The Sociological Tradition and the Spread and Institutionalization of Knowledge for Action

Bundling and diffusion of management accounting innovations—the case of the balanced scorecard in Sweden

“…supply side factors. Alvarez (1998) and Mazza and Alvarez (2000) stress the importance of making innovations compatible with the societies to which they are transmitted (diffused). They also argue that cultural discourses and legitimisation are the main resources needed to enable the popularisation of an innovation.…”

The American balanced scorecard versus the French tableau de bord: the ideological dimension

“…A Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree may lead directly to a high-ranking management position; top managers at leading companies come from prestigious business schools and, because of their educational background, believe in management techniques. Similarly, the status of management education institutions is high, which legitimates the management techniques they develop; the diffusion of these techniques relies on managers and consultants with an MBA degree and, consequently, a high social position, which in turn maintains the high status of management education institutions (Alvarez, 1998). This is the virtual circle of the status of management and management methods in the United States.…”

“…We do not claim that the lack of coherence between the ideological assumptions of management methods and local ideologies is the only explanation for the limited use, in France, of the balanced scorecard and, in the U.S., of the tableau the bord; our only claim is that it is part of the explanation. Another part of the explanation may be the different institutional environments in the two countries (Abrahamson, 1991;Alvarez, 1998;Gehrke and Horváth, 2002); but as will be seen below the institutional environment in a country also bears the marks of its ideology. We suggest, however, that understanding the ideological issues may be crucial for the effectiveness of control systems, i.e., for their ability to make people act in the best interest of the organisation.…”

“…More generally, our results have implications for the construction and implementation of management systems: the importance of local ideology should be recognised, especially in the case of systems created and developed in ideologically different environments. Finally, the results give rise to a comment on the implications for French ideology of the globalisation of mainly American management methods (Alvarez, 1998).…”

“…Fifth, the balanced scorecard is a fashionable method without a tradition but with a fairly optimistic rhetoric which encourages managers to "go out and do it" (Alvarez, 1998). In this, it differs from the tableau de bord, which French companies have a tradition for using, changing and developing.…”