Interface

It is the basic thesis of this article that certain dysfunctional aspects of conventional accounting theory and practice tend to militate against the optimization of a firm and thus tend to hinder, rather than aid, management in attaining the desired effectiveness. We believe that these deficiencies result, at least in part, from the cultural lag between accounting and other disciplines, from homeostatic resistance to innovation in a normally ethnocentric professional segment of the business community and from failure to adopt a more sophisticated and conceptual framework in certain areas of accounting, particularly costing and valuation.