JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

The main objective of this study is to explore how growth organizations utilize management accounting as a part of their strategic management process and in which ways management accounting can have a significant impact on the strategic management of a growth organization. The topic is important not only because the growth organizations has been in the interest of business related research for almost five decades, yet the field still lacks a holistic understanding of causes, effects and process of the growth companies but also because growth organizations create new jobs and promote economic growth. Together management accounting and strategic management methods can possibly unify the short-term decision-making, enhance the allocation of resources and guide the organization efficiently towards the desired long-term goals. The theoretical part of the study mainly consists of international academic publications. The empirical material was gathered with half-structured theme interviews from four Finnish case company CEOs, CFOs or COOs and is structured in themes, which comes from strategic management theory and are analyzed by using a categorization of management accounting. The theoretical framework was challenged and refined during and as a result of the research process. The results of the study reveal that both strategic management and management accounting are timely and significant topics in growth organizations. In general management accounting can make significant contribution through strategic management process of a growth organization with focus on controlling employees’ motivation, providing guidelines for short-term decision-making and enabling the monitoring, controlling and evaluating of the progression of the process. This study supports many previous research regarding the importance of management accounting and strategic management, however it should be mentioned that the theory of management accounting and the theory of strategic management seems to have a lot of similarities. Additionally, it should be highlighted that mature growth organizations utilize management accounting more than early-stage organizations.