This paper proposes that traditional cost‐based management accounting systems (MAS) are inappropriate for controlling a manufacturing organisation's performance in cases where non‐cost factors are important aspects of the firm's competitive strategy. Manufacturing organisations in Australia are under increasing pressure to increase their competitiveness. This can be achieved by giving the manufacturing function strategic status in the organisation and by designing the MAS to support those strategies directly. The MAS should measure operational performance, control investment and report in terms of the factors which determine the organisation's competitive advantage, whether they be high product quality, manufacturing flexibility, low cost or other influences. The paper provides two applications of the concept of strategy‐driven management systems: capital investment evaluation systems, and operational performance measurement and reporting sy