Congress Proceedings: Sixth Annual Congress, 6-8 April 1983 by European AccountingAssociationReview by: Lucia S. ChangThe Accounting Review, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Apr., 1985), p. 342Published by: American Accounting AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/246814 .

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342 The Accounting Review, April 1985

York: John Wiley & Sons, 1983, pp. xvi, 632, $35.45).

The reviewer of the second edition of this book (THE REVIEW, January 1982, pp. 214-215) re- ported using the first and second editions in sys- tems analysis and design classes containing stu- dents from the various business school disciplines. Information systems concepts and development are treated as being independent of specific func- tional areas of business. In addition, the book's title, intended usage, and contents separate it from those books designated as accounting systems books.

The book is intended for use in a one-semester course by students who have at least an introduc- tory background in computers and business. Junior, senior, or graduate standing with reasonable prep- aration in a business specialty should enable the student to obtain expected benefits from the book. A term project, preferably supported by an illus- trative program, could enhance assimilation of the theory and methodology provided in the text. The book deals with equipment and programs in a machine- and language-independent manner.

Contents of the three major sections of the book have been rearranged some from the previous edi- tion. They are information systems from a man- agement or user viewpoint, data base development and design as the core of a computer-based infor- mation system, and information systems develop- ment and methodology as a way of carrying out the traditional analysis, design, and implementation.

Emphasis on regular reports to management on system design progress and the actions manage- ment could take at such times points out to stu- dents one of the realities of systems work. Chapter contents in the development methodology section are reinforced by a multi-chapter case example. Appendices deal with logico-mathematical models and computer technology in a summarized but comprehensible manner.

EUGENE L. ZIEHA Professor of Accountancy

University of Missouri-Columbia

EUROPEAN ACCOUNTING AssOcIATION, Con- gress Proceedings: Sixth Annual Congress, 6-8 April 1983 (Glasgow, Scotland: Uni- versity of Glasgow, 1984, pp. 48, U.S. ?4.00, Europe ?3.50, U.K. ?2.50 paper).

The European Accounting Association, estab- lished in 1976, now has over 500 members from Europe and other parts of the world. The Sixth Annual Congress held in Glasgow, Scotland in

1983 was attended by 240 academic participants from 25 countries including Australia, Canada, Japan, Libya, New Zealand, and the United States.

The proceedings include a report on the Con- gress, two papers presented at the plenary sessions, and only a list of the 65 papers presented on 13 topics at the four concurrent sessions.

A paper by the noted economist Alexander K. Cairncross analyzes the growing economic interde- pendence of nations on the one hand and govern- ment intervention on the other. It pleads convin- cingly for more willingness to pay the price of greater integration in the international economy.

Professor Whittington's paper is a scholarly study on the European contribution to inflation ac- counting ideas and practice, especially by Schma- lenbach, Schmidt, and Limperg.

This small book is handsomely produced. If it had included all the papers presented or even their abstracts, much more would have been accom- plished to further the Association's objective of "better dissemination of information on account- ing research and pedagogy . . . " (p. 9).

LUCiA S. CHANG Professor of Accounting

Florida International University

DALE L. FLESHER, TONYA K. FLESHER, and GERALD U. SKELLY, The New-Product De- cision (New York and Hamilton, Ontario: National Association of Accountants and The Society of Management Accountants of Canada, 1984, pp. vii, 150, $14.95, Can. $10.00 paper).

When one considers that two-thirds of all new products fail, and that on the other hand some companies with good planning are over 80 percent effective in their product development, one cannot help but welcome this timely in-depth research on how 17 manufacturing firms in the United States and Canada approach the new-product decision and the crucial role played by accounting informa- tion in such a decision.

The most interesting finding of the study is the absence of a common pattern of how various firms develop a new-product planning strategy and the manner by which this strategy is operationalized once it has been adopted. The study attributes this diversity to the different hierarchical levels of the firm where the new-product idea is generated, the existence (or lack) of new-product policy manuals, the use (or lack) of sophisticated quantitative tools, and the functional area in the company that is fi-

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