Volume 7 No 2 (2018)   |   ISSN 2158-8708 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/emaj.2018.134  |   http://emaj.pitt.edu 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

Comparative Studies of the Use of Management Accounting Information 
 

Ewelina Zarzycka 
University of Lodz | ezarzycka@uni.lodz.pl 

Justyna Dobroszek 
University of Lodz | jdobroszek@uni.lodz.pl 

Alina Almasan 
West University of Timisoara | alina.almasan@e-uvt.ro 

 
Cristina Circa 
West University of Timisoara | cristina.circa@e-uvt.ro   
 

 

Abstract 

The paper uses the phenomenon of isomorphism to present the similarities and differences in the use of management 

accounting information by managers in Poland and Romania. In order to analyze the set of data obtained from the 

conducted survey, cluster analysis and descriptive statistics have been applied. The studied managers use mainly 

management accounting information for planning and control tasks (budgeting) and less for formulating strategy and 

decision making. In their work, they rather apply financial data than nonfinancial indicators. The findings confirm that 

management accounting in both countries is strongly influenced by the mechanisms of coercive, normative and mimetic 

isomorphism connected with their specific economic and political development.    

 

Keywords: Management Accounting, Information, Managers, Comparative Studies 

 

 

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Volume 7 No 2 (2017)   |   ISSN 2158-8708 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/emaj.2017.143  |   http://emaj.pitt.edu 

 

 

Ewelina Zarzycka, Justyna Dobroszek, Alina Almasan, Cristina Circa 
Emerging Markets Journal | P a g e  |1 

Comparative Studies of the Use of 
Management Accounting 
Information 
 
Ewelina Zarzycka  
Justyna Dobroszek 
Alina Almasan 
Cristina Circa 
 

1. Introduction  

The importance of comparative management accounting 
studies is undisputable, as they are especially relevant for 
corporate practices. Particularly multinational corporations 
consider that country-specific conditions influence the 
effectiveness of management accounting practices in 
subsidiaries operating in different national settings. In this 
context, comparative studies help companies to identify and 
understand the inefficiencies of management accounting 
systems in country specific cases (see Endenich et al., 2011). 
Comparative studies of management accounting focus on 
management accounting practices from different countries or 
cultural regions (see Shields et al., 1991; Ahrens, 1996; Chow 
et al., 1996), either matching companies from two or more 
countries, or checking practices identified in one country 
against literature. Most comparative researches deal with 
Japanese (see Shields et al., 1991; Chow et al., 1996) and 
Western European management accounting techniques (see 
Wagenhofer, 2006). The comparisons with the Anglo-American 
world as well as the great interest in German management 
accounting are dominant.  

 

Comparative studies of management accounting practices 
in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are rare. This is due to the 
fact that management accounting was brought into use in 
enterprises operating in CEE after the fall of communism. From 
1945 to 1989, given the planned economy and the centralized 
management system, management accounting was employed in 
CEE countries only to an extremely low extent, limited to the 
use of some elements of cost accounting. With the change of 
the political system, the centrally planned economy was 
abandoned and foreign investments were attracted to this 
region, leading to a rapid development of management 
accounting, both in practice and in research. Tools and methods 
were implemented first in companies with foreign capital, who 
brought solutions used by headquarters and parent companies 
(see Grosu et al., 2014; Albu and Albu, 2012; Szychta, 2002). 

 

In this context, the aim of the paper is to find answers to 
important questions regarding the use of management 
accounting information by managers from Poland and 
Romania: 

 to what extent the information provided by 
management accounting systems is used for 
performing management tasks;  

 how useful is the selected information provided by the 
management accounting system for the management 
process. 

 

Worldwide, the number of comparative studies of 
management accounting is significant; yet, there are no studies 
of the use of management accounting information by managers. 
The increasing number of calls for papers on the topic of 
management accounting in transitional and emerging 
economies indicates the growing academic interest in these 
regions (Endenich et al., 2011). Our paper contributes to a 
better understanding of the management accounting design and 
use in foreign subsidiaries and companies operating in former 
communist CEE countries. The direct comparison between 
Poland and Romania is focused on the application and 
transferability of management accounting practices, with a 
special attention paid to the usefulness of management 
accounting information for managerial tasks. As a result, the 
findings of the study are beneficial for both the theory of 
management accounting and the practices of companies 
operating in the Central and Eastern Europe. 

