Accounting and Finance Research Community Seminar – Dr Lana Liu
Title: Making Senses of an Activity-based Costing System Implementation in a Chinese Manufacturing Firm
Date: 14 February 2024
Time: 14:00-15:00
Location: NUBS.2.05
Speaker: Dr Lana Liu, Newcastle University Business School
If you would like to attend, please register using the following link:
Making Senses of an Activity-based Costing System Implementation in a Chinese Manufacturing Firm
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to examine how learning processes have evolved through developing and implementing an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) system from scratch in a large Chinese manufacturing company. The paper employs experiential learning theory to unpack the learning process and learning style of a consortium of organic cosmopolitans (IT and academics) and locals for the period of 2001-2019. Design/Methodology/approach – This paper adopted an interventionist approach to gather data through a wide range of sources, including field observation, reflective diary, interviews, documents. The theory of experiential learning (developed by Kolb (1976, 1984) and applied by Giannetti et. al. (2021)) is adopted to examine the learning process. Findings – The learning processes revealed in this paper are partly consistent to those in Giannetti et. al (2021), in that changes in costing system represented very much a trial-and-error style of learning. What is more interesting is that once learners gained more experience, they started to reproduce the knowledge and make organic change to its management accounting system. Organisational environment is important catalyst to infuse some radical change in the beginning and more complex issues at both micro and macro levels in China impede management accounting advancement. Implications – This work extends the work of Giannetti by bringing wider organisational and business environment into the context to help interpret this learning process and further understand how and why management accounting change happens.