| 1. |
- Abrahamsson, Gun, et al.
(författare)
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Organizational identity and management accounting change
- 2011
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Ingår i: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1368-0668 .- 1758-4205 .- 0951-3574. ; 24:3, s. 345-376
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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.
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| 2. |
- Agostino, Deborah, et al.
(författare)
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NPOs and private governance forms for football clubs : towards a blended model
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Ingår i: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. - 0951-3574.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This study explores the relationship between governance model – private organisations vs non-profit organisations (NPOs) – and performance in football clubs. Design/methodology/approach: The study is a comparative case study of two football clubs with different governance models: Malmö FF, which is an NPO, and Bologna FC, which is a privately owned club. Findings: The results show that both football clubs focus equally on financial and non-financial performance, and in practice, both clubs use a blend of private and NPO governance models. While supporting efforts towards financial results, blending the models appears to support football clubs' management of the tension between financial and non-financial performance and the expectation that they will contribute to local development. Thus, using a blend of the two models is not only accepted but expected. Research limitations/implications: This study is a comparative case study of two football clubs. This study furthers our understanding of how football clubs manage the tension between financial and non-financial performance expectations. This is particularly of interest in light of the increasing professionalisation of sports, especially football, and how this might jeopardise the contributions that sport clubs make to the local community. Originality/value: By exploring the relationship between governance model and performance, this study shows that, contrary to expectations, privately owned football clubs focus as much on non-financial performance as clubs governed as NPOs. This study contributes to the existing literature by showing how clubs use a mixture of elements from governance models to manage the tension between financial and non-financial performance that has emerged in the wake of the increasing professionalisation of football.
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| 3. |
- Aleksandrov, Evgenii, et al.
(författare)
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Participatory budgeting as a form of dialogic accounting in Russia : actors' institutional work and reflexivity trap
- 2018
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Ingår i: Accounting, auditing and accountability journal. - 0951-3574. ; 31:4, s. 1098-1123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how participatory budgeting (PB), as a form of dialogic accounting, is produced in practice. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative case study of PB development for the period 2013-2016 in one Russian municipality. Based on triangulation of in-depth semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis, videotape data and netnographic observation, the authors employ ideas of dialogic accounting and institutional work. Findings The study shows that the PB experiment, which began with dialogic rhetoric, in reality, had very limited dialogic effects. However, the authors also observed that the PB dynamics over time made the practice neither inherently monologic nor dialogic. The authors explained such transformations by the way in which the individual reflexivity of actors altered when carrying out institutional work. Curiosity reflexivity was the most essential, triggering different patterns of institutional work to set up the PB experiment. However, further, the authors demonstrated that, over the course of the experiment's development, the institutional work was trapped by various actors' individual reflexivity forms and in this way limited PB's dialogic potential. Originality/value The study shows the importance of understanding and managing individuals' reflexivity, as it shapes the institutional work performed by different actors and, therefore, influences the direction of both the design and materialization of dialogic accounting experiments such as PB. In a broader sense, this also influences the way in which democratic governance is developed, losing democratization potential.
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| 4. |
- Aleksandrov, Evgenii, et al.
(författare)
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Participatory budgeting as a form of dialogic accounting in Russia : actors' institutional work and reflexivity trap
- 2018
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Ingår i: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. - : Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.. - 0951-3574. ; 31:4, s. 1098-1123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how participatory budgeting (PB), as a form of dialogic accounting, is produced in practice. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative case study of PB development for the period 2013-2016 in one Russian municipality. Based on triangulation of in-depth semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis, videotape data and netnographic observation, the authors employ ideas of dialogic accounting and institutional work. Findings The study shows that the PB experiment, which began with dialogic rhetoric, in reality, had very limited dialogic effects. However, the authors also observed that the PB dynamics over time made the practice neither inherently monologic nor dialogic. The authors explained such transformations by the way in which the individual reflexivity of actors altered when carrying out institutional work. Curiosity reflexivity was the most essential, triggering different patterns of institutional work to set up the PB experiment. However, further, the authors demonstrated that, over the course of the experiment's development, the institutional work was trapped by various actors' individual reflexivity forms and in this way limited PB's dialogic potential. Originality/value The study shows the importance of understanding and managing individuals' reflexivity, as it shapes the institutional work performed by different actors and, therefore, influences the direction of both the design and materialization of dialogic accounting experiments such as PB. In a broader sense, this also influences the way in which democratic governance is developed, losing democratization potential.
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| 5. |
- Argento, Daniela, et al.
