PurposeDespite the great interest in activity based costing (ABC), companies seem to be reluctant to adopt it. Our research aims at examining the rate of adoption of ABC by Greek companies that belong to all three sectors of the Greek economy, i.e. manufacturing, retail and services, as well as investigating the reasons that influence a firm's decision to change its current cost accounting system.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical survey via questionnaires was conducted during 2003 on a sample of 88 Greek leading companies and four company categories were identified in respect to their perceptions towards ABC (ABC adopters, ABC supporters, ABC deniers and ABC unawares).FindingsOur findings indicate that ABC diffusion in Greece is quite satisfactory. Furthermore, we present evidence that firms that have implemented ABC (ABC adopters) have experienced multidimensional management facilitating benefits from the system. However, the adequacy of resources was found to be the variable that is positively and statistically correlated with the majority of problems encountered during ABC implementation process. On the other hand, the companies that include ABC in their future plans (ABC supporters) seem to be familiar with the corresponding expected benefits and potential problems of its adoption. We present evidence that the possibility of future ABC adoption is related to the degree of satisfaction from the currently used cost accounting system. Companies that do not intend to adopt ABC (ABC deniers) were found to be more satisfied with their existing cost accounting system in comparison to ABC supporters. We also report the characteristics of companies that still have complete ignorance of the ABC technique (ABC unawares).Originality/valueThe paper not only proceeds in a thorough analysis of the benefits perceived in relation to ABC as they have been presented in similar research, but also moves a step further and groups these benefits into distinct categories as well as ranks them in order of perceived importance. Furthermore, it analyzes the basic characteristics of the firms that have complete ignorance of ABC (ABC unawares), a group that is rarely met in ABC research papers.

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Reforms in the public sector have traditionally been faced by resistance and problems. Pettigrew justifies this attitude on theoretical grounds as the exercise of power from individuals and groups threatened by a change in strategy. The paper analyses this case by referring to the attempts of introducing accrual and management accounting practices in Greek Public Universities. Via a detailed examination of the context within which this reform took place and the phases it went through, we endeavour to explain, by using Pettigrew's theory regarding strategy and decision‐making, why it has not yet seriously progressed even though it was initiated in 1996.

PurposeThis study attempts to formulate an ontological proposition for the intellectual capital (IC) domain. This study is motivated by the debate of contemporary thinking for different IC research streams (IC1‐ostensive versus IC2‐performative) and their different ontological perceptions for IC. The proposed ontological proposition aims to serve the epistemological requirements towards the development of a common accepted generic IC theory.Design/methodology/approachThe formulation of the ontology for the IC domain is based on contemporary tools within the fields of ontology and conceptual modelling. The principal dimensions of the ontology for the IC domain are identified following the directions of the Sowa's generalised theory for ontological frameworks. For each dimension, a generic entity is defined by drawing inferences from disciplines relevant to the contemporary IC inquiry. The relationships between the generic entities are modelled with the semantic representations of General Systems Theory (GST).FindingsThis paper provides an answer to the epistemological problem of how to perceive the substance of the IC domain. The derived ontology for the IC domain recognises different IC ontological dimensions that correspond to the IC ontological assumptions of different IC research streams, attempts to associate the IC of an organization with the tangible dimension of the enterprise, and provides conceptual semantics for modelling firm‐specific IC domains under the prism of different epistemological perspectives for IC.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed ontological proposition for the IC domain is an abstract ontology. It might empower researchers with guidelines for systemising the formulation of theoretical propositions and descriptions for their research fields. Yet, as an abstract ontology, it might create difficulty in its practical implementation.Originality/valueThe ontological proposition for the IC domain can contribute towards the debate on the establishment of a common research communicational rationalism within the IC research community for coordinating individual research efforts.

<p class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Theory claims that ABC is most suitable for companies employing flexibility in manufacturing, as it is a vehicle for more accurately depicting cost causation when the level of overheads increases. Furthermore, the benefits of flexibility in production can only be visible when sophisticated cost accounting systems, such as ABC, are implemented. However, previous empirical studies have shown that this is not always the case. In this paper we develop a model, which proposes whether ABC implementation should be recommended by combining several attributes that, according to theory and previous empirical findings, characterize sophisticated cost accounting systems and flexibility in production. This model can be used to assist companies to assess the suitability and applicability of ABC, under their own specific business conditions regarding production flexibility. In order to evaluate the reliability of the model we have empirically tested it to a sample of leading Greek manufacturing firms. The model developed succeeded in identifying, at a statistically significant level, the perceptions of managers about the suitability of ABC for their companies. It also revealed that production flexibility is a significant factor driving companies towards ABC adoption. </span></span></p>