Semra Aksoylu, Ebru Aykan. Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey

Journal of US-China Public Administration, ISSN 1548-6591 October 2013, Vol. 10, No. 10, 1004-1017 D DAVID PUBLISHING Effects of Strategic Management Accounting Techniques on Perceived Performance of Businesses Semra Aksoylu, Ebru Aykan Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey The present study was carried out to examine the compliance of medium and large-size enterprises in Kayseri, Turkey with strategic management accounting techniques (SMAT) and to determine the effects of SMAT on the perceived performance of businesses. The sub-dimensions of SMAT were specified as cost-oriented, customer-oriented, and competitor-oriented techniques. The effects of SMAT and sub-dimension usages on the perceived performance of businesses were investigated by hypotheses. The data gathered from 202 accounting managers in Kayseri were used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that the participating businesses had a usage intensity of above average for 16 out of 17 SMAT and they had over 50% compliance with 12 of these techniques. Although SMAT and cost, customer and competitor-oriented sub-dimensions had significantly weak impacts on perceived performance, the positive relationships and effects were found to be sufficient to accept the hypotheses. Keywords: strategic management, management accounting, perceived performance, strategic management accounting techniques (SMAT), business performance Together with the rapid developments and changes taking place and consequent globalization processes, the terms strategy, mission, vision, competitive advantage, efficiency, productivity and sustainability have gained popularity in the business and management literature. Business development and persistence are vital for sustainable competitive advantage. Businesses employ different managerial tools and techniques to sustain such an advantage. They usually look for low-cost but high-quality manufacturing techniques through the use of management approaches such as total quality management, process management, information management, strategic management and target long-term positive outcomes (business satisfaction, performance increase, creativity, etc.). Within the strategic management perspective, with such developments, strategic management accounting techniques (SMAT) was evolved as a result of the pursuit for efficiency and productivity of businesses. Therefore, the initial objective of the present study was to assess the SMAT usage intensity of medium and large-size businesses in Kayseri (Turkey) and to determine their compliance with these techniques. The second and eponymous objective was to determine the effects of SMAT usage on the perceived performance of participating businesses. Initially, the terms strategic management accounting, techniques and perceived performance are defined and the relationships among them are explained; then, the analysis results for the hypotheses are presented and discussed. Corresponding author: Semra Aksoylu, Ph.D., assistant professor, Social Sciences Vocational School, Erciyes University; research fields: accounting, management accounting, financial accounting. E-mail: aksoylus@erciyes.edu.tr. Ebru Aykan, Ph.D., assistant professor, Social Sciences Vocational School, Erciyes University; research fields: strategic management, organizational behavior, human resource management, entrepreneurship. E-mail: aykane@erciyes.edu.tr.

EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES 1005 Strategic Management Accounting Before defining strategic management accounting, it is necessary to define traditional management accounting. Management accounting is a type of accounting which arranges the information and reports needed by business managers in taking managerial decisions and interpreting such reports and allowing managers to compare them with annual budget and standard practices. Traditional management accounting generally deals with the internal operations of a business (Yükçü, 1998). On the other hand, strategic management accounting covers entire operations allowing accountants and other business managers to tend toward an outward-oriented perspective as opposed to an inward-oriented perspective (Kırlı & Gümüş, 2011). A consensus has not yet been reached on the definition of strategic management accounting in the accounting literature. The term Strategic Management Accounting was first proposed by Simmonds in 1981. Simmonds pointed out the need for developing business strategies by not only considering internal management accounting data but also by providing and analyzing the management accounting data of competitors through strategic management accounting (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). Therefore, strategic management accounting expresses the use of management accounting systems to provide information support to business managers in strategic decisions and control activities (Cinquini & Tenucci, 2010). In general, there are two different points of view on strategic management accounting: (1) strategic