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This research investigates the introduction of accounting practices into small family businesses, based on socioemotional wealth theory.

A multiple-case study was conducted gathering data through interviews and documents (proprietary and public). The sample included six businesses (five Mexican and one American) from different manufacturing and service industries.

It was found that, although owners control the implementation of accounting practices, others (including family employees, non-family employees and external experts) at times propose practices. The owner’s control can be relaxed, or even eliminated, as the result of proposals from some family employees. However, the degree of influence of family employees is not linked to the closeness of the family relationship, but rather to the owners’ perceived competence of the family employee, indicating an interaction between competence and experience on one side, and family ties on the other.

First, the owners chose which documentary data to provide and who was accessible for interviews, potentially biasing findings. Second, the degree of influence family employees can exert might change over time. Third, the study included a limited number of interviews, which can increase the risk of bias. Finally, all firms studied were still managed by the founder. It is possible that small family businesses that have undergone a succession process might incorporate accounting practices differently.

Organizations promoting the implementation of managerial accounting practices should be aware that, in addition to the owner, some family employees and external experts could influence business practices. Accountants already providing accounting services to small family business are also a good source for proposing managerial accounting practices

This study contributes to theory in four ways. First, it expands socioemotional theory to include the perceived competence of the family employee as a potential moderator in the decision-making process. Second, it categorizes the actors who can influence managerial accounting practices in small family businesses. Third, it further refines the role of these actors, based on their degree of influence. Fourth, it proposes a model that describes the introduction of managerial accounting practices in small family business.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Johnson and Kaplan's claim that “external reporting influences managerial accounting information” in an emerging capital market, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The paper relies on a survey instrument and institutional theory analysis in order to: first, explore accountants' perceptions of the extent to which financial accounting conventions‐based information is utilized, instead of managerial accounting information, in internal decision making; and second, articulate respondents' perception to the UAE's wider social and institutional context expressed in terms of accounting regulars, accountancy profession and partnership with multinational companies.

In line with Johnson and Kaplan's claim and contrary to the studies of Hopper et al., Joseph et al. and Scapens et al., the paper's findings show evidence of financial reporting domination on managerial accounting information in the UAE. Locating such results in a UAE companies social and institutional context, the paper reveals that the activities of regulators and accountancy professionals pay more attention to financial reporting, an issue which contributes towards reinforcing respondents' general perceptions that management accounting is subservient to the demands of financial reporting requirements.

Although the paper's findings trigger the importance of the UAE's institutional context in reinforcing accountants' perceptions, the interaction between financial accounting requirements and managerial accounting information is an area that needs further in‐depth case‐study‐based investigation in emerging market economies.

The paper's findings highlight the type of information that UAE's managers utilize when making decisions. These findings are in the interest of business investors and the accountancy profession that aims at increasing practitioners' professional knowledge.

This is one of few papers that combine survey results and institutional theory analysis to explore whether financial accounting dominates managerial accounting information and, at the same time, provides an understanding of the underlying reasons behind that domination in an emerging market economy such as the UAE.

The purpose of this paper is to examine an effort by management of a private higher education institution in Indonesia to replace its informal, relationship‐based performance system which relied on physical discourse – overseeing operational details that focus on physical accomplishment of tasks – and personal control by the school head, with a tight budgetary control system which relied on technical efficiency and rational discourse.

The paper is an ethnographic case study of a business school – a private higher education institution in Indonesia – known by its abbreviation as Perbanas Business School (PBS), from 1999 to 2001. The researcher is part of the case being studied, and thus is a “native” who completely participates in the change process.

The paper demonstrates how a control system change that violates existing cultural norms fails to impact day‐to‐day managerial practices or decision‐making processes. Specifically, in a business school setting, replacing an informal relationship‐based control system with a technical efficiency‐based accounting control system only produces chaotic managerial practices and degrades school services. The new system alienates staff and is not accepted or institutionalized. Instead, in daily managerial processes, management continue to rely on informal and personal relationships.

