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Management accounting and organisational change: an institutional perspective

Management accounting and organisational change: an institutional perspective Purpose – The paper aims at understanding the potential role of management accounting during a public hospital organisational change within a developing country in transition, Egypt. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on in‐depth interviews, an analysis of documents, and direct observations. It uses a framework informed by institutional theory together with Giddens' (1990) notion of ‘elements of system contradiction’ to analyse the empirical findings. The paper draws on both DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) notion of coercive, mimic and normative isomorphic mechanisms to link a changing hospital to the changes in the wider social and institutional context wherein public hospitals operate, while exploring the interlinkages between these changes and the hospital's processes of accounting change and institutionalisation (Burns and Scapens, 2000); and Giddens' (1990) notion of ‘elements of system contradiction’ in order to evaluate the role of management accounting. Findings – The paper concludes that both the institutional change and reform around management accounting together with the changes in accounting systems are entrepreneurial processes in order to trigger a public hospital to change. Research limitations/implications – Although the empirical findings suggest resistance to management accounting change within the case study, a full investigation and explanation of such a resistance is an area of future research. Originality/value – In contrast to the technical role of accounting, the paper shows how management accounting is acted upon to disrupt the hospital's micro institutions and routines, challenge physicians' professional and bureaucratic power and therefore engendering the public hospital to change. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change Emerald Publishing

Management accounting and organisational change: an institutional perspective

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1832-5912
DOI
10.1108/18325910510635326
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The paper aims at understanding the potential role of management accounting during a public hospital organisational change within a developing country in transition, Egypt. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on in‐depth interviews, an analysis of documents, and direct observations. It uses a framework informed by institutional theory together with Giddens' (1990) notion of ‘elements of system contradiction’ to analyse the empirical findings. The paper draws on both DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) notion of coercive, mimic and normative isomorphic mechanisms to link a changing hospital to the changes in the wider social and institutional context wherein public hospitals operate, while exploring the interlinkages between these changes and the hospital's processes of accounting change and institutionalisation (Burns and Scapens, 2000); and Giddens' (1990) notion of ‘elements of system contradiction’ in order to evaluate the role of management accounting. Findings – The paper concludes that both the institutional change and reform around management accounting together with the changes in accounting systems are entrepreneurial processes in order to trigger a public hospital to change. Research limitations/implications – Although the empirical findings suggest resistance to management accounting change within the case study, a full investigation and explanation of such a resistance is an area of future research. Originality/value – In contrast to the technical role of accounting, the paper shows how management accounting is acted upon to disrupt the hospital's micro institutions and routines, challenge physicians' professional and bureaucratic power and therefore engendering the public hospital to change.

Journal

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 1, 2005

Keywords: Accounting; Egypt; Organizational change

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