Explaining management accounting practices and strategy in Thailand : A selection approach using cluster analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the level of adoption and benefit obtained from a range of management accounting practices (MAPs) in Thai organizations and analyze to these by reference to various strategic typologies. Design/methodology/approach – Contingency theory, proposing a fit between MAPs and a comprehensive set of strategic typologies is used. Factor analysis, cluster analysis, and Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA is applied to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. Findings – It was observed that firms pursuing differentiation/prospector/entrepreneurial/build strategies significantly report higher benefit from contemporary MAPs. Firms with a cost leadership strategy were, as expected, found to obtain higher benefit from traditional MAPs. Contrary to expectations, entrepreneurial firms reported higher benefit from traditional MAPs than conservative firms. Research limitations/implications – Like all survey work this relies on questionnaire responses of individual organization members. A selection approach was adopted so no direct relationship with organization performance was investigated. Practical implications – Although use of the full range of MAPs is reported there is still reliance on traditional MAPs. Hence further exposure of businesses and practitioners to contemporary techniques is recommended in training, professional development, and interactions with international partners. Originality/value – The paper provides insight into MAPs in Thailand, an emerging economy and one with limited published academic research in management accounting. It incorporates four strategic typologies which previously have been mainly used individually in MA research.