IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/advacc/v32y2016icp18-30.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An investigation of Customer Accounting systems as a source of sustainable competitive advantage

Author

Listed:
  • Holm, Morten
  • Kumar, V.
  • Plenborg, Thomas

Abstract

This study examines whether using customer accounting systems for resource allocation purposes is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Based on a longitudinal data set comparing the performance of firms that adopt customer accounting and their industry benchmarks, we find that financial performance increases post adoption, leading to significant abnormal positive performance vis-à-vis average industry benchmarks (4–5%-points ROA difference) in the first two years following the adoption. However, we also show that this effect deteriorates over time, suggesting that the adoption of management accounting systems is a source of temporary rather than sustainable competitive advantage. The results are robust to other strategic events around the time of adoption, different matching of peers, and the influence of other factors that could be expected to influence firm performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for management accounting research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Holm, Morten & Kumar, V. & Plenborg, Thomas, 2016. "An investigation of Customer Accounting systems as a source of sustainable competitive advantage," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 18-30.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:32:y:2016:i:c:p:18-30
    DOI: 10.1016/j.adiac.2015.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882611015300377
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.adiac.2015.12.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maurizio Zollo & Harbir Singh, 2004. "Deliberate learning in corporate acquisitions: post‐acquisition strategies and integration capability in U.S. bank mergers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(13), pages 1233-1256, December.
    2. V. Kumar & Rajkumar Venkatesan & Tim Bohling & Denise Beckmann, 2008. "—The Power of CLV: Managing Customer Lifetime Value at IBM," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 585-599, 07-08.
    3. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    4. Berger, Paul D. & Bechwati, Nada Nasr, 2001. "The allocation of promotion budget to maximize customer equity," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 49-61, February.
    5. Malmi, Teemu, 1999. "Activity-based costing diffusion across organizations: an exploratory empirical analysis of Finnish firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(8), pages 649-672, November.
    6. Banker, Rajiv D. & Bardhan, Indranil R. & Chen, Tai-Yuan, 2008. "The role of manufacturing practices in mediating the impact of activity-based costing on plant performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-19, January.
    7. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    9. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    10. Cepeda, Gabriel & Vera, Dusya, 2007. "Dynamic capabilities and operational capabilities: A knowledge management perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 426-437, May.
    11. Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "Understanding dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 991-995, October.
    12. Jan W. Rivkin, 2001. "Reproducing Knowledge: Replication Without Imitation at Moderate Complexity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(3), pages 274-293, June.
    13. Gordon, Lawrence A. & Silvester, Katherine J., 1999. "Stock market reactions to activity-based costing adoptions," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 229-251, September.
    14. Adam S. Maiga & Fred A. Jacobs, 2008. "Extent of ABC Use and Its Consequences," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(2), pages 533-566, June.
    15. Guilding, Chris & McManus, Lisa, 2002. "The incidence, perceived merit and antecedents of customer accounting: an exploratory note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(1-2), pages 45-59.
    16. Easton, George S & Jarrell, Sherry L, 1998. "The Effects of Total Quality Management on Corporate Performance: An Empirical Investigation," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 253-307, April.
    17. Koen H. Heimeriks & Mario Schijven & Stephen Gates, 2012. "Manifestations of Higher-Order Routines: The Underlying Mechanisms of Deliberate Learning in the Context of Postacquisition Integration," Post-Print hal-00859930, HAL.
    18. Margherita Balconi & Andrea Pozzali & Riccardo Viale, 2007. "The “codification debate” revisited: a conceptual framework to analyze the role of tacit knowledge in economics," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 16(5), pages 823-849, October.
    19. Thomas Keil, 2004. "Building External Corporate Venturing Capability," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 799-825, July.
    20. Christopher D. Ittner & William N. Lanen & David F. Larcker, 2002. "The Association Between Activity‐Based Costing and Manufacturing Performance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 711-726, June.
    21. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    22. Prashant Kale & Harbir Singh, 2007. "Building firm capabilities through learning: the role of the alliance learning process in alliance capability and firm‐level alliance success," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(10), pages 981-1000, October.
    23. Noel Capon & John U. Farley & Scott Hoenig, 1990. "Determinants of Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(10), pages 1143-1159, October.
    24. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    25. Barber, Brad M. & Lyon, John D., 1996. "Detecting abnormal operating performance: The empirical power and specification of test statistics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 359-399, July.
    26. Udo Zander & Bruce Kogut, 1995. "Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 76-92, February.
    27. Adelaide Wilcox King & Carl P. Zeithaml, 2001. "Competencies and firm performance: examining the causal ambiguity paradox," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 75-99, January.
    28. Van der Stede, Wim A. & Young, S. Mark & Chen, Clara Xiaoling, 2005. "Assessing the quality of evidence in empirical management accounting research: The case of survey studies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(7-8), pages 655-684.
