Pub Date : 2020-04-16DOI: 10.1108/qram-05-2019-0062
Sinikka Lepistö, Justyna Dobroszek, Lauri Lepistö, E. Zarzycka
This paper aims to explore controls within an inter-organisational relationship involving outsourced management accounting services from the contractor’s perspective.,Qualitative data from within the relationship are analysed in a legitimacy-theory framework, illustrating how controls within the relationship are intended to build the contractor’s legitimacy and what kinds of implications the controls have in relation to conflicts between interests inherent in the relationship.,The legitimacy perspective clarifies that while controls are aimed at ensuring efficiency for the client, they may also provide symbolic displays of the appropriateness of the contractor’s actions both at an inter-organisational level for the client and at an individual level for the contractor’s employees. While the contractor intends to build legitimacy with the client by demonstrating utility in the form of efficiency, the process also gives the client influence and allows the disposition in terms of shared values to be demonstrated. However, this process has some negative consequences for the contractor’s employees as it is insufficient for serving the boundary-spanning employees’ interests connected with the nature of their work. Hence, the same controls need to yield benefits and fair outcomes for employees. The controls simultaneously foster interconnections that contribute to permanence and formalise the outsourcing of complex services, thereby rendering such processes comprehensible and transferable to other settings, which can be seen to serve the contractor’s continuity interests.,The paper contributes to academic research by illustrating how controls within inter-organisational relationships not only steer boundary-spanners’ work to conform to a client’s needs but may also help to build legitimacy via symbolic properties in the presence of conflicting interests at both an inter-organisational and individual level. It specifically highlights the important role of boundary-spanners lower in the organisational structure, who both affect and are influenced by the intentions to build legitimacy with the client.
{"title":"Controlling outsourced management accounting to build legitimacy","authors":"Sinikka Lepistö, Justyna Dobroszek, Lauri Lepistö, E. Zarzycka","doi":"10.1108/qram-05-2019-0062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-05-2019-0062","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to explore controls within an inter-organisational relationship involving outsourced management accounting services from the contractor’s perspective.,Qualitative data from within the relationship are analysed in a legitimacy-theory framework, illustrating how controls within the relationship are intended to build the contractor’s legitimacy and what kinds of implications the controls have in relation to conflicts between interests inherent in the relationship.,The legitimacy perspective clarifies that while controls are aimed at ensuring efficiency for the client, they may also provide symbolic displays of the appropriateness of the contractor’s actions both at an inter-organisational level for the client and at an individual level for the contractor’s employees. While the contractor intends to build legitimacy with the client by demonstrating utility in the form of efficiency, the process also gives the client influence and allows the disposition in terms of shared values to be demonstrated. However, this process has some negative consequences for the contractor’s employees as it is insufficient for serving the boundary-spanning employees’ interests connected with the nature of their work. Hence, the same controls need to yield benefits and fair outcomes for employees. The controls simultaneously foster interconnections that contribute to permanence and formalise the outsourcing of complex services, thereby rendering such processes comprehensible and transferable to other settings, which can be seen to serve the contractor’s continuity interests.,The paper contributes to academic research by illustrating how controls within inter-organisational relationships not only steer boundary-spanners’ work to conform to a client’s needs but may also help to build legitimacy via symbolic properties in the presence of conflicting interests at both an inter-organisational and individual level. It specifically highlights the important role of boundary-spanners lower in the organisational structure, who both affect and are influenced by the intentions to build legitimacy with the client.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75875180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-07DOI: 10.1108/qram-04-2018-0029
Jane H. Thompson, Gareth G. Morgan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how trustees of small English registered charities understand and own the reporting and accounting requirements with which their charities must comply.,The research described is a multi-pronged qualitative and inductive study of three small Yorkshire charities as they approve their annual accounts. The case studies are based on observations of trustee meetings and interviews with a range of trustees and their independent examiner or auditor. The use of a practice lens focuses on the behaviours of individuals to understand the sense that they make of their charity’s accounts.,Trustees' understanding of their financial statements is limited; they tend to rely on key individuals who have knowledge. Group responsibility creates a shared way of understanding the financial statements. Treasurers and independent examiners simplify information for the trustees even resorting to corner cutting and rule bending. Narrative reporting is given very little attention. Trustees read their financial statements as a report to them not by them; accountability notwithstanding, thus ownership of their financial statements is conferred not intrinsic.,The findings are drawn from three specific case studies and therefore cannot be generalised, but they offer rich qualitative insights into small charities’ accounting and reporting.,This research provides a unique multi-viewpoint analysis of charity practices, and through its use of a practice lens dives deeper into examining trustees’ understanding and behaviour.
{"title":"Conferred ownership: approval of financial statements by small charities","authors":"Jane H. Thompson, Gareth G. Morgan","doi":"10.1108/qram-04-2018-0029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-04-2018-0029","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to investigate how trustees of small English registered charities understand and own the reporting and accounting requirements with which their charities must comply.,The research described is a multi-pronged qualitative and inductive study of three small Yorkshire charities as they approve their annual accounts. The case studies are based on observations of trustee meetings and interviews with a range of trustees and their independent examiner or auditor. The use of a practice lens focuses on the behaviours of individuals to understand the sense that they make of their charity’s accounts.,Trustees' understanding of their financial statements is limited; they tend to rely on key individuals who have knowledge. Group responsibility creates a shared way of understanding the financial statements. Treasurers and independent examiners simplify information for the trustees even resorting to corner cutting and rule bending. Narrative reporting is given very little attention. Trustees read their financial statements as a report to them not by them; accountability notwithstanding, thus ownership of their financial statements is conferred not intrinsic.,The findings are drawn from three specific case studies and therefore cannot be generalised, but they offer rich qualitative insights into small charities’ accounting and reporting.,This research provides a unique multi-viewpoint analysis of charity practices, and through its use of a practice lens dives deeper into examining trustees’ understanding and behaviour.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74618844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-06DOI: 10.1108/qram-10-2018-0073
M. Masum, L. Parker
Purpose: While the world-wide adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) aims to eliminate differences in national accounting standards between countries, the socio-political institutions surrounding financial reporting practices remain localised. This paper aims to penetrate and reveal the manner in which local national context, stakeholder intentions and financial reporting practices can moderate the compliance with IFRS in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach: An interview-based qualitative research framework was used to analyse the experience and attitudes of accountants, auditors and financial reporting regulators during a passage of accounting reform initiatives. Findings: This paper provides a critical analysis of the financial reporting practices of a developing country that has ostensibly implemented accounting reforms prescribed by the World Bank. It has revealed the key firm- and field-level logics that are experienced and managed by regulators and corporate managers in their approaches to financial reporting and accountability. The World Bank-led accounting reform can be constrained by a complex mix of institutional logics originating from market and corporate structures, networks of institutionalised family and political relationships, professional and regulatory structure and resourcing limitations and cultural business conventions. This paper provides evidence of firm- and field-level logics that contest and influence the emergence of a financial reporting oversight body and lead to highly variable compliance with international accounting standards. Originality/value: This paper aims to extend our knowledge beyond broad national-level elements of institutional orders. It presents a more penetrating examination of the existence and contestation of logics originating from various local and global actors and interests. It presents a theoretical mapping of institutional logics, which operate in international and local settings and also encompass firm- and field-level imperatives. Any effort to understand and improve accounting practices of a developing country need to consider the power, contestation and influence of multiple logics operating in its institutional environment.