The paper contributes to the accounting literature by studying the process of instituting accounting change and organizational participants' resistance to that change.

Organizational culture, reflected in values, norms of behavior and everyday practices, cannot easily be controlled or changed by chief executive officers.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how the variety of the actors involved in a performance measurement system (PMS) innovation are spread out in time and space. Healthcare contests are examined, where such an innovation is influenced by present and past systems and practices (spread out in time), and by managerial and health-professional actors (spread out in space).

Drawing on Callon’s actor network theory, the authors describe PMS innovations as processes of translation, and distinguish between incremental and radical innovations. The theoretical arguments are used to explain the evidence drawn from a longitudinal case study carried out in an Italian public teaching hospital, referring to the period from 1998 up to 2003.

The conceptual framework shows how the translation moments lead to a recognition of the different actants involved in a PMS innovation, how their interests are interrelated and mobilized. Moreover, it shows how the interaction among the actants involved in the process is related to the type of PMS innovation, i.e. radical vs incremental. The case evidence offers detailed insights into the phenomenon, testing the explanatory power of the framework, and highlights how the failure of one of the translation moments can compromise the success of a PMS innovation.

This study differs from the extant accounting literature on PMS innovations as it highlights how the introduction of a new PMS can be affected by some elements of the previous systems “package,” which are relevant for the mobilization of the actants through the new project.

As business becomes increasingly global, it is important for managers to appreciate that practices that work well in one country may not work as well in other countries. This article compares cost center practices under Grenzplankostenrechnung (GPK), a common approach to cost accounting in Germany, and typical cost center practices in the United States. Differences between Germany and the United States on Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance dimension and in workforce and management education provide possible explanations for differences in the responsibility assigned to cost center managers between Germany and the United States. Differences in cost center practices concerning classification of costs, measures to use when considering changes in costs, and the size and scope of the cost center between Germany and the United States all support these differences in cost center manager responsibility.

The premise of the paper is that Foucault's concept of governmentality has important but unacknowledged implications for understanding strategy. Highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the governmentality approach, the paper seeks to suggest how governmentality can be used to conceptualise strategy. More generally, the paper seeks to contribute to the body of research on governmentality articulated by authors such as Peter Miller, Ted O'Leary and Nikolas Rose.

The paper reprises the argument that accounting is constitutive of social relations. It proceeds to discuss Peter Miller, Ted O'Leary and Nikolas Rose's seminal contributions to the conceptual development of governmentality. In outlining their work, the paper highlights the significance accorded to the emergence of standard costing and scientific management and its subsequent role in developing both the strategies and structures of managerial capitalism. The paper examines how this, in turn, was pivotal to the emergence of strategy as an important means through which organisations began to understand and conceive of themselves. The paper rehearses the standard criticisms made of governmentality within the accounting literature, before arguing that the concept emerges intact from the critique levelled against it. Proceeding to summarise Foucault's radical conception of power, the paper notes the elusiveness of Foucault's relationship with strategy. Elaborating on the nature of governmentality, the paper employs the concept to re‐examine the managerial revolution. The objective is to explore its implications for understanding strategy.

The paper builds on the innovative work published in accounting on governmentality to construct an account of the emergence of the managerial revolution. This yields important insights on strategy. In particular, the paper challenges Chandler, arguing that the birth of strategy is best seen as a post‐hoc rationalisation produced by the emergence of systematic management and standard costing. The paper explores how governmentality might be developed to study strategy. The overarching message of the paper is that there is a need to rethink strategy as a language and social practice. Strategy, therefore, must be understood as much as a cultural and political project than as an economic one.

The paper highlights how strategy can be regarded as a cultural and political phenomenon. This opens up the possibility of accounts of strategy that are firmly grounded within studies of organisations, politics and society. Dispensing with neo‐economic notions of strategy, the paper advocates writing Foucault into strategic management.

