STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING FIRMS - A STUDY OF TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT IN THE CURRENT FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION CONTEXT

Much progress has been achieved in research works on SMA and the scope of modern analytical tools in SMA techniques. Although there had been many reviews on SMA techniques and their adoption by firms around the world, research on the application of analytical tools like artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics (BDA) and cloud computing (CC) in SMA techniques had been fewer. This review aimed at assessing the relative extent of research done on these two aspects and the findings obtained from them. Google Scholar was used to search for papers and the PRISMA flow process was used to screen and select the papers. A total of 41 papers were obtained from these methods for this review. These papers were discussed under three main sections: Papers on the use of advanced analytical tools in SMA by firms, SMA (strategic management accounting) techniques used by Australian manufacturing firms and Use of advanced analytical tools for performance improvement by Australian manufacturing firms.However, since the adoption rate of SMA itself is low, using advanced analytical tools in SMA has been still low. Low levels of (negative) adoption of both SMA techniques and tools are due to a lack of awareness, lack of the required skills, lack of resources and resistance to change. The first two of these barriers could be addressed by training employees about SMA, and its techniques and tools. Incremental implementation of SMA and the tools with increasing availability of resources over time may solve the resource problem. Effective change management strategies and positive organisational culture towards changing to SMA and tools can solve the resistance problem. But the current low levels of adoption do not indicate the possibility of changing the organisational culture.