| As the latest branch of management accounting, strategic management accounting (SMA) subverts traditional accounting thoroughly. Recently, related research has been showing a booming trend, especially contingency study seems to have a promising future. In China, research is still relatively lacking except for theoretical study; As for Japan, case studies are quite rich while empirical data is scarce; besides, the demand of truly matching strategic management accounting techniques (SMAt) and strategy is urgent. In order to know about the adoption of SMAt in China and Japan, as well as to investigate the relationship between overall strategy type and SMAt adoption, following research was conducted.This study screened the theoretically most popular SMAt in China by literature research, and divided them into three categories based on national circumstances: cost-oriented category, competition-oriented category and performance-oriented category. What’s more, overall strategy was also divided into three categories based on previous research: prospector, analyzer and defender. Based on above, empirical study was conducted. Data of 105 Chinese companies and 121 Japanese companies in manufacturing industry with elite performance were collected. It turns out that except for ABC, the usage rate of the other techniques are all significantly higher in Japan than those in China, with annual sales income and company life in Japan also above. Overall, the practice of SMA in Japan in at a world leading level, while China is still in its early stage. In Chinese sample, the usage rate of cost-oriented techniques are higher in defender than that in analyzer, higher in analyzer than that in prospector. While in both Chinese and Japanese sample, prospector is more willing to use competition-oriented and performance-oriented techniques than analyzer, analyzer is more willing to use them than prospector. What’s more, the top 3 SMAt in two country’s analyzer are both Target Costing, Competitor Appraisal on Published Financial Statement and Competitive Position Monitoring; the top 3 SMAt in in two country’s prospector also have Competitor Appraisal on Published Financial Statement and Total Quality Management(TQM) in common; while two country’s defender show huge difference. Defender in China prefer cost-oriented SMAt which turns out not to be the best choice when it comes to ROI. The top 3 SMAt in Japan’s defender are Competitive Position Monitoring, Benchmarking and TQM, which leads to high ROI.On the basis of empirical research, case study on J Electronics Co., Ltd. was conducted. It is discovered that Competitor Appraisal on Published Financial Statement, Competitive Position Monitoring, Benchmarking and TQM have been successfully applied. In addition, the company’s strategy type changed from defender to prospector, with its SMAt changed from cost-oriented category to competition-oriented and performance-oriented category, which is in line with the results of the empirical research. It is also found that the company’s own overall strategic objectives was one of the important factors during SMAt choosing, and SMAt in turn, promoted the strategic change. To practice SMA, the company developed a strict implementation process which contributed to the implementation of SMA, but also arises path dependence which adversely leads to strategic adjustment lag.The study conforms to the SMA research needs in the academic field. New SMAt system as well as new category based on China’s circumstance were brought up; new contingency factor was investigated; new data were collected; and the match of overall strategy and SMAt as well as the corresponding ROI in company with powerful economic influence were discussed. The research results can be reference and guidance for enterprises when applying SMA. What’s more, comparison between China and Japan can make it easier to find out the weaknesses of our own in SMAt adoption as well as SMAt and strategy matching. |
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