Structuration: A position–practice perspective and an illustrative study

Abstract

Abstract Most prior studies of accounting and control based on structuration theory have given primacy to the analysis of the virtual structures of signification, domination and legitimation. We argue that there is scope for researchers to focus on the more concrete aspects of structuration, such as the configuration and articulation of patterns in relations between agents over time. To do so, we advocate the deployment of a position–practice perspective, which comprises four inter-related elements: praxis, positioning, capabilities and trust. We illustrate use of the perspective in a case study of a joint venture between companies engaged in the production and shipment of oil and petroleum products. The position–practice perspective reveals control governed not by equity ownership, but rather a dialectic of control between joint venture partners whose activities are also affected by accountability to powerful institutions in the wider network. Nevertheless, industry practices are mediated by partner organisations, who rely heavily on trust in systems rather than interpersonal trust. Further research is proposed, using composite research strategies, different levels of analysis, and greater diversity in inter-organisational relationships. The position–practice perspective complements previous structuration studies by more clearly focusing on the praxis of situated agents, their positioning relative to others, the stratified pluralism of institutionalised practices, the consequent role of contradiction in social relations, the recursive cycles of disembedding and reembedding that link the local and global, the concrete and the abstract, and the complex and provisional nature of trust in creating order and coordination.