{"title":"Local implementation of global accounting reform: evidence from a developing country","authors":"M. Masum, L. Parker","doi":"10.1108/qram-10-2018-0073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-10-2018-0073","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: \u0000While the world-wide adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) aims to eliminate differences in national accounting standards between countries, the socio-political institutions surrounding financial reporting practices remain localised. This paper aims to penetrate and reveal the manner in which local national context, stakeholder intentions and financial reporting practices can moderate the compliance with IFRS in a developing country. \u0000 \u0000Design/methodology/approach: \u0000An interview-based qualitative research framework was used to analyse the experience and attitudes of accountants, auditors and financial reporting regulators during a passage of accounting reform initiatives. \u0000 \u0000Findings: \u0000This paper provides a critical analysis of the financial reporting practices of a developing country that has ostensibly implemented accounting reforms prescribed by the World Bank. It has revealed the key firm- and field-level logics that are experienced and managed by regulators and corporate managers in their approaches to financial reporting and accountability. The World Bank-led accounting reform can be constrained by a complex mix of institutional logics originating from market and corporate structures, networks of institutionalised family and political relationships, professional and regulatory structure and resourcing limitations and cultural business conventions. This paper provides evidence of firm- and field-level logics that contest and influence the emergence of a financial reporting oversight body and lead to highly variable compliance with international accounting standards. \u0000 \u0000Originality/value: \u0000This paper aims to extend our knowledge beyond broad national-level elements of institutional orders. It presents a more penetrating examination of the existence and contestation of logics originating from various local and global actors and interests. It presents a theoretical mapping of institutional logics, which operate in international and local settings and also encompass firm- and field-level imperatives. Any effort to understand and improve accounting practices of a developing country need to consider the power, contestation and influence of multiple logics operating in its institutional environment.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88507944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-27DOI: 10.1108/qram-06-2018-0039
J. Mutiganda, G. Grossi, L. Hassel
Purpose - This paper aims to analyse the role of communication in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines. Design/methodology/approach - Conceptual elements of the theory of communicative action and the literature on routines were used to conduct a field study in two hospital districts in Finland, from 2009 to 2015. Data were based on interviews, document analysis, observed meetings and repeated contact with key informants. Findings - The findings explain how accountability routines take different forms – weak or strong – in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels. Differences depend on the generative structures and mechanisms of the communicative process – relational and normative – used to give and ask information to and from organisation members involved in accountability relationships. An explorative finding is that discourse-based communication plays an important role in bridging the gap between weak and strong accountability routines. The main theoretical contribution is to conceptualise and show the role of communicative rationalities in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines. Practical implications - The implication for practitioners and policymakers is to show to what extent the organisation policies and communicative rationalities used in accountability have potential to improve or not to improve the practices of accountability routines. Mutual understanding, motivation and capacity of organisation members to do as expected and agreed upon without pressure improve accountability routines. Originality/value - The value of this study is to explain how accountability routines take different forms in practice (weak or strong) in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels, depending on the generative structures of the communicative process used in practicing accountability routines.
{"title":"Investigation of communication in budgetary accountability routines","authors":"J. Mutiganda, G. Grossi, L. Hassel","doi":"10.1108/qram-06-2018-0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-06-2018-0039","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose - This paper aims to analyse the role of communication in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines. Design/methodology/approach - Conceptual elements of the theory of communicative action and the literature on routines were used to conduct a field study in two hospital districts in Finland, from 2009 to 2015. Data were based on interviews, document analysis, observed meetings and repeated contact with key informants. Findings - The findings explain how accountability routines take different forms – weak or strong – in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels. Differences depend on the generative structures and mechanisms of the communicative process – relational and normative – used to give and ask information to and from organisation members involved in accountability relationships. An explorative finding is that discourse-based communication plays an important role in bridging the gap between weak and strong accountability routines. The main theoretical contribution is to conceptualise and show the role of communicative rationalities in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines. Practical implications - The implication for practitioners and policymakers is to show to what extent the organisation policies and communicative rationalities used in accountability have potential to improve or not to improve the practices of accountability routines. Mutual understanding, motivation and capacity of organisation members to do as expected and agreed upon without pressure improve accountability routines. Originality/value - The value of this study is to explain how accountability routines take different forms in practice (weak or strong) in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels, depending on the generative structures of the communicative process used in practicing accountability routines.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1108/qram-06-2018-0039","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72499254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-22DOI: 10.1108/qram-10-2019-0111
Tomi J. Kallio, Kirsi-Mari Kallio, Annika Blomberg
This purpose of this study is to understand how the spread of audit culture and the related public sector reforms have affected Finnish universities’ organization principles, performance measurement (PM) criteria and ultimately their reason for being.,Applying extensive qualitative data by combining interview data with document materials, this study takes a longitudinal perspective toward the changing Finnish higher education field.,The analysis suggests the reforms have altered universities’ administrative structures, planning and control systems, coordination mechanisms and the role of staff units, as well as the allocation of power and thus challenged their reason for being. Power has become concentrated into the hands of formal managers, while operational core professionals have been distanced from decision making. Efficiency in terms of financial and performance indicators has become a coordinating principle of university organizations, and PM practices are used to steer the work of professionals. Because of the reforms, universities have moved away from the ideal type of professional bureaucracy and begun resembling the new, emerging ideal type of competitive bureaucracy.,This study builds on rich, real-life, longitudinal empirical material and details a chronological description of the changes in Finland’s university sector. Moreover, it illustrates how the spread of audit culture and the related legislative changes have transformed the ideal type of university organization and challenged universities’ reason for being. These changes entail significant consequences regarding universities as organizations and their role in society.
