Asian Review of Accounting

Style of information usage and use of accounting information: a Malaysian study

Nor Azrina bt Mohd Yusof @ Ghani Wee Shu Hui Ibrahim Kamal Abdul Rahman Normah Omar Shah Alam
Michael S.C. Tse

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Nor Azrina bt Mohd Yusof @ Ghani Wee Shu Hui Ibrahim Kamal Abdul Rahman Normah Omar Shah Alam
Michael S.C. Tse, (2012),"Style of information usage and use of accounting information: a Malaysian study",
Asian Review of Accounting, Vol. 20 Iss 1 pp. 20 - 33
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ARA
20,1

Style of information usage and

use of accounting information:
a Malaysian study

20

Nor Azrina bt Mohd Yusof @ Ghani

Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Wee Shu Hui, Ibrahim Kamal Abdul Rahman and

Normah Omar Shah Alam
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Accounting Research Institute and Faculty of Accountancy,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, and

Michael S.C. Tse

School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Deakin University,
Burwood, Australia
Abstract
Purpose Since the 1990s, there has been a growing interest in style of information usage. However,
most studies on style of information usage are conducted in developed countries. There is limited
research on style of information usage in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to fill the
gap in the existing literature by examining relationships between style of information usage and use of
financial and non-financial information in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted a survey method, for which a written
questionnaire was prepared and mailed out to companies in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Terengganu and
Pulau Pinang.
Findings Findings of the study show that diagnostic style of information usage is positively
associated with use of financial information, while interactive style of information usage is positively
associated with use of non-financial information. Further analysis on types of non-financial
information used by managers who adopt interactive style of information usage reveals that customerrelated non-financial information such as quality, customer satisfaction and flexibility play a more
important role in their decision-making processes.
Originality/value The paper provides insights into relationships between style of information
usage on and use of accounting information in developing countries. Findings of the study can be
applied to assist management accountants in meeting managers information requirements.
Keywords Malaysia, Developing countries, Decision making, Information, Usage, Managers,
Accountants, Financial information, Non-financial information
Paper type Research paper

Asian Review of Accounting

Vol. 20 No. 1, 2012
pp. 20-33
r Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1321-7348
DOI 10.1108/13217341211224709

1. Introduction
Effective use of accounting information in decision making is essential to the survival
of business organizations in a highly competitive environment (Henri, 2006). The
importance of accounting information for managers is extensively documented in prior
studies (Bruns and McKinnon, 1998; Pierce and ODea, 2003; Choe, 2004; Williams,
2004; Anwar and Tuqan, 2006; Gaidiene and Skyrius, 2006). Prior studies identify two
distinctive styles of information usage, namely, diagnostic and interactive (Simons,
1990; Abernethy and Brownell, 1999; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2007). Since the
1990s, there has been a growing interest in styles of information usage (Tuomela, 2005;
Henri, 2006). However, most studies on styles of information usage have been

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conducted in developed countries like USA and Australia. To date, there has been
limited research on styles of information usage in developing countries.
This paper presents a study on the relationships between the style of information
usage and the use of financial and non-financial information in Malaysia. Due to
institutional and cultural factors, the adoption and use of management accounting
techniques in developing countries often differ from those in developed countries
( Joshi, 2001; Sulaiman et al., 2004). Therefore, research on management accounting
practices in developing countries can potentially provide new insights into issues that
have already been studied in the context of developed countries. The objective of the
study is to fill the gap in the existing literature by examining the effects of the style of
information usage on Malaysian managers. Findings of the study show that a
diagnostic style of information usage is positively associated with the use of financial
information, while an interactive style of information usage is positively associated
with use of non-financial information.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The hypotheses of the study are
developed in Section two. Section three outlines the research methodology of the
study. The findings of the study are presented in Section four, and concluding remarks
are made in Section five.
2. Theoretical development
2.1 Use of accounting information
Managers use accounting information to assist them in planning, control and
evaluation of operating performance (Choe, 2004). Accounting information can be
broadly classified into two categories, namely, financial information and non-financial
information. All financial information is quantitative in nature whereas non-financial
information includes both quantitative and qualitative information (Bruns and
McKinnon, 1998; Kaplan and Norton, 1996; Azleen and Mohd Zulkeflee, 2007).
Different types of accounting information are used in decision-making processes
(Mia and Patiar, 2001; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2007; Tse and Gong, 2009),
depending on the managers backgrounds and the nature of the decisions and
problems they are facing. Managers may also use financial and non-financial
information concurrently (Kaplan and Norton, 1996).
2.2 Style of information usage
According to their different needs, and the available resources and competencies,
managers use accounting information in different ways ( Jais, 2007). Simons (1990,
1995) suggests that accounting information can be used in two distinctive ways. First,
accounting information can be used as the basis of diagnostic controls (diagnostic
style). Managers regularly compare information on actual financial and/or
non-financial performance with preset standards to identify deviations from
organizational plans (Henri, 2006; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2007). Alternatively,
accounting information can be used to facilitate interactions between members of
organizations (interactive style). Managers also use accounting information to
stimulate learning and identify new opportunities (Simons, 1995).
Different styles of information usage have direct implications on managers
behaviour. The adoption of a diagnostic style of information usage directs senior
managers attention towards the achievement of planned outcomes. They pay less
attention to the means adopted by lower-level managers for achieving the outcomes
(Simons, 1995). Most discussions on organizational outcomes are in the form of formal