management accounting is composed of a group of strategic accounting techniques; and (2) strategic management accounting expresses the participation of accountants in the strategic decision-making and control mechanisms of a business (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). Considering the latter view, strategic work units are formed and such units are presumed as the heart of business and business reports are presented to these units for the proper operation of strategic decision-making tools and control mechanisms (Otley, 2001). Strategic management accounting has various functions like gathering competitor information, gathering information from the accounting service in strategic decisions and reducing costs based on strategic decisions (Shah, A. Malik, & M. S. Malik, 2011). While performing such functions, the strategic management accounting process is implemented in four phases (Langfield-Smith, 2008): (1) Definition of strategic operational units; (2) Strategic cost analysis; (3) Strategic market analysis; (4) Strategic assessment. Long-term outward-looking techniques have to be used while performing the above-mentioned phases of strategic management accounting. Such techniques are presented below. SMAT SMAT is evaluated in the literature in five categories (Cadez & Guilding, 2008): strategic costing; strategic planning, control and performance management; strategic decision-making; competitor accounting; and customer accounting. SMAT is presented in Table 1 in accordance with these categories. The techniques presented in Table 1 are briefly defined below: (1) Attribute costing. This technique covers the costing of benefits provided by products served to customers. These costs are composed of grantee agreements, reinforcement, ornamentation, supply guarantee and after-sale service costs. In brief, this technique is focused on product qualities like product characteristics,

1006 EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES certain sale agreements and after-sale services (Şener & Dirlik, 2012); Table 1 SMAT SMAT Categories Strategic costing Strategic planning, control and performance management Strategic decision-making Competitor accounting Customer accounting SMAT 1. Attribute costing 2. Life-cycle costing 3. Quality costing 4. Target costing 5. Value chain costing 1. Benchmarking 2. Integrated performance measurement 1. Strategic cost management 2. Strategic pricing 3. Brand valuation 1. Competitor cost assessment 2. Competitor position monitoring 3. Competitor performance appraisal 4. Balanced scorecard 1. Customer profitability analysis 2. Lifetime customer profitability analysis 3. Valuation of customers as assets (2) Life-cycle costing. This technique is defined as calculation of the total costs of a product throughout the life-cycle of the product. Such a life-cycle may cover the design, advertisement, marketing, growth, maturation, decrease, and extinction processes of a product (Cinquini & Tenucci, 2006); (3) Quality costing. The quality of a product is a significant indicator of market competition with regard to that product. Therefore, increasing and sustaining quality always provide a competitive advantage to the producer. There is a cost to both reaching and failing to reach the desired quality (Karcıoğlu, 2000). Quality costs are composed of the costs to provide the desired quality and the costs to be borne by inferiority; (4) Target costing. This technique supports cost planning in the design process of products and is put forward as a strategic profit and cost management process. It employs various ideas to reduce the costs during design, research and development phases and meets consumer demands like speed, quality and reliability. It also tries to reduce the life-cycle cost of a product. Target cost, constituting the base of the target costing technique, is calculated based on the sale price to reach a target market share and expresses market-based cost. Unlike traditional cost plus, the target cost is a function of sale price and profit instead of being a function of costs (Aksoylu & Dursun, 2001); (5) Value chain costing. The value herein corresponds to the monetary equivalent of the technical, economical and social benefits and services provided to a customer in exchange for the price paid by the customer. Therefore, value has a monetary expression and implies the net benefit of a customer corresponding to price paid. The value chain is composed of entire activities creating a value in all phases from the basic raw material sources to the final goods supplied to consumers. Beside internal activities, businesses also need to develop external activities while creating a value (Türk, 2004). They will thus be able to develop ties with other enterprises through external activities and consequently be able to reduce costs and increase profitability. Such

EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES 1007 a case yields a significant competitive advantage for a business using value chain costing; (6) Benchmarking. Adaptation of the good or perfect practices of other businesses either in the same sector or in different sectors and efforts to improve activities by comparative assessments are defined as benchmarking. Benchmarking enterprises have the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and experiences of others gained through trials, errors and various costs (Civelek, 2000). Strategic plan covers long-term targets and strategy leads the way to reach such targets. Understanding the strategies of other successful businesses or investigating the reasons for selecting a certain strategy are critical issues for a successful business; (7) Integrated performance measurement. This technique covers integrated performance measurement systems pointing out the consideration of both financial and non-financial measurements. Valid measurement units are used in performance measurements (Cinquini & Tenucci, 2010); (8) Strategic cost management. This is defined as the use of strategy and marketing-oriented cost data to put forward and develop strategies which are able to provide a constant competitive advantage (Cadez & Guilding, 2008); (9) Strategic pricing. Various types of information such as the reactions of competitors to price fluctuations, price flexibility, economical indicators and experiences are needed during the pricing process (Cinquini & Tenucci, 2006). Such information is used to assess competitors and their market trends together; (10) Brand valuation. This technique includes a combination of multiple factors gained over the brand through strategic factors like planned brand gains, brand position in the market and level of marketing support of the brand. It expresses the financial valuation of factors like leadership, permanence, internationalization, support and protection through a brand (Şener & Dirlik, 2012); (11) Competitor cost assessment. Unlike the other techniques, competitor cost assessment focuses on the cost structures of competitors. Various information sources such as physical observations, common suppliers or customers and former employees of competitors are used to gather information on this issue (Cinquini & Tenucci, 2006); (12) Competitor position monitoring. This technique includes the assessment and monitoring of competitor sales, market shares, trading volumes, unit costs and trends in sales revenues in order to analyze the position of competitors. Within the scope of information about competitors, a business assesses its own position, checks its own strategy, and performs changes or revisions if needed (Şener & Dirlik, 2012); (13) Competitor performance appraisal. This technique is composed of financial analyses performed by taking the information gathered from the financial statements of competitors into consideration. Such analysis reveals significant information about the performance of competitors; (14) Balanced scorecard. The balanced scorecard was first proposed by Kaplan and Norton in 1992 and integrates financial and non-financial dimensions into financial management. The objective of this technique is to create a balance through establishing correlations among various multi-dimensional business strategies such as customer perspectives, internal operational processes, information, growth and financial position (Shah et al., 2011); (15) Customer profitability analysis. This technique includes the calculation of profit gained from a certain customer. Profit calculation is carried out based on monitorable sale revenues and costs for a certain customer. It is sometimes also called customer account profitability (Cadez & Guilding, 2008); (16) Lifetime customer profitability analysis. This technique expresses future projections of customer profitability to analyze customer profitability in upcoming years. The focus herein is estimation of future

1008 EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES revenue streams and costs for certain customer or customer groups (Şener & Dirlik, 2012). It explains the sustainability of future projections of customer-related accountings; (17) Valuation of customers as assets. This technique focuses on calculation of the value added by customers. For instance, the present value of future revenue streams to be provided by a certain customer can be calculated with this technique (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). Perceived Performance Businesses employ various performance measurement methods. Although separate objective-subjective and quantitative-qualitative methods are commonly used, some studies also use both of them together (Singh, 1986; Dess & Robinson, 1984; Alpkan, Ergün, Bulut, & Yılmaz, 2005). The performance measured by a questionnaire survey applied to enterprise managers to measure qualitative and quantitative performance and to inquire how they perceive the success of an enterprise compared to other enterprises in the sector with regard to various performance indicators is known as perceived performance (Alpkan et al., 2005). Despite some validity and reliability problems (Çelik & Karadal, 2007), the difficulties in reaching objective data to assess the performance of businesses require the use of perceived data from