{"title":"From professional bureaucracy to competitive bureaucracy – redefining universities’ organization principles, performance measurement criteria, and reason for being","authors":"Tomi J. Kallio, Kirsi-Mari Kallio, Annika Blomberg","doi":"10.1108/qram-10-2019-0111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-10-2019-0111","url":null,"abstract":"This purpose of this study is to understand how the spread of audit culture and the related public sector reforms have affected Finnish universities’ organization principles, performance measurement (PM) criteria and ultimately their reason for being.,Applying extensive qualitative data by combining interview data with document materials, this study takes a longitudinal perspective toward the changing Finnish higher education field.,The analysis suggests the reforms have altered universities’ administrative structures, planning and control systems, coordination mechanisms and the role of staff units, as well as the allocation of power and thus challenged their reason for being. Power has become concentrated into the hands of formal managers, while operational core professionals have been distanced from decision making. Efficiency in terms of financial and performance indicators has become a coordinating principle of university organizations, and PM practices are used to steer the work of professionals. Because of the reforms, universities have moved away from the ideal type of professional bureaucracy and begun resembling the new, emerging ideal type of competitive bureaucracy.,This study builds on rich, real-life, longitudinal empirical material and details a chronological description of the changes in Finland’s university sector. Moreover, it illustrates how the spread of audit culture and the related legislative changes have transformed the ideal type of university organization and challenged universities’ reason for being. These changes entail significant consequences regarding universities as organizations and their role in society.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87381173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-03DOI: 10.1108/qram-01-2019-0020
Jaime A Morales Burgos, Markus Kittler, Mike Walsh
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the capital budgeting decision-making of Canadian and Mexican entrepreneurs in small businesses in the food sector. The objective is to understand the capital budgeting decisions through the lens of bounded rationality and how these decisions are affected by different (national) contexts.,This is a comparative study in which the use of constructivist grounded theory allowed deep conversations about capital budgeting decisions. Data was collected from forty semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs/managers in two regions, Mexico and Canada.,Insights from this study suggest that entrepreneurs’ capital budgeting decisions are not only taken under conditions of bounded rationality but also suggest a prominent role of context in how bounded rationality is applied differently towards investment decisions.,While the findings cannot simply be generalized, exploring how capital budgeting decisions are made differently across two regional contexts adds to the understanding of the nexus of context, bounded rationality and capital budgeting decision-making.,Using a bounded rationality lens, this study contrasts and explains similarities and differences in the entrepreneur’s capital budgeting decision-making within small businesses. The insights add to the body of knowledge and help entrepreneurs to reflect on their approach to decision-making.,The paper uses a less commonly applied approach to understand two under-researched regional contexts. We use constructivist grounded theory to explore entrepreneurs’ capital budgeting decision-making in small businesses in two regions, Canada and Mexico. The comparative approach and the findings add to the understanding of decision-making, highlight the prominent role of context and also challenge some insights from previous research.
