Management information used by Spanish Airlines for the financial decision making process: an exploratory study

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to examine the degree of practical application of management accounting in Spanish airline companies as far as management accounting is a crucial tool for the financial decision making process. In particular, the goal was to get to know the degree of strategic planning, the utilized methods of budgeting, procedures used to present the comparison between planned and actual results, and the reported key performance indicators, as well as their frequency. Quantitative methodology has been used through the creation of an on-line questionnaire. The results showed that the level of implementation, and utility granted to the different techniques of management accounting in the analyzed companies that are corresponding to the six most important airlines in Spain, is pretty high, helping airline companies to make operations and financial decisions. Keywords: strategic planning, airline companies, financial decision making, key performance indicators, management accounting. JEL Classification: M41, L93