Factors Affecting the Intention to Apply Management Accounting in Enterprises in Vietnam

Abstract

By applying behavioral intention theories and the theory of diffusion of innovation in organizations, this study identified several factors influencing the intention to apply management accounting in enterprises in Vietnam. Research data was collected from the questionnaire sent to Vietnamese enterprises in 2019, collecting 542 observations from accountants and directors. The data is, then, synthesized by excel file, conformity check, and processed by SPSS 20 software with descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results showed four factors that affect the intention to apply management accounting in enterprises in Vietnam: (1) Performance expectancy; (2) Effort expectancy; (3) Perceived trust; and (4) Subjective norms. The study pointed out that the above factors explain 60.618% of the variation of "intention to apply management accounting", in which, Subjective norms has the strongest impact (regression coefficient is 0.238). The findings also show that raising the awareness of managers and accountants about the role of management accounting, improving the qualifications and knowledge of accountants, and increasing the trust of managers about management accounting information are needed to increase the level of management accounting application in Vietnamese enterprises. The study also proposes recommendations to improve the effectiveness of management accounting for managers in operation and decision-making.