 

Our study employs the institutional theory, mainly the 
concept of isomorphism, in order to explain the similar use of 
management accounting by managers from the two countries. 
The institutional theory is expected to generate interesting 
results, especially in the area of comparative studies, as it helps 
to explore the influences of global trends and 
professionalization on the use and design of management 
control systems in developing countries. Combining 
institutional theory and comparative studies can be also helpful 
for understanding country-specific styles and aims of 
management accounting information, as well as links between 
incentive structures and different institutional conditions (see 
Endenich et al., 2011). According to the institutional theory, 
companies transfer institutionalized management accounting 
practices accepted by other companies or in other countries (see 
Meyer and Scott, 1992). Management accounting is introduced 
and used as a consequence of coercive, mimetic and normative 
pressures (see DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).  

 

Our study reveals many similarities in the use of 
management accounting information by managers from Poland 
and Romania. Both in Poland and in Romania, managers use 
management accounting information for control and decision-
making purposes, as well as for strategy implementation, while 
mainly financial data are employed in the management process. 
However, the study identifies some differences in the 
evaluation of management information by managers. The paper 
is divided into four sections. Section one is the introduction. 
Section two outlines the theoretical framework of institutional 
theory and isomorphism. The third section discusses the 
research methodology, presents the research sample and reports 
the findings of the cluster analysis. The final and fourth section 
consists of conclusions. 

 
2. Isomorphism as a theoretical framework for 

understanding similarities and differences 

The concept of institutional isomorphism, developed by 
DiMaggio and Powell (1983) is extremely useful for 
understanding the homogeneity and similarities of 
organizations. The authors, investigating the organizational 
uniformity of contemporary organizations, concluded that the 
isomorphism is a source of institutional change. The creation 
and structuring of an organizational field, defined as an 
institutionally separated system of relations between specific 
organizations, is subject to three isomorphic mechanisms: 
coercive, mimetic and normative. The first type of isomorphism 
results from political influences and concerns the problem of 
legitimacy. The second one has its source in typical reactions to 



Volume 7 No 2 (2017)   |   ISSN 2158-8708 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/emaj.2017.143  |   http://emaj.pitt.edu 

 

 
Comparative Studies of the Use of Management Accounting Information 

Page |2| Emerging Markets Journal 

uncertainty, whereas the third one is related to the processes of 
professionalization. Isomorphism can be formal or informal, as 
isomorphic pressure may come from direct collaborators, from 
other institutions on which the organization depends, from the 
legal context within which the organization operates and finally 
from the public. 

 

The concept of isomorphism was used by Granlund and 
Lukka (1998) to investigate the cause of the global 
homogenization of management accounting practices. The 
authors identified that coercive isomorphism resulting in the 
homogeneity of management accounting practices is reflected 
in international legislation (e.g.: EU directives), international 
trade agreements (e.g.: WTO, NAFTA), in the harmonization of 
financial accounting and reporting rules as well as in the 
corporate influence of multinationals on local subsidiaries. 
Professionalization and university education in business and 
management represent the normative isomorphism, which is, 
according to authors, another factor contributing to the 
similarities in management accounting practices. The last group 
of homogenization factors is related to the mechanism of 
mimetic isomorphism. The authors highlighted the influence of 
global advisory firms and the practice of copying competitors’ 
practices by companies on the homogeneity of management 
accounting (see Granlund and Lukka 1998, p. 157). Also 
Granlund (2001), explaining the consistency of management 
accounting practices drew attention to the effect of mimetic 
(copying management accounting methods and consultant 
opinion) and normative isomorphism (conservative 
organizational culture, accountants’ conservatism).  