This paper provides, first, a historical perspective of accounting research relating to Asian/Pacific countries as seen from the vantage of the leading international journal in the United States and, second, a bibliographical data base and index of twenty‐six years of articles on this region of the world. It accomplishes the first objective by presenting a tabular profile of research in international accounting as it pertains to countries in the Asian/Pacific Rim region as shown in articles published in the International Journal of Accounting (formerly, the International Journal of Accounting, Education and Research) and related publications which appeared from 1965 to 1990. The articles are classified according to country, research methodology, subject, and five‐year time periods. The paper accomplishes the second objective by providing an annotated bibliography of 125 articles on Asian/Pacific Rim countries and indices by country and methodology, and subject.

The concept of the market economy is gaining ground in China. So also, with the growth of international business partnerships and collaboration with the West, is the significance of management accounting. The purpose of this paper is to provide some background for the development of management accounting practices in China.

As enterprises gain more autonomy, management accounting techniques such as capital budgeting, cost of capital concept, just‐in‐time inventory, inventory model concept, cost‐volume‐profit analysis, total quality management and others will become more important. This paper examines the development of management accounting practices in China from the perspective of transitional economies.

Evidence suggests that the national culture and values practiced for centuries by Chinese business influence the concerted efforts for information dissemination and developing management accounting practices. Because of the lack of understanding of western management accounting practices, the pace of development of Chinese management accounting practices might be slow for now.

The paper attempts to analyze the development of management accounting practices in Chinese business by looking at the background and contemporary thoughts; however, the value of the paper could be raised if the results were tested empirically, though discussion was aligned to empirics from other research and existing literature.

This paper argues the necessity of recognizing the significance of culture‐based management accounting systems and practices, but also of realizing that, since the Chinese government opened its doors to foreign investment, international standards and practices have a major role to play.

This paper attempts to analyze the challenges that China, a transitional economy, faces and what factors it seriously needs to consider for developing much needed management accounting practices. It also examines the evolution of management accounting systems in China, with their distinctive features, in order to provide a better understanding of their development.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of managers’ perception of the importance of aspects of competition on levels of deployment of contemporary management accounting practices (CMAPs) and analyzing that impact on levels of implementation of innovative managerial practices (IMP) and advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) in use in Egyptian manufacturing firms.

A survey of manufacturing firms operating in the three biggest industrial areas in Egypt was carried out in 2005. Data were collected through interviews, using structured questionnaire forms, which were carried out with managers of the surveyed firms.

The research findings indicate that within the six aspects, quality came first in ranking, followed by customer service and delivery, second and third, then innovation, price and flexibility respectively. Interestingly, respondents rank highly the importance of all aspects of competition included. Findings also show high levels of implementation of CMAPs and IMPs in the surveyed firms, while levels of implementation of CMTs are found to be below average.

The paper adds to the knowledge of contemporary management accounting practices and managerial techniques in Egyptian firms.

The purpose of this paper is to report on an action research project carried out in an Italian university hospital that was facing a strategic challenge. The role of intellectual capital (IC) for university hospital strategic management is discussed after developing and applying an IC framework to enhance the visualisation of strategic IC elements.

An action research process has been applied in the studied setting based on Susman and Evered’s (1978) definition of the engaged research cycle.

The action research process allowed a gap between theory and practice to be bridged; the strategic control process resulted supported by new measures; a different approach to strategy management was launched, and other organisations perceived the relevance of the IC representation and wished to import it.

Research limitations are related to those recognised for the interventionist research approach.

The paper contributes to the improvement of managerial and accounting technologies for practitioners managing university hospitals and discusses a university hospital’s strategic goals.

The paper represents a methodological contribution related to the interventionist research stream of literature, and enriches the limited studies focused on IC in health care organisations. Furthermore, the paper enables appreciation of the role of academics in the convergence of theory and practice.