Lean Accounting and Performance Transparency: The Mediating Role of Information Quality and Information Waste – A Conceptual Framework.
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https://doi.org/10.65405/sdfjwp04Keywords:
Lean Accounting and Performance Transparency: The Mediating Role of Information Quality and Information Waste – A Conceptual Framework.Abstract
This study develops a conceptual framework to explain the impact of lean accounting on enhancing performance transparency by examining the mediating roles of accounting information quality and information waste, within the integration of value creation theory and information theory. The study addresses a theoretical gap concerning how the effects of lean accounting practices are transmitted to transparency outcomes, particularly in environments characterized by limitations of traditional systems and high levels of informational noise and waste. Adopting an analytical theoretical approach, the study conducts a systematic review of contemporary accounting literature and develops a conceptual model that positions lean accounting as an independent variable and performance transparency as a dependent variable, with information quality and information waste as mediating variables. The theoretical analysis suggests that lean accounting strategically redirects measurement and reporting systems toward value-generating activities while reducing non–value-adding activities, thereby enhancing information characteristics in terms of relevance, clarity, timeliness, and reliability, and minimizing noise, redundancy, and informational overload associated with traditional systems. The model further indicates that performance transparency is achieved not only through the direct influence of lean accounting, but also through indirect informational pathways represented by improvements in information quality and reductions in information waste, reflecting a dual mediation logic. The main contribution of this study lies in presenting an integrative theoretical framework that connects the operational and informational dimensions of value creation, while introducing information waste as a complementary explanatory variable to information quality in explaining performance transparency. This framework opens avenues for future research to empirically test and refine the proposed model across diverse organizational and institutional contexts.
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