Pieter Buys

North-West University | NWU · WorkWell Research Unit

Previously, it was argued that designing effective managerial costing systems should rely on a comprehensive understanding of systems thinking, business process analysis, and cost accounting. This chapter initiates the empirical design process using the guiding stages and principles of the action design research methodology. The primary focus here...

Endeavoring to develop a managerial costing systems design model, two aspects were considered that scientifically justified the applied research conducted in this book. Firstly, the development of the model was framed in a systems theory context with the intention to create a solution founded in theory that could solve a business problem successful...

A contemporary perspective on management is to perceive an organization as a comprehensive system comprising various components and activities operating within a specific environment. One aspect to consider is that various internal stakeholders may have objectives that differ from the broader organizational goals. Additionally, the organizational s...

In the context of the modern manufacturing organization operating within a dynamic commercial milieu, the imperative for adept cost control to ensure viability is pronounced. Nevertheless, the prevailing consensus underscores a recurring deficiency in the capacity of managerial costing systems to furnish consequential internal cost intelligence. Th...

Organizations desirous of achieving high-level operational success must come to grips with their operational realities. In developing managerial costing systems, it is important to understand that effective cost management entails much more than cost allocations and that the organization’s internal and external operational realities have a profound...

The primary objective of cost accounting is to generate and provide business information to support decision-makers. Manufacturing encompasses a broad range of both traditional and modern technologies, processes, and environments. Furthermore, even smaller manufacturing operations become complex when broken down into their fundamental components an...

The road to the development of effective managerial costing systems has several logical and systematically sound stages. Whereas the first iteration ensured that the problem was adequately understood, the current iteration aimed to ensure a sound design of a potential solution. This chapter formalizes the solution design process, again guided by th...

Employing an effective managerial costing systems is integral to effective management. We assert that such an endeavor requires input from industry experts knowledgeable on the subject. The current iteration employs systems development and implementation experts to validate the process model developed. The primary focus, therefore, is on the implem...

Potential investment risks need to be understood by an investor organisation, which implies that a host country’s environment plays a significant role in attracting foreign investment. This paper’s purpose was to propose a foreign investment risk conceptual framework to serve as a basis for evaluating the Southern African Development Community (SAD...

The competitiveness of the South African metals manufacturers is under the spotlight, since new investments in the metals and engineering industry in South Africa have been poor, and growth in the Chinese trade has had a negative competitive effect on domestic metals manufacturing output and employment. The purpose of the study was to determine how...

Worldwide, healthcare costs continuously rise, impacting the medical scheme member’s contributions. Healthcare cover in the South African private health sector is becoming unaffordable to many people, and effective cost management in this context is becoming essential. This is due to an increase in utilization, the introduction of new, more expensi...

This chapter concludes the book by reiterating that business managers often face unique problems and challenges, for which they may need to conduct sound research. The objective was to simplify sound business research and provide guidance in the design thereof and collect relevant evidence to support their decision-making. This was done by providin...

The lack of proximity between economic agents in Africa and the rest of the world is compounded by regional instability, including pandemics and conflicts. Identifying these ever-changing challenges provides the foundational problem when desiring growth in such environments. Hence, the primary research objective of the study is to develop a growth-...

Within the context that the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) can be linked to institutional isomorphism, the purpose of the study was to determine how successful IFRS-adopted African countries are to convert governance and economic factors into foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment (FPI). Dat...

"The COVID-19 pandemic is a multi-faceted crisis with global impact. Its impact on many economies, including those dependant on oil producing and exporting, may compel such governments to make far-reaching policy decisions. In this context, we briefly consider the economic considerations on two major global oil producers, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia,...

The 4th Industrial Revolution introduced a highly automated and connected business environment. Nevertheless, many organizations are reeling in the wake of the speed and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact, catching many unawares, and placing their sustainability in question. Given the connectedness promulgated by the 4th Industrial Revoluti...

It is important to have effective cost management systems in place that are able to generate relevant cost management information. Key hereto is said systems’ ability to embrace the concepts of feedback and control in support of organisational objectives. Six case studies illustrated these concepts; firstly, in developing of a cost management syste...

