Seminar in presence

Building BL26/B – Room 1.25 (first floor)
Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering
Via R. Lambruschini, 4/B

Paulo Afonso
University of Minho, Portugal

Abstract:

Traditionally, management accountants and controllers have been focused on these major activities: accounting for product valuation and pricing, policy formulation and planning, decision-making and cost control. Typically, they collect, process, analyse and interpret data, and communicate information to internal parties who intend to use it in their decision-making process, towards a good balance among sales, costs and assets, optimizing effectiveness, efficiency and profitability.
However, modern management accounting and control (MA&C) offers new approaches and tools (e.g., (TD)ABC/M, TCO, LCC, Target and Kaizen Costing) to deal with the new trends and challenges that companies and industries face today (e.g., (new) globalization, digitalization, servitization, technology-based and intensive knowledge businesses, the use of BI&A and AI to support decision-making, balancing costs and sustainability).
Thus, MA&C is nowadays a dynamic and growing field that is emerging as a strategic weapon, contributing to shape the direction and growth of organizations in the actual VUCA business environment; towards a sustainable competitive advantage, involving all stakeholders throughout the entire value chain. In this context, reinforced managerial ethics can be fundamental for the success of such actions as the different stakeholder groups may be affected differently by managers and their companies’ actions.

Paulo Afonso is Assistant Professor at the University of Minho (Portugal) with a focus on Management Accounting & Control, Strategic Analysis & Business Modelling.
His research work is related to Supply Chain Performance and Cost Management, Costing Models and Costing Systems for Decision Making, Strategic Investment Appraisal, Strategic Management, Business Model Design, Startups and Entrepreneurship.