The Perceptions of Managers on the Usefulness of Accounting Information During the Decision-Making Process

Abstract

Managerial decision making requires quality, relevant, reliable and accurate accounting information. Accounting information plays a decision-facilitating role since it possesses value relevance capabilities to enhance decision making. Through the use of accounting information, managers are enabled to ascertain the meaning and significance of day-to-day activities of an entity. In this regard, the aim of this study is to examine the perceptions of managers on the usefulness of accounting information during decision-making process. The study employs the qualitative research method. This method aids discovering meanings that people attribute to events they experience. The study investigates the perceptions and views of respondents on the usefulness of accounting information in the decision-making process. In doing so, the study locates meanings that managers confer on the subject matter. The study finds that managers find accounting information useful in various stages of the decision making process. The study indicates that usefulness of accounting information in decision making is influenced by the roles of accounting information in financial management, investment decision making, organizational growth, performance evaluation and determination of organizational profitability and position. The study recommends that participant observation or ethnography should be used by researchers for further studies in order to critically assess how managers engage with accounting information in the decision-making process.