The Role of Management Accounting in Strategic Planning in Hospitality Firms in Lagos

This study examines the role of management accounting information in supporting strategic planning in hospitality firms in Lagos State, South West Nigeria. The hospitality industry in Lagos is one of Nigeria's fastest-growing service sectors, driven by expanding business travel, tourism, and a growing middle class. Strategic planning in this competitive environment requires reliable cost intelligence, performance benchmarking, and forward-looking financial projections. This study uses a descriptive survey design and administers questionnaires to 115 finance managers, controllers, and strategy executives in 20 hotels and hospitality businesses in Lagos. Management accounting tools examined include balanced scorecard, activity-based costing, budgetary control, and key performance indicator dashboards. Strategic planning quality is assessed through competitive positioning, resource allocation effectiveness, and market responsiveness measures. Pearson correlation and regression analysis are applied. Findings indicate that firms actively using balanced scorecard and activity-based costing systems demonstrate significantly higher strategic planning quality scores. Budget variance analysis was also found to be a useful but underutilized strategic tool. The study concludes that management accounting is an indispensable enabler of effective strategic decision-making in Lagos hospitality firms. It recommends that hospitality operators invest in integrated management accounting platforms and build internal capacity for strategic cost analysis to sustain competitive advantage in an evolving market.

Keywords: management accounting, hospitality firms, strategic planning, Lagos, balanced scorecard.