 

3. Empirical research of the use of management 
accounting information 

3.1.  Aim of the paper and research methodology  

In Romania and Poland, management accounting has been 
practiced and taught in universities for a relatively short period 
of time, due to the fact that the market economy was introduced 
to this region only in the 1990s. It was then that local 
companies discovered the need to take advantage of 
management accounting. Yet, as regards foreign companies 
operating in CEE through affiliates and branches, strategic 
decisions are taken by the head office. Hence, at local level, 
there is no need to use a wide range of management accounting 
tools that would support, among others, those decisions (see 
Grosu et al., 2014; Albu and Albu, 2012; Szychta, 2002). 
Therefore, the purpose of the study is to compare the use of 
management accounting information by managers in Poland 
and Romania. We aim at answering the following questions:   

 to what extent do the surveyed managers use management 
accounting information for the performance of the 
indicated management tasks; 

 how useful is the selected information provided by the 
management accounting system for the management 
process. 

 

The paper relies on an empirical research, performed by 
the authors from May 2015 to March 2016, on randomly 
selected companies operating in Poland and Romania. Firstly, 
the questionnaire-based survey was pretested in both countries. 
Then, the sample of 1000 enterprises was selected from the 
available databases of Tax Identification Numbers of 
companies in each country. The questionnaire-based survey 
employed in our research was sent online to managers of 

selected companies. 154 companies completed the 
questionnaire correctly (response rate: 15.4%). Out of 154 
responses, 116 originated from Poland and 38 from Romania. 
The survey was conducted in the national language of the 
respondents. The questionnaire was structured in four different 
sections: the first two outlined a brief characterization of the 
company, respectively of the respondent, the third section was 
focused on the organization of the management accounting 
system within the companies, while the fourth section included 
questions meant to capture the managers’ assessment of the use 

of management accounting information.   

 

In order to thoroughly analyze the data obtained from the 
conducted survey, cluster analysis has been applied. This 
method allows for segregating the observed data into specific 
groups, so that the association degree of certain objects with 
other objects belonging to the same group is as high as 
possible, and with objects from other groups - as low as 
possible. This tool systematizes the gathered information to a 
large extent into specific structures and, consequently, gives an 
overview of the surveyed objects.  

 

First, the variables were classified by means of the 
agglomerative (hierarchical) method, in which the Euclidean 
distance was applied in order to calculate the distance between 
objects, and of Ward's method. This way, the variables were 
divided into pairs or larger groups (agglomerations, clusters) 
most similar to each other. In the next stage, the data were 
grouped according to objects (respondents) using the k-means 
method that allows for imposing the number of created clusters. 
It was assumed that the respondents will be divided into 3 
groups.  

3.2.  Research sample 

The companies from Poland and Romania involved in the 
study were mainly manufacturing enterprises (52%, 
respectively 61%). About 30% of the companies from both 
countries were service providers, while slightly over 10% were 
trade companies. Over 60% of the surveyed companies could be 
classified as large in terms of their number of employees. Most 
companies from Poland and Romania had foreign capital: 42%, 
respectively 57% of the study population.  

 

The educational level of the surveyed managers should be 
pointed out. 98% of the Polish managers hold a Master's 
degree, 40% have completed an MBA and 9% hold a PhD, 
while 68% of the Romanian managers hold a Master's degree 
with only 13% having an MBA degree.  

3.3.  The assessed use of management accounting 
information - cluster analysis results 

The use of the agglomerative method showed an 
interesting overview of the extent to which managers use the 
information provided by management accounting for the 
performance of management tasks. In both countries, the 
agglomerative method showed three clusters at the lowest level 
of the agglomeration: planning and budgeting and cost and 
financial control (cluster 1), performance measurement (cluster 
2), formulation and implementation of strategy and decision 
making (cluster 3) in Poland, respectively planning and 
budgeting and performance measurement (cluster 1), cost and 
financial control (cluster 2), strategy formulation and 
implementation and decision making (cluster 3) in Romania.  



