Abstract
This chapter takes a fresh look at empirical studies that have tried to demonstrate the connection between management accounting change and organizational performance in health system. A qualitative research design was adopted involving the use of a mailed survey to collect data from June 2017 to December 2017 in Romanian healthcare companies. The results of the present study suggest that the successful management of change is important for the survival and success of any organization in today's private health environment, which is extremely competitive and evolving continually. Finally, our findings are relevant for the transformation of managerial accounting from a passive state to an active one in producing and implementing change.
TopIntroduction
In a performance oriented time, organizational efficiency holds a primordial part, no matter what the sector of activity might be (Guo et al., 2017). One of the most important challenges is achieving it through developing and implementing performing management on a permanent basis (Wickramasinghe & Alawattage, 2007). Organizational efficiency has become an activity assessment management factor, bearing an important role in decision making in order to fully use the available resources (Gurd & Thorne, 2003).
A decision-making process taking place on various organizational, operational and strategic levels needs to rely on data regarding the costs borne as well as other reliable analyses from within the organization, supplied by a managerial accounting process which must provide answers to the information needs signaled by the management of that company (Chenhall & Langfield-Smith, 2003).
The role of managerial accounting consists in detailing, analyzing and interpreting the information provided by the general accounting, presenting it in a form that is accessible to the company management (Rowe, Birnberg & Shields, 2008). Financial information is confidential, addressed to the internal environment of the company, and presented as no standardized periodical reports adapted to the internal management needs (Abdel-Kader & Luther, 2008).
As a support for the managerial decision, managerial accounting information accompany the managerial process along its entire action flow: planning, the launching of new products or the creation of new activities, selecting clients or orders, substituting production factors, controlling the accounting management during all its stages (Baines & Langfield-Smith, 2003).
Romanian healthcare companies have stated that organizations have a problem with anticipating and adapting to what happens in their environments (Bostan, 2016). This inability to recognize changes in the business environment can be a factor that determines the lack of performance in the field of competitiveness. To succeed, organizations need to adopt a systematic approach to change. In this respect, they will have to simultaneously manage all the challenges of change. These changes at the organizational level have increased the importance of managing change and especially managing the experience of change in personnel (Jung et al., 2016; Rojon et al., 2015; Schulz, 2004). This is due to the fact that major changes have an impact on all the members of the organization because these changes can create new dimensions of uncertainty. Only thorough a good knowledge of the entity, transparency of the management processes in order to increase healthcare service quality, diversification and the creation of internal mechanisms to respond to disruptive forces, can one ensure that companies remain in the market.
The concepts surrounding the organizational performance in health care organizations incorporates also the knowledge, skills and motivation of work force; factors that directly influence the service quality (Allen & Seaman, 2007).
It should be mentioned that traditionally, there exist differences between output and outcome. In our opinion, for the health care organizations the outputs (results) may be used as synonym for outcome (performance), because qualitative health care services may be delivered only under performance circumstances, which take into consideration the organization's efficiency and the level of patient satisfaction.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Economic Management: The achievement of the budget objectives with minimum costs so that when the activity is completed the revenue exceeds the costs, namely there is a profit that ensures a level of profitability as high as possible both at general level and by product, department or service performed.
Cost: The money form of all material and labor expenses made by the company to produce and market material goods, execution works and service works.
Managerial Dashboard: Contains a set of actual information presented in a predetermined form, relating to the main results of the company’s activities or to some of them and to the main factors conditioning their effective and efficient progress.
Financial Management: A tool in the decision-making relating to the collection and analysis of information in order to increase the performance level of the economic entity.
Budget Accounting Management: Related not only to the accounting activity but is a true company administration technique, a company management philosophy involving three stages: estimation, budgeting, and control.
Organization: A system, which includes employers and employees aiming at achieving common objectives.
Decision: A person or group of persons’ social and deliberate act defining the purpose and the objectives of a certain action, the directions and the ways to achieve that action, all of them determined, according to a certain need, by a process of obtaining information, deliberation, and assessment of the means and consequences of carrying out that action.