The Role of AIS in Organisational Sustainability: An Empirical Study of Saudi Organisations

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, the concept of sustainability has attracted public attention all over the world, encouraging organisations to progressively seek sustainability. A sustainable organisation is basically an organisation that considers not only financial measures but also non-financial measures to manage its overall performance. The relevant literature suggests that the role of accounting information (AIS) is critical as it provides information on performance leading to facilitation of management decisions. However, the literature is unclear on the role of AIS in helping organisations to manage their sustainable organisational performance (SOP); this results in incomplete understanding of the relationship between AIS and SOP. The present study focused on addressing this gap in knowledge by investigating whether both the quality of AIS and managers' use of AIS information are associated with SOP. Additionally, this study investigated the role of two other independent variables in the relationship, family control of management and industry dynamism. 18 hypotheses were developed based on an integrative review of theories and studies relating to the variables in the research model.