    29. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    30. Shaker A. Zahra & Harry J. Sapienza & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Capabilities: A Review, Model and Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 917-955, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rui Pires & Maria-Ceu G. Alves, 2022. "The Impact of Environmental Uncertainty on Accounting Information Relevance and Performance: A Contingency Approach," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Iuan-Yuan Lu & Tsuanq Kuo & Ting-Syuan Lin & Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng & Shan-Lin Huang, 2016. "Multicriteria Decision Analysis to Develop Effective Sustainable Development Strategies for Enhancing Competitive Advantages: Case of the TFT-LCD Industry in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-31, July.
    3. OYEWO, Babajide, 2019. "Does The Use Of Strategic Management Accounting Techniques Creates And Sustains Competitive Advantage? Some Empirical Evidence," Annals of Spiru Haret University, Economic Series, Universitatea Spiru Haret, vol. 19(2), pages 61-92.
    4. Robert W. Palmatier & Andrew T. Crecelius, 2019. "The “first principles” of marketing strategy," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 5-26, June.
    5. Callahan, Carolyn & Soileau, Jared, 2017. "Does Enterprise risk management enhance operating performance?," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 122-139.
    6. Aarti Singh & Sushil & Samarjit Kar & Dragan Pamucar, 2019. "Stakeholder Role for Developing a Conceptual Framework of Sustainability in Organization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Kohsuke Matsuoka, 2020. "Exploring the interface between management accounting and marketing: a literature review of customer accounting," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 157-208, September.
    8. Oyewo, Babajide & Ajibolade, Solabomi & Omolehinwa, Eddy, 2020. "The Usage Of Customer Accounting As A Source Of Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Some Evidence From Quoted Manufacturing Companies In Nigeria," International Journal of Contemporary Accounting Issues-IJCAI (formerly International Journal of Accounting & Finance IJAF), The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), vol. 9(1), pages 18-46, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schriber, Svante & Löwstedt, Jan, 2015. "Tangible resources and the development of organizational capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 54-68.
    2. Heimeriks, K. & Duysters, G.M. & Vanhaverbeke, W.P.M., 2004. "The evolution of alliance capabilities," Working Papers 04.20, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    3. Xiaoming He & Yaqun Yi & Zelong Wei, 2019. "New product development capabilities in China: the moderating role of TMT cooperative behavior," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 73-97, April.
    4. Wolfgang H. Güttel & Stefan Konlechner & Barbara Müller, 2012. "Entscheidungsmuster und Veränderungsarchitekturen in Wandelprozessen: Eine Dynamic Capabilities-Perspektive," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 64(6), pages 630-654, September.
    5. Pinho, José Carlos & Prange, Christiane, 2016. "The effect of social networks and dynamic internationalization capabilities on international performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 391-403.
    6. Cristina Fernandes & João J. Ferreira & Mário L. Raposo & Cristina Estevão & Marta Peris-Ortiz & Carlos Rueda-Armengot, 2017. "The dynamic capabilities perspective of strategic management: a co-citation analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(1), pages 529-555, July.
    7. Lee, Po-Yen & Lin, Hui-Tzu & Chen, Hung-Hsin & Shyr, Yi-Hwan, 2011. "Dynamic capabilities exploitation of market and hierarchy governance structures: An empirical comparison of Taiwan and South Korea," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 359-370, July.
    8. Jorge Ferreira & Sofia Cardim & Arnaldo Coelho, 2021. "Dynamic Capabilities and Mediating Effects of Innovation on the Competitive Advantage and Firm’s Performance: the Moderating Role of Organizational Learning Capability," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 620-644, June.
    9. Eriksson, Taina, 2014. "Processes, antecedents and outcomes of dynamic capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 65-82.
    10. Bindu Singh & M.K. Rao, 2016. "Examining the Effects of Intellectual Capital on Dynamic Capabilities in Emerging Economy Context: Knowledge Management Processes as a Mediator," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 2(1), pages 110-128, May.
    11. Waleczek, Peter & von den Driesch, Till & Flatten, Tessa C. & Brettel, Malte, 2019. "On the dynamic bundles behind operations management and research and development," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 175-187.
    12. Maren Schlömer & Hendrik Wilhelm & Indre Maurer & Frank Wallau, 2013. "Die Wirkung dynamischer Fähigkeiten auf die Effektivität und Effizienz operativer Prozesse," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 214-243, May.
    13. Quan Anh Nguyen & Gillian Sullivan Mort, 0. "Conceptualising organisational-level and microfoundational capabilities: an integrated view of born-globals’ internationalisation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    14. Laurence Capron & Will Mitchell, 2009. "Selection Capability: How Capability Gaps and Internal Social Frictions Affect Internal and External Strategic Renewal," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 294-312, April.
    15. Anja Schulze & Stefano Brusoni, 2022. "How dynamic capabilities change ordinary capabilities: Reconnecting attention control and problem‐solving," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 2447-2477, December.
    16. Verreynne, Martie-Louise & Hine, Damian & Coote, Len & Parker, Rachel, 2016. "Building a scale for dynamic learning capabilities: The role of resources, learning, competitive intent and routine patterning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4287-4303.
    17. Hafeez, Salima & Rana, Asif Mehmood & Chaudhry, Rashid Mehmood & Khan, Muhammad Aslam & Ahmad, H.Mushtaq & Rehman, Kashif Ur, 2011. "Perspectives of entrepreneurial orientation with the quality of life," MPRA Paper 53860, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Richard Arend, 2013. "Ethics-focused dynamic capabilities: a small business perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 1-24, June.
    19. Lin, Yini & Wu, Lei-Yu, 2014. "Exploring the role of dynamic capabilities in firm performance under the resource-based view framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 407-413.
    20. Maurizio Zollo, 2009. "Superstitious Learning with Rare Strategic Decisions: Theory and Evidence from Corporate Acquisitions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 894-908, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:32:y:2016:i:c:p:18-30. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/advances-in-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.