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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 April 2024

Daria Arkhipova, Marco Montemari, Chiara Mio and Stefano Marasca

This paper aims to critically examine the accounting and information systems literature to understand the changes that are occurring in the management accounting profession. The…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to critically examine the accounting and information systems literature to understand the changes that are occurring in the management accounting profession. The changes the authors are interested in are linked to technology-driven innovations in managerial decision-making and in organizational structures. In addition, the paper highlights research gaps and opportunities for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopted a grounded theory literature review method (Wolfswinkel et al., 2013) to achieve the study’s aims.

Findings

The authors identified four research themes that describe the changes in the management accounting profession due to technology-driven innovations: structured vs unstructured data, human vs algorithm-driven decision-making, delineated vs blurred functional boundaries and hierarchical vs platform-based organizations. The authors also identified tensions mentioned in the literature for each research theme.

Originality/value

Previous studies display a rather narrow focus on the role of digital technologies in accounting work and new competences that management accountants require in the digital era. By contrast, the authors focus on the broader technology-driven shifts in organizational processes and structures, which vastly change how accounting information is collected, processed and analyzed internally to support managerial decision-making. Hence, the paper focuses on how management accountants can adapt and evolve as their organizations transition toward a digital environment.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 32 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 April 2023

Hidenori Sato and Kiyohiro Oki

This study aims to investigate the consequences of middle managers’ sensegiving for organisational change in neglected workplaces, where middle managers are given insufficient…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the consequences of middle managers’ sensegiving for organisational change in neglected workplaces, where middle managers are given insufficient resources because of receiving low attention from top management.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a case study of three call centres in the Japanese non-life insurance industry. To collect data, the authors conducted interviews with ten stakeholders and made multiple field observations.

Findings

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

Research limitations/implications

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as their top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

Originality/value

First, this study contributes to the body of research on the effects of sensegiving on organisational change. It shows the new problems hidden behind organisational change, which existing research merely regards as independent successes. Second, this study identifies middle managers’ behaviour during organisational change in neglected workplaces. Instead of focusing on the factors necessary for successful organisational change, as in existing studies, this study extends the knowledge of the role of middle managers in organisational change by focusing on their behaviours when success factors are not aligned.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 September 2022

Marina Arnaut

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) has attracted considerable attention worldwide, and the challenges of managing employees’ entrepreneurial behaviours are increasingly recognised…

Abstract

Purpose

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) has attracted considerable attention worldwide, and the challenges of managing employees’ entrepreneurial behaviours are increasingly recognised. However, the paucity of research on managers’ entrepreneurial behaviour in the United Arab Emirates multinational corporate environment creates a salient gap in the current understanding of how national and organisational cultures that not always align frame the critical problems of CE. This study aims to fill this research gap by examining multinationals’ CE antecedents drawing on an institutional perspective in Dubai.

Design/methodology/approach

The author conducts 54 in-depth interviews with middle managers in multinational enterprises. This study adopts a multiple case study research design to reveal whether an emergent discovery is exclusive to a particular case or is consistently replicated by multiple cases. The author has used abductive reasoning to systematically integrate analytical framework deduction with raw data induction.

Findings

This study’s findings indicate that CE in Dubai is ineffective and fragmented. Arguably, the cultural background of employees creates different circumstances and determinants of entrepreneurial behaviour. Hence, CE may not achieve epitome competencies without identifying multicultural nuances in an organisational context.

Originality/value

Existing research has placed relatively little emphasis on the role of individual national culture in multinational enterprises. This study’s results offer potentially valuable implications for theory, practice and future research addressing other emerging countries. This model presents a distinct CE architecture with compelling evidence for national culture (at the macro level), organisational culture, Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument and emergent factors (at the meso level) and individual middle managers' real-life experience (at the micro level).

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2024

Christine R. Martell

Inflation and federal monetary efforts to control it with interest rate hikes have very real and overwhelmingly negative consequences on US local governments following the onset…

Abstract

Purpose

Inflation and federal monetary efforts to control it with interest rate hikes have very real and overwhelmingly negative consequences on US local governments following the onset of COVID-19. This study explores the post-pandemic inflationary environment of US local governments; examines the impacts of inflation and high interest rates on local government revenue, operating costs, capital costs, and debt service; reviews local government inflation management strategies, including the use of intergovernmental revenue; and assesses ongoing threats to local government financial health and financial resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses trend and literature analysis to comment on current issues local governments face.

