The impact of institutions on management accounting changes at the Hudson's Bay Company, 1670 to 2005

Abstract

PurposeAims to examine the four different management accounting systems or sets that existed at the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) during the 1670‐2005 period with Burns and Scapens' institution‐based framework of management accounting change.Design/methodology/approachA case study was used with comprehensive archival evidence coming mainly from the Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA) and the HBC's private archive for 1670‐1970 and from interviews with retired and existing senior managers at the HBC for 1970‐2005.FindingsThe findings indicated that Burns and Scapens' framework was helpful. Institutions did prevent management accounting changes, even when seriously needed. Under certain conditions, institutions do not resist management accounting changes. Six suggestions are provided for extending and refining Burns and Scapens framework.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the 325 years of evidence was uniquely rich, it was still a case study of a single firm.Practical implicationsManagement accounting is slow to change because of institutions.Originality/valueManagement accounting change is very much path‐dependent. Changes occur in management accounting because of major external changes such as competition and modernization. Also, management accounting changes come from the introduction of taken‐for‐granted external techniques such as budgeting, capital budgeting, and planning.

tale of two breweries, a city, a depression and a nationalist socialist regime -as told from annual accounts and the supervisory board report

“…One useful method to explore change over a prolonged period of time is archival analysis. Such studies can provide useful insights into contemporary phenomena (see for example, Quinn 2014; Spraakman, 2006). The data source is archival accounting data from two German breweries -Löwenbräu and Spaten.…”

Desenvolvimento de modelo conceitual de sistemas de custos: um enfoque institucional

“…Muitas empresas têm implementado esses novos artefatos de contabilidade gerencial com diferentes graus de sucesso (COhEn;PAQUETTE, 1991;BRIGTh et al, 1992;TAYlES, 1995;KASURInEn, 2002). no âmbito acadêmico, diversos pesquisadores têm desenvolvido estudos para explicar por que e como ocorrem as mudanças na contabilidade gerencial (SCAPEnS, 1994;LIBBY;WATERHOUSE, 1996;GRANLUND;LUKKA, 1998;EDWARDS;EMMANUEL, 1990;EMORE;NESS, 1991;GREEN;AMENKHIENAN, 1992;SCAPENS, 2000;GRAnlUnD, 2001;SOIn, SEAl;CUllEn, 2002;PEREIRA;FREZATTI, 2006;SPRAAKMAN, 2006) e recomendam diversos arcabouços conceituais, vindos de fora da área contábil, para explicar essas mudanças (COVALESKI, DIRSMITH, SAMUEL, 1996;QUATTROnE;hOPPER, 2001;CASADO;BIO, 2004;SCAPEnS, 2006).…”

“…Tendo em vista que o modelo de Burns e Scapens (2000) é relativamente recente, são poucos os estudos que têm utilizado esse arcabouço teórico em estudos empíricos, destacando-se os trabalhos de Soin, Seal e Cullen (2002), Spraakman (2006) e Guerreiro, Pereira e Frezatti (2006). A contribuição deste estudo se dá à medida que, na revisão de literatura, não foi observado nenhum estudo focando especificamente a fase da modelagem de sistema de contabilidade sob o prisma da teoria institucional.…”

“…Como aquele modelo é relativamente recente, poucos estudos utilizaram sua estrutura conceitual em pesquisas empíricas. Alguns (Soin et al, 2002;Spraakman, 2006;Guerreiro et al, 2006) adotaram o que pode ser denominado perspectiva institucional para estudar vários aspectos da Contabilidade Gerencial, mas o presente artigo é o primeiro a focar especificamente a modelagem da fase inicial do processo de mudança no setor bancário a partir de uma perspectiva da Teoria Institucional. Utilizou-se o método de estudo de caso para avaliar os estágios embrionários do processo de implementação.…”

“…As that model is relatively recent, few studies have utilised this theoretical framework in empirical research. Some (Soin et al, 2002;Spraakman, 2006;Guerreiro et al, 2006) have adopted what might be called an 'institutional perspective' in studying various aspects of management accounting, but the present study would appear to be the first to have specifically focused on the initial modelling phase of a change process in the banking sector from the perspective of institutional theory. It was applied the case study method to assess the formative stages of the implementation process.…”