When a plane encounters turbulent weather in the air, the pilot and copilot have to collect and consider all the relevant data available and make the decision whether to fly through, over, or around the turbulence, making the best choice for the safety of the passengers. When business organizations respond to challenges of managing change, they too are faced with choices. Since the managerial function involves using information for better planning and control, management accounting is important for effective and successful strategic change at all levels within the chosen or changing business model.
Effective management accounting is about improving decisions and building successful organizations. Because it brings to light the most relevant information and applies analysis to help organizations generate and preserve value, management accounting is at the heart of quality decision making. We recognize that traditional management accounting techniques will continue to play a role in terms of cost-benefit and incremental costing-based impact, and will continue to practice these core fundamentals of our discipline. Yet the complexities of fast-changing markets mean relying only on traditional approaches and analyses is insufficient in today’s business world.
The emphasis to evolve is increasingly important in the new digital age that encompasses Big Data. With all the data that is now available, managers need help managing it, performing analytics, and with decision making. We’ve entered an era that is quickly moving away from just computing numbers to one moving toward insights through analytics.
