Prof. Yoshida - Empirical research in management accounting

Tension in the form of dilemmas, contradictions and conflicts exists in organisations. It can be managed through management controls, including management accounting, thereby optimising organisational performance. Management accounting uses all quantitative and qualitative information in addition to accounting information in assisting managerial decisions, ultimately helping a business to achieve its goals. As part of this, tension management, which is a relatively new research topic, can not only enable long-term business goals to be achieved, but can also help attain the individual wellbeing of employees. This is the premise of the research of Professor Eisuke Yoshida. The research themes of Yoshida, who is based in the Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University, Japan, encompass management accounting, business structure and organisation design and management. This interest stems from a desire to optimise the working environment and ensure that work doesn't come at the expense of other, outside interests. Yoshida says this is because often achieving operational efficiency is associated with negative consequences. Using management accounting, with incorporated tension management, he believes it is possible to avoid these. For example, in Japan targets tend to be difficult to achieve, and failure to achieve targets has become the norm. 'This creates a state of tension, which is not necessarily a negative thing. It will be a trigger for creating new ideas and collaborating with others,' outlines Yoshida. From his perspective, creating a theoretical framework for tension management is an important part of addressing this.