Abstract
Purpose – The authors aim to present an overview of the papers in this special issue on the theme of the role of management accounting and control in routine and change in organizations, which arose from the Management Control Association Conference at the University of Greenwich, London, UK in September 2010. Design/methodology/approach – The authors place the research undertaken and the interpretations offered by the authors in the context of ongoing developments in new institutionalism in sociology. Findings – The authors' review shows that researchers are now exploring routine and change in the context of competitive environments in both the private and the public sector. Originality/value – The review brings attention to emerging work in the area of management accounting and control that explores change in changing organizational forms.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the present paper is to investigate whether the transition from a family business to a non-family business affects the institutionalisation of management accounting. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on an online survey among all large and medium-sized Austrian firms. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to test the impact of the level of family influence on aspects of the institutionalisation of management accounting. Firm size is included as the main control variable. Findings – A lower level of influence from the controlling family was found to be correlated with the institutionalisation and intensification of management accounting in medium-sized firms. For large firms, such a linear relationship could not be drawn. The level of education of management accountants was inversely correlated with the level of family influence in both large and medium-sized firms. Research limitations/implications – Further research into the reasons, underlying drivers and inter-organisational promoters of management accounting change in family businesses is needed. Furthermore, the organisational impacts of the transition from family businesses to non-family businesses deserve further investigation. Originality/value – A framework for assessing the organisational effects of the transition from family businesses to non-family businesses is provided. The empirical results on the impact of the transition on the institutionalisation of management accounting are presented. The level of family influence was found to act as a significant contextual factor for the organisation of management accounting in medium-sized firms.
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to consider how emerging management control systems (MCS) form the MCS package of start-up firms. Based on institutional theory, the authors aim to better understand reasons for introducing MCS and the reciprocity between the parts of the firm's overall MCS package. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply a qualitative cross-sectional field study approach involving 74 interviews with key stakeholders in 20 young start-up firms with venture capital financing. Interview data are fully transcribed, analysed, checked, and triangulated. Findings – The results uncover the main constituents of start-up firms in three different institutional fields (nascent, start-up, post start-up), which substantially impact on the introduction of new MCS and the subsequent MCS packages. The introduction of formal MCS seems to be divided into different phases. Research limitations/implications – This study is subject to the limitations of case-based research. Moreover, the theoretical underpinning of institutional theory potentially underestimates the influence of agency on social behaviour and structures. Practical implications – The study highlights the major drivers of establishing a set of control systems through which the interests of different stakeholders are aligned. A multitude of concrete examples of managing controls are given, including reasons for their introduction and their effects. Originality/value – This paper sheds light on the introduction of MCS in young firms. This complements prior research, which has almost exclusively focused on MCS in more mature and established firms. Moreover, the authors deepen prior insights that are primarily focused on isolated formal components of MCS, by understanding MCS as a package.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is: to explore the concept of finance shared service centres (SSCs) through an interpretive case study based on a structuration in organizational fields framework; to explore the implications for the finance function, in terms of how finance both drives change within the multi-divisional organisation and also is affected by change; and to interpret the SSC phenomenon in the light of the Iron Cage analogy. Design/methodology/approach – A structuration in organization fields approach is used to interpret influences and actions in a longitudinal case study of a finance SSC. Findings – The SSC can be seen as an emergent strategic project. The paper argues that the new organisational form of the SSC, together with the finance function's reflexive and recursive position of driving change are influenced by changes in the economic and institutional influences in the organisational field but in a manner that is both evolutionary and nuanced. A further observation is that management accounting systems are both changed and made stable by the SSC. Research limitations/implications – The field work consists of a single case study so as to give a sufficiently deep understanding of how external and internal discourse has influenced the development of a SSC over time. Originality/value – The paper argues that the unbundling and reconfiguration of support services represents more than simply a rational response to cost reduction and efficiency savings. Indeed, the more fundamental nature of change in the finance function stemming from new structures and processes of the SSC can be understood better once the SSC model has been conceptualised in the context of overall interactions within the multi-divisional corporation and with its organisational.
Abstract
Purpose – While new institutionalism-inspired accounting literature has opened up new perspectives for the study of micro-processes of change in accounting practices, little is still known about how individuals subjectively experience these processes. In this paper, the authors propose to study the role of subjectivities in the institutionalization of new accounting practices. Design/methodology/approach – Based on an extension of Hasselbladh and Kallinikos' framework, the authors analyze the implementation of a new performance management and measurement system in the division of a large French public sector firm. The authors' research is based on the company's internal archives, samples of the new performance scorecard, interviews and non-participant observation. Findings – The system as a technique of control and related discourses and ideals formed a coherent “rationalized package” which actors had actually internalized. Still, they collectively used the new system in a very ceremonial mode and the authors' analysis identified discrepancies between actors' explicit understanding and practical experience of the system. Research limitations/implications – The authors' research suggests that studies of accounting change should further explore the complex and sometimes paradoxical nature of subjectivities at work in the adoption of new systems. Studies should combine the analysis of actors' behaviours and representations and their development over time, even though the latter longitudinal perspective is missing in the present research. Practical implications – Experience encompasses more than understanding and cognitive agreement. Deliberate acceptance of systems may co-exist with non-deliberate reluctant behaviour. Social implications – Accounting transformation projects should reckon the role that actors' subjectivities can play in the institutionalization of new systems and practices. Originality/value – The authors' research illustrates how subjectivity influences micro-processes of accounting change. It highlights its experiential and non-deliberate dimensions, thus complementing existing institutional research that has hitherto emphasized actors' deliberate actions and representations.