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The objective of the study is to prove the suitability between the implementation of human capital disclosures on the financial statements of local governments in Indonesia and the political system, economic system, legal system, social and cultural system, and accounting infrastructure system based on institutional theory. The study is carried out by conducting a meta-analysis on human capital disclosure fit to institutional theory. The study finds that it is more appropriate using accounting infrastructure system for human capital disclosures on the financial statements of local governments in Indonesia. Based on a meta-analysis, it is found that the normative isomorphism is widely used in Indonesia. It should be implemented on human capital disclosures on the financial statements of local governments in Indonesia. Then, it is also found that there are many regulations on human capital but there are only a few human capital disclosures on the financial statements of local governments in Indonesia.

Using organizational theory as a lens, in this chapter, the author critiques the neoliberal rationality in which the national and international ranking systems take precedence over the institutional missions and visions in institutional operations. The author argues that these essentialized ranking systems overlook the necessary diversity and uniqueness of institutions in the higher education system. The author outlines the potential role of mission statements in setting the institutional priorities, and the unnecessary pressure caused neoliberalism against such priorities. The implications of such imperatives for quality in various academic practices are identified and the unfairness of coercive isomorphism in higher education is illustrated. The author then proposes a spatial approach in which universities, nationally and internationally, can appreciate diversity in identity and work together, drawing from each other’s strengths to strengthen the higher education system that will support students and promote national economies.

The intention of this chapter is to review and test the degree to which organizational changes related to gender parity, adopted within Venezuela since 1999, have affected the C-level positions and Boards of Directors among banking institutions.

Through review and qualitative analysis of primary and secondary data, along with triangulation, given names were used as proxy to define gender among groups of individuals.

Evidence indicates that besides some parity in lower positions, middle management, and some C-level positions, at the Board of Director level, there remains a gender imbalance. Government-owned institutions show improved gender balance, but still there is a need for progress.

Coercive isomorphisms may be the most common explanation for organizational change; nevertheless, this is not necessarily the case unless there is clear law enforcement. Practitioners must analyze the underlying reasons that females may reach a C-level position, yet don’t reach the Board of Directors in the same proportion.

This research analyzes gender issues and composition among corporate governance bodies (Board of Directors and C-level positions) in Venezuela. It offers preliminary insights on gender imbalance within the upper echelon of Venezuelan banking institutions.

Quality management is high on the reform agenda of both universities and hospitals. This paper studies how quality management is implemented: who is responsible for QM and which instruments are used? The guiding research question is whether these two very distinct professional organizations respond in similar or different ways to a common reform trend. To analyze the extent of isomorphic tendencies a cross-sectoral, descriptive data analysis with data from 135 hospitals and 83 universities in Germany has been conducted. The results show that QM in hospitals is more elaborated in terms of quality instruments and at the same time more standardized. Universities, in contrast, follow quite individualistic ways to organize quality management.

European universities have changed dramatically over the last two to three decades. The two dominant frameworks to analyze these changes are “New Public Management” and the construction of “complete organizations.” Both of these approaches highlight isomorphic processes leading to increased homogenization within European universities. However, empirical evidence suggests that European universities are differentiating from each other at the same time as they are becoming more isomorphic. To explain the simultaneity of homogenization and differentiation among European universities, we use the concept of nested organizational fields. We distinguish between a global field, a European field, and several national, state, and regional fields. Homogenization and differentiation are then the result of similar or different field embeddedness of European universities. The advantage of this approach lies in explaining homogenization and differentiation of universities within individual countries on the one hand, as well as cross-national homogenization and differentiation of subgroups of universities on the other hand.

This study examines the relationship between the motives for balanced scorecard (BSC) adoption and the development and use of the BSC. We expect that a stronger focus on economic adoption motives is associated with full development of the BSC and its integration into the performance measurement and control systems of the firm. In contrast, we expect that a higher focus on legitimacy as a motive for adoption leads to loose coupling of the BSC with the control systems of the firm. We expect legitimacy as a catalyst to BSC adoption leads to a lower level of BSC development and use, which enables the organization to keep the environment satisfied, but does not influence processes within the organization.

The data are obtained from a web-based survey with 88 useful responses of firms indicating that they use the BSC. The study investigates the relationship between the motives for BSC adoption (economic and legitimacy) and the development and use of the BSC. The results provide evidence for the hypothesis that economic motives for adoption positively affect the development of the BSC. In addition, the results partially support the hypothesis that legitimacy motives negatively affect the use of the BSC. When legitimacy comes via the mechanism of mimetic isomorphism, it has a negative effect on use of the BSC. Surprisingly, however, legitimacy has a positive effect on use when it comes via the mechanism of normative isomorphism.

