Factors affect cost management accounting application of manufacturing enterprises in Southern Vietnam

 
Table 13 
Research model interpretation level 
Model R R Square 
Adjusted 
R Square 
Std. Error of 
the Estimation 
Durbin-
Watson 
1 0.833 0.692 0.691 0.27203 1.72 
Source: Data analysis result of the research 
 Vu Quoc Thong. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 10(4), 42-59 55 
R Square (R2) equals to 0.692. This means that 69.2% of cost management accounting 
application variation is interpreted by independent (affecting) factors. Based on the standardized 
regression coefficient (Table 12), the author confirms all research hypotheses: 
- The coefficient of factor NTNQL is 0.582 (+), therefore, it has a positive relationship 
with UDKTQTCP (H1). 
- The coefficient of factor TDNKT is 0.476 (+), therefore, it has a positive relationship 
with UDKTQTCP (H3). 
- The coefficient of factor QMDN is 0.453 (+), therefore, it has a positive relationship with 
UDKTQTCP (H4). 
- The coefficient of factor MDCNTT is 0.438 (+), therefore, it has a positive relationship 
with independent factor UDKTQTCP (H5). 
- The coefficient of factor PCCCQL is 0.336 (+), therefore, it has a positive relationship 
with independent factor UDKTQTCP (H2). 
5. Conclusion and future research 
In a brief discussion, the research outcome includes descriptive statistics, reliability 
evaluation of Cronbach Alpha, exploration factor analysis (EFA), and regression analysis. After 
checking factor reliability for observed variables by Cronbach Alpha, the author excludes 2 
variables (NTNQL4 and QMDN3) and retained 27 variables. Next, by conducting EFA method, 
the author obtains the consequence of 5 convergent independent factor groups and 1 dependent 
factor group shown in Table 11. There is an invalid variable (MDCNTT2). The rest of the 26 
variables are continued to implement regression analysis to define the impacting level of each 
identified factor to cost management accounting application in manufacturing enterprises. The 
regression result indicates five (5) impacting factors with the decremental order as the bellow 
conclusion. 
5.1. Conclusion and implication 
Research result shows 5 factors affecting cost management accounting application 
according to decreasing impact level as follow factor of manager’s cognition (0.582, rate of 
25.47%), accountant’s professional level (0.476, rate of 20.83%), enterprise size (0.453, rate of 
19.82%), IT application level (0.438, rate of 19.17%) and decentralized administration (0.336, rate 
of 14.70%). The selected independent factors interpret 69.2% of the variation for cost management 
accounting application. Based on the research result, the author proposes recommendations in an 
aim to assist manufacturing enterprise managers to apply cost management accounting effectively: 
- In term of manager’s cognition 
The author supposes that it is necessary to raise the manager’s cognition in the enterprise 
about the importance of cost management accounting application for decision making. Most 
managers in manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam remain thinking that financial accounting plays 
the main role in the accounting system. Therefore, manufacturing enterprises should facilitate 
managers to participate in courses and training programs related to cost management accounting 
application from reputable universities or invite experts from enterprises which successfully 
applying cost management accounting model to share experiences, thus enhancing cognition in 
practical aspect. 
- In term of the accountant’s professional level 
In a competitive economic environment and subject to the influence of Technology 
 56 Vu Quoc Thong. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 10(4), 42-59 
Industry 4.0, employees of cost management accounting must regularly update new knowledge 
and cost management accounting technique. Accountants are those who directly operate on the 
cost management accounting system, are considered as key personnel in the development and 
operation of cost management accounting. The author suggests that: 
- Periodically and regularly develop training plans to update knowledge and skills for 
accountants. Organizing training courses with clear goals to enhance and improve qualification 
following the practical needs of tasks based on current work and future application. 
- Depending on the specific cost management accounting tasks, the enterprise conducts 
designing an accountant evaluation form according to each assigned job completion criteria. 
- In term of enterprise size 
The small and medium-sized enterprises often have a “flat structure” so there are few 
obstacles in cost management accounting application. However, there is a weakness as the 
financial issue to organize a cost management accounting system consistent with the 
characteristics of a specific small-size manufacturing enterprise. The organizations with large-
scale production and business will have high potential for financial resources, the number of 
accountants, and the capacity of modern IT applications. A difficulty for cost management 
accounting application in large-size enterprises is that they should pay attention to information 
exchange and accounting reporting needs at many administration levels with specific requirements 
on data from the cost management accounting system and set up more control procedures than 
small-size enterprises. Gordon and Miller (1976) noted that there is no single management 
accounting model is consistent with all manufacturing enterprises. As a result, cost management 
accounting application must be considered depending on size and each development stage of a 
specific enterprise. 
- In term of IT application level 
We acknowledge that data volume that the cost management accounting system in a 
manufacturing enterprise has to collect, process, and export reports is very large. Cost management 
accounting processing often requires a combination of many complex methods and techniques 
(Raphael & Artus, 2018). The author thinks that information technology infrastructure including 
networked computers, accounting software, or enterprise resource planning (ERP) is necessary for 
cost management accounting application, so: 
- Top management instructions in the enterprise are needed to raise the IT application level 
in accordance with each management level. 
- IT application level in an enterprise requires investment and infrastructure integration 
including computer configuration, network system - transmission line, and software. 
- Note that there are required pieces of training and supports of specialized software for 
accountants to be able to utilize the functions for the service of cost management accounting in the 
enterprise. 
- In term of decentralized administration 
Cost management accounting system can only work effectively if there is a clear 
assignment between organizational departments and the division of cost management accounting 
(Zimmerman, 2010). The author noted that depending on the characteristics of each enterprise, the 
appointment of powers will be different and if the enterprise decentralizes management structure 
too much, it can lead to reduce operational efficiency. In contrast, superficial decentralized 
 Vu Quoc Thong. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 10(4), 42-59 57 
management will result in difficulty to control and deciding responsibility for accounting data in 
coordination among departments throughout the organization. The author’s conclusions are similar 
to Colmenares (2009) that appropriate decentralized management leads to a positive impact on 
cost management accounting application in manufacturing enterprises. 
5.2. Future research 
Firstly, this topic collects data to identify the factors affecting cost management 
accounting application in manufacturing enterprises in Southern Vietnam. However, the 
independent factors shown in the research model only interpret 69.2% of the variation in cost 
management accounting application. Therefore, there will be possibly other factors affecting cost 
management accounting application. This suspicion may lead to a future research direction to 
identify more unexplored impacting factors. 
Secondly, this study identifies the influence level of five (05) independent factors affecting 
cost management accounting application. However, the survey data form is only collected in a 
range of manufacturing enterprises over Ho Chi Minh City and several neighboring provinces. For 
the research model to be more general, upcoming researches are needed to conduct a survey at a 
nationwide level or expand the survey scope to Southeast Asia or Asia Pacific regions 
Lastly, when collecting data for the study, the author surveys according to the opinion of 
manufacturing enterprise managers about the importance of factors that affecting cost management 
accounting application. To consider the concept cost management accounting application in a 
variety of aspects, the author proposes more findings to explore cost management accounting 
application according to different stakeholder views, for example from the perception of 
accounting staff or consulting companies who conduct cost management accounting application 
services for clients 
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