Volume 7 No 2 (2017)   |   ISSN 2158-8708 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/emaj.2017.143  |   http://emaj.pitt.edu 

 

 

Ewelina Zarzycka, Justyna Dobroszek, Alina Almasan, Cristina Circa 
Emerging Markets Journal | P a g e  |3 

 
Fig. 1. The use of the information provided by the 
management accounting system for the performance of 
management activities in Poland.  
Source: Authors’ own processing 

 

At the higher agglomerative level, both investigated 
countries showed the same two main clusters. The first one 
consists of traditional tasks of management accounting (related 
to control), i.e. planning and budgeting, cost and financial 
control, and performance measurement. The second one 
includes tasks related to decision making and strategy 
formulation and implementation (related to decision-making) 
(see figures 1 and 2). 

 
Fig. 2. The use of the information provided by the 
management accounting system for the performance of 
management activities in Romania 
Source: Authors’ own processing 

 

The figures above confirm that both in Poland, and in 
Romania, the respondents’ assessments as regards the use of 
management accounting information for control tasks and 
decision-making purposes are close to each other. This state of 
affairs may indicate that the respondents explicitly direct the 
use of management accounting information to the first or the 
second group of tasks, i.e. tasks related to control or to 
decision-making and strategy implementation.  

 

In conclusion, the respondents’ answers to the 
analyzed questions can be divided into three homogeneous 
structures of tasks, i.e. homogeneous within a cluster but 
significantly different between groups. Considering the higher 
level of aggregation, we can introduce a division into two 
homogeneous groups, i.e. group 1 for control activities and 
group 2 for decision making. In the latter case, this may suggest 
a division of the managers into two homogeneous groups, i.e. 
those using information for control related activities (group 1) 
and those using management accounting information for 
decision making (group 2). Both within group 1 and within 
group 2, the assessments of the respondents regarding the 
association of the information with a specific type of tasks were 
similar. This means that if respondents assessed e.g. the extent 

to which the information is used for budgeting tasks as very 
high, they usually assessed the suitability of this information 
for cost and financial control in a similar manner. The above 
conclusions are complemented with the result of grouping the 
objects (respondents) with the k-means method (where k=3), as 
shown in figures 3 and 4. 

 
Fig. 3. The results of object (respondent) grouping with 
the k-means method as regards the use of management 
accounting information for indicated management tasks 
by managers in Poland.  
Source: Authors’ own processing 

 

 
Fig. 4. The results of object (respondent) grouping with 
the k-means method as regards the use of management 
accounting information for indicated management tasks 
by managers in Romania 
Source: Authors’ own processing 

 

In the classification of the managers in Poland into 
three clusters, there is a clear arrangement of the respondents 
who rated the suitability of management accounting 
information for the performance of the indicated activities as 
poor, moderate, and high. They can be divided into the so-
called sceptics, neutral, and supporters. Also, it should be 
stressed that the three clusters differ in terms of the average 
assessments of all the tools. As a rule, respondents belonging to 
the group who assessed the suitability of information for 
control purposes as higher than the respondents from the 
second and third group, also judged the suitability of the 
information for decision making and strategy implementation 
tasks as high.   

 
As for Romania, it should be stressed that the three 

clusters differ in terms of average assessments. As a rule, 
respondents belonging to the group who rated the suitability of 
information for control purposes described above (cluster 3) 
higher than the second group (cluster 2), also judged the 



Volume 7 No 2 (2017)   |   ISSN 2158-8708 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/emaj.2017.143  |   http://emaj.pitt.edu 

 

 
Comparative Studies of the Use of Management Accounting Information 

Page |4| Emerging Markets Journal 

suitability of information from the scope of decision making 
and implementation of strategy as high. The only exception is 
the use of the information for planning and budgeting, since it 
was assessed similarly by the respondents from group 2 and 3. 
The third group (cluster 1) made a similar and relatively poor 
average assessment of the use of the information for each of the 
examined areas.  
 
Tables 1 and 2 provide information on the differences in the 
average assessments of these three groups, visible on the attached 
figures. It is worth noting that the sizes of individual clusters in 
Poland are rather similar (26, 32, and 34), although the cluster of 
the persons rating the suitability of information as high is 
relatively the largest. 

 

Table 1: The use of management accounting system 
information for the performance of the indicated activities – 
manager clusters in Poland 

 
Source: Authors’ own processing  

 

In Romania, we notice that the cluster who evaluated 
the suitability of information higher is the largest.  

