Search results

1 – 10 of over 141000
Article
Publication date: 1 September 2006

Reinaldo Guerreiro, Carlos Alberto Pereira and Fábio Frezatti

The objective of this case study is to evaluate the change process, under the old institutional economics (OIE) approach, that had occurred within the management‐accounting system…

3179

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this case study is to evaluate the change process, under the old institutional economics (OIE) approach, that had occurred within the management‐accounting system of Brazilian bank. The present study examines the efficacy of the change process in management accounting, from the perspective of system users, seven years after its beginning.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on a case study. The study presents a literature review of institutional theory and a case study of Banco do Brasil – a large Brazilian bank that has implemented profound changes in its management‐accounting system.

Findings

The results indicate that new concepts have been effectively institutionalised and converted into new values, habits, and routines inside the organisation. The study provides new insights into management‐accounting change.

Research limitations/implications

A single case study does not allow the results to be generalised to other organisations.

Originality/value

The study offers a conceptual structure and operational guidelines to evaluate institutionalisation of management‐accounting change processes. The main contribution of this study is to offer new operational insights on management‐ accounting institutionalisation using the conceptual framework proposed by Burns and Scapens.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 October 2021

Riccardo Giannetti, Lino Cinquini, Paola Miolo Vitali and Falconer Mitchell

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a substantial organization gradually builds a management accounting system from scratch, changing its accounting routines by…

3459

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a substantial organization gradually builds a management accounting system from scratch, changing its accounting routines by learning processes. The paper uses the experiential learning theory and the concept of learning style to investigate the learning process during management accounting change. The study aims to expand the domain of management accounting change theory to emphasize the learning-related aspects that can constitute it.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides an interpretation of management accounting change based on the model of problem management proposed by Kolb (1983) and the theory of experiential learning (Kolb, 1976, 1984). The study is based on a 14-year longitudinal case study (1994‐2007). The case examined can be considered a theory illustration case. Data were obtained from a broad variety of sources including interviews, document analysis and adopting an interventionist approach during the redesign of the costing system.

Findings

The paper contributes to two important aspects of management accounting change. First, it becomes apparent that the costing information change was not a discrete event but a process of experience and learning conducted through several iterations of trial-and-error loops that extended over the years. Second, the findings reveal that the learning process can alter management accounting system design in a radical or incremental way according to the learning style of the people involved in the process of change.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the adopted research approach, results could be extended only to other organizations presenting similar characteristics. Several further areas of research are suggested by the findings of this paper. In particular, it would be of interest to investigate the links between learning styles and communication and its effect on management accounting change.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the management of learning during management accounting change, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of this process.

Originality/value

This paper is one response to the call for an interdisciplinary research approach to the management accounting change phenomena using a “method theory” taken from the discipline of management to provide an explanation of the change in management accounting. In respect of the previous literature, it provides two main contributions, namely, the proposal of a model useful both to interpret and manage learning processes; the effect of learning style on management accounting routines change.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 18 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 March 2013

Mayada A. Youssef

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of management accounting change within an Egyptian organization that implemented an extranet.

2297

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of management accounting change within an Egyptian organization that implemented an extranet.

Design/methodology/approach

Old institutional economic (OIE) theory and Hardy's model of power mobilisation are chosen as a theoretical framework to inform the analysis of the case.

Findings

The results show that the extranet facilitated changes in information availability and business process re‐design. The findings confirm that management accounting practices have changed in the case under study and show how management accountants have become more involved in planning and control. The case highlighted some factors that facilitate the natural processes of routinisation and institutionalisation over time.

Research limitations/implications

It could be argued that one limitation of this research is related to the gap between the change in leadership in TexCo (1993) and the timing of the visits (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005). However, this problem has been minimized by crosschecking memories of events through interviews. Another limitation of this study is that the author was not allowed to review some of the financial documents in TexCo. However, the author tried to verify the financial figures given by them through inter‐subject checking.

Originality/value

This paper fills a gap in the literature as it focuses on the process of management accounting change associated with the implementation of business‐to‐business (B‐to‐B) e‐commerce. The findings, indicate that the B‐to‐B e‐commerce has facilitated the change in the management accounting practices towards decision support and control. Implementing the B‐to‐B e‐commerce system in TexCo facilitated greater control over inventory and invoicing. It improved the planning process through providing the accountants with accurate and real time information about sales, receivables, cash collection and inventory turnover. The system also facilitated the settlement process, the performance evaluation of TexCo's exhibitions; and saved the time and effort of the accountants during the stocktaking process. The case suggested that there are some factors that may facilitate the processes of routinisation and institutionalisation.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2012

Paulina Arroyo

The purpose of this paper is to propose an institutional entrepreneurship approach to examining management accounting change triggered by social and environmental concerns.

