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Social Capital and Budgeting in a Local Church

Umesh Sharma (University of Waikato, New Zealand)

Denise Frost (University of Waikato, New Zealand)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-917-8, eISBN: 978-1-83753-916-1

Publication date: 24 October 2023

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the budgeting process in a local church from a social capital perspective. The social capital provides novel insights into the construction of budgets and its social aspects. A qualitative case study was adopted, with an interpretive methodology. Semi-structured interviews were used to interview 14 managers involved in the budgeting process at a local independent church. The interview data were supplemented by documentary evidence. Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) framework of social capital was used to analyse the data. The main finding was that budgeting was found to be a social process – that can best be explained by social capital theory. There may be an element of self-selection, as the church agreed to participate in the study and chose to allow a researcher to examine social aspects of its budgeting process. The chapter contributes to both social capital theory and church literature. Social capital provides novel insights into the construction of budgets and its social aspects. In addition, contemporary budgeting practices are studied in a church in a denomination and country not previously studied.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of the chapter was presented at the Australasian Performance Measurement Conference in Queenstown, New Zealand and at the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference. The chapter was also presented as part of seminar series at La Trobe University in Australia. The authors would like to thank Ralph Adler and Lachlan MacDonald-Kerr for their valuable comments on the earlier versions of the chapter. The authors also would like to thank the reviewers and participants of the Australasian Performance Measurement Conference and Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand for their comments which helped to improve the chapter.

Citation

Sharma, U. and Frost, D. (2023), "Social Capital and Budgeting in a Local Church", Akroyd, C. (Ed.) Advances in Management Accounting (Advances in Management Accounting, Vol. 35), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-71. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-787120230000035003

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited