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Building Effective SMA Systems Taking Advantage of Information Technology

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Reshaping Accounting and Management Control Systems

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation ((LNISO,volume 20))

Abstract

Strategic management accounting (SMA) is a set of valuable tools to manage a company at its best. However, it is expensive and complex to implement. After a first part of theoretical introduction about the SMA framework, this paper will attempt to assess the possible contribution from the information technologies (IT) in this field both theoretically and empirically. The second part describes a medium-size company and its experiences in implementing a SMA system. We will describe the Nespoli Group, which comprehends 45 medium-size firms localized all-over Europe and the issues linked to the management of such a differentiated multinational ensemble of entities. In the third part, we will propose a new approach to the use of information technology in SMA systems. For this purpose we will evaluate in depth a particular indicator, the service level agreement (SLA), to understand how IT can effectively improve SMA systems. Several final considerations conclude the paper.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Iacopo Ennio Inghirami

Authors
  1. Iacopo Ennio Inghirami
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Correspondence to Iacopo Ennio Inghirami .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sassari University , Sassari, Italy

    Katia Corsi

  2. Macerata University , Macerata, Italy

    Nicola Giuseppe Castellano

  3. Parthenope University of Naples , Naples, Italy

    Rita Lamboglia

  4. Parthenope University of Naples , Naples, Italy

    Daniela Mancini

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Inghirami, I.E. (2017). Building Effective SMA Systems Taking Advantage of Information Technology. In: Corsi, K., Castellano, N., Lamboglia, R., Mancini, D. (eds) Reshaping Accounting and Management Control Systems. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49538-5_11

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