6981

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose an institutional entrepreneurship approach to examining management accounting change triggered by social and environmental concerns.

Design/methodology/approach

The study begins with a literature review concerning the role that old institutional economics and new institutional sociology have played in the study of management accounting change, underlining strengths and weaknesses. To deal with the main weaknesses, the institutional entrepreneurship approach is presented and utilized as the basis for the development of a conceptual framework, which is contextualized to the examination of management accounting change triggered by sustainability issues.

Findings

Management accounting change literature has not paid enough attention to the social constructivist roots of institutional theory. Through the application of a conceptual framework inspired by institutional change models and institutional entrepreneurship literature, this paper proposes another approach to examine how new management accounting practices are socially constructed during the course of organizational change, particularly in response to sustainability concerns.

Research limitations/implications

This new framework has not yet demonstrated its explanatory power in a particular field.

Originality/value

The paper examines management accounting change as a social construction process led by institutional entrepreneurs who aim to mobilize resources and negotiate the definition and implementation of sustainability strategies and new management accounting practices, which will take environmental and social issues into consideration, in order to reach an agreement on the pre‐institutionalization, diffusion and institutionalization of sustainable practices.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2015

Nizar Mohammad Alsharari, Robert Dixon and Mayada Abd El-Aziz Youssef

– This paper aims to introduce and discuss a new contextual framework to explain the processes of management accounting change in various organizations.

3847

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce and discuss a new contextual framework to explain the processes of management accounting change in various organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

Having an institutional perspective, the paper develops a “conceptual contextual framework” of management accounting change. The methodology to accomplish this theory building consists of an integration of a number of different works summarizing the common elements, contrasting the differences and extending the work in some fashion. Particularly, it draws on theoretical triangulation by adopting three approaches: old institutional economics for internal processes and factors (Burns and Scapens, 2000); new institutional sociology for external processes and pressures (Dillard et al., 2004); and power and politics mobilization (Hardy, 1996).

Findings

The proposed framework provides an understanding of the complex “mixture” of interrelated factors that may influence management accounting change at multi-institutional levels: political and economic level, organizational field level and organizational level.

Research limitations/implications

The framework extends institutional theory-based management accounting research as well as provides a comprehensive basis for examining dynamics of accounting in the institutionalization process. Through further research, the framework will be extended and refined.

Practical implications

The paper has practical implications for practitioners and officers as well as for the accounting profession and academics alike.

Originality/value

The proposed contextual framework provides insights into the processes of change by focusing attention on the underlying institutions that encode accounting systems or practices in three institutional levels: political and economic level, the organizational field level and organization level. Examining the tension between institutionalized beliefs and values that may occur between these three levels of institutions will enhance our understanding of management accounting change in organizations.

Article
Publication date: 6 January 2006

Rasid Mail, Nafsiah Mohamed and Ruhaya Hj. Atan

Worldwide efforts to transform the public sector under the theme of “New Public Management” have been concerned with the issues of organizational change management. The change in…

1182

Abstract

Worldwide efforts to transform the public sector under the theme of “New Public Management” have been concerned with the issues of organizational change management. The change in the Accounting sector is one of the pillars of such efforts. This paper promotes the importance of leadership roles within the accounting change process by studying them within the context of a corporatized public sector entity. It offers a longitudinal analysis (1998‐2005) through the framework of “levers of control”. Leadership roles within the accounting scenario are compared with leadership roles within the engineering scenario to demonstrate the importance of accounting in mediating leadership roles, and in the end, promote the organization’s operational and financial performance. Through the framework of levers of control, this paper examines the different approaches and styles of an organizational leader in aligning beliefs systems among the workers, and creating management control systems through the mobilization of accounting calculative and constitutive power. This paper argues the importance of studying the characteristics of good leadership with in the organizational transformation process, particularly within the change management accounting practice that could lead to better organizational performance of the organization.

Details

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-2517

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Gaia Bassani, Jan A. Pfister and Cristiana Cattaneo

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of leadership in management accounting change processes and outcomes.

2864

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of leadership in management accounting change processes and outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on an ethnographic study in a Southern European company and mobilizes leader–follower relations as a method theory to analyse the observations.