 

Table 2: The use of management accounting system 
information for the performance of the indicated activities – 
manager clusters in Romania 

 
Source: Authors’ own processing  

 

In conclusion, the cluster analysis indicated a clear scope 
of the tasks for which management accounting information is 
used by the surveyed managers in Poland. As part of this 

analysis, the agglomerative method enabled the detection of 
manager clusters who use the information for control and for 
decision-making purposes. In addition, the use of the k-means 
method for the analyzed data lead to the identification of three 
clusters of managers, the so-called sceptics, neutral, and 
supporters of management accounting information. 

3.4.  The assessed usefulness of management accounting 
information - cluster analysis results 

The agglomerative method has also been used for the 
cluster analysis regarding the assessed suitability of selected 
management accounting information for management 
processes. Following variables have been taken into account: 
financial information (financial result, costs and revenues), 
budgetary data, variance analysis and non-financial indicators. 
After the first stage of clustering, two main clusters were 
generated in both countries. In Poland, the first cluster consists 
of financial information and budgetary data, while the second 
one includes non-financial indicators, as illustrated by figure 5.  

 

 

Fig. 5. The assessed suitability of selected management 
accounting information in Poland  
Source: Authors’ own processing 
 

This division shows clearly that, the respondents’ 
answers regarding the assessed suitability of financial 
information and budgetary data & variance analysis are close. 
More, the assessments of specific types of management 
accounting information can be divided into two homogeneous 
groups of information, which may affect the division of the two 
groups of managers, i.e. those applying financial information 
and budgetary data (group 1) and those using the non-financial 
indicators (group 2). The suitability assessments of financial 
and budgetary data were similar. For example, if respondents 
evaluated the suitability of financial information as high, they 
generally also evaluated the suitability of budgetary and 
variance information as high.  

 
Slightly different than in the case of Poland, in 

Romania the first cluster includes financial information, and the 
second one consists of budgetary data & variance analysis, as 
well as non-financial indicators. 

 



Volume 7 No 2 (2017)   |   ISSN 2158-8708 (online)   |   DOI 10.5195/emaj.2017.143  |   http://emaj.pitt.edu 

 

 

Ewelina Zarzycka, Justyna Dobroszek, Alina Almasan, Cristina Circa 
Emerging Markets Journal | P a g e  |5 

 
Fig. 6. The assessed suitability of selected management 
accounting information in Romania  
Source: Authors’ own processing 

 
The respondents’ answers regarding the assessed 

suitability of budgetary data & variance analysis and indicators 
are close. The assessments of specific types of management 
accounting information can be divided into two homogeneous 
groups, pointing to two homogeneous manager groups: those 
applying financial information (group 1) and those applying the 
indicators and budgetary data & variance analysis (group 2). 
The suitability assessments of financial and budgetary 
information were similar, too.  

 
For both countries, the above results are 

complemented by the result of object (respondent) grouping 
with the k-means method (where k=3), as shown in figures 7 
and 8. 

 
Fig. 7. Object (respondent) grouping with the k-means 
method in respect of the assessed  suitability of selected 
management accounting information in Poland  
Source: Authors’ own processing 

  
In the classification into three clusters from Poland, we 

observe a clear division between respondents who evaluated the 
suitability of selected management accounting information as 
poor (cluster 1) and as high (cluster 3), establishing a border 
between sceptics and supporters. It should be noted that these two 
clusters differ in terms of the average assessments of all 
information. The third separated group (cluster 2) is placed 
between the two groups discussed above and assesses the 
suitability of the indicators as high, similar to cluster 3, 
respectively the suitability of financial and budgetary information 
as poor, similar to cluster 1.  

 
Fig. 8. Object (respondent) grouping with the k-means 
method in respect of the assessed suitability of selected 
management accounting information in Romania 
Source: Authors’ own processing. 

