روابط بین اطلاعات حسابداری مدیریت، یادگیری سازمانی و عملکرد تولید

This study adopted the organizational learning perspective to examine relevant types of management accounting information required by advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) for attaining improved production performance. First, we investigated the relationship between the level of AMT usage and the amount of information provided by management accounting information systems (MAISs). The results of this study showed a positive correlation between the AMT level and the amount of management accounting information (i.e. planning and control information, and nonfinancial performance information). A significant positive relationship between provision of information and improvement in production performance was also observed. This study also empirically examined the learning promoting effects of organizational facilitators, which is complemented and assisted by information technology. The empirical results demonstrated that facilitators of organizational learning have a moderating impact on the relationship between provision of information and performance improvement. Therefore, it is concluded that when learning facilitators are well arranged and highly utilized, a provision of information is more likely to be linked to effective learning and, consequently, improved performance.

Previous studies (e.g. Yadav, 1985, Blaylock and Rees, 1984, Specht, 1986, Lederer and Smith, 1989 and Choe, 1998) employed a contingency approach to investigate and identify types of relevant information under diverse circumstances. Through the contingency theory, prior research has examined relationships between contextual variables and information characteristics of information systems (ISs) that affect organizational performance. Recent studies, however (e.g. Chenhall, 1997, Sim and Killough, 1998 and Fullerton and McWatters, 2002), adopted the organizational learning perspective to identify relevant types of management accounting information that are required by advanced manufacturing technology (AMT). They asserted that when AMT is utilized, some types of information produced by management accounting information systems (MAISs) can improve production performance through organizational learning. Sim and Killough (1998) empirically showed that under AMT, organizational learning effects of performance information can contribute to the improvement of production performance. Chenhall (1997) also partially demonstrated that the total quality management (TQM) related performance information in TQM systems has a positive impact on production performance through organizational learning. In the study of Fullerton and McWatters (2002), it was not fully supported that the learning effects of performance information in a just-in-time environment can improve production performance. Vandenbosch and Higgins, 1995 and Vandenbosch and Higgins, 1996 empirically suggested that there exist direct relationships between learning effects of information and organizational effectiveness. Although prior studies employed the organizational learning approach in order to examine and identify types of information that positively influence organizational performance, they did not consider the key learning related variable (i.e. facilitator of organizational learning). It is generally accepted that to only provide information is insufficient for effective organizational learning. The facilitators of learning must be well arranged first for the information to be linked to effective learning and consequently, improved performance (Grant, 1996 and Argote, 1999). Therefore, without consideration of the conditions of learning facilitators, it cannot be confirmed whether the significant impact of information on organizational performance is caused by organizational learning. In addition to omitting key research variable, previous studies investigated only the learning effects of performance evaluation information when AMT is used. Other types of management accounting information that have a positive impact on production performance through learning were not examined. In fact, there are various kinds of management accounting information, such as planning information, cost control information, and financial or nonfinancial performance information, that may be demanded by AMT (Scarbrough et al., 1991 and Chenhall and LangfieldSmith, 1998). Therefore, the purposes of this paper are: first, we empirically identify various types of management accounting information that positively relate with the level of AMT usage; second, both the positive effects of information through organizational learning and the indirect impact of AMT through types of information on production performance are also investigated; third, we empirically demonstrate whether the impact of information on production performance is different according to the conditions of learning facilitators; finally, since information technology also can facilitate and promote organizational learning (Kock and McQueen, 1998, Scott, 2000 and Irani et al., 2001), this study suggests which functions of organizational learning facilitators can be properly complemented or replaced by information technology.

5.1. Implications for practice This study adopted the organizational learning perspective to demonstrate the positive impact of relevant types of management accounting information on production performance when AMT is highly utilized. First, we investigated the relationship between the level of AMT usage and amount of information provided by MAISs. The results showed that there are significant positive correlations between the AMT level and amount of management accounting information (i.e. PCI and nonfinancial performance information). A positive correlation between provision of information and performance improvement was also observed. Therefore, it is suggested that when AMT is used, a large amount of management accounting information improves production performance through organizational learning. The empirical results also showed that the level of AMT has an indirect effect on production performance through the amount of management accounting information. The indirect impact of AMT means that without the provision of relevant types of information, AMT alone cannot improve the production performance of a firm. The results of this study found that facilitators of organizational learning have a moderating impact on the relationship between provision of information and performance improvement. Thus, it seems that when learning facilitators are well arranged and highly utilized, the provision of information gives rise to a higher degree of organizational learning and finally, greatly improves production performance. Prior research did not clearly apply the organizational learning approach in examining relationships between contextual variables and information characteristics affecting organizational performance. In the design of ISs, a contingency approach has been considered to be unique and the most appropriate. The organizational learning perspective has not been explicitly considered in the contingency approach of ISs design. Our research proposes that the organizational learning approach must be another important guideline in designing components of ISs such as information content and presentation mode. 5.2. Limitations and future research efforts When the organizational learning approach is employed in the design of IS, required types of information can be determined according to their contribution to learning (Simons, 1994). Information requirements under certain context can be derived from the needs of organizational learning. There are complex stages or processes of organizational learning, such as unlearning, new bases of understanding, and changes in mental models (Barr et al., 1992). The type of information provided by IS may be only demanded and utilized for one of those stages. The type of information may not assist all the processes of organization-wide learning. For example, performance information may be utilized in the unlearning stage. Profit and any variance analysis information produced by MAISs may solidify the changes in mental models (Simons, 1994). Therefore, it is necessary to examine which stages or processes of organizational learning require which kinds of information under certain circumstances. Most previous studies have focused on learning support mechanisms of information technology, such as a group support system and computer-mediated communication. Learning promoting effects of organizational facilitators, which are supplemented and supported by information technology, have not been well uncovered in prior empirical research. Various types of organizational learning facilitators are presented in Table 7 and compared with examples of supportive information technology. From the comparison in Table 7, we can see that information technology mainly complements and assists the interaction and communication among members. It seems that other learning facilitators such as job rotation, experience and diversity in background or training are not directly supported by information technology. Since the main role of information technology is to assist functions of organizational structures in achieving organizational goals (Holsapple and Luo, 1996), supporting mechanisms of information technology for other organizational facilitators of learning must be exploited. Future studies should investigate which types of information technology support and relate to which kinds of organizational learning facilitators. We can suggest the limitations of this research. In this study, the research variables were measured by subjective (perceptual) measures. Thus, it is likely that there exist some perceptual differences among respondents. It seems a little difficult to keep the consistency of responses gathered on Likert scales across organizations. Due to the small number of the sample, the whole research model could not be tested and analyzed with structural equation modeling. If the whole model could be analyzed simultaneously, the cause and effect relationships among research variables could be proposed.