Constraints In Management and Accounting Financical

ABSTRACT: This paper examines in detail the relative utility of the Theory of Constraints compared to traditional management accounting approaches to resource utilisation in aiding decisionmaking. It also considers the propagation and evolution of the Theory of Constraints and critically examines the response it has generated in the accounting and management literature. The continuing survival of cost accounting in the face of frequent assaults similar to Goldratt’s may in part be due to the ability of the discipline to adapt its practices to integrate the mandated improvements into practice and educational curricula. One example is the Theory of Constraints itself (e.g. Horngren et al (1999) , Morse and Zimmerman (1997)). The paper reflects on the process by which new ideas are assimilated into the conventional management wisdom based on this example.