The Relationship between organizational Characteristics Variables and Management Accounting System Attributes in Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between organizational characteristics variable and Management Accounting System attributes in manufacturing firms. It basically focuses on how Management Accounting System (MAS) attributes help manufacturing firms in attaining their objectives by enhancing the scopes of decision making. The sample for this study was taken from five regions in Tanzania; Tanga, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam. These regions were selected because, compared to other regions in the country, they are thought to have a good network of manufacturing distribution. Besides, different MAS attributes of scope and integration information have been clarified to understand their impact on businesses by focusing on various organizational characteristics variables of organizational structure decentralization, corporate strategy and staff qualification. The study used Contingency Theory to explore how organizational characteristics variable relates to management accounting system attributes in manufacturing firms. The findings show that corporate strategy has a positive relationship with MAS attributes of scope and integration information in manufacturing firms. It was also found that staff qualification positively influences the MAS attributes of scope and integration information. The results further show that, there is a significant positive relationship between organizational decentralization and MAS attribute of scope in manufacturing firms. However, the relationship between organizational structure (decentralization) and Management Accounting Systems attribute of integration information is not significant.