Management accounting in sustainable competition environment: A research on ISO 500 automative firms

In this study, the investigation of the frequency of use and the degree of importance of the contemporary management accounting applications in the automotive companies which are among the biggest 500 industrial establishments in Turkey is aimed. At the same time, it is aimed to examine the relationship between the management accounting practices and competition severity perceived in the external environment and the applied competition strategies. The study consists of four parts. In the first part, the concept of management accounting and the change in the management accounting have been discussed. In the second part, the concepts of internal and external environmental analysis are emphasized and competitive strategies have been mentioned in order to ensure sustainable competitive advantage. In the third chapter, traditional and contemporary cost / management accounting practices are included in the competition concept and they are related with the concept of competition. In the last section, the general information about the automotive sector, which is the sample of the research, is given and the results of the survey are given. As a result of the study, it was observed that the automotive companies in ISO 500 mainly used traditional techniques. Among the competition strategies used, it was determined that the most preferred strategy is the cost leadership strategy. In addition, another finding of the study is that combined strategy applications are common. With the study, not only what methods the automotive companies in Turkey employ in their management accounting proceedings but also which strategies they adopt under what severe competetive circumstances were identified. When similar studies are examined, the fact that the relationship between management accounting and competition is not researched on a country basis has been a factor that increases the importance of the study. Keywords: Management Accounting, Competition, Competition Strategies, Automotive Sector