the participators of such surveys. The performance of businesses, when able to reach and evaluate information, is assessed not only with financial indicators but also with various other factors. Such factors may include the image and reputation of a business, recognition of the brand, reliability, efficiency in competition, creativity, innovativeness, and social responsibility. Business performance on these factors is also considered by shareholders, customers, employees and the public. Therefore, it is recommended that business performance can be assessed not only with financial criteria but also with intangible criteria. If the intangible assets of a business affect its performance, it is possible to assess its performance with intangible criteria (Yıldız, 2010). Performance outcomes obtained by managers or employees by comparing the financial and intangible assets of a business with others may provide explanatory information about performance. Performance is the most commonly considered issue among organizational outcomes. There are limited studies investigating the relationships between SMAT usage and performance. Chenhall and Langfield-Smith (1998) carried out a study with the largest businesses in Australia and observed significant relationships between strategic management accounting tools and business performances. Cadez and Guilding (2008) indicated a weak relationship between the usage of strategic management accounting tools and 7-dimensional performance including the perceived performance of the top 500 Slovenian businesses. Şener and Dirlik (2012) investigated the relationships between SMAT usage and the perceived performance of the top 1,000 businesses in Turkey and observed a medium level relationship between them. Since the researchers performed the study in over 37 of these 1,000 businesses, the sample size was not able to represent the entire population. The present study was therefore planned to eliminate such deficiencies in perceived performance assessment. Research Methodology Research Objectives, Model and Hypotheses The present study was shaped around two basic objectives. The initial objective was to assess the SMAT usage intensity of medium and large-size business in Kayseri (Turkey) and to determine their compliance with these techniques. The second objective was to determine the effects of SMAT usage on the perceived performance of participating businesses. The theoretical model formed to investigate such effects is presented

EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES 1009 in Figure1. SMAT usage (+) Usage of strategic costing-oriented techniques (+) Usage of customer-oriented techniques (+) (+) Perceived performance Usage of competitor-oriented techniques Figure 1. Research model. SMAT usage and sub-dimensions were considered as independent variables and perceived performance was taken as a dependent variable. There are one main (H1) and three sub-hypotheses (H2, H3, H4) in the current study: H1 represents the effects of SMAT usage on perceived performance; H2, H3 and H4 represent the effects of the sub-dimensions of these techniques on perceived performance. The hypotheses were formed as follows: H1: SMAT usage has a positive effect on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. H2: Usage of strategic costing-oriented techniques has positive effects on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. H3: Usage of customer-oriented techniques has positive effects on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. H4: Usage of competitor-oriented techniques has positive effects on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. Universe and Sample The research was carried out in the province of Kayseri in Turkey. The city has a population of about 1 million, is a cradle of industry and manufacture, and is famous for its large number of entrepreneurs. The manufacturing businesses of the Kayseri Organized Industrial Region constitute the universe of the study. The universe was composed of 486 medium and large-size businesses (employing more than 50 personnel) out of the 822 businesses listed in the records of the Directorate of Kayseri Organized Industrial Regions. The data were gathered through a questionnaire survey applied to the accounting managers of businesses. A total of 210 responses were received from the participators, 8 of them were excluded for various reasons. Therefore, 202 surveys were assessed. Respond rate for surveys was realized as 41.5%.

