theory, Administrative Science Quarterly, 349-377, Malaysian Management Journal 1 (1), 35-45 (1992) Simon, H.A., Guetzkow, H., Kozmetsky, G. &

Tyndall, G. (1954). Centralization of Or-ganising the Controller’s Department (Controllership Foundation).

Storey, J. (1987). The Management of New Of-fice Technology: Choice, Control a; and Social Structure in the Insurance Industry, Journal of Management Studies 24 : 43-62.

Tushmen, MLL. & Nadler, D. A. (1978). Informa-tion Processing as an Integrating Concept in Organisation Design, Academy of Man-agement Review, 613-624.

Whisler, T.L. (1970).The Impact of Computers on Organizations, New York: Praeger.

Zeffane, R. (November 1989). Computer Use and Structural Control: A Study of Aus-tralian Enterprises, Journal of Management Studies, 621-648. Malaysian Management Journal 1 (1), 35-45 (1992)

Downloads

Published

01-09-1992

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (1992): Malaysian Management Journal (MMJ) Vol. 1 No. 1 September 1992

Section

Articles

How to Cite

A. Gul, F., Glen, W., & Huang, A. R. (1992). The Effects of Computer Usage, Environmental Uncertainty and Management Accounting Systems on Small Business Performance. Malaysian Management Journal, 1(1), 35-45. https://doi.org/10.32890/mmj1992.1.1.4

Research impact

Harvested 2026-09-07
0 citations recorded so far

Counts differ between services because each indexes a different body of literature. None of them is the whole picture.

Identifiers DOI 10.32890/mmj1992.1.1.4 OpenAlex W111264457