Purpose – This paper aims to introduce and discuss a new contextual framework to explain the processes of management accounting change in various organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Having an institutional perspective, the paper develops a “conceptual contextual framework” of management accounting change. The methodology to accomplish this theory building consists of an integration of a number of different works summarizing the common elements, contrasting the differences and extending the work in some fashion. Particularly, it draws on theoretical triangulation by adopting three approaches: old institutional economics for internal processes and factors (Burns and Scapens, 2000); new institutional sociology for external processes and pressures (Dillard et al., 2004); and power and politics mobilization (Hardy, 1996). Findings – The proposed framework provides an understanding of the complex “mixture” of interrelated factors that may influence management accounting change at multi-institutional levels: political and economic level, organizational field level and organizational level. Research limitations/implications – The framework extends institutional theory-based management accounting research as well as provides a comprehensive basis for examining dynamics of accounting in the institutionalization process. Through further research, the framework will be extended and refined. Practical implications – The paper has practical implications for practitioners and officers as well as for the accounting profession and academics alike. Originality/value – The proposed contextual framework provides insights into the processes of change by focusing attention on the underlying institutions that encode accounting systems or practices in three institutional levels: political and economic level, the organizational field level and organization level. Examining the tension between institutionalized beliefs and values that may occur between these three levels of institutions will enhance our understanding of management accounting change in organizations.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the process of internationalization of higher education (HE) in the United Arab Emirates by examining the development of its HE system, and analyzing the components and results of internationalization.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a qualitative research methodology to analyze primary evidence from interviews with academics in the UAE, and uses documents and archival research as secondary evidence to provide a comprehensive view of the UAE’s internationalized HE sector. A review of the literature is undertaken to inform discussion and analysis which focuses on the internal and external environments of the UAE. A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis identifies the benefits and challenges for the UAE of internationalized HE.FindingsThe study finds that internationalization of HE in the UAE has grown rapidly in the last decade, and that the UAE has sought to establish and promote itself as an “education hub” in the Middle East. However, this may subsume the government’s parallel goal of educating its citizenry to the level of skills necessitated by globalization. Three major forces promoting internationalization in the UAE are neoliberalism, quality assurance, and imported internationalization, an approach seeks the prestige conferred by international accreditation that is predominant in the UAE as well as other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. An area of concern is the governance of systems to ensure high quality for universities that may be state-owned, privately owned, or international branch campuses. The study concludes that regional integration could provide the way forward for these countries in their internationalization efforts, not by standardizing but by better formulating study programs across the range of state, private and international higher education institutions.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has important implications for HE policy and governance in the development of internationalized HE in the UAE. It provides theoretical perspectives with practical implications, focusing on some of the critical issues in this developing field for HE administrators and practitioners alike. It also has implications for the UAE’s national social values and cultural identity. This may be a reflection of the UAE’s relatively recent unification as a state whose HE system, developed to skill its population, has been overtaken by the imperative to compete in a globalized world. The research is limited by the absence of longitudinal data to review longer-term outcomes.Originality/valueThe UAE, like other GCC countries, is striving to take its higher educational system to a higher level of performance. This study can be considered as one of the very few studies in the area of the internationalization of HE in the UAE. It contributes to the HE literature by identifying factors and circumstances that facilitate, and hinder, the development of internationalization of HE in the UAE. Globalization can be considered as one of the history’s most significant social processes, and the HE sector plays a vital role in the delivery of knowledge and skills to societies, and thus its socio-economic development.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergence processes of accounting change in the Jordanian Ministry of Finance as well as the Jordanian public sector within its socio-economic contexts, as brought about by public and fiscal reforms. The study explains the ways in which accounting change dynamics can emerge on the basis of interaction between “external” origins and “internal” accounts; which identifies that accounting is both shaped by, and shaping, wider socio-economic and political processes. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses an interpretive case study approach. The study adopts institutional and structuration theory as a theoretical lens and uses triangulation in data collection, including interviews, observations and documents and archival records. Findings The paper concludes that the new budgeting systems together with the Results-Based Management emerged as a result of interaction between “external” origins and “internal” accounts. It also highlights the interaction between these levels from one side, and the accounting and organizational change from the other side. The study confirms that factors other than economic may also play an influential role in the emergence of accounting change. It also concludes that there is a radical change of accounting systems in the case study (Ministry of Finance), which is not only a cosmetic change in accounting but is also represented in the actual working practices. The study also confirms that accounting is not a static phenomenon, but one that changes over time to reflect new systems and practices. Research limitations/implications The paper has important implications for institutional research on accounting change and public sector reforms in responding to recent calls to bridge the gap between the extra- and intra-organizational levels of analysis. Hence, it has essential implications for the way in which successful change can be defined in accounting and organizational change literature. It also identifies that management accounting is both shaped by, and shapes, wider socio-economic and political processes, which has important implications for the methods of studying management accounting change. Originality/value The paper is one of the few case studies in the accounting literature to analyze the practical issues organizations face when changing their method of budgeting as influenced by public sector and fiscal reforms. The study contributes to both accounting literature and institutional theory by providing further understanding and “thick explanation” of the dynamics of accounting change in the public sector.