1010 EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES Data Gathering and Analysis Methods The questionnaire forms were composed of three sections. There were 7 questions in the first section about the manager and the business; 11 questions in the second section to determine the perceived performance level of the business; 17 questions in last section to determine the usage rates of SMAT. Two scales were used in the present study and these scales are explained below: SMAT. The independent variable SMAT was formed by using the scales developed by Shah et al. (2011), Cadez and Guilding (2008), and Cinguini and Tennucci (2006). The scale, composed of 17 terms, was used to investigate SMAT usage intensity. The Quintette Likert scale, representing (1) never, (2) rarely, (3) sometimes, (4) most of the time, and (5) always, was used in SMAT usage terms. The Cronbach Alfa value indicating scale reliability was determined as 0.92. Perceived performance. A subjective scale developed by Alpkan et al. (2005) and able to measure qualitative and quantitative performance together was used to measure perceived performance. The scale is composed of 11 terms. The terms for perceived performance are expressed as (1) significantly lower than competitor, (2) slightly lower than competitor, (3) same as competitors, (4) slightly higher than competitors, and (5) significantly higher than competitors. The Cronbach Alfa value of the scale was determined as 0.91. Results Demographic Characteristics Among the participants (see Table 2), 33.7% were under the age of 30, 40.6% were between 31-40 years old, 18.3% were between 41-50 years old, and 7.4% were over the age of 51 years old. The rate of male participants was 85.6%. And 97% of the 202 participants had university and higher educational level. With regard to enterprise size, 22.3% of the enterprises had 50-100 employees, 63.4% had 101-150 and only 4% had more than 201 employees. Table 2 Demographic Characteristics of Participants Characteristics Frequency Percentage Male 173 85.6 Gender Female 29 14.4 Total 202 100 20-30 68 33.7 31-40 82 40.6 Age 41-50 37 18.3 51 + 15 7.4 Total 202 100 Primary 20 9.9 High School 64 31.7 Vocational College 21 10.4 Education University 92 45.5 Graduate 4 2 Ph.D. 1 0.5 Total 202 100 Enterprise size 50-100 employees 45 22.3 (to be continued)

EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES 1011 101-150 employees 128 63.4 151-200 employees 21 10.4 201 + employees 8 4.0 Total 202 100 The demographic characteristics were used neither as independent nor as dependent variables and were not used in hypotheses, relationship or difference analysis. The only aim was to provide information about the sample and to provide support in hypotheses interpretations. Mean Research Variables The mean and standard deviations for dependent and independent variables of the study are presented in Table 3. Table 3 Averages and Standard Deviations of Variables Variables Mean Standard deviation Strategic costing-oriented techniques 3.54 0.68 Customer-oriented techniques 3.29 0.92 Competitor-oriented techniques 3.45 0.86 SMAT 3.46 0.67 Perceived performance 3.70 0.68 Perceived performance and SMAT usage had scores above the mean (3.70 and 3.46, respectively). Among the SMAT sub-dimensions with similar means, usage of strategic costing-oriented techniques had a higher mean of 3.54 and customer and competitor-oriented techniques had a relatively low mean of 3.45 and 3.29, respectively. Compliance Level of Enterprises With SMAT and Usage Intensities The compliance levels of enterprises with SMAT, usage intensities and frequencies are given in Table 4. With regard to a 5-point scale, usage intensities varied between 3.68 (quality and target costing) and 2.69 (balanced scorecard). Sixteen out of 17 techniques had usage intensity over average. Primarily, SMAT usage rates were taken into consideration to determine the compliance levels of participating businesses with SMAT. A 5-point scale: (1) (never) indicating non-compliance; (2) (rarely) and (3) (sometimes) indicating low level of compliance; (4) (most of the time) and (5) (always) indicating high level of compliance, was used to determine the compliance levels of businesses with SMAT. Results revealed that participating businesses had over 50% compliance with 12 of 17 techniques. Only the balanced scorecard had a non-compliance level of over 10% (36.1%). Table 4 indicates that businesses mostly complied at a high-level with strategic costing-oriented techniques: quality costing (61.4%), target costing (61.9%), strategic pricing (61.4%), and brand valuation (60.9%). The businesses not able to comply with these techniques were mostly composed of competitor/competition-oriented techniques: competitor position monitoring (5.9%), competitor cost assessment (8.4%), and competitor performance appraisal (9.4%). The highest non-compliance ratio was observed in the balanced scorecard (36.1%) technique. Since the balanced scorecard is mostly used in performance assessment applications in the business world, accountants are weak in this technique. The current findings are different from those of the study carried out by Cinquini and Tenucci (2006) on international businesses in Italy. Italian businesses have a low level of compliance with these techniques. Such differences