{"title":"Bounded rationality, capital budgeting decisions and small business","authors":"Jaime A Morales Burgos, Markus Kittler, Mike Walsh","doi":"10.1108/qram-01-2019-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-01-2019-0020","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the capital budgeting decision-making of Canadian and Mexican entrepreneurs in small businesses in the food sector. The objective is to understand the capital budgeting decisions through the lens of bounded rationality and how these decisions are affected by different (national) contexts.,This is a comparative study in which the use of constructivist grounded theory allowed deep conversations about capital budgeting decisions. Data was collected from forty semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs/managers in two regions, Mexico and Canada.,Insights from this study suggest that entrepreneurs’ capital budgeting decisions are not only taken under conditions of bounded rationality but also suggest a prominent role of context in how bounded rationality is applied differently towards investment decisions.,While the findings cannot simply be generalized, exploring how capital budgeting decisions are made differently across two regional contexts adds to the understanding of the nexus of context, bounded rationality and capital budgeting decision-making.,Using a bounded rationality lens, this study contrasts and explains similarities and differences in the entrepreneur’s capital budgeting decision-making within small businesses. The insights add to the body of knowledge and help entrepreneurs to reflect on their approach to decision-making.,The paper uses a less commonly applied approach to understand two under-researched regional contexts. We use constructivist grounded theory to explore entrepreneurs’ capital budgeting decision-making in small businesses in two regions, Canada and Mexico. The comparative approach and the findings add to the understanding of decision-making, highlight the prominent role of context and also challenge some insights from previous research.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81728774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-20DOI: 10.1108/qram-06-2019-0076
E. Guarini, F. Magli, A. Francesconi
The purpose of this study is to analyse how academic staff cope with the new culture of performance measurement and assessment in universities. In particular, the study aims to shed light on how external pressures related to measurement of research performance are translated into organisational and individual academic responses within the university and the extent to which these responses are related specifically to the operational features of performance measurement systems (PMS).,The study is based on a case study conducted in an Italian public university and based on interviews with a cross-disciplinary sample of faculty members.,The study provides insights into how linking financial incentives and career progression to research performance metrics at the system and organisational levels may have important reorientation effects on individual behaviours and epistemic consequences for the academic work.,The study is based on interviews, so one limitation is related to the risk of researcher and interviewee personal bias. Moreover, this study is focused on one single case of a specific university setting, which cannot be fully representative of the experiences of others.,The study contributes to the literature on management accounting by exploring the factors that might explain why the unintended effects of PMS on academics’ behaviour reported by several studies might occur. From a practitioner’s point of view, it shows features of PMS that may produce unintended effects on academic activities. It also highlights the need to rethink PMS for the evaluation of university performance through the involvement of different stakeholders.
{"title":"Academic logics in changing performance measurement systems","authors":"E. Guarini, F. Magli, A. Francesconi","doi":"10.1108/qram-06-2019-0076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-06-2019-0076","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study is to analyse how academic staff cope with the new culture of performance measurement and assessment in universities. In particular, the study aims to shed light on how external pressures related to measurement of research performance are translated into organisational and individual academic responses within the university and the extent to which these responses are related specifically to the operational features of performance measurement systems (PMS).,The study is based on a case study conducted in an Italian public university and based on interviews with a cross-disciplinary sample of faculty members.,The study provides insights into how linking financial incentives and career progression to research performance metrics at the system and organisational levels may have important reorientation effects on individual behaviours and epistemic consequences for the academic work.,The study is based on interviews, so one limitation is related to the risk of researcher and interviewee personal bias. Moreover, this study is focused on one single case of a specific university setting, which cannot be fully representative of the experiences of others.,The study contributes to the literature on management accounting by exploring the factors that might explain why the unintended effects of PMS on academics’ behaviour reported by several studies might occur. From a practitioner’s point of view, it shows features of PMS that may produce unintended effects on academic activities. It also highlights the need to rethink PMS for the evaluation of university performance through the involvement of different stakeholders.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85856534","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-13DOI: 10.1108/qram-12-2019-0130
