IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v48y2016i2p269-282.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategic cost management and performance: The case of environmental costs

Author

Listed:
  • Henri, Jean-François
  • Boiral, Olivier
  • Roy, Marie-Josée

Abstract

Despite recent developments in the stream of research devoted to strategic cost management (SCM), there are limitations found with this research, notably the overemphasis on one component of SCM (executional cost management), the underemphasis on the other component (structural cost management), the insufficiency of links between those two components, and the absence of evidence supporting their link with performance. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between both components of SCM, and financial performance. Two main research questions are investigated: (i) To what extent do executional and structural cost management influence financial performance? (ii) To what extent does structural cost management mediate the link between executional cost management and financial performance? In order to examine the link between SCM and performance, one specific context is investigated, namely environmental costs. The environmental costs reflect an ‘executional’ aspect aimed at managing, controlling and optimizing costs for a given environmental strategy, but also a ‘structural’ aspect based on their influence on the firm's cost structure notably in terms of product design, raw materials used and operational process design. Survey data have been collected on a sample of 319 Canadian manufacturing firms to examine the link between SCM and financial performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Henri, Jean-François & Boiral, Olivier & Roy, Marie-Josée, 2016. "Strategic cost management and performance: The case of environmental costs," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 269-282.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:48:y:2016:i:2:p:269-282
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2015.01.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838915000128
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2015.01.001?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. Baines, Annette & Langfield-Smith, Kim, 2003. "Antecedents to management accounting change: a structural equation approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(7-8), pages 675-698.
    2. Cooper, Robin & Slagmulder, Regine, 2004. "Interorganizational cost management and relational context," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-26, January.
    3. Roger L Burritt, 2004. "Environmental management accounting: roadblocks on the way to the green and pleasant land," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 13-32, January.
    4. Dixon, Robert & Mousa, Gehan A. & Woodhead, Anne, 2005. "The Role of Environmental Initiatives in Encouraging Companies to Engage in Environmental Reporting," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 702-716, December.
    5. Antonella Cugini & Antonella Caru & Fabrizio Zerbini, 2007. "The Cost of Customer Satisfaction: A Framework for Strategic Cost Management in Service Industries," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 499-530.
    6. S. Marquet-Pondeville & V. Swaen & Y. de Ronge, 2013. "Environmental management control systems: The role of contextual and strategic factors," Post-Print hal-00846969, HAL.
    7. Andreas Nicolaou, 2003. "Manufacturing strategy implementation and cost management systems effectiveness," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 175-199.
    8. Marcus Wagner & Stefan Schaltegger, 2004. "The Effect of Corporate Environmental Strategy Choice and Environmental Performance on Competitiveness and Economic Performance," Post-Print hal-00279008, HAL.
    9. Sylvia H. Hsu & Sandy Q. Qu, 2012. "Strategic Cost Management and Institutional Changes in Hospitals," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 499-531, November.
    10. Cadez, Simon & Guilding, Chris, 2008. "An exploratory investigation of an integrated contingency model of strategic management accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 836-863.
    11. Gregory G. Dess & Richard B. Robinson, 1984. "Measuring organizational performance in the absence of objective measures: The case of the privately‐held firm and conglomerate business unit," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 265-273, July.
    12. Pizzini, Mina J., 2006. "The relation between cost-system design, managers' evaluations of the relevance and usefulness of cost data, and financial performance: an empirical study of US hospitals," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 179-210, February.
    13. Henri, Jean-François & Journeault, Marc, 2010. "Eco-control: The influence of management control systems on environmental and economic performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 63-80, January.
    14. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    15. Fayard, Dutch & Lee, Lorraine S. & Leitch, Robert A. & Kettinger, William J., 2012. "Effect of internal cost management, information systems integration, and absorptive capacity on inter-organizational cost management in supply chains," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 168-187.
    16. Frambach, Ruud T. & Schillewaert, Niels, 2002. "Organizational innovation adoption: a multi-level framework of determinants and opportunities for future research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 163-176, February.
    17. Maiga, Adam S. & Nilsson, Anders & Jacobs, Fred A., 2014. "Assessing the interaction effect of cost control systems and information technology integration on manufacturing plant financial performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 77-90.
    18. Levinthal, Daniel & March, James G., 1981. "A model of adaptive organizational search," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 307-333, December.
    19. Patten, Dennis M., 2005. "The accuracy of financial report projections of future environmental capital expenditures: a research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 457-468, July.
    20. Jean-Fran�ois Henri & Olivier Boiral & Marie-Jos�e Roy, 2014. "The Tracking of Environmental Costs: Motivations and Impacts," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 647-669, December.