(författare)
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Governmentality and performance for the smart city
- 2020
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Ingår i: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. - 0951-3574. ; 33:1, s. 204-232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of performance measurement systems as technologies of government in the operationalisation of smart city programmes. It answers the research question: how do the development and use of performance measurement systems support smart cities in the achievement of their goals?Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a longitudinal case study that uses an interventionist approach to investigate the possibilities and limitations of the use of performance measurement systems as technologies of government in a smart city. Interpretations are theoretically informed by the Foucauldian governmentality framework (Foucault, 2009) and by public sector performance measurement literature.Findings – The findings address the benefits and criticalities confronting a smart city that introduces new performance measurement systems as a technology of government. Such technologies become problematic tools when the city network is characterised by a fragmentation of inter-departmental processes, and when forms of resistance emerge due to a lack of process owners, horizontal accountability and cooperation among involved parties.Research limitations/implications – This paper is based on a case study of a single smart city, and outlines the need for both comparative and multidisciplinary analyses in order to analyse the causes and effects of smart city challenges.Originality/value – This paper offers a critical understanding of the role of accounting in the smart city. The ineffectiveness of performance measurement systems is related to the multiple roles of such technologies of government, which may lead to a temporary paralysis in the achievement of smart city goals and programmes.
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| 6. |
- Argento, Daniela, et al.
(författare)
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Governmentality and performance for the smart city
- 2020
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Ingår i: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. - : Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.. - 0951-3574. ; 33:1, s. 204-232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of performance measurement systems as technologies of government in the operationalisation of smart city programmes. It answers the research question: how do the development and use of performance measurement systems support smart cities in the achievement of their goals? Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a longitudinal case study that uses an interventionist approach to investigate the possibilities and limitations of the use of performance measurement systems as technologies of government in a smart city. Interpretations are theoretically informed by the Foucauldian governmentality framework (Foucault, 2009) and by public sector performance measurement literature. Findings – The findings address the benefits and criticalities confronting a smart city that introduces new performance measurement systems as a technology of government. Such technologies become problematic tools when the city network is characterised by a fragmentation of inter-departmental processes, and when forms of resistance emerge due to a lack of process owners, horizontal accountability and cooperation among involved parties. Research limitations/implications – This paper is based on a case study of a single smart city, and outlines the need for both comparative and multidisciplinary analyses in order to analyse the causes and effects of smart city challenges. Originality/value – This paper offers a critical understanding of the role of accounting in the smart city. The ineffectiveness of performance measurement systems is related to the multiple roles of such technologies of government, which may lead to a temporary paralysis in the achievement of smart city goals and programmes.
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| 7. |
- Arvidsson, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
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Adaptive framing of sustainability in CEO letters
- 2023
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Ingår i: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. - 0951-3574. ; 36:9, s. 161-199
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – This study provides insights into the external powers that can influence business leaders’ communication on sustainability. It shows how the socio-political context manifested in national and transnational policies, regulations and other socio-political events can influence the CEOtalk about sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts an interpretative and qualitative method of analysis using the lenses of the theoretical concepts of framing and legitimacy, analysing CEOs’ letters from 10 multinational industrial companies based in Sweden, over the period of 2008–2019. Findings – The results show that various discourses of sustainability, emerging from policies and regulatory initiatives, socio-political events and civil society activism, are reflected in the ways CEOs frame sustainability over time. This article reveals that CEOs not only lead the discourse of profitable sustainability but they also slowly adapt their sustainability talk to other discourses led by the policymakers, regulators and civil society. This pattern of a slow adaptation is especially visible in a period characterised by increased discourses of climate urgency and regulations related to social and environmental sustainability. Research limitations/implications – The theoretical frame is built by integrating the concepts of legitimacy and framing. Appreciating dynamic notions of legitimacy and framing, the study suggests a novel view of reporting as a film series, presenting many frames of sustainability over time. It helps the study to conceptualise CEO framing of sustainability as adaptive framing. This study suggests using a dynamic notion of adaptive framing in future longitudinal studies of corporate- and accounting communication. Practical implications – The results show that policymakers, regulators and civil society, through their initiatives, influence the CEOs’ framing of sustainability. It is thus important for regulators to substantiate sustainability-related discourses and develop conceptual tools and language of social and environmental sustainability that can lead CEO framing more effectively. Originality/value – The study engages with Goffman’s notion of dynamic framing. Dynamic framing suggests a novel view of reporting as a film series, presenting many frames of sustainability over time and conceptualises CEO framing of sustainability as adaptive framing.
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| 8. |
- Bebbington, Jan, et al.