1012 EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES were mainly due to differences in selected sample and cultural differences. Table 4 SMAT Compliance Levels and Usage Intensities of Businesses Technique Frequency Standard Non-complying Businesses with low Businesses with high Mean deviation businesses level compliance level compliance 1. Quality costing 6 (3%) 72 (35.7%) 124 (61.4%) 3.68 0.91 2. Target costing 7 (3.5%) 70 (34.7%) 125 (61.9%) 3.68 0.93 3. Strategic pricing 8 (4%) 70 (34.6%) 124 (61.4%) 3.66 0.93 4. Brand valuation 11 (5.4%) 68 (33.7%) 124 (60.9%) 3.64 0.98 5. Benchmarking 9 (4.5%) 83 (41%) 110 (54.5%) 3.57 0.98 6. Int. performance measurement 17 (8.4%) 83 (41%) 102 (50.6%) 3.37 1.01 7. Customer profitability analysis 9 (4.5%) 86 (42.5%) 107 (53%) 3.56 1.01 8. Value chain costing 10 (5%) 77 (38.1%) 115 (57%) 3.54 0.98 9. Strategic costing 11 (5.4%) 77 (38.2%) 114 (56.4%) 3.52 0.94 10. Lifetime customer profitability analysis 13 (6.4%) 82 (40.6%) 107 (53%) 3.49 1.03 11. Attribute costing 10 (5%) 90 (44.6%) 102 (50.5%) 3.48 0.90 12. Competitor position monitoring 12 (5.9%) 85 (42.1%) 105 (52%) 3.48 1.07 13. Valuation of customers as assets 19 (9.4%) 83 (41%) 100 (49.6%) 3.41 1.09 14. Competitor cost assessment 17 (8.4%) 90 (44.5%) 95 (47.1%) 3.39 1.07 15. Competitor performance appraisal 19 (9.4%) 77 (38.1%) 106 (52.5%) 3.37 1.11 16. Life-cycle costing 17 (8.4%) 100 (49.5%) 85 (42%) 3.27 0.96 17. Balanced scorecard 73 (36.1%) 55 (27.2%) 74 (36.6%) 2.69 1.46 The Factors Specifying SMAT Usage A factor analysis was performed to determine the sub-dimensions of the strategic management accounting techniques. Varimax rotation was employed to determine basic factors, and three factors with an attribute value of over 1 were able to explain 61.08% of total variance. The results of factor analysis are presented in Table 5. Three factors were determined in factor analysis. Factor 1 was determined as strategic costing-oriented techniques, factor 2 as customer-oriented techniques, and factor 3 as competitor/competition-oriented techniques. With regard to factor loadings, the first factor group strategic costing-oriented techniques, occupied first place with a variance explanation ratio of 43.95% and Eigen value of 7.472. The reason for this factor group having higher values may be explained by acceptance of future-oriented techniques aimed at providing businesses with a competitive advantage. The variance explanation ratio of the second factor group including customer-oriented techniques was realized as 9.93% and this group was mostly composed of the sustainability of customer-oriented accountings and the valuation of customers as assets. The total variance explanation ratio of the third factor group competitor/competition-oriented techniques was calculated as 7.20%. This factor is largely dependent on a competition information base. Competitor position monitoring, competitor cost assessment, competitor performance appraisal, and benchmarking techniques were entitled in this way since they were employed within the frame of competitor/competition information use. Correlation Table The relationship between SMAT usage and sub-dimensions and perceived performance are presented in Table 6.

EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES 1013 Table 5 Results of Factor Analysis SMAT Factor loading Eigen value Explained variance Factor 1: Strategic costing-oriented 7.472 43.95 0.88 Quality costing Target costing Life cycle costing Attribute costing Value chain costing Strategic pricing Strategic costing Brand valuation Integrated performance measurement 0.814 0.767 0.729 0.700 0.647 0.555 0.552 0.510 0.502 Factor 2: Customer-oriented 1.688 9.93 0.79 Lifetime customer profitability analysis Valuation of customers as assets Customer profitability analysis Balanced scorecard 0.869 0.847 0.696 0.512 Factor 3: Competitor/competition-oriented 1.22 7.20 0.82 Competitor position monitoring Competitor cost assessment Competitor performance appraisal Benchmarking 0.816 0.769 0.746 0.550 Total explained variance 61.08 Table 6 Correlation Matrix 1 2 3 4 5 1. Strategic costing-oriented techniques usage 1 2. Customer-oriented techniques usage 0.580 * 1 3. Competitor-oriented techniques usage 0.682 * 0.581 * 1 4. SMAT usage 0.914 * 0.808 * 0.827 * 1 5. Perceived performance 0.139 * 0.195 * 0.147 * 0.182 * 1 Note. * p < 0.01. Cronbach Alfa A positive but weak relationship was observed between SMAT usage and sub-dimensions and perceived performance. Despite the weak relationship, increasing SMAT and sub-dimensions yielded increasing perceived support. Şener and Dirlik (2012) carried out a study on the top 500 and the second largest 500 industrial businesses in Turkey and observed a medium level relationship between SMAT usage and perceived performance. Similarly, Cadez and Guilding (2008) indicated a weak relationship between the usage of strategic management accounting tools and 7-dimensional performance including the perceived performance of the top 500 Slovenian businesses. Chenhall and Langfield-Smith (1998) carried out a study on 140 manufacturing businesses selected from the largest businesses in Australia and observed significant relationships between strategic management accounting tools and business performances. In another study, Said, Hui, Othman, and Taylor (2010) examined 109 Malaysian businesses and determined a medium level relationship between the usage of strategic management accounting tools and financial performance and service quality performance.