Style of
information
usage
21

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22

reviews and are conducted at the end of set operating periods. Exchanges of
accounting information within operating periods are limited (Naranjo-Gil and
Hartmann, 2007). When an interactive style of information usage is adopted by
managers, continuous exchanges of information occur between organizational
members (Abernethy and Brownell, 1999). Discussions on organizational outcomes
can be held at any time and tend to be less formal (Simons, 1995; Naranjo-Gil and
Hartmann, 2007).
2.3 Style of information usage and use of accounting information
The adoption of a particular style of information usage has direct implications on
managers preferences over different types of accounting information. Findings of
Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann (2007) show that managers who adopt an interactive style
of information usage prefer to use non-financial information in their decision-making
processes, while managers who adopt a diagnostic style of information usage have a
stronger preference for the use of financial information in decision making.
Styles of information usage also influence managers use of different types of
accounting information indirectly through their mutual relationships with decision
problems. The relative importance of each type of accounting information to managers
varies when they face different types of decision problems (Bhimani and LangfieldSmith, 2007; Maksoud et al., 2010; Tse, 2011). Financial information traditionally
plays a key role in structural decision problems such as the evaluation of
organizational performance (Tuomela, 2005). For unstructured decision problems like
the identification of new business opportunities, non-financial information is
considered more useful, as it enables managers to discover tacit knowledge and
makes it explicit (Vaivio, 2004). Meanwhile, the suitability of different styles of
information usage to managers varies according to the types of decision problems they
face. A diagnostic style of information usage is suitable for addressing routine,
structural decision problems like the evaluation of organizational performance and the
determination of subordinates rewards (Bhimani and Langfield-Smith, 2007; Ferreira
and Otley, 2009). In comparison, an interactive style of information usage is more
suitable for addressing unstructured decision problems (Simons, 1995). Thus, the
adoption of a diagnostic style of information usage is associated with the use of
financial information through linkages to the structured decision problems. Similarly,
adoption of an interactive style of information usage is associated with the use of nonfinancial information through linkages to unstructured decision problems.
Based on the above arguments, the following hypotheses are developed:
H1. Diagnostic style of information usage is positively associated with use of
financial information.
H2. Interactive style of information usage is positively associated with use of
non-financial information.
3. Research methodology
3.1 Data collection
This study adopted a survey method in which a written questionnaire was prepared
and mailed out to potential respondents. After official approval was obtained for
the study, the questionnaire was first sent to accounting academics in Malaysia to test
the validity of the questions. The questionnaire was then mailed out to the sample

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companies. A cover letter stating the purpose of the study, written instructions for the
completion of the questionnaire, and a self-addressed envelope were sent together with
the questionnaire. The potential respondents were given a period of four weeks to
complete the questionnaire. After two weeks, follow-up calls were made to all potential
respondents, either to encourage their participation or to thank them for their
participation.
The selection of the sample in this study was based on purposive sampling. To
improve the response rate, distribution of the questionnaire was limited to companies
that were more likely to respond. The questionnaire was sent to 45 companies in Kuala
Lumpur, Selangor, Terengganu and Pulau Pinang where the researchers had personal
contacts. Responses were received from 40 companies, constituting a response rate
of 89 per cent. As shown in Table I, half of the responding companies were in trading/
service industry (n 20), 70 per cent of the responding companies were large
companies (n 28), and 25 per cent of them were listed at Bursa Malaysia (n 7).
Individual respondents were asked to indicate their positions and work experiences
in the questionnaire. A total of 62.5 per cent of respondents identified themselves as
managers (n 25), while the others identified themselves as accountants (n 15).
A total of 84 per cent of the respondents who identified themselves as managers had
held their positions for less than ten years (n 21), whereas all respondents who
identified themselves as accountants had held their positions for less than ten years.