 
In the case of Romania, the division into 3 clusters 

indicates three groups of managers who rated management 
accounting information as a support of management tasks as 
poor (cluster 1), high (cluster 2), and moderate (cluster 3). 
Hence we can define three manager groups: sceptics, 
supporters, and neutral.  The three indicated clusters differ in 
terms of average assessments. As a rule, the managers from the 
group who evaluated the suitability of financial information as 
high also rated budgets and indicators as high, contrary to 
managers from the other group. The exception is financial 
information, which was judged as high by both manager 
groups. Furthermore, budgetary data & variance were rated 
slightly higher by the group of managers called sceptics than by 
the group created by the so-called “neutral” managers. Tables 3 
and 4 present information on the differences in the average 
answers of the three groups for each of the two countries. In 
both countries, the largest cluster is the one of the supporters 
(cf. table 3 and 4). 

 

Table 3: The assessed suitability of selected management 
accounting information in Poland 

 
Source: Authors’ own processing 

Table 4: The assessed suitability of selected management 
accounting information in Romania 

 
Source: Authors’ own processing  



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Comparative Studies of the Use of Management Accounting Information 

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4. Conclusions 

The results of the cluster analysis showed that 
management accounting information is employed in a similar 
manner in the two countries included in the study. Both in 
Poland and in Romania, the agglomerative method enabled the 
detection of very similar clusters of responses within the 
examined scope. Therefore, it is possible to isolate managers 
who use management accounting information rather for control 
purposes and managers who use the respective information for 
decision-making and strategy implementation. In both 
countries, we managed to separate groups with similar 
assessments of management accounting information, in terms 
of its use and usefulness, whereas the high rating cluster was 
larger than the other groups.  

 
We found minor differences between the two 

countries included in the study, regarding the assessed 
usefulness of management accounting information, i.e. the 
types of clusters were different, at the higher level of 
agglomeration. In Poland, the first cluster consisted of financial 
information and budgetary data, while the second one – of non-
financial indicators, while in Romania, the first cluster included 
solely financial information, and the second one budgetary data 
& variance analysis, as well as non-financial indicators. As a 
result, it can be concluded that managers focus in both 
countries rather on financial data. In the case of the managers in 
Poland, budgetary data & variance analysis belonged to the 
same group as financial information, and were used both for the 
support of tasks associated with planning as well as for control 
tasks. In Romania, budgetary data & variance analysis belonged 
to the same group as the indicators.  

 
The high similarity in the use of management 

accounting information by managers can be explained by the 
isomorphism and the economic situation in both countries. 
Management accounting systems in companies operating in 
Poland and Romania are strongly influenced by the mechanisms 
of isomorphism, both coercive, normative, and mimetic, which 
lead to system homogeneity. Coercive pressure is translated in 
the transfer of management accounting methods and tools by 
multinational corporations and foreign companies to subsidiaries 
operating in Poland and Romania. This mechanism is also related 
to the harmonization of accounting and financial reporting rules, 
imposed in the two countries by their EU membership. 
Professionalization, academic education and vocational training 
(normative isomorphism) are further factors contributing to the 
similar use of management accounting information in companies 
operating in Poland and Romania. This applies both to companies 
with local capital and to foreign ones. The influence of advisory 
firms and copying practices (mimetic isomorphism) is another 
factor, which strongly influences the shape of management 
accounting information in companies operating in such young 
market economies. Management accounting methods used in 
companies operating in the researched countries are therefore 
copied from the models in developed countries. 

 
Our paper contributes to a better understanding of the 

management accounting use in Poland and Romania. This 
comparison between two CEE countries fills the existing gap in 
the comparative studies of management accounting and is useful 
for management accounting theory, as well as for corporate 
practices of companies operating in the Central and Eastern 
Europe (sees Endenich et al., 2011). It confirms the findings on 
the impact of isomorphism on similarities in the design and use 
of management accounting systems (see Granlund and Lukka, 
1998; Granlund, 2001).  

 

As to the limits of the research, we should point to the 
small number of responses we relied on, which doesn’t allow us 

to universalize our conclusions. Moreover, the use of 
questionnaire-based surveys is generally not sufficient in 
thoroughly assessing the opinions of the managers. A second 
research stage, consisting in interviews of the questioned 
managers, would have supported the authors in drawing a 
complete picture of the use of management accounting. 

 
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Appendix: The questionnaire survey