1014 EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES Hypotheses Testing There are four hypotheses created within the scope of the present study. The first hypothesis is: H1: SMAT usage has a positive effect on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. A regression analysis was performed to test this hypothesis. The results of regression analysis performed to test H1 are presented in Tables 7 and 8. Results revealed that SMAT usage was able to explain 2.8% of perceived performance. The Beta factor was positive and supported the positive meaningful relationship between variables. Therefore, H1 hypothesis was accepted. Table 7 Results of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of SMAT Usage on Perceived Performance R R² Corrected R² Standard error of estimation F Perceived performance 0.182 0.030 0.028 0.64 6.835 Notes. p < 0.01. Dependent variable: perceived performance; Independent variable: SMAT usage. Table 8 Coefficients of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of SMAT Usage on Perceived Performance Non-standardized coefficients Beta Standard error Beta Standardized Constant 3.091 0.238 13.013 0.00 0.182 SMAT usage 0.176 0.067 2.614 0.01 The second hypothesis of the current study examines the effect of cost-oriented techniques on perceived performance and the relationship between usage of strategic costing-oriented techniques and perceived performance. The second hypothesis is: H2: Usage of strategic costing-oriented techniques has positive effects on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. Table 9 Results of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of Strategic Costing-Oriented Techniques Usage on Perceived Performance R R² Corrected R² Standard error of estimation F Perceived performance 0.139 0.019 0.015 0.64 3.965 Notes. p < 0.05. Dependent variable: perceived performance; Independent variable: strategic costing-oriented techniques usage. Table 10 Coefficients of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of Strategic Costing-Oriented Techniques Usage on Perceived Performance Non-standardized coefficients Beta Standard error Beta Standardized Constant 3.231 0.241 13.432 0.00 Strategic costing-oriented 0.139 0.133 0.067 1.991 0.02 techniques usage Tables 9 and 10 present the regression analysis and Beta factor to test the hypothesis. The effect of t t Sig. Sig.

EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES 1015 strategic costing-oriented techniques on perceived performance was determined as 1.5%. The positive Beta value indicates linearity of the relationship. Hypothesis H2 was accepted. The third hypothesis of the current research is: H3: Usage of customer-oriented techniques has positive effects on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. With regard to the effect of customer-oriented techniques, usage on perceived performance, the correlation coefficient was found as 0.195, determination coefficient as 0.038 and corrected determination coefficient as 0.033 (see Table 11). A significantly weak but positive relationship between customer-oriented techniques usage and perceived performance supports hypothesis H3 (see Table 12). Table 11 Results of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of Customer-Oriented Techniques Usage on Perceived Performance R R² Corrected R² Standard error of estimation F Perceived performance 0.195 0.038 0.033 0.64 7.934 Notes. p < 0.00. Dependent variable: perceived performance; Independent variable: customer-oriented techniques usage. Table 12 Coefficients of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of Customer-Oriented Techniques Usage on Perceived Performance Non-standardized coefficients Beta Standard error Beta Standardized Constant 3.243 0.169 19.238 0.00 0.195 Customer-oriented techniques usage 0.139 0.049 2.817 0.00 The last hypothesis of the present study was focused on the effect of competitor-oriented techniques usage on perceived performance. The hypothesis is: H 4: Usage of competitor-oriented techniques has positive effects on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. Table 13 Results of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of Competitor-Oriented Techniques Usage on Perceived Performance R R² Corrected R² Standard error of estimation F Perceived performance 0.147 0.022 0.017 0.65 4.402 Notes. p < 0.05. Dependent variable: perceived performance; Independent variable: competitor-oriented techniques usage. Table 14 Coefficients of Regression Analysis Performed to Determine the Effect of Competitor-Oriented Techniques Usage on Perceived Performance Non-standardized coefficients Beta Standard error Beta Standardized Constant 3.317 0.189 17.581 0.00 0.147 Competitor-oriented techniques usage 0.111.053 2.098 0.03 Tables 13 and 14 indicate that competitor-oriented techniques usage was able to explain 1.7% of perceived t t Sig. Sig.

1016 EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES performance. Despite a meaningful but significantly weak relationship, the positive effect requires acceptance of the hypothesis. Conclusions and Discussion Compliance of businesses with SMAT and the effects of SMAT usage on perceived performance were investigated in the present study. With regard to a 5-point scale, SMAT usage intensities varied between 3.68 (quality and target costing) and 2.69 (balanced scorecard). Sixteen out of 17 techniques had usage intensity over average. Similarly, businesses had over 50% compliance with 12 of these techniques. Only the balanced scorecard had a non-compliance level of over 10% (36.1%). A model was developed to investigate the effect of SMAT on perceived performance. The model was tested with a main hypothesis (H1) and three sub-hypotheses (H2, H3, and H4). The first and main hypothesis was expressed as SMAT usage has a positive effect on perceived performance and there is a positive meaningful relationship between them. Results revealed that SMAT usage affected the perceived performance. The hypothesis was accepted. Although the SMAT sub-dimensions of strategic costing, customer and competitor-oriented techniques had a significantly weak effect on perceived performance, positive meaningful relations were found to be sufficient to accept the hypotheses. It was concluded that participating businesses use SMAT and have a high level of compliance with these techniques. Also, a relationship was observed between SMAT usage and perceived performance and such relationships had very low explanatory power for the perceived performance. While a medium level relationship was observed between SMAT usage and performance in the literature, such relations were very low in some cultures. Literature support is evident for the present study when compared with similar businesses in different cultures. The reasons for weak relationships (correlations) or effect levels should be pointed out herein. The selection of mostly medium-size businesses, the non-objective responses of accounting managers due to organizational image concerns, and the existence of several factors able to affect perceived performance may have caused such a weak relationship in the present study. Therefore, differently sized enterprises and different provinces should be included simultaneously in future studies for better representation and generalization of such relationships and effects. References Aksoylu, S., & Dursun, Y. (2001). Pazarda rekabetçi üstünlük aracı olarak hedef maliyetleme (Target costing as a tool of competitive supremacy in the market). Erciyes Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (Journal of Social Sciences), No. 11, 357-371. Alpkan, L., Ergün, E., Bulut, C., & Yılmaz, C. (2005). Şirket girişimciliğinin şirket performansına etkileri (The effect of company entrepreneurship on company performance). Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi, 6(2), 175-189. Cadez, S., & Guilding, C. (2008). An exploratory investigation of an integrated contingency model of strategic management accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 33(7-8), 836-863. Çelik, C., & Karadal, H. (2007). KOBİ lerin sorunları ve çözüm stratejilerinin algılanan performans üzerine etkileri: Aksaray ve Mersin örneği (Effects of problems and solution strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises on perceived performance: Aksaray and Mersin case). Ç.Ü. Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 16(2), 119-138. Chenhall, R. H., & Langfield-Smith, K. (1998). The relationship between strategic priorities, management techniques and

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