Style of
information
usage
23

3.2 Measurement of variables

The measurement of the dependent variable, use of accounting information, was based
on the reported use of 30 items of accounting information in decision making. There
were five items of financial information and 25 items of non-financial information in
the questionnaire. A five-point Likert scale was adopted and the scale ranged from 1
(not at all) to 5 (to a great extent). The same five-point Likert scale was also adopted
for the measurement of the independent variable, style of information usage. The style
of information usage was measured by 12 items on ways that accounting information
was used. A total of 11 out of the 12 items were adapted from Henri (2006).
Before performing the data analysis, multicollinearity and the normality of the data
were tested. As shown in Table II, the two styles of information usage had only a
moderate positive correlation (r 0.547, po0.01) to each other. In addition, tolerance
and VIF for the two styles of information usage were 0.701 and 1.426, respectively.
The normality of the data was tested with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic with
Lilliefors significance level and the Shapiro-Wilk statistic. All data were found to be
normally distributed at a significance level of 5 per cent. Findings of the tests showed

Industry
Consumer products
Industrial products
Trading/services
Finance
Technology
Property
Others

Large
5
2
13
2
3
0
3

Size of companies
(%)
SME

(%)

Total

17.9
7.1
46.4
7.1
10.7
0.0
10.7

8.3
0.0
58.3
8.3
8.3
8.3
8.3

6
2
20
3
4
1
4

1
0
7
1
1
1
1

Table I.
Information on
responding companies

ARA
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24

that the data satisfied the assumptions of a standard regression model with no
multicollinearity.
4. Findings
4.1 Test of hypotheses
The hypotheses of this study were tested with standard multiple regression analysis.
In this study, H1 hypothesizes that a diagnostic style of information usage is positively
associated with use of financial information. The following regression equation is used
to test the hypothesis:

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Uf b0 b1 DS b2 IS e
where, Uf represents use of financial information; DS represents diagnostic style of
information usage; IS represents interactive style of information usage; e represents an
error term.
Table III shows the result of a regression analysis with the use of financial
information as a dependent variable. The two independent variables (diagnostic style
and interactive style) explain 36.7 per cent of the variance (R2) in financial information
use. The F-value of the function is 10.375, po0.05. An examination of the t-values
indicates that the relationship between diagnostic style and use of financial
information is positive and significant (b 0.648, t 4.15, po0.05). This indicates that
managers who adopt a diagnostic style tend to use more financial information. As
such, H1 is supported. This finding is consistent with prior literature (Tuomela, 2005;
Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2007; Mohamed et al., 2009, 2010a, b).
To test the relationship between an interactive style of information usage and
the use of non-financial information, another regression analysis is performed.
The following regression equation is used to test the hypothesis:
Un b0 b1 DS b2 IS e
Diagnostic
style

Variable

Interactive
style

Financial
information

Non-financial
information

Diagnostic style
1.00
Interactive style
0.547**
1.00
Table II.
Financial information
0.602**
0.270*
1.00
Pearson correlation matrix Non-financial
for styles of information
information
0.218
0.532**
0.519**
usage and use of
accounting information
Note: *Significant at 0.05 level (one-tailed); **significant at 0.01 level (one-tailed)

Table III.
Results of multiple
regression analysis with
use of financial
information as the
dependent variable

b0
DS
IS

1.00

SE

p-value

0.003
0.631
0.020

0.163
0.152
0.038

0.648
0.085

0.017
4.150
0.591

0.986
0.000
0.723

Note: R 0.606, R2 0.367, F 10.735, po0.05

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where, Un represents use of non-financial information; DS represents diagnostic style

of information usage; IS represents interactive style of information usage; e represents
an error term.
The result of a regression analysis with the use of non-financial information as a
dependent variable is presented in Table IV. The result of the regression analysis
shows that the two styles of information usage as independent variables explain
29 per cent of the variance (R2) in non-financial information use. The F-value of the
function is 7.568, po0.05. An examination of the t-values indicates that managers who
adopt an interactive style tend to use non-financial information (b 0.588, t 3.557,
po0.05). This finding provides support to H2 and the results of Naranjo-Gil and
Hartmann (2007) and Mohamed et al. (2009, 2010a, b). Managers who adopt an
interactive style of information usage prefer to involve directly with subordinates
through discussions and dialogue.