    21. William Q. Judge & Thomas J. Douglas, 1998. "Performance Implications of Incorporating Natural Environmental Issues into the Strategic Planning Process: An Empirical Assessment," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 241-262, March.
    22. Wagner, Marcus & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2004. "The Effect of Corporate Environmental Strategy Choice and Environmental Performance on Competitiveness and Economic Performance:: An Empirical Study of EU Manufacturing," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 557-572, October.
    23. Bromwich, Michael, 1990. "The case for strategic management accounting: The role of accounting information for strategy in competitive markets," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 27-46.
    24. Simons, Robert, 1990. "The role of management control systems in creating competitive advantage: New perspectives," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 127-143.
    25. Diane-Laure Arjaliès & Julia Mundy, 2013. "The use of management control systems to manage CSR strategy: A levers of control perspective," Post-Print hal-00980329, HAL.
    26. Simons, Robert, 1987. "Accounting control systems and business strategy: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 357-374, June.
    27. Sandra Cohen & Efrosini Kaimenaki, 2011. "Cost accounting systems structure and information quality properties: an empirical analysis," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(1), pages 5-25, May.
    28. Al-Tuwaijri, Sulaiman A. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Hughes, K. II, 2004. "The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(5-6), pages 447-471.
    29. Paul Shrivastava, 1983. "A Typology Of Organizational Learning Systems," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 7-28, January.
    30. Dekker, Henri & Smidt, Peter, 2003. "A survey of the adoption and use of target costing in Dutch firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 293-305, June.
    31. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    32. Burnett, Royce D. & Hansen, Don R., 2008. "Ecoefficiency: Defining a role for environmental cost management," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 551-581, August.
    33. William Young & Fiona Tilley, 2006. "Can businesses move beyond efficiency? The shift toward effectiveness and equity in the corporate sustainability debate," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 402-415, November.
    34. Schoute, Martijn, 2009. "The relationship between cost system complexity, purposes of use, and cost system effectiveness," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 208-226.
    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. Ranjith Appuhami & Faruk Bhuiyan & Christina Boedker, 2024. "Navigating frugality and creativity urgencies: the role of diagnostic use of budgets and goal clarity," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 235-264, June.
    2. Orlando Durán & Paulo Andrés Durán, 2018. "Activity Based Costing for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse under Uncertainty: A Fuzzy Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Jia Xue & Youshi He & Ming Liu & Yin Tang & Hanyang Xu, 2021. "Incentives for Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure in China: Public Media Pressure, Local Government Supervision and Interactive Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Rayenda Khresna Brahmana & Maria Kontesa, 2021. "Does clean technology weaken the environmental impact on the financial performance? Insight from global oil and gas companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3411-3423, November.
    5. Jafar Ojra & Abdullah Promise Opute & Mohammad Mobarak Alsolmi, 2021. "Strategic management accounting and performance implications: a literature review and research agenda," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Heggen, Campbell, 2019. "The role of value systems in translating environmental planning into performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 130-147.
    7. Zhenghui Li & Gaoke Liao & Khaldoon Albitar, 2020. "Does corporate environmental responsibility engagement affect firm value? The mediating role of corporate innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1045-1055, March.
    8. Ulf Diefenbach & Andreas Wald & Ronald Gleich, 2018. "Between cost and benefit: investigating effects of cost management control systems on cost efficiency and organisational performance," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 63-89, March.
    9. Haibing Liu & Serhat Yüksel & Hasan Dinçer, 2020. "Analyzing the Criteria of Efficient Carbon Capture and Separation Technologies for Sustainable Clean Energy Usage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-12, May.
    10. Anna Lucia Missaglia & Alberto Bubbio & Dario Gulino, 2024. "From cost control to cost management: How is the current state of the Italian context?," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2024(1), pages 203-226.
    11. Bongiovanni, Alessio & Fiandrino, Simona, 2024. "Does firm environmental performance mitigate the market reaction to COVID-19 uncertainty?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Mengxin Wang & Gaoke Liao & Yanling Li, 2021. "The Relationship between Environmental Regulation, Pollution and Corporate Environmental Responsibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-13, July.
    13. Karim Charaf & Ahmed Fath-Allah Rahmouni & Mohamed Sabar, 2022. "The Association Between Activity-Based Costing And Performance: Empirical Evidence From Moroccan Companies," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 21(1), pages 25-50, March.
    14. Uyar, Ali & Kuzey, Cemil, 2016. "Does management accounting mediate the relationship between cost system design and performance?," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 170-176.
    15. Thabo Gerald Maleka & Gibson Nyirenda & Michael Bamidele Fakoya, 2017. "The Relationship between Waste Management Expenditure and Waste Reduction Targets on Selected JSE Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-20, August.
    16. Abdulhamid Rahuma & Sami Fethi, 2022. "A new approach to evaluate environmental strategy: Empirical evidence from international petroleum companies using the balanced scorecard model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3152-3165, November.

