Abstract
The objective of this study is to discuss the main aspects of management accounting change and the present stage of research in the area. Research in the field of management accounting change can be characterised by its methodological diversity which includes interpretive research, critical research and the traditional functionalist and positivist research. A variety of research methods have also been used, including surveys, fieldwork, case studies and ethnographic studies, as well as studies that have adopted a more conventional quantitative approach, such as contingency-type studies. In addition, researchers have drawn on a wide range of theories, including traditional positivistic theories, such as economic theory and contingency theory, and alternative theories, such as institutional theory, structuration theory, actor network theory, middle-range thinking, labour process theory, political economy, and Foucault’s theory. Therefore, management accounting change is a heterogenic field of research with a non-dominant paradigm.
Highlights
The objective of this study is to discuss the main aspects of management accounting change and the present stage of research in the area by conducting a literature review in this subject
Despite the importance of management accounting to organisations, a number of experts have argued that management accounting has changed much more slowly than necessary to fulfil the demand for information in the present organisational environment (Burns et al, 1999; Johnson and Kaplan, 1987; Scapens, 2006a; Scapens et al, 2003; Sorensen, 2009)
As Busco et al (2007, p. 146) conclude “Management accounting change is a laboratory, a theoretical puzzle the solution of which is difficult because there will always be a missing piece which will allow the continuous work around the composition of the picture”
Summary
The objective of this study is to discuss the main aspects of management accounting change and the present stage of research in the area by conducting a literature review in this subject. Management accounting change can be seen as a fundamentally local concern This perspective deals with internal issues, such as relations of power, politics, and organisational culture, which may impact on the process of management accounting change. This is a controversial issue because the task of determining the starting point of a process of change in many cases is an exercise of speculation This is because in many situations change does not happen on a linear timeline that the researcher can monitor, but in a network of relations that create multiple spaces and times which are very difficult to account for (Quattrone and Hopper, 2001, 2005). Busco et al (2007) pay great attention to the interplay between change and stability This is a key dimension to understand the process of management accounting change within an organisation. (1) the agents and object of change; (2) the form and ratio of change; (3) the space and time of change; and (4) the interplay between change and stability
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