Style of
information
usage
25

4.2 Use of non-financial information by adopters of an interactive style

Given the large variety of available non-financial information, it would be interesting to
identify the types of non-financial information that managers who adopt an interactive
style prefer to use. To identify the types of non-financial information preferred by
managers who adopt the interactive style, a multiple (stepwise) regression is
conducted. The 25 items of non-financial information in the questionnaire are grouped
into five categories, namely, quality, flexibility, resource utilization, customer
satisfaction, and innovation and learning. Table V shows the result for this stepwise
regression. Two types of non-financial information, resource utilization and innovation
and learning, fail to meet the selection criteria as their p-values are greater than 0.05.

b0
DS
IS

SE

p-value

1.188
0.424
0.585

0.724
0.677
0.167

0.104
0.588

1.544
0.626
3.557

0.131
0.535
0.001

Note: R 0.539, R2 0.29, F 7.568, po0.05

Model
1 (Constant)
Quality
2 (Constant)
Quality
Customer satisfaction
3 (Constant)
Quality
Customer satisfaction
Flexibility

SE

2.156
0.447
1.534
0.288
0.318
1.725
0.400
0.501
0.336

0.361
0.106
0.442
0.123
0.142
0.432
0.129
0.161
0.159

0.566
0.364
0.348
0.505
0.549
0.399

p-value

5.970
4.228
3.469
2.331
2.232
3.990
3.090
3.105
2.115

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.025
0.032
0.000
0.004
0.004
0.041

Notes: Model 1: R 0.566, R2 0.320, F 17.874, po0.05; Model 2: R 0.633, R2 0.401, F 12.265,
po0.05; Model 3: R 0.683, R2 0.467, F 10.508, po0.05

Table IV.
Results of multiple
regression analysis with
non-financial information
as the dependent variable

Table V.
Results of stepwise
multiple regressions for
predicting the use of
non-financial information
by managers who adopt
an interactive style

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26

The results suggest that a model including the other three types of non-financial
information is the best predictors of the interactive style of the use of non-financial
information. The F-value of the model is 10.508 (po0.05). The three types of
non-financial information explain 46.7 per cent of the variance (R2) in an interactive
style of information usage and the t-value of the model is highly significant (po0.05).
This finding shows that managers who adopt an interactive style prefer to use
customer-related non-financial information (quality, customer satisfaction, flexibility)
in decision making. This finding is consistent with the view that managers should
focus on limited sets of key success factors that are critical to their organizations longterm competitive success (Ferreira and Otley, 2009).
The findings of this study should be examined in conjunction with its limitations.
The key limitation of this study is the selection of sample companies. The use of a
purposive sampling method enables the researchers to achieve a high response rate.
However, it may constitute a threat to the external validity of findings as other
non-sampling companies may have different views on the use of accounting
information in decision making. This potential threat to external validity is partly
mitigated by a high response rate from respondents and the normality of the data.
Notwithstanding its limitations, this study provides valuable insights into
relationships between the style of information usage and the use of accounting
information in developing countries. The findings of the study show that the style of
information usage is relevant in developing countries. The relationships between the
two styles of information usage and managers use of financial and non-financial
information are similar in developing and developed countries.
5. Conclusion
This paper presents a study on the relationships between the two styles of information
usage and the use of financial and non-financial information in Malaysia. The findings
of the study provide positive support for the two conjectured hypotheses, and are
consistent with the findings of prior studies that are based on data from developed
countries. As suggested in Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann (2007), managers who adopt a
diagnostic style behave like an answer machine. Given their conservative mind and
style, they tend to rely on financial information produced by their subordinates for
making decisions. In contrast, managers who adopt an interactive style behave like a
learning machine. They believe that information gathered via the voices of people is
more relevant to the creation and maintenance of competitive advantage. Further
analysis on the types of non-financial information used by managers who adopt
an interactive style of information usage reveals that managers pay more attention to
certain non-financial information. Customer-related non-financial information such as
quality, customer satisfaction and flexibility play a more important role in those
managers decision-making processes.
The findings of the study can be applied to assist organizations in meeting
managers information requirements. Due to human cognitive capacity constraints,
managers abilities to use information in decision making decrease when they receive
excessive information (Birnberg et al., 2007). Therefore, it is preferable to present
selected information to managers rather than simply provide them with all the
available information. As discussed above, managers prefer to use different types of
accounting information when they adopt different styles of information usage. Thus,
presenting different sets of accounting information to managers who adopt different
styles of information usage enables managers to use the information more effectively.