Over the last decade, the accounting convergence process with the development and adoption of IFRS as national standards has become the focus of governments, professionals, and researchers. In 2005, the EU (including Germany) and Australia adopted IFRS. A survey by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (2010) reported that 89 countries have adopted or intend to adopt IFRS for all their domestic listed companies. Currently, more than 100 jurisdictions require or permit the use of IFRS, with countries such as Canada, Brazil, and Argentina being the most recent adopters (IFRS Foundation, 2011b). This growing number of countries implementing IFRS and their experiences and emerging challenges have further raised researchers' interest in this controversial topic (Ashbaugh & Pincus, 2001; Atwood et al., 2011; Byard et al., 2011; Christensen et al., 2007; Daske et al., 2008; Ding et al., 2007; Hail et al., 2010a, 2010b; Kvaal & Nobes, 2010; McAnally et al., 2010; Mechelli, 2009; Niskanen, Kinnunen, & Kasanen, 2000; Stolowy, Haller, & Klockhaus, 2001; Tyrrall et al., 2007). However, these studies have concentrated on the development and application of specific accounting standards and practices and/or cross-national and cross-cultural issues concerning adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of IFRS. Moreover, an increasing number of studies have been devoted to classifications of accounting models and categorization of accounting standards, principles, and values (Chanchani & Willett, 2004; D'Arcy, 2000, 2001; Doupnik & Richter, 2004; Doupnik & Salter, 1993; Gray, 1988; Kamla, Gallhofer, & Haslam, 2006; Nair & Frank, 1980; Patel, 2003, 2007; Perera & Mathews, 1990; Salter & Doupnik, 1992). However, very few studies have critically examined the historical development of accounting practices and issues related to convergence in its socioeconomic context and, importantly, we are not aware of any study that has rigorously examined the institutionalization of Anglo-American accounting practices as international practice with an emphasis on power and legitimacy in the move toward convergence of accounting standards.

Purpose – In the last decades, Italian healthcare organisations have been subject to important normative changes, aimed at increasing their efficiency. As a response, performance measurement and evaluation (PME) systems have been introduced. The present study attempts to examine PME system changes as institutional processes. In studying such processes the healthcare literature acknowledges the presence of two logics: managerial and professional, as peculiar to healthcare settings, whose convergence or divergence can explain the success of any institutional process.

Design/methodology/approach – We adopt Busco et al.'s (2007) framework as an approach for unbundling PME system change into four relevant coordinates, namely: (1) the object (PME system), (2) the subjects (institutional forces), (3) the place and time of change (the managerial and professional logics) and (4) the how and why change happens (change as an institutional process). We conducted a longitudinal case study at a large teaching hospital in Southern Italy, directed to interpret PME system changes during the period from 1998 until 2009.

Findings – Our observation distinguishes episodes of successful institutional processes, where the introduced innovations are transformed into objectivated practices, from episodes of missed institutionalisation, where new procedures were rapidly abandoned.

Research and social implications – This theoretical framework can be useful for interpreting the PME system changes in different institutional contexts.

Originality – The Busco et al.'s framework allows us to understand PME system changes by integrating the perspectives from Neo-Institutional Sociology, representing healthcare organisational responses to external institutional pressures, and Old-Institutional Economics, conceptualising PME system changes as an institutionalisation process.

This study examines the factors that influence the uptake of stakeholder engagement in the sustainability accounting and reporting process. The chapter addresses the scarcity of research in the area of stakeholder engagement by highlighting the factors that accelerate involvement of stakeholders in the sustainability accounting and reporting process. Case study research was used to explore the influences on stakeholder engagement practices of three Australian local councils. Data collection methods included interviews and document analysis.

This research highlights external as well as internal factors that can encourage meaningful stakeholder engagement in the sustainability accounting and reporting process in public sector organisations. The findings of this research recognise government regulations as the key driver behind the uptake of stakeholder engagement policies and practices. However, managerial commitment and professional bodies’ support is observed as necessary to encourage and sustain creative and meaningful engagement. These findings also have implications for stakeholder engagement in the private sector.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and analyze the operational styles of the American and Netherlands armed forces displayed in the ISAF operations in Southern Afghanistan. The aim is to ascertain if and how these differences converge as a consequence of common experiences in the area of operations. The methodology is based on written published information, as well as newspaper, and internet sources. The findings demonstrate that although there are considerable differences in operations styles between both national militaries, common experiences urge them to learn from each other, and hence to develop some sort of isomorphism in their operations. This tendency is not unique to the military. Isomorphism is a well-known phenomenon in the sociology of organizations and it relates to the idea of supranational convergence of policies, which is an important topic of study in political science. The limitations of this chapter pertain to the fact that only two national armed forces have been studied and that there is only little primary material to rely on. The practical implications are numerous. It stresses the tendency and need for national militaries, who are engaged in multinational military cooperation, to learn from each other while trying to reach for the maximum results of their endeavors. The point of isomorphism in national militaries developing as a result of common experiences has never been described before, certainly not in terms of well established concepts of the sociology of organizations and political science.