Three dimensions of formal and informal feedback in management accounting

Abstract

In management accounting, feedback has been analysed mostly as a loop between measurable outputs and pre-set goals within cybernetic control theory. This article calls for a wider framing of feedback, one which includes both formal and informal feedback loops. Prior literature on formal and informal feedback offers many overly dichotomous and heterogeneous usages of these two notions. We argue that instead of treating formal and informal as a strict dichotomy, they should be analysed together. In this article, we develop an analytical framework of formal and informal feedback along three dimensions – source, time, and rule. Our exploratory and interpretive case study is used for combining, analysing, and putting flesh on these dimensions, as well as introducing typical examples of formal and informal feedback practices in management accounting. Our findings indicate that formal and informal feedback coexist in a multifaceted manner and have room for many interpretations in practice. Our central contribution is an analytical matrix for understanding and examining formal and informal feedback in an intertwined manner.