Findings

The study finds that the growth of property values and resulting stability of property tax revenue has been important to local government revenues; that local governments bear very real burdens as operating and capital costs increase; and that the combination of high inflation and interest rates affects local government debt issuance by negatively affecting credit quality and interest costs, leading to municipal market contraction. Local governments have benefitted tremendously from intergovernmental revenue, but would be ill-advised to rely on it.

Practical implications

Vulnerabilities owing from revenue mismatch with the economy; inadequate affordable housing, inequality, and social issues; a changing workforce and tight labor market; climate change; and federal fiscal contraction—all of which are exacerbated by high inflation and interest rates—require local governments to act strategically, boldly and collaboratively to achieve fiscal health and financial resilience, and to realize positive returns of investments in people and capital.

Originality/value

This work is unique in addressing the post-pandemic impact of inflation and interest rates on local governments.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Morten Jakobsen

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how management accountants can become relevant business partners out of respect for existing locally developed accounts of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how management accountants can become relevant business partners out of respect for existing locally developed accounts of economic performance for decision-making.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with local business actors, in this case, families from seven financially successful Danish dairy farms. The casework and the analysis have been informed by pragmatic constructivism.

Findings

The local business actors do not use the official accounting system for ongoing cost-management-related decision-making. Instead, they use several epistemic methods that include locally developed decision models, experiences, rules of thumb and intuition. The farmers use these vernacular accountings to compensate for the cost management illusion that the formal accounting system tends to create. What the study suggests is that when management accountants engage as business partners, they are likely to enter a space where accounting is already present.

Originality/value

This paper argues that local business actors practice epistemic methods where they develop and use vernacular accountings to support their managerial practice, also in the absence of a professional management accountant. These vernacular accountings may lead the local actors into an illusion because the vernacular accountings do not necessarily have an inherent economic logic and theoretical reliability. The role of the management accountant in such a setting is hence to understand, support and advance local epistemic methods. Becoming a business partner requires a combination of management accounting analytical skills and a sense of empathy and sensitivity regarding what is already at play and how this can become an object of discussion without violating the values of the other.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2023

Lobone Lloyd Kasale, Moses Shanako Moruisi and Elsie Gaolatlhe Motswakhumo

This research investigates the roles that resources, organisational structure and climate play in the performance management of National Sport Organisations (NSOs).

Abstract

Purpose

This research investigates the roles that resources, organisational structure and climate play in the performance management of National Sport Organisations (NSOs).

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study draws data from 31 interviews, five focus groups conducted amongst Botswana National Sport Organisations. To corroborate the data collected, documents from these sport organisations were content analysed.

Findings

The amount and type of resources available, the degree to which decision-making is centralised, practices formalised and roles specialised affects how NSOs implement performance management. NSOs were not implementing performance management systems and could not tell whether they were creating favourable environments to implement the practices.

Practical implications

Sport managers, policymakers and educators can use insights from this study to improve their practices. This study also proposes avenues for further research.

Originality/value

This study contributes to sport management literature on performance management, and it is original because such as study has not been conducted before.

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 February 2024

James W. Douglas and Ringa Raudla

The purpose of this article is to challenge the balanced budget practices of U.S. state governments and offer alternatives that may lead to better fiscal, economic and policy…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to challenge the balanced budget practices of U.S. state governments and offer alternatives that may lead to better fiscal, economic and policy outcomes. We contend that the norm of balance may be leading U.S. states to make fiscal decisions that result in less-than-ideal outcomes, especially during economic downturns.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a normative article. We examine the scholarly evidence regarding balanced budget practices to assess the appropriateness of balanced budget norms. We also examine the fiscal rules followed by Eurozone countries to draw potential lessons for U.S. states.

Findings

We conclude that state governments should move away from strict norms of budget balance and seek more flexible approaches. We suggest that instead of following strict rules and norms of balance, U.S. states should consider implementing escape clauses, debt and deficit ceilings, and fiscal councils. We also suggest that the Federal Reserve be open to lending directly to states during fiscal crises to ensure that states have access to affordable credit.

