The Management Accountant in Budgetary Process, Employees’ Motivation and Productivity: The Nigerian Case

Abstract

The management accountants’ view of human nature and his preferred style of leadership (autocratic or participatory) will determine to a great extent the nature of the budget.  It should be stressed that the employees of business organizations will react negatively to the authoritarian (autocratic) accountant’s budget but the participatory budget prepared by the democratic accountant will boost organizational effectiveness.  While conceding the fact that certain settings may require a certain degree of autocratic method of budget preparation, the writer submits that empirical evidence are in support of the fact that in a majority of cases, the participatory method of budget preparation produces better results as far as the effectiveness and efficiency of organizations are concerned.             In total, the unconcerned attitude of management accountants towards current research in budgetary theory and practice, the falling standard of  employees’ morale and motivation, the declining productivity in Nigerian firms, the magnitude of corruption in the country and the economic depression that Nigeria  is facing today have raised concern.  Participatory budgetary process is a panacea.  The paper hereby submits that employees’ motivation will be enhanced and productivity in Nigerian firms will increase and the organizations will be more effective and efficient if participatory budgetary process is adopted.

Keywords: Budgetary Process, Morale, productivity, Motivation