In a competitive business environment, the automotive industry is finding it challenging to remain competitive and profitable. Lean management has as part of its objectives the improvement of operational processes, better cost management and waste reduction. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the potential impact of activity-based costing and va...

The South African medical scheme environment is heavily regulated. Furthermore, healthcare costs are continuously on the rise, requiring medical schemes to be creative in managing their costs while offering quality healthcare. One of the innovative ways to manage costs, is channelling its members towards a cost-efficient, high quality medical speci...

The availability of sufficient water resources is arguably a dominant risk factor in contemporary society. This case study considers the quest of an organisation in the wastewater-recycling industry, to ensure its business strategies are attained, specifically in terms of effective cost management. The objective is to investigate whether a costing...

This book illustrates the importance effective cost management systems in providing a supportive environment in which reliable and relevant management information can be generated. Such a cost management system is only attainable if the importance of key business, operational and stakeholder requirements are recognised within the organisational con...

The global economic competitiveness has forced many organizations to consider the emerging and developing markets for future growth opportunities. The Southern African country Mozambique was identified as such an opportunity. However, although the country has experienced more sustained historic economic growth than its neighboring countries, it is...

SME accessibility to finance is widely regarded as a crucial contributing factor to sustainability. It is also generally accepted that access to finance is considerably more difficult for SMEs than for larger corporations. The statutory audit of financial statements for qualifying SMEs in South Africa has been abolished and replaced with the option...

Access to bank financing is regularly rated as one of the biggest obstacles to SME sustainability. With the introduction of the independent review as an alternative to the statutory audit, banks may have inevitably lost their risk assessment reassurance that audits provided. Previous research found that banks have adjusted to this situation by no l...

It is accepted that SMEs are major contributors to global employment and GDP. Similarly, SMEs' reliance on bank finance to maintain financial and operational sustainability is also globally accepted. In 2008, the Company's Act of South Africa was amended to scrap the statutory audit requirement for qualifying entities, with the aim of alleviating t...

This article reflects on the incorporation of doctrinal research in the curriculum of a master’s degree programme in accounting at a South African university. Since accounting concepts, principles and rules are more developed through practice, the question is whether there is place for doctrinal research in accounting research. Doctrinal research i...

The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which strategic management process is utilized within the mining industry. Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ascertain that employees and other stakeholders are working toward commo...

The main objective of this research study is to investigate the extent to which business intelligence, competitive intelligence and marketing intelligence are used within the mining industry. Business intelligence, competitive intelligence and marketing intelligence are the management tools used to mine information to produce up-to-date intelligenc...

The main objective of this research study is to investigate the extent to which knowledge management is used within the mining industry. Knowledge management includes the identification and examination of available and required knowledge and the subsequent planning and control of actions to develop knowledge assets to accomplish organizational obje...

The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which strategic management process is utilized within the mining industry. Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ascertain that employees and other stakeholders are working toward commo...

The current paper presents a comprehensive survey of the Romanian microfinance sector, including the early evolutions and the current developments. The research also includes the regional distribution of Romanian microfinance institutions in relation with the main goals of microfinance, poverty alleviation and support for individual and micro-enter...

Socially responsible corporate governance is an essential aspect of the contemporary corporate environment, and then especially in ensuring continuous sustainable development within a South African context. As such, it also encompasses broad environmentally focused aspects. The motor vehicle manufacturing industry in South Africa was among the firs...

The 2014 ‘Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse’ released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates that the potential projected losses from occupational fraud globally could run as high as US$3.7 trillion every year. In Australia, several studies have found that the Australian public sector entities are also signifi...

In striving for sustainability, contemporary corporations are faced with a multitude of stakeholders, all vying for their piece of the corporate sustainability pie. In adhering to such diverse demands, the effective communication of corporate sustainability information becomes crucial. This paper reflects on key metaphysical principles in respect o...

The aim of this study was to design a case study where a number of management accounting evaluation techniques, namely performance measurement (short-term focus), capital investment evaluation (long-term focus) and risk, have been identified to compare the financial results of different scenarios between Boer goat, mutton breeds and beef cattle far...

