Management accounting change and sustainability: an institutional approach

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to propose an institutional entrepreneurship approach to examining management accounting change triggered by social and environmental concerns. Design/methodology/approach-The study begins with a literature review concerning the role that old institutional economics and new institutional sociology have played in the study of management accounting change, underlining strengths and weaknesses. To deal with the main weaknesses, the institutional entrepreneurship approach is presented and utilized as the basis for the development of a conceptual framework, which is contextualized to the examination of management accounting change triggered by sustainability issues. Findings-Management accounting change literature has not paid enough attention to the social constructivist roots of institutional theory. Through the application of a conceptual framework inspired by institutional change models and institutional entrepreneurship literature, this paper proposes another approach to examine how new management accounting practices are socially constructed during the course of organizational change, particularly in response to sustainability concerns. Research limitations/implications-This new framework has not yet demonstrated its explanatory power in a particular field. Originality/value-The paper examines management accounting change as a social construction process led by institutional entrepreneurs who aim to mobilize resources and negotiate the definition and implementation of sustainability strategies and new management accounting practices, which will take environmental and social issues into consideration, in order to reach an agreement on the pre-institutionalization, diffusion and institutionalization of sustainable practices.

The Development Perspectives of Sustainable Management Accounting in Central and Eastern European Countries

“…This implies the use of many different theories in researching management accounting systems. With positivistic, naturalistic, critical, institutional, and contextual perspectives (e.g., [2,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]), many management accounting scientists try to understand the multiple roles of management accounting.…”

“…The trend of these changes is confirmed by an increasing interest among researchers in alternative approaches to management accounting research [4,5,8,11,12,30,31,48,49,[61][62][63][64]. One of the main objectives of alternative management accounting research is to treat it as a social practice, which is built by a mutual influence of the external and internal environment of a business enterprise.…”

Perubahan Sistem dan Amalan Perakaunan Sektor Awam Malaysia Sebelum Era Milenium (1957-1999): Satu Kajian Kes Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia, Sabah

“…Objektif utama kajian ini dilakukan adalah untuk memahami bagaimana sistem dan amalan perakaunan pengurusan dalam konteks perubahan organisasi berlaku dalam era selepas kemerdekaan sehingga sebelum era Milenium bermula pada tahun 2000. Seperti yang telah dikatakan oleh majoriti sarjana dalam bidang ini termasuklah Arroyo (2012) dan Yadzifar dan Tsamenyi (2005), masih banyak lagi yang perlu diketahui mengenai perubahan perakaunan kewangan. Oleh itu, adalah dijangkakan bahawa kajian ini adalah bertepatan pada waktunya, dan dapatan kajian ini diharapkan akan menyumbang dari segi teori dan emprikal ke atas bidang ini.…”

Generic Strategy and Strategic Management Accounting Practices: Case Study of a Sri Lankan Telecommunications Company

“…They have identified the rules and procedures applied by the parent company to case company as coercive isomorphism. Arroyo (2012) suggested a new perspective of institutional theory called institutional entrepreneurship to bridge the gap between old institutional economics and new institutional sociology to study how new MA practices are socially constructed.…”