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The adoption of integrated information systems such as enterprise resource planning

(ERP) systems, facilitate the presentation of different sets of information to different
managers by improving flexibility in information provision (Spathis and Ananiadis,
2005). When organizations elect to present different sets of accounting information to
different managers, the management accountants will be responsible for the selection
of the information presented to managers. In such cases, knowledge of the managers
styles of information usage and their relationships to the managers use of accounting
information can help the management accountants to select the appropriate
information for presentation to the managers.
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Accounting Research, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 41-54.
Tuomela, T. (2005), The interplay of different levers of control: a case study of introducing a
new performance measurement system, Management Accounting Research, Vol. 16 No. 3,
pp. 293-320.
Vaivio, J. (2004), Mobilizing local knowledge provocative non-financial measures, European
Accounting Review, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 39-71.
Williams, S. (2004), Delivering strategic business value: business intelligence can help
management accounting reclaim its relevance and rightful role, Strategic Finance, Vol. 86
No. 2, pp. 41-8.

Style of
information
usage

Appendix. Survey questions

Section A: General information

1. What is your position within the organization? _________________________

(e.g. management accountants, senior group financial director, accountant, etc.)

29

2. How many years have you been in the position? _________________________

3. How many years have you been working for the organization? _______________

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4. What is the total number of employees in your organization? ________________

5. What is your average annual sales revenue (million) in the past three years?
(a) Less than RM50m
[
] (f) Between RM451 RM550m
[
(b) Between RM51 RM150m [
] (g) Between RM551 RM650m [
(c) Between RM151 RM250m [
] (h) Between RM651 RM750m [
(d) Between RM251 RM350m [
] (i) Between RM651 RM750m
[
(e) Between RM351 RM450m [
] (j) Above RM850m
[

]
]
]
]
]

6. What is your average annual profit before tax (million) in the past three years?
(a) Less than RM5m
[
[
] (f) Between RM86 RM105m
(b) Between RM5 RM25
[
] (g) Between RM106 RM125m [
(c) Between RM26 RM45m [
] (h) Between RM126 RM145m [
(d) Between RM46 RM65m [
] (i) Between RM146 RM165m [
(e) Between RM66 RM85m [
[
] (j) Above RM165m

]
]
]
]
]

7. Which industry best describes your organization? Please tick your answer ().
(a) Consumer products
[
] (e) Technology
[
(b) Industrial products
[
] (f) Properties
[
(c) Trading/services
[
] (g) Construction
[
(d) Finance
[
] (h) Other(specify)______________[

]
]
]
]

8. What is your organization major activity?

Manufacturing
[
] Services
[
9. My company is:
Listed in Bursa Malaysia

] Not listed

ARA
20,1

Section B: Management Accounting use

The following questions ask for your opinion on why manager uses MA information. Please
indicate the extent to which your manager currently uses MA information.

30

To a

To

To a

To a

at

little

some

considera

great

all

extent

extent

ble

extent

extent

1
2
3
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Not

4
5
6

7
8
9
10
11
12

Track progress towards goals

Monitor result
Compare outcomes to
expectations
Review key measures
Enable discussion in meetings of
superiors, subordinates and peers
Enable continual challenge and
debate underlying data,
assumptions and action plans
Provide a common view of the
organization
Tie the organization together
Enable the organization to focus
on common issues
Enable the organization to focus
on critical success
Develop a common vocabulary
in the organization
Make sense of the goals and
strategy through dialogue/
discussions

1
1
1

2
2
2

3
3
3

4
4
4

5
5
5

1
1

2
2

3
3

4
4

5
5

1
1

2
2

3
3

4
4

5
5

Please comment on items that may not be in the list above.