The purpose of the study is to use data from a case study to build a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to compare the financial performances of South African boer goat with cattle and sheep production, respectively. Data was collected by calculating the financial performance, which is broken up into six measurements. These measurements formed t...

Sustainability reporting in South Africa has emerged strongly in the last decade with evidence suggesting that corporate social responsibility assurance prevalence is growing among the top 100 publicly-listed companies. Multinational motor vehicle manufacturers will have to comply with all sustainable reporting requirements that incorporate South A...

Sustainability reporting, renowned as an instrument for businesses to communicate how they function more efficiently and responsibly within the social and physical environment, while simultaneously remaining profitable, has evolved in an up-and-coming trend by businesses. In addition, this leads to integrated reporting, which implies that a busines...

The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal capital needs to establish a Boer goat farm. A study was performed to simulate the financial performance of 55 scenarios, with varying farm sizes and varying levels of capital employed. These results formed the basis to create a data envelopment analysis model, where farm sizes and capital emplo...

Africa is the ideal location for agricultural investment to address the growing concern of food insecurity worldwide. South African agricultural producers and agricultural financiers are strategically positioned to expand their agricultural interests into Africa, as South Africa is regarded as the gateway for investors to Africa. Expansion into Afr...

The oil and gas sector is one of the key players in the South African economy; however, South Africa is also regarded as the foremost polluter in Africa. The main objective of the study was to develop a sustainable balanced scorecard (SBSC) that addresses the needs of the South African oil and gas sector. The research approach followed was supporte...

An activity-based approach to operational management aims to address the shortcomings of traditional resource management methodologies and to provide enhanced management information. Since effective cost management is of critical importance, operational processes not adding value to the business must be identified. As such, activity-based operation...

In the past, business activities were motivated exclusively by the desire to maximize financial returns; however, over the past decade, increased awareness of non-financial business impacts has led companies from being profit-driven to incorporating environmental and social value into its performance measurements. The GRI published guidelines for s...

Carbon excise tax was implemented on all passenger motor vehicles in South Africa as of 1 September 2010. Since its implementation, the impact of carbon tax on the corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives and expenditure of South African motor vehicle manufacturers has not been assessed. Given that the carbon tax price should ideally compensat...

Since the implementation of carbon tax on motor vehicles in South Africa during 2010, the pricing of the tax has never been challenged or assessed. The purpose of this study is to gauge the reasonability of the carbon tax price in South Africa as applicable to the motor vehicle manufacturing industry. A detailed review is performed to determine the...

This article aims to consider the relevancy of (i) cap-and-trade schemes and (ii) carbon tax schemes in a developing economy context. Even though both schemes have a common goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they operate very differently, each with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Sustainable developments comprise various elem...

Agricultural companies and commodity processors trade commodity derivatives on the SAFEX Commodity Derivatives market to hedge themselves and their producers against commodity price risk. Agricultural companies have to adhere to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) of which International Accounting Standard (IAS) 39, Financial Instrum...

Sustainability reporting, renowned as an instrument for businesses to communicate how they function more efficiently and responsibly within the social and physical environment, while simultaneously remaining profitable, has evolved in an up-and-coming trend by businesses. In addition, this leads to integrated reporting, which implies that a busines...

The growing reality of globalisation has contributed too many new challenges in the auditing and related services industries, which placed more pressure on audit firms' of all sizes drive for long-term sustainability. Just like their global counterparts, audit firms in the Brazilian marketplace also need to be cognisant of its own competitive busin...

Recent corporate history illustrates that, although accounting is acknowledged as the language of the contemporary business environment, it is not merely a detached technical activity, but rather a battlefield of diverse ideologies. The contemporary accounting objectives as promulgated by key accounting standard setting institutions (i.e. the IASB...

When considering some of the key reasons for the desperate state of the current global economic environment, it is difficult to deny accounting’s role therein. Although accounting institutes require adherence to codes of conduct, the question remains as to what happened to the stewardship function of the accounting profession. This article has crit...

