Accounting without accounting

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio Frezatti ◽  
David B. Carter ◽  
Marcelo F.G. Barroso
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Accounting Information System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose – An effective management accounting information system (MAIS), as well as the accounting discourse related to it, can support, facilitate, enable, and constrain diverse business discourses. This paper aims to examine the discursive and organisational effects of an organisation accounting upon absent accounting artefacts, i.e. accounting without accounting. Situated within the discursive literature, this paper examines the construction of competing articulations of the organisation by focusing on what accounting does or does not do within an organisation. In particular, the paper acknowledges the fundamental importance of the accounting discourse in supporting, facilitating, enabling, and constraining competing organisational discourses, as it illustrates how the absence of accounting centralises power within the organisation. Design/methodology/approach – From a rhetorical, discursive perspective, the authors develop an in-depth qualitative case study in a manufacturing organisation where MAIS has been abandoned for approximately two years. Interpretive research approaches, from a post-structural perspective, provided the base for the structure of the research. The authors studied how other organisational discourses (such as entrepreneurship and growth), which are traditionally constructed with reference to accounting and other artefacts, continued to be produced and sustained. The non-use and non-availability of management accounting information created a vacuum that needed to be filled. The lack of discursive counterpoints and counter-evidence provided by MAIS created a vacuum of information, allowing powerful, proxy discourses to prevail in the organisation, increasing risks to business management. Findings – The absence of MAIS to support an accounting discourse requires that contingent discourses “fill in the discursive gap”. Despite appearances, they are no substitute for the accounting discourse. Thus, over time, the entrepreneurial, growth and partners' discourses lose credibility, without the corresponding use of management accounting information and its associated discourse. Originality/value – There are at least two main contributions from the case study and the findings presented in this paper: first, they provide a new perspective for studying MAIS, as a specific organisational discourse among other discourses that shape people relationship within the organisation as an examination of accounting without accounting. Second, this discussion reinforces the relevance of accounting discourse for other organisational discourses, supporting, facilitating, enabling, and constraining them, by demonstrating the effects of its absence.

Towards a taxonomy of intergenerational knowledge transfer practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
Kerstin Kuyken ◽  
Mehran Ebrahimi ◽  
Anne-Laure Saives
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Younger Workers ◽  
Intergenerational Knowledge

Purpose This paper aims to develop a better understanding of intergenerational knowledge transfer (IKT) practices by adopting a context-related and comparative perspective. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study design involving 83 interviews and non-participative observation in German and Quebec organizations has been chosen. Findings Two distinctive archetypes of IKT emerge from both national contexts: “we-individualizing” (Germany) and “I-connecting” (Quebec), leading to an eightfold taxonomy of IKT practices. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to young and senior workers and to high-tech sectors. Originality/value Comparative and inductive study of IKT, adaptation of IKT practices to national contexts, retaining younger workers. This inductive and comparative study allows a better adaptation of IKT practices to national contexts and therefore a better retention of younger workers.

How would you like your Turkish coffee? Tourist experiences of Turkish coffee houses in Istanbul

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Serkan Yiğit ◽  
Nilüfer Şahin Perçin
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Place Satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine and understand the experiences of tourists in the Turkish coffee houses in Istanbul, Turkey. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a qualitative case study method was used to analyze tourists’ comments with user-generated content technique by analyzing tourists’ comments. The data used in the study was collected through TripAdvisor, which is considered one of the most famous websites with tourist reviews and comments, between 20 May and 10 June 2020 from tourists’ reviews (n:219). Findings The findings show that Turkish coffee house experiences are heterogeneous based on the dimensions of coffee characteristics, place, satisfaction, recommendation and revisit intention, value/price and value-added experience. Moreover, value-added experience includes some sub-themes such as a memorable experience, authentic experience and culture learning experience. Originality/value There are some studies on Turkish coffee and Turkish coffee culture in the literature, but there have been no empirical studies investigating the Turkish coffee house experiences of tourists. For this reason, this study aims to examine and understand the experiences of tourists in Turkish coffee houses. Therefore, it is believed that this study will fill the current gap in the literature on tourists’ experiences of Turkish coffee houses.