(författare)
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Accounting and accountability in the Anthropocene
- 2019
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Ingår i: Accounting auditing & accountability journal. - 0951-3574 .- 1758-4205. ; 33:1, s. 152-177
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the nature and relevance of debates around the existence of, and ramifications arising from, the Anthropocene for accounting scholarship. Design/methodology/approach The paper's aim is achieved through an in-depth analysis of the Anthropocene, paying attention to cross-disciplinary contributions, interpretations and contestations. Possible points of connection between the Anthropocene and accounting scholarship are then proposed and illuminated through a case study drawn from the seafood sector. Findings This paper develops findings in two areas. First, possible pathways for further development of how accounting scholarship might evolve by the provocation that thinking about the Anthropocene is outlined. Second, and through engagement with the case study, the authors highlight that the concept of stewardship may re-emerge in discussions about accountability in the Anthropocene. Social implications Human well-being is likely to be impacted if environmental impacts accelerate. In addition, an Anthropocene framing alters the understanding of nature-human interactions and how this affects accounting thought. Originality/value This is the first paper in accounting to seek to establish connections between accounting, accountability and the Anthropocene.
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| 9. |
- Broberg, Pernilla, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Auditors' professional and organizational identities and commercialization in audit firms
- 2018
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Ingår i: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1368-0668 .- 1758-4205 .- 0951-3574. ; 31:2, s. 374-399
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain how auditors' professional and organizational identities are associated with commercialization in audit firms. Unlike previous studies exploring the consequences of commercialization in the firms, the study directs its attention toward the potential driver of commercialization, which the authors argue to be the identities of the auditors. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on 374 responses to a survey distributed to 3,588 members of FAR, the professional association of accountants, auditors and advisors in Sweden. The study used established measures of organizational and professional identity and introduced market, customer and firm process orientation as aspects of commercialization. The study explored the data through descriptive statistics, principle component analysis and correlation analysis and tested the hypotheses with multiple linear regression analysis. Findings The findings indicated that the organizational identity of auditors has a positive association with three aspects of commercialization: market orientation, customer orientation and firm process orientation. Contrary to the arguments based on prior literature, the study has found that the professional identity of auditors is also a positively associated with commercialization. This indicates a change of the role of professional identity vis-a-vis commercialization of audit firms. The positive association between professional identity and commercial orientation could indicate the development of organizational professionalism. The study also found differences between the association between professional identity and commercialization in Big 4 and non-Big 4 firms. While in Big 4 firms, professional identity is positively associated only with the firm's process orientation, in non-Big 4 firms, professional identity has a positive association with all three aspects of commercialization. Originality/value The paper provides insight into how auditors' identities have influenced commercialization of audit firms and into the normalizing of commercialization within auditing. The study also developed a new instrument for measuring commercialization, one based on market, customer and firm process orientation concepts. This paper suggests that this instrument is an alternative to the observation through proxies.
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| 10. |
- Broberg, Pernilla, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Auditors’ professional and organizational identities and perceived commercialization in auditing firms
- 2018
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Ingår i: Accounting, auditing and accountability journal. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 0951-3574 .- 1368-0668 .- 1758-4205. ; 31:2, s. 374-399
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeThis paper seeks to explain how auditors’ professional and organizational identities are associated with commercialization in audit firms. Unlike previous studies exploring the consequences of commercialization in the firms, our study directs its attention toward the potential driver of commercialization, which we argue to be the identities of the auditors.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on 374 responses to a survey distributed to 3588 members of FAR, the professional association of accountants, auditors and advisors in Sweden. The study used established measures of organizational and professional identity and introduced market, customer and firm process orientation as aspects of commercialization. The study explored the data through descriptive statistics, principle component analysis and correlation analysis and tested the hypotheses with multiple linear regression analysis.FindingsThe findings indicated that the organizational identity of auditors has a positive association with three aspects of commercialization: market orientation, customer orientation and firm process orientation. Contrary to the arguments based on prior literature, our study has found that the professional identity of auditors is also a positively associated with commercialization. This indicates a change of the role of professional identity vis-à-vis commercialization of audit firms. The positive association between professional identity and commercial orientation could indicate the development of “organizational professionalism.” The study also found differences between the association between professional identity and commercialization in Big 4 and non-Big 4 firms. While in Big 4 firms, professional identity is positively associated only with the firm’s process orientation, in non-Big 4 firms, professional identity has a positive association with all three aspects of commercialization.Originality/valueThe paper provides insight into how auditors’ identities have influenced commercialization of audit firms and into the normalizing of commercialization within auditing. The study also developed a new instrument for measuring commercialization, one based on market, customer and firm process orientation concepts. This paper suggests that this instrument is an alternative to the observation through proxies.
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