Cross-cultural impact on the budgeting cycle: an empirical comparison between Anglo-American & Libyan companies operating in the Libyan oil sector.
Dear Sir/Madam
Oil Companies can still benefit from optimizing budgeting and budget processes when they operate in different cultures. As an oil professional, you may recognize the problem I am investigating in my PhD work. Your input is essential to arrive at sound and representative conclusions that may be of great benefit to the industry. The potential benefits of the study could provide a valuable insight as to how budgeting processes differ in relation to their cultural settings. This will allow for conclusions that optimise budgeting in the context of employee cultural diversity. The questionnaire is anonymous and voluntary; thus, please do not write your name on the questionnaire. The questionnaire focuses on aspects of the budgeting process within your company and should take approximately fifteen minutes to complete. Your response will remain completely confidential. Your company has been selected as it represents a Libyan or an Anglo-American company engaged in the Libyan oil sector. For analysis and reporting purposes your response will be combined with those from other companies operating in the sector. Please answer all questions on the survey. If you have any queries or require further clarification regarding any part of the survey, please do not hesitate to contact me or my supervisors Dr. Kieran James and Dr. Joseph Mula If you are willing to participate in an interview or if you would like to receive a summary of the findings, please indicate this on the last page of the survey. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for your cooperation in completing the survey. It will greatly assist the research process if you can return the questionnaire within 15 days. Your honest and thoughtful responses are highly appreciated, and thank you for your invaluable assistance with my research.
Yours sincerely
Ramadan Kanan
Section A: Information about the budget: Here are some statements that describe how employees might feel about budgeting and budgets in their organization. Please tick (√) on the spaces that indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement.
A
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. I am involved in setting all portions of the budget for my unit.
2. My contribution to the budget is very important.
3. My budget is finalized only when I am satisfied with it.
4. My supervisors seek my opinions and/or suggestions when the budget is being formulated.
5. I frequently initiate budget-related discussions with my superior.
6. The revised budget includes changes I have suggested.
7. My input to budget formulation influences my superiors in their final decisions on the budget.
8. I prepare my budget according to top management’s instructions.
9. I have formal meetings with people from other units when budget is being prepared.
B
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. My superior’s behavior tells me that he/she listens to what I have to say about the budget.
2. My company has procedures available that allow me to make suggestions for improvement to the budget process.
3. I have constructive discussions related to the budget process with my superior and co-workers.
4. I usually state my requests, opinions, and/or suggestions about the budget to my superior without being asked.
5. I offer suggestions for the improvement of budget systems.
C
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. The reasoning provided by my superior when budget revisions are made is very sound and logical.
2. My superior provides me with an explanation for changes in the budget.
3. I receive written or/and oral reports explaining why the budget does not reflect my suggestions.
4. My superior provides me with timely feedback about decisions on my budget and their implications.
5. My superior keeps me fully and frankly informed about anything related to my budget.
Flexible budget definition: provide estimates of what costs should be for any level of activity within a specified range.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. We use a flexible budget in our unit for all items.
2. Our forecasts in the budget for the next year are calculated for more than one activity (volume/labor/ etc.) level.
3. We use a flexible budget for expenditures.
4. We use a flexible budget for revenues.
E
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. In good business times, budget committee decision makers accept a reasonable level of slack in a unit’s budget.
2. Slack in the budget is good because it lets you do things that cannot be officially approved.
3. My unit runs more effectively when it has slack in its budget.
4. To protect himself, a manager submits a budget that can safely be attained.
5. With some skill, a manager can use slack to improve his unit’s performance.
6. Top management has a way to know if there is slack in a unit’s budget.
F
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. My reward reflects my contribution to the company.
2. The standards used to evaluate my performance are based on achieving my budget.
3. My promotion prospects are closely related to how my actual performance compares with expected performance (achieving budget goals).
4. My pay prospects are closely related to how my actual performance compares with expected performance (achieving budget goals).
5. Monetary incentives in my company are primarily tied to attaining the budget.
G
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. My explanation of budget variances is always included in my performance report/review.
2. I investigate favorable as well as unfavorable budget variances for my unit.
3. I am evaluated on my ability to meet the budget for my unit.
4. I provide information on my unit’s budget performance to my subordinates.
5. I have to submit an explanation in written form about causes of large budget variances.
6. We include actual information from earlier budget periods in the current budget period for comparison purposes.
7. Management dislikes units failing to meet their budgets.
8. Management judges performance only on the basis of attaining budget goals.
H
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. My superior mentions budgets when talking to me about my efficiency
2. My status in the organization will improve if I receive an exceptionally favorable performance evaluation.
3. I have to carefully monitor costs in my area of responsibility because of budgetary constraints.
4. When evaluating my performance, my direct manager focuses on the quantitative aspects such as statistical figures rather than qualitative aspects such attitude, effort and initiative.
5. I am required to trace the cause of budget variances to groups or individuals within my department.
6. The budget in my department is set at a “tight” level to put pressure on employees to increase productivity and control costs.
7. My performance is hampered by the budget I receive.
8. I am required to report actions I take to correct causes of budget variances.
I
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. Budgetary targets have caused me to be particularly concerned with improving efficiency in my area of responsibility.
2. Achieving my budget goals is very important to me, so I work hard to achieve them.
3. I get increases in my budget by seeking incremental increases over past budgets.
4. I rely on my personal friendship with my immediate supervisor to get what I want in my budget.
5. When we prepare the budget we consider the variances from last year’s budget.
6. My budget is easily achieved.
J
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
7. I obtain what I want in my budget by presenting my immediate superior with the facts.
8. I ask for inclusion of a small item in the budget, knowing that once it has been authorized I will be able to ask for a lot more in the future.
9. Budget preparation is monitored by the budget committee.
10. The budget is a good communication tool between me and my immediate supervisor.
11. Budgets are prepared for accountants not managers.
12. My budget would be more useful if it was written and tailored specifically to my situation.
13. My budget is an effective way of evaluating my work performance.
Rolling budget definition: a method in which a budget established at the beginning of an accounting period is continually amended to reflect variances that arise due to changing circumstances.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
1. We use rolling budgets in our department for all the items.
2. We use rolling budgets for some items in the budget.
3. Our rolling budget is normally calculated on a ....... basis.(Circle one)
K
4. The budget in our unit is normally prepared on a
L
1. What % of your time, approximately, goes to preparing the budget?
2. What % of your attention, approximately, goes to achieving the budget’s goal?
3. What % of your performance, approximately, is measured by meeting your budget?
4. To what extent, approximately, did you meet your budget goal last year?
M
Once a year
Once a quarter
Once month
Once a week
never
1. How often do you discuss the budget with other units?
2. Without your superior’s asking, how often do you suggest ideas about your budget?
3. How often do you meet with your supervisor for budget matters?
4. How often do you submit to your supervisor or budget committee an explanation in written form, about the variances in your budget?
5. How often do you receive a comparison of actual and budget performance for your unit?
6. How often do you prepare a comparison of actual and budget performance for your unit?
7. How often are you involved in setting the budget?
Section B: Personal and organizational information: The following questions seek general information about you and your organization. Please provide your response by ticking or writing as appropriate.
1) What is your gender?
2) What is your nationality
3) What is your age?
4) What is the nationality (home-country) of the company you are working for (head office)?
5) What is the level of your English skills?
6) Which best describes the main operation of your company?
7) What is your level of education?
8) How long have you been working within this organization?
9) What position do you hold in this company? Please specify.
10) How long have you been working in this position?
11) Have you worked in this industry in a country others than Libya?
If yes, for how long have you worked in this industry in a country others than Libya?
12) What is your religion?
I highly appreciate your contribution to this research by completing the questionnaire. If you have any further comments that may help the researcher draw conclusions to this study please feel free to write your thoughts here:
If you would like to participate in an interview or would like a summary of the finding, please complete your contact detail here:
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