PurposeThis study aims to explain the implementation of Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and underlying factors and challenges that might be practiced by the users. It also provides a comparison between traditional and Cloud ERP systems.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses qualitative case study and analyzes the primary evidences from in-depth interviews. It conducts a thematic analysis of the interviews' findings. Furthermore, the current study uses three groups of factors (technological, management and environmental) that are expected to be best determinants of the Cloud ERP implementation.FindingsThe findings provide an evidence that using the Cloud EPR system, as alternative to on premise traditional ERP system, is constructive to the success of organizations and improve the quality of their decision-making process. The findings also reveal that effectiveness of implementing Cloud ERP is reliable on the provider's professionalism; hence resulting in issues related to minimize organizational independence.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is subjected to case studies limitations, as it lacks rigor and generalization. The paper has important implications for practitioners and decision-makers alike as it presents real-life example about Cloud ERP implementation. It thus enhances decision-makers' ability to make a relevant reporting process in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Originality/valueThis study can be considered as a one of very few case studies that discusses Cloud ERP implementation in UAE organizations particularly SMEs. It also provides three groups of factors (technological, management and environmental) that are influenced by the Cloud ERP implementation.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of accounting education and practice as influenced by the socio-economic transformation in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents an explanatory study of how accounting education and practice has developed in relation to socio-economic change in Jordan, using the institutional economic theory-based constructivist approach, in which knowledge is constructed by compiling data from different sources, including historical and statistical analyses, documents, and archival records. Findings The study finds that accounting education in Jordan cannot be effectively studied without reference to how accounting practice affects, and is affected by the social, economic, political and cultural dimensions of its operating environment. The study finds that accounting change has been driven by the Jordanian Government’s response to the macroeconomic challenges that had historically restricted economic growth, including the scarcity of natural resources, budget deficits, soaring debt, and structural unemployment. The ongoing program of privatization has been a significant contributor to economic, accounting, and legal change. Since accountancy is accepted as a social practice, culture plays a significant role in accounting research, and cultural factors bearing on accounting education and practice in Jordan include the historical imposition of western accounting paradigms in developing countries, Jordan’s cultural values, the quality of its education system, and the disparity between the private sector’s and public management’s embrace of technology and applications for management accounting. The study finds that accounting education in Jordan cannot be effectively studied without reference to how accounting affects, and is affected by the social, economic, political and cultural dimensions of its operating environment. Research limitations/implications This paper describes the development of accounting education in an environment of socio-economic change, which has potential implications for accounting practitioners, academics, and policy makers in developing countries. The study’s constructivist approach selected with the aim of constructing a picture of the change environment, and thus, present new knowledge in a compilation of data limits, however, the generalizability of the findings. Originality/value The paper is a one of very few research studies in the accounting literature to present evidence from the Middle East of how accounting education and practice has developed in response to socio-economic transformation, and has itself contributed to socio-economic growth in Jordan. The significance of cultural factors in these developments provides further understanding of the dynamics of developing accounting education and practice in the era of globalization.