_____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Section C: Financial and Non-financial use

The following questions refer to the use of management accounting information. Please indicate
the extent to which your company currently uses the following information in decision-making
and performance evaluation:

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Not
at
all

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

28
29
30

Operating income
1
Sales growth
1
Return on investment
1
Account receivable turnover
1
Total net cashflow
1
Cost of quality
1
Supplier certification
1
Hours of employee training
1
Hours of preventive maintenance
1
Cost reduction resulting from quality 1
products
Reduction in cycle time of producing 1
Number of customers lost due to failure 1
to meet demand
Customer satisfaction
1
Average time taken to respond to
1
customers
Number of different products/services 1
delivered
Total costs per customer services
1
delivered
Revenue per employee
1
Value-added person
1
Absentee rates
1
Training hours per employee
1
Market share of main products/
1
services
Number of new customers
1
On-time delivery percentage
1
Number of customers complaints
1
Survey of customer satisfaction
1
Number of new services/products
1
launched
Time to market for new products/
1
services
Per cent of sales from new products 1
Employees satisfaction rating
1
Employee turnover percentage
1

To a
little
extent

To
some
extent

To a
considera
ble
extent

To a
great
extent

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

2
2

3
3

4
4

5
5

2
2

3
3

4
4

5
5

2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5

2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5

2
2
2

3
3
3

4
4
4

5
5
5

Style of
information
usage
31

ARA
20,1

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32

About the authors

Nor Azrina bt Mohd Yusof @ Ghani obtained her first degree in Accountancy from
Universiti Teknologi Mara. She then pursued her Masters in Accountancy from Universiti
Teknologi Mara. Her working experience includes time as an account executive, a part-time
lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara and as a tutor at the Open University of Malaysia (OUM).
Currently, she is a Doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi
Mara Shah Alam.
Associate Professor Dr Wee Shu Hui is currently a Research Fellow with the Accounting
Research Institute, and is also a teaching staff of the Faculty of Accountancy, University
Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. She has been an academician for over 20 years and her main area of
research interests covers management accounting, strategic performance measurement systems
and cost effectiveness. She enjoys researching, is an active researcher, has led numerous research
and consultancy projects and is currently spearheading an international research project.
She has written several books on management accounting and published her research findings
in refereed and indexed journals. Shu Hui is Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Journal
(APMAJ) administrator, and is the secretary of Asia-Pacific Management Accounting
Association (APMAA). Also, she is an assessor with the National Award for Management
Accounting (NAfMA).
Ibrahim Kamal Abdul Rahman was the Dean of the Faculty of Accountancy for
about 11 years. His career with UiTM started in 1982 as Course Tutor. He obtained his
PhD from the University of Hull, UK and he also holds an MBA from Western Illinois
University, USA. He is a full member of CPA (Australia) and a Chartered Accountant,
Malaysia Institute of Accountants (MIA). Among his academic activities is involvement in various
research activities at national and international levels, publications of articles in national
and international refereed journals. He is also a founding member of the National Award for
Management Accounting Best Practice (NAFMA), a UiTM collaboration with MIA, CIMA, NPC,
Public Bank and Akauntan Negara Malaysia. He is also Council Member of MIA (2006-2009),
Professional Accountants in Business Committee, Accreditation Committee and Disciplinary
Committee.
Normah Omar Shah Alam is a Professor in Management Accounting and Corporate
Governance. Currently she is the Director of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI), which is
one of Malaysias six centres of excellence recognized and funded by the Ministry of
Higher Education, Malaysia. Basically she focuses her research interest in three areas, namely,
management accounting, forensic accounting and financial criminology. As a proponent
of applied research, she has completed a lot of collaborative works with government
agencies, professional bodies, regulators, non-government organizations and the corporate
sectors. To mention a few, she has successfully completed research projects such as Developing
Fraud Risk Indicators in the Audit of Financial Statement, Bank Frauds through
the Use of Cheques and Credit Cards, Anti Money Laundering and Anti Terrorism
Financing in Financial Institutions, Management Accounting Practices Asia (CIMA Malaysia
& Japanese Society of Management Accounting), Japanese Management Accounting in the
Automobile Industry (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science JSPS), Corporate
Governance Reporting (with MICG & RAM) and National Award for Management
Accounting NAfMA (CIMA and Malaysian Institute of Accountants). Currently she is
heading one of IIMs collaborative research projects on Corporate Integrity Framework.
To date, she is editor of seven international refereed journals and is also the Vice
President and founding committee member of the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting
Association (APMAA) which is based in Japan.

Michael S.C. Tse is a Lecturer in Accounting at Deakin University, Australia. His research
interests include management accounting, information systems and higher education. He is a
former co-editor of the Journal of Internet Business and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for several
international journals. He is also the vice president of the Institute of Certified Management
Accountants, Australia. Michael S.C. Tse is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
michael.tse@deakin.edu.au

Style of
information
usage

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33

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