    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. Henri, Jean-François & Journeault, Marc, 2010. "Eco-control: The influence of management control systems on environmental and economic performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 63-80, January.
    2. Kaveh Asiaei & Ruzita Jusoh & Omid Barani & Arash Asiaei, 2022. "How does green intellectual capital boost performance? The mediating role of environmental performance measurement systems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1587-1606, May.
    3. Journeault, Marc & De Rongé, Yves & Henri, Jean-François, 2016. "Levers of eco-control and competitive environmental strategy," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 316-340.
    4. Jean‐François Henri & Marc Journeault, 2018. "Antecedents and Consequences of Eco‐Control Deployment: Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing Firms," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 253-273, June.
    5. Albert Czerny & Peter Letmathe, 2017. "Eco‐efficiency: GHG reduction related environmental and economic performance. The case of the companies participating in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 791-806, September.
    6. Irene Eleonora Lisi, 2018. "Determinants and Performance Effects of Social Performance Measurement Systems," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 225-251, September.
    7. Lueg, Rainer & Radlach, Ronny, 2016. "Managing sustainable development with management control systems: A literature review," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 158-171.
    8. Ines Karra, 2021. "Resources and green strategic intent: towards improving the competitiveness of Tunisian industrial companies," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 1-25, April.
    9. Heggen, Campbell, 2019. "The role of value systems in translating environmental planning into performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 130-147.
    10. Laguir, Issam & Stekelorum, Rébecca & El Baz, Jamal, 2021. "Proactive environmental strategy and performances of third party logistics providers (TPLs): Investigating the role of eco-control systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    11. Olivier Boiral & Jean‐François Henri & David Talbot, 2012. "Modeling the Impacts of Corporate Commitment on Climate Change," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(8), pages 495-516, December.
    12. Günther, Finn & Möller, Klaus & Wenig, Philipp, 2015. "Erfolgswirkung einer proaktiven Unternehmensstrategie zur Integration natürlicher Ressourcen," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 69(1), pages 25-53.
    13. A.D. Nuwan Gunarathne & Ki‐Hoon Lee & Pubudu K. Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021. "Institutional pressures, environmental management strategy, and organizational performance: The role of environmental management accounting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 825-839, February.
    14. Chenhall, Robert H. & Moers, Frank, 2015. "The role of innovation in the evolution of management accounting and its integration into management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-13.
    15. Elisabeth Albertini, 2017. "What We Know About The Environmental Policy: An Inductive Typology Of The Research," Post-Print hal-02148591, HAL.
    16. Macinati, Manuela S. & Anessi-Pessina, E., 2014. "Management accounting use and financial performance in public health-care organisations: Evidence from the Italian National Health Service," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 98-111.
    17. Robin Roslender & Susan J Hart, 2010. "Strategic Management Accounting: Lots in a Name?," Accountancy Discussion Papers 1005, Accountancy Research Group, Heriot Watt University.
    18. Walid Cheffi & Ahmed Abdel-Maksoud & Muhammad Omer Farooq, 2021. "CSR initiatives, organizational performance and the mediating role of integrating CSR into management control systems: Testing an inclusive model within SMEs in an emerging economy," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 333-367, September.
    19. Olivier Boiral & David Talbot & Pascal Paillé, 2015. "Leading by Example: A Model of Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 532-550, September.
    20. Marc Journeault, 2010. "The Influence Of Eco-Control On Environmental And Economic Performance: A Natural Resourcebased Approach," Post-Print hal-00481559, HAL.

    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:bracre:v:48:y:2016:i:2:p:269-282. 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/the-british-accounting-review .

    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.