THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN MANAGEMENT DECISION MAKING

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Institution is a community of people. It is also individuals efforts working together in pursuit of common purposes called “Organizational goal”.

Organization is any group of two or more persons working together to achieve a goal or goals. (Ricky Gtiffin, 1984. PP4-55). The goals may be that of profit motive for business organization; Spreading of knowledge for Colleges and Universities; National defence by the Army; Social Satisfaction by social  chibs; etc. there is need for combination and Utilization of money, men and materials resources for the attainment of Organizational goals that led the Organization into division of labour.

In broad terms, there are two types of organizations

(i)         The profit Motive Organization (Business Organization)

(ii)       The non-profit Motive Service Venture.

The primary aim of the former is to make profit on Investment while the objective of the latter is determined by the Social and Political Considerations such as meeting the needs of people in the area of basic health-care, providing quality education, etc. Such group Include:- all Governmental Agencies, the United Nations Organization, World Health Organization  (WHO) etc.

Basically, Information is to data what a finished Product is to the raw-materials used in producing it.

According to Anthony and Reick (2003; P 270), Information is a fact, datum, observation, perception or any other thing that adds to knowledge. Data in their states are only relevant as historical records which can be filed away because there is no immediate need but once there is a need to use them for management purpose, they are received, organized and packaged in such a format that will help management in their function of planning, forecasting or control.

Information can be external or Internal to a business Organization or an establishment and, how it is finally put to use depend on the nature of the organization.

External Information will Include:- All the Information gathered from sources outside of the immediate environment of the organization, such as International journal, Government gazettes; Statistical journal; world raw-materials reports; etc.

While those Internal Information Include those from different branches or sections of the organization such as: personnel unit, production unit, etc which could reflect the company’s account, stock records department performance analysis etc.

In Management, Information is most often related to the purpose for which its is needed.

This implies that there is a factor of relevance in information need and utilization with in any Business Organization or Institution.

The types of Information required by a one section of the organization may not be the same that another section of the organization requires to carry out its functions

Information can either be quantitative or non-quantitative. Accounting Information is mostly quantitative in nature and it is usually expressed in financial or monetary terms, as well as accompanied with non-monetary Information Management of the Institution etc

1.1     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study has been designed for Nigerian Organizations of either the profit motive Organization or service oriented organization (Non-Profit motive) such as the Enugu State College of Education (Technical).

Meanwhile, the significance of this study Include:-

(a)       Whether accounting Information plays an important role in the efficient running of an organization through the keeping of proper records.

(b)       The study of accounting Information throws more light on its efficiency in the development of modern organization.

(c)       Since modern business may be owned by literally hundreds of share holders, the study of accounting Information X- rays the extent to which the share holders and Administrators may depend on Financial reports of companies or organizations.

(d)       Through this work, one should be able to communicate the economic measures of, and the Information about the resources and performances of the reporting entity to those who have reasonable right to such information.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

Capital generated by Organizations reflect the ability of the Management of such Organization to successfully control all the factors necessary for the production and provision of goods and services,

As a result of the state of economy and the policies Instituted by government, Managers tend to look for a venue to Increase quality at lower cost?

(a)       There is also the problem of stating an answer to this question of, “to what extent dose accounting Information help the managers in allocating scarce resources properly?

1.3     PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study, Include:-

(a)       To ascertain whether there is any positive relationship between the efficient use of accounting Information and quality of decision taken by the College Management.

(b)       To ascertain whether the use of accounting Information efficiently contribute positively to the performance of the College under study.

(c)       To find out whether the College Managements planning, decisions and control can be efficient with the effective use of accounting Information.

(d)       To determine the factors that impede or promote the effective use of accounting Information.

(e)       To ascertain whether the use of accounting Information aids in assessing cash flow prospects in the College.

(f)        To give suggestions on how to improve on the role of accounting Information in management decision making and planning for better promotion.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions have been designed by the researchers in the course of this study.

(a)       What are the factors that can negatively affect the use of accounting Information in an organization?

(b)       Is there any clear distinction between the decisions made through the use of accounting Information and those based on Non-accounting information?

(c)       How positive in relation to the College” performance is the efficient use of accounting Information?

(d)       To what extent does the efficient use of accounting Information determine the quality of decisions taked by the College management?

(e)       Do you consider accounting Information more useful than the Non-accounting Information?

1.5     HYPOTHESES

For the purpose of this research work, the following hypothesis have been stated which should be tested in the course of this research.

(a)   Null Hypothesis (Ho):- There is no positive relationship between the efficient use of accounting Information and the quality of decisions taken in the College “Enugu State College of Education (Technical)

(ESCET)”

Alternative Hypothesis (Hi):- There is a positive relation between the efficient use of accounting Information and the quality of decisions taken in the College: “Enugu State College of Education (Technical) (ESCET)”

(b)   Null Hypothesis (Ho):- The use of efficient accounting Information in the Enugu State College of Education (Technical) (ESCET) does not Contribute positively to the performance of the College.

Alternative Hypothesis (Hi):- The use of efficient accounting Information in Enugu State College of Education (Technical) (ESCET) Contribute positively to the performance of the College.

(c)    Null Hypothesis (HO) The College Management decision-making and planning can be efficient with out the use of accounting Information.

Alternative Hypothesis (Hi) The College Management decision and planning can not be efficient without accounting Information.

1.6     DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This research, in general term, is geared towards the studying of the main components of the role of accounting Information in Management decision making with special reference to the Enugu State College of Education (Technical) (ESCET). Although, the researchers are students of the College in question, they tried to know how accounting Information had been effectively and efficiently used by the Administrators and Staff of the College and then relate it to other Organizations.

However, in the course of the study, the researchers still encounter some limitations.

1.7     LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

One of the limitation of this study is the inability of the Management to disclose certain Information which they consider very sensitive to the researchers such that its publication might be detrimental to the College’s operations or tantamount to “street Management”.

Infact secondary data, as well as the varied opinions of experts are many but could not be exhaustively reached owning to limited time frame for this work.

The unavailability of such materials and insufficient financial resources are also limitation factors in the study.

1.8     DEFINITIONS OF RELEVANT TERMS:-

The relevant terms that are to be encountered in the courses of this work include:-

(a)   Accounting:- The early definitions of accounting generally focused on the traditional record keeping functions of an Accountant. In 1941, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) defined accounting as “the art of recording, classifying and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of measures, processes, and communicates financial Information about an identifiable economic entity.

This Information allows users to make “reasoned choices among alternative uses of scares resources in the conduct of business and economic activities.

Figure 11 below depicts accounting as a service activity. It serves as a link between business activities and decision makers. Here, one might say that data about business activities are the input to the accounting system and useful Information for decision markers becomes in output.

Adopted from B.E Needles et al, P3

b.     Accounting and its Relationship with Book-keeping, the computer and management Information system:-

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