Findings

The findings show how a leadership dispute between two top managers can be amplified during the management accounting change process and percolate throughout an organization. The authors identify five contested areas where the role of accounting amplifies the leadership dispute by unfolding its reach to other organizational actors. The leadership dispute can shape and reinforce a fragmented organization, with some organizational members creating convergent leader–follower relations while others divert and fragment with an increased turnover. This amplification can lead to unexpected outcomes of the change process in terms of how and by whom accounting is performed.

Research limitations/implications

The authors propose the study of leadership and followership as an important but, to date, largely neglected theme in management accounting research.

Originality/value

In contrast to the prior management accounting literature, the paper departs from a leadership-centric and role-based approach and employs a co-constructionist and relational approach to leadership and followership to analyse management accounting change. In addition, it applies and extends Alvesson's (2019a) theory on “divergent relationalities” between the presumed leaders and followers. In doing so, the paper also adds to the leadership field by theorizing and integrating the situation of a leadership dispute in this novel theoretical framework.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 34 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2011

Gun Abrahamsson, Hans Englund and Jonas Gerdin

This paper aims to examine how and why management accounting practices are linked to an organization's identity and identity discrepancies.

6223

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how and why management accounting practices are linked to an organization's identity and identity discrepancies.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative field study of a one‐year change project in a large manufacturing company is used as the basis for the analysis.

Findings

The empirical study reveals how discrepancies between organizational members' perceived identity and their construed external (and desired future) image both influence and are influenced by emergent accounting practices. Empirical evidence suggests such a reciprocal relationship between accounting and identity, since accounting practices are an important means of (de)legitimizing an organization's current self‐perception.

Research limitations/implications

The uncovered reciprocal relationship between management accounting practices and organizational identity (discrepancies) have implications for a broader literature, including the works on how different forms of control interact as a “control package” and the discourse on potential sources of organizational identity change.

Originality/value

Although it has previously been suggested that management accounting may be an important means for, as well as an outcome of, processes of identity (re)constructions in organizations, this study suggests a more complex interplay than has previously been noted in the literature. Specifically, it was found that organizational identity may for a considerable time work as a highly influential and largely unquestioned categorical imperative, signifying the boundaries of appropriate organizational action. At times, however, accounting practices may spark (re)constructions of identity discrepancies through: providing identity‐inconsistent evidence; and using (new) measures in a “feed‐forward” manner to explore possible ways to close such perceived discrepancies.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Nelson Maina Waweru, Zahirul Hoque and Enrico Uliana

Most research on management accounting change relates to practices in developed countries. This paper reports on a field study of management accounting change in the South African…

10211

Abstract

Most research on management accounting change relates to practices in developed countries. This paper reports on a field study of management accounting change in the South African context. It uses a contingency theory framework within four retail companies to understand the processes of their management accounting systems change and to explore the rationales for such change processes. The findings indicate considerable changes in management accounting systems within the four cases. Such changes include increased use of contemporary management accounting practices notably activity‐based cost allocation systems and the balanced scorecard approach to performance measures. The paper suggests that recent environmental changes in the South African economy arising from government reform/deregulation policy and global competition largely facilitated the management accounting change processes within the participating organisations.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 September 2007

Fadi Kattan, Richard Pike and Mike Tayles

This paper seeks to concern itself with the determination of the effect that external factors have on the design and implementation of management accounting systems in a…

5333

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to concern itself with the determination of the effect that external factors have on the design and implementation of management accounting systems in a developing economy which has in the last decade experienced fluctuating levels of environmental uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach

This is explained through the use of a case study involving interviews and archival data in a company over a ten‐year period, a period involving considerable environmental change. It explores, how the organisation responded to the changes experienced over that time and the extent to which this impacted management accounting.

Findings

The study finds that the management accounting and control systems used are more mechanistic in times of environmental and political stability, but become more organic in periods of greater uncertainty.

Research limitations/implications

The challenge of relying for this research on respondents' recall of events occurring some years previously is acknowledged and steps taken to minimise this are identified. The results of any case study research are not widely generalisable beyond the context in which it is studied.

Practical implications

This study offers insights into management accounting and control systems as they are implemented in an underdeveloped country where uncertainty stems from political fluctuations.

Originality/value

This research sees environmental uncertainty stemming from changes in the political structure and this precipitates changes in markets and their structures. Companies operating in those markets are influenced by and need to react to such changes.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 141000