For all financial years ending on or after March 1st 2010, all companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ltd (JSE) have to provide an Integrated Report (as part of the JSEs listing requirements). This report is to supply sustainability information in addition to the conventional IFRS-based statements. Yet, no statutory requirement for adh...

Financial statements are used by investors and financiers in their investment or financing decisions. The accounting treatment of individual transactions is reflected in the annual financial statements; therefore, similar transactions should be accounted for similarly by organisations in the same industry, otherwise these financial statements becom...

In the global business environment, accountants often adopt accountancy practices to suit their unique cultural and business environments. This aspect often makes the cross-border comparison of financial statements difficult. Several completed research projects conducted has revealed that culture often dictates the accounting environment and based...

Globalisation has contributed to many new challenges in the Information Systems and Technology (IS&T) industry, which placed increased pressure on organisational long-term sustainability. Just like their global counterparts, IS&T organisations in the South African marketplace also need to be cognisant of its competitive business environment in orde...

Recent accounting history is characterised by many developments, including several high-profile corporate failures, such as Enron, Parmalat and even Saambou, as well as major developments in financial reporting standards, such as the broadbased acceptance of international financial reporting standards and the convergence efforts between the UK-base...

Accountancy's double-entry bookkeeping system has spread throughout the world over the past 5 centuries. Within each country, local accountants have adopted accountancy practices to suit their unique environment. In the modern global business environment, this uniqueness makes cross-border financial statement comparisons difficult. A key objective...

The purpose of the study is to develop a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to estimate the relative scale efficiency of platinum-mining companies environmental performance. South African platinum-mines were used to demonstrate the model, which uses environmental performance indicators as the input variables in order to generate mineral extracti...

This study explores the potential differences in the economic performances of companies that report on their sustainability information and those companies that do not report thereon. Even though there have been similar studies conducted in 1 st world countries, this is the first study of its kind in a developing economy, and considers the economic...

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was developed to address the reporting needs of SMEs worldwide. Furthermore, SMEs from different parts of the world are exposed to different conditions and environments. Although the IFRS for SMEs was not intended for a specific user group,the majority o...

Research revealed that strong enforcement of accounting standards would improve the quality of financial reporting. As a result, information communicated by management to existing and potential shareholders should also improve. Proper financial reporting is however not necessarily an SME objective. Traditionally SME owners also fulfil a management...

The world economy crisis, started by the collapse of the mortgage market in U.S.A, gave rise to the deterioration of public finances in many European countries. The countries that were exceptionally strongly affected are Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. Already in 2010, Greece and Ireland would have both had to declare their bankruptcy b...

Research revealed that inconsistent accounting practices are often attributable to environmental factors of which cultural differences appear to be the most significant. Prior research considered cultural dimensions in classifying and evaluating cultural differences, which has also been extended into accounting values. This enabled researchers to c...

As key global accounting regulators, the FASB and the IASB have accorded much importance to the concept of decision-usefulness, especially in the context of the capital providers as a specific user group. However, a vague reference to the usefulness of accounting information means nothing unless the utility being sought is properly defined. This pa...

The recent meltdown in global finances and the reasons for it may make people doubtful about the stewardship function of accounting. In the global financial markets, there is a great fascination with the reality that accounting values intend to reflect. However, what many people considered valuable is now suddenly of no value. The question can ther...

In recent times there have been major developments in the areas of digitising business information, which can impact the financial reporting supply chain. Such developments include the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) technology. The South African regulator of financial services and a major South African retirement fund administrator w...

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards by many countries is fundamental to global accounting harmonization. However the reporting requirements were often criticized as being too comprehensive and not necessarily applicable to all levels of businesses, especially smaller businesses. As a result the International Accounting Stand...

Even though various support initiatives for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been introduced in recent times, there are also many limiting characteristics of SMEs, such as a lack of 'formality' in terms of accounting procedures. The introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) made it even more difficult for SMEs to ad...

Proefskrif (PhD (Bedryfs- en Bestuursrekeningkunde))--PU vir CHO, 1995.