Originality/value

The balanced budget norm has become ingrained in U.S. state budgeting practices, so much so that public officials and scholars alike rarely question it. The novel contribution of our article is to question this practice in a systematic way and propose alternative approaches.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2023

Yosra Mnif and Yosra Gafsi

This paper investigates to what extent public sector entities (PSEs) in developing countries (DCs) are compliant with IPSAS and examines the impact of the socioeconomic and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper investigates to what extent public sector entities (PSEs) in developing countries (DCs) are compliant with IPSAS and examines the impact of the socioeconomic and politico-administrative environment on this compliance during the period 2015–2018.

Design/methodology/approach

This research develops a self-constructed checklist consisting of 116 disclosure items from five accrual-based IPSAS (IPSASs, 1, 2, 3, 14 and 24) and applies panel regressions for a sample of 500 entity-year observations of 125 PSEs.

Findings

The study results show a high level of disparity in the degree of compliance with IPSAS amongst DCs' governments, with an overall average level of 61%. They reveal that compliance with IPSAS is positively influenced by the level of citizen wealth, government political culture (degree of government openness) and the quality of public administration, whereas jurisdiction size, government financial condition and political competition are non-significant factors.

Practical implications

This research provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive framework for understanding the extent of New Public Management reforms in DCs with a focus on International Public Sector Accounting Standards implementation. It might assist policymakers in their accounting strategies and might be a signal for DCs with low compliance to tap lessons from governments with successful experience of IPSAS adoption.

Originality/value

Focusing on DCs' context, this paper brings new insights into the analysis of socioeconomic and politico-administrative incentives for government compliance with IPSAS. It is the first to investigate the impact of citizen wealth and political competition on IPSAS disclosures.

Details

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-1168

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2024

Bahareh Golkar, Siew Hoon Lim and Fecri Karanki

A major source of external funding for US airports comes from issuing municipal bonds. Credit rating agencies evaluate the bonds using multiple factors, but the judgments behind…

Abstract

Purpose

A major source of external funding for US airports comes from issuing municipal bonds. Credit rating agencies evaluate the bonds using multiple factors, but the judgments behind the ratings are not well understood. This paper examines if airport rate-setting methods affect the bond ratings of US airports.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a set of unbalanced panel data for 58 hub airports from 2010 to 2019, we examine the effect of the rate-setting methods and other airport characteristics on Fitch’s airport bond rating.

Findings

We find that compensatory airports consistently receive a very high bond rating from Fitch. The probability of getting a very high Fitch rating increases by ∼28 percentage points for a compensatory airport. Additionally, the probability of getting a very high rating is about 33 percentage points higher for a legacy hub.

Research limitations/implications

The study uses Fitch bond ratings. Future studies could examine if S&P’s and Moody’s ratings are also influenced by airport rate-setting methods and legacy hub status.

Practical implications

The results uncover the linkage between bond ratings and their determinants for US airports. This information is important for investors when assessing airport creditworthiness and for airport operators as they manage capital project financing.

Originality/value

This is the first study to evaluate the effects of rate-setting methods on airport bond rating and also the first to document a statistically significant relationship between airports’ legacy hub status and bond ratings.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2022

Ram Asra Khural, Shashi, Myriam Ertz and Roberto Cerchione

This study explores the relationships among sustainability implementation barriers (resource, managerial and regulatory barriers), sustainability practices (sustainable…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores the relationships among sustainability implementation barriers (resource, managerial and regulatory barriers), sustainability practices (sustainable construction materials, sustainable construction design, modern construction methods and environmental provisions and reporting) and sustainability performance (environmental, economic and social) in hill road construction (HRC).

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data were collected from the 313 HRC practitioners with the help of a questionnaire, and research hypotheses were tested employing structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings reveal a mixed effect of sustainability implementation barriers. Resource (managerial) barriers are negatively related to all practices except environmental provisions and reporting (sustainable construction materials), while regulatory barriers only negatively impact modern construction methods. On the other hand, all sustainability practices positively impact environmental performance, whereas economic (social) performance is positively influenced by all practices, except environmental provisions and reporting (modern construction methods), and positively affects economic performance.

Originality/value

In order to transform HRC toward sustainability, the barriers to sustainability implementation, sustainability practices and performance need to be understood by practitioners; however, the relationships have not previously been empirically assessed in extant literature. Besides, past research appears to be predominantly focused on the environmental aspect, thereby neglecting economic and social aspects. This study is a modest attempt to bridge these research gaps.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

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