D. Argento, D. Dobija, G. Grossi
The purpose of this paper is to highlight and compare insights from research conducted in different disciplines on the effects of the use of calculative practices in academia. It also acts as an introduction to the special issue on “governing by numbers: audit culture and contemporary tales of universities’ accountability”.,This paper reviews the findings and reflections provided in academic literature on the various types of consequences stemming from the diffusion of the “audit culture” in academia. In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature in education, management and accounting, and other papers included in this special issue of Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management.,The literature review shows that a growing number of studies are focussing on the hybridization of universities, not only in terms of calculative practices (e.g. performance indicators) but also in relation to individual actors (e.g. academics and managers) who may have divergent values, and thus, act according to multiple logics (business and academic logics). It highlights many areas in which further robust academic research is needed to guide policy and practice developments in universities.,This paper provides academics, regulators and decision-makers with relevant insights into the critical issues of using calculative practices in academia. Despite the negative effects have been observed in various disciplines, there is an evident perpetuation in the use of those practices.,This paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the disillusion of calculative practices in academia. Yet, positive changes can be achieved within the complex settings of “hybrid” universities when the apparent class division between academics and managers is bridged.
{"title":"The disillusion of calculative practices in academia","authors":"D. Argento, D. Dobija, G. Grossi","doi":"10.1108/qram-12-2019-0130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-12-2019-0130","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to highlight and compare insights from research conducted in different disciplines on the effects of the use of calculative practices in academia. It also acts as an introduction to the special issue on “governing by numbers: audit culture and contemporary tales of universities’ accountability”.,This paper reviews the findings and reflections provided in academic literature on the various types of consequences stemming from the diffusion of the “audit culture” in academia. In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature in education, management and accounting, and other papers included in this special issue of Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management.,The literature review shows that a growing number of studies are focussing on the hybridization of universities, not only in terms of calculative practices (e.g. performance indicators) but also in relation to individual actors (e.g. academics and managers) who may have divergent values, and thus, act according to multiple logics (business and academic logics). It highlights many areas in which further robust academic research is needed to guide policy and practice developments in universities.,This paper provides academics, regulators and decision-makers with relevant insights into the critical issues of using calculative practices in academia. Despite the negative effects have been observed in various disciplines, there is an evident perpetuation in the use of those practices.,This paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the disillusion of calculative practices in academia. Yet, positive changes can be achieved within the complex settings of “hybrid” universities when the apparent class division between academics and managers is bridged.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78880687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-11DOI: 10.1108/qram-01-2019-0008
E. Aleksandrov
This paper aims to investigate the unfolding dynamics and evolving processes relating to the formation of accounting tools by university actors. It answers the research questions: How do individual actors engage in the formation of new accounting tools during university hybridisation? Specifically, what forms of reflexivity do these actors display in various phases of university hybridisation?,This is a longitudinal case study of the development of new accounting tools in one Russian technical university from 2010 to 2016. It is based on an institutional work perspective, involving 29 interviews, documentary analysis, and observations of internal meetings relating to new accounting tools’ formation.,The findings show that academics themselves were gradually engaged in the marginalisation of academic demands in university governance in favour of managerialism via accounting. Nevertheless, the role of accounting morphed over time from a dysfunctional and negative carrier of managerial ideology and its domination, to what could arguably be considered a mediation device between academic and managerial demands. These dynamic processes and the role of accounting within them are explained by the constant challenge stemming from the involvement of several groups of actors in institutional work, which is often unpredictable and fluid due to the intricate play of plural reflexivities and actors’ identities during university hybridisation.,This paper advances the field by showing that the engagement and reflexivity of academics in the formation of accounting tools is not a “panacea” to deal with hybridisation within universities. The results highlight several obstacles, including variation in the reflexive capacities of actors within the university, leading to a reflexivity lag and reflexivity trap.
{"title":"Actors’ reflexivity and engagement in the formation of new accounting tools during university hybridization","authors":"E. Aleksandrov","doi":"10.1108/qram-01-2019-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-01-2019-0008","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to investigate the unfolding dynamics and evolving processes relating to the formation of accounting tools by university actors. It answers the research questions: How do individual actors engage in the formation of new accounting tools during university hybridisation? Specifically, what forms of reflexivity do these actors display in various phases of university hybridisation?,This is a longitudinal case study of the development of new accounting tools in one Russian technical university from 2010 to 2016. It is based on an institutional work perspective, involving 29 interviews, documentary analysis, and observations of internal meetings relating to new accounting tools’ formation.,The findings show that academics themselves were gradually engaged in the marginalisation of academic demands in university governance in favour of managerialism via accounting. Nevertheless, the role of accounting morphed over time from a dysfunctional and negative carrier of managerial ideology and its domination, to what could arguably be considered a mediation device between academic and managerial demands. These dynamic processes and the role of accounting within them are explained by the constant challenge stemming from the involvement of several groups of actors in institutional work, which is often unpredictable and fluid due to the intricate play of plural reflexivities and actors’ identities during university hybridisation.,This paper advances the field by showing that the engagement and reflexivity of academics in the formation of accounting tools is not a “panacea” to deal with hybridisation within universities. The results highlight several obstacles, including variation in the reflexive capacities of actors within the university, leading to a reflexivity lag and reflexivity trap.","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81958339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-08DOI: 10.1108/qram-12-2018-0096
Rania Mousa, R. Pinsker
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation and development of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The investigation seeks to gauge the roles and experiences of the FDIC and its main stakeholders to determine their engagement in XBRL diffusion within their organizations. Design/methodology/approach This is an qualitative research approach that is driven by the use of an in-depth case study and supported by the use of semi-structured interviews. Findings The findings showcase the role played by the FDIC as the first US regulatory authority that implemented and developed Inline XBRL. In addition, the use of diffusion of innovation theory provides better understanding of each stakeholder’s issues, benefits and challenges based on their experience. Research limitations/implications The research does not examine the institutionalization of XBRL at the FDIC or its stakeholders. Therefore, future research could incorporate a different research design to capture the impact of the pressure resulting from the regulatory mandate. Practical implications The research offers practical insights into public information technology managers and policymakers at global government agencies which are either non-adopters of XBRL technology or current adopters and consider transitioning into Inline XBRL. Global stakeholders could learn from the US experience and develop better understanding of Inline XBRL applications and functionalities. Originality/value The originality of this research is driven by the FDIC’s experience as the first regulatory developer of Inline XBRL. As such, the case study is a best practice to future and current adopters who often navigate the nuisance of implementing new technologies and/or developing existing ones.
{"title":"A case study of XBRL implementation and development at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)","authors":"Rania Mousa, R. Pinsker","doi":"10.1108/qram-12-2018-0096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/qram-12-2018-0096","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation and development of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The investigation seeks to gauge the roles and experiences of the FDIC and its main stakeholders to determine their engagement in XBRL diffusion within their organizations.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This is an qualitative research approach that is driven by the use of an in-depth case study and supported by the use of semi-structured interviews.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings showcase the role played by the FDIC as the first US regulatory authority that implemented and developed Inline XBRL. In addition, the use of diffusion of innovation theory provides better understanding of each stakeholder’s issues, benefits and challenges based on their experience.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The research does not examine the institutionalization of XBRL at the FDIC or its stakeholders. Therefore, future research could incorporate a different research design to capture the impact of the pressure resulting from the regulatory mandate.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The research offers practical insights into public information technology managers and policymakers at global government agencies which are either non-adopters of XBRL technology or current adopters and consider transitioning into Inline XBRL. Global stakeholders could learn from the US experience and develop better understanding of Inline XBRL applications and functionalities.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The originality of this research is driven by the FDIC’s experience as the first regulatory developer of Inline XBRL. As such, the case study is a best practice to future and current adopters who often navigate the nuisance of implementing new technologies and/or developing existing ones.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46537,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2020-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79593409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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