The deployment of contemporary management accounting practices in Canadian firms: a contingency approach

Effective management accounting systems can provide critical tools and techniques for managing contemporary companies, particularly in competitive global environments. Using a survey of Canadian manufacturing companies, this study investigates the deployment of contemporary management accounting practices (CMAPs), as well as several contingent factors associated with their deployment, namely: industry size and sector, geographic region, and managers’ expertise and skills. The findings suggest that CMAPs play important, but still evolving, roles in Canadian manufacturing companies. In addition, the regions and the industries in which the companies operate, along with managerial expertise and skills in some cases, appear to be significantly associated with the deployment of CMAPs. In particular, the Central and Western regions exhibit significant associations with the deployment of several CMAPs.