Outsourcing relationship management: accounting in the decision mix

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 41-49
Author(s):  
Mirghani Nimir Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Management Accounting ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Monitoring Cost ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The paper aims to examine the role of management accounting and accounting information in decisions to outsource and manage outsourcing relationships. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a case study method. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews and informal discussions with executives of the participating companies. Official documents and secondary materials were analysed. Findings The findings of these cases present evidence of some roles given to accounting information and varying tasks assumed by accountants and finance staff in the outsourcing projects undertaken. These roles and tasks range from financial evaluation of new outsourcing proposals and alternatives, consultation and price negotiations in the planning and feasibility stages to the management of outsourcing relationships including monitoring, cost analysis, performance measurement, internal audit, design and implementation of risk-reward payment schemes. Managing the outsourced functions in one case involved in the use of informal control mechanisms such as trust, knowledge sharing, mutual understanding and cooperation between partners. Practical implications The paper highlights the role of management accounting and information in outsourcing relationship management and evaluation. The case findings provide the opportunity for management practitioners to understand the strategic role of management accountants in the management of inter-firm relationships. Originality/value The case study presents new empirical evidence of the role of management accounting and accounting information in the management control of outsourcing relationships.

Management accounting and leadership construction in family firms

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Leotta ◽  
Carmela Rizza ◽  
Daniela Ruggeri
Keyword(s):  
Family Firms ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Accounting Information System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Solar Shading ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
New Generation

Purpose Succession in family firms may determine the survival or the failure of the business itself. Management accounting literature has added little to this issue, mainly focusing on the process of succession and change (Songini et al., 2013; Giovannoni and Maraghini, 2013; Giovannoni et al., 2011). This study aims to deal with new management accounting (MA) practices that the junior generation may introduce during the process of succession. The aim of the study is to show that the introduction of new MA practices can contribute to constructing the leadership profile of the junior generation. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the perspective of actor-reality construction (ARC), the authors conducted a case study at a small-sized family firm producing solar shading systems. The authors examined how the construction of the successor’s leadership derives from the integration of four dimensions of reality: facts, possibilities, values and communication. Such an integration is facilitated by the introduction of a new accounting information system and cost reporting. Findings The case evidence highlights that the construction of the new generation leadership may emerge as a consequence of the introduction of new MA practices. Moreover, the field evidence highlights that the construction of a new generation leadership is a process that integrates the four dimensions of reality. Originality/value From the emergent perspective of ARC, the paper highlights how new MA practices play an active role in constructing the new generation leadership.

Negotiating gatekeepers and positionality in building trust for accessing the urban poor in the Global South

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutfun Nahar Lata
Keyword(s):  
Urban Poor ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Global South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Building Rapport ◽  
Female Researcher

PurposeThis paper explores the importance of building trust and rapport with participants using gatekeepers and insider-outsider dynamics in accessing vulnerable research participants in the Global South.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws data from a qualitative case study conducted in Sattola slum in Dhaka.FindingsFindings suggest that access to participants can be gained through building rapport and trust with participants. A trusting relationship further helps the researcher to explore the processes of social exclusion experienced by the participants.Originality/valueFew studies is published on female researchers building trust with vulnerable research participants negotiating gatekeepers and their subjectivity in the field. The paper contributes original insights into this from fieldwork carried out by a middle-class female researcher in Dhaka. It raises important issues in securing the trust of participants when they are part of disadvantaged, exploited or generally vulnerable populations.

The mediating role of human capital and management accounting information system in the relationship between innovation strategy and internal process performance and the impact on corporate financial performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1289-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benny Hutahayan
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Innovation Strategy ◽  
Process Performance ◽  
Accounting Information System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Units ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeAnalyze the importance of sustainable innovation strategy applied in manufacturing companies in Indonesia which affects the company's financial performance through several mediating variables.Design/methodology/approachThe population in this research was medium and large manufacturing company business units in East Java. Business units are part of a company considered as the profit center. The business unit as the unit of analysis in this research is part of the organization that: (1) is responsible for the production and marketing of a product or set of products; (2) is formed by product type; (3) has its own competitors which are different from competitors of other business units or divisions within a parent company; (4) has a manager who is responsible and has authority over the planning and implementation of strategies to achieve the specified profit target.FindingsInnovation strategy has a significant effect on financial performance. Human capital does not significantly mediate the relationship between innovation strategy and financial performance. Capital performance and internal performance do not mediate the relationship between innovation strategy and financial performance. Management accounting information system does not mediate the relationship between innovation strategy and financial performance. Internal process performance mediates the relationship between innovation strategy and financial performance. Management accounting information system and internal process performance mediate the relationship between innovation strategy and financial performance.Originality/valueThe difference in findings confirms that this research needs to be conducted. On the other hand, there is no research that has comprehensively tested the mediating effects of Human Capital and Management Accounting Information System in the relationship between Innovation Strategy and Internal Process Performance and the Impact on Corporate Financial Performance. The originality of this research can be seen in the use of contingency theory which narrows the gap between the industrial organization (I/O) paradigm and the resource-based view (RBV) regarding competitive advantage and performance. Specifically, this research introduces innovation strategy, human capital, management accounting information system, and internal business process performance as the contingency factors that affect financial performance. Second, empirically, this research tries to reduce the gap in empirical research by offering new research model and new research establishment at the level of strategic business units (SBU) in manufacturing companies in East Java. This research is expected to be useful for policy decision making, especially for managers who want to improve strategic business unit's financial performance.

