Timeliness of management accounting information and firm performance: Evidence from Vietnamese labour-export firms (PLS-SEM)

Abstract

The timeliness of management accounting information is considered a core characteristic reflecting the quality of the information system and serves as a foundation supporting enterprises in enhancing management effectiveness as well as optimizing operational efficiency. For labor export enterprises, the provision of timely information holds particular significance in helping managers respond to the uncertainty of the business environment and meet the requirements of international economic integration. Based on this, the study conducted a survey of 126 labor export enterprises in Vietnam and employed the PLS-SEM model to analyze the data. The overall analysis results indicate that timely management accounting information has a direct positive impact on operational efficiency, with a coefficient β = 0.398 (t = 6.299; p = 0.000), and even more strongly on management effectiveness (β = 0.566; t = 9.659; p = 0.000). The hypothesis regarding the indirect impact of timely information on operational efficiency through the mediating role of management effectiveness was also confirmed, with the coefficient β = 0.455 (t = 7.297; p = 0.000). However, this did not achieve statistical significance. The study not only adds empirical evidence on the role of timeliness in management accounting information but also offers practical recommendations to enhance the capability of providing timely information for enterprises in the specific context of the labor export industry. These findings suggest that the mediating role of management effectiveness may be context-dependent; therefore, subsequent studies should expand to different industries or business environments to verify and compare these results.