Managing paradoxes, dilemmas, and change

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubens Pauluzzo ◽  
Marta Guarda ◽  
Laura De Pretto ◽  
Tony Fang
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Yin Yang ◽  
Case Study Data

Purpose Drawing on Fang’s (2012) Yin Yang theory of culture while taking up the roadmap proposed by Li (2016) for applying the epistemological system of Yin Yang balancing to complex issues in management research, in general, and to paradoxical issues, in particular, the purpose of this paper is to explore how organizations and individuals in the West can balance cultural paradoxes and manage culture dilemmas through the lens of Yin Yang wisdom. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a qualitative case study. Data are gathered through interviews, documents, and field observations in four subsidiaries of an Italian insurance multinational corporation and were analyzed according to the three parameters, i.e., situation, context, and time (Fang, 2012). Findings The findings show how the integration and learning from seemingly opposite cultures and sets of values lead the organization and individuals to balancing cultural paradox and managing cultural dilemma effectively. With regard to situation, the authors find that both organizations and customers choose the most relevant value(s) to take advantage of specific events or circumstances, and that different value orientations can coexist. As for context, the authors show that organizations can adapt their values either through suppression and/or promotion, which can foster individuals to find new balancing within the paradox. In terms of time, the authors show that the process of learning from other cultures over time can play a role in the shift of people’s and organizations’ choices of attitudes and value orientations. Originality/value The paper suggests the relevance and usefulness of adopting Yin Yang wisdom to uncover the dynamic process of cultural learning in Western scenarios.

The use of accounting in managing the institutional complexities of a festival organisation pursuing financial and social objectives

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Ståle Knardal ◽  
John Burns
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Institutional Work ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Alternative Community ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of accounting when managing the institutional complexities of a festival organisation pursuing financial and social objectives. Specifically, it focuses on how accounting can be implicated in handling a festival’s multiple and potentially conflicting logics. Also, through mobilising the concept of institutional work, the following builds on our knowledge of the importance of what people do, in managing an organisation’s institutional complexity. Design/methodology/approach This paper is grounded in a qualitative case study, for which the primary data derives from interviews, plus examination of internal documents and information in the public domain. Findings The festival studied is commercially successful, though ultimately one of its main organisational goals is to maximise donations to charitable causes. Other goals include: offering an alternative community through music, particularly to the young; fostering new and innovative artistry; and nurturing a festival family that is rooted to a large extent in its army of volunteers. The paper reveals how seeking such goals simultaneously requires the handling of logics that potentially can pull in opposite directions. Moreover, it highlights the efforts of festival organisers to maintain coexistence between the different logics, including the utilisation of accounting, accounts and accountability to facilitate this. Originality/value There are three main contributions of the paper. First, it offers new insight into how accounting can be purposefully used to mediate between potentially opposing logics in a complex organisational setting. Second, the paper extends our knowledge of the use of accounting specifically within a popular culture context. Third, the following adds to recent use of the concept of institutional work to understand why and how people mobilise accounting to handle institutional complexity in organisational settings.

scholarly journals Experience-based co-design to improve a pulmonary rehabilitation programme

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 778-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Williams ◽  
Alice M. Turner ◽  
Helen Beadle
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Pulmonary Rehabilitation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Rehabilitation Programme ◽  
Patient Perspectives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programme ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate patient perspectives on attending pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). This qualitative case study identifies the benefits and challenges to attending PR and presents areas of improvements as recommended by patients. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study of a UK case study based on a PR programme based on undertaking focus groups (n=3) and interviews (n=15) with current and former patients. Findings The findings report patient perspectives of the challenges and benefits of attending a PR programme along with recommendations on how the service could be improved. Research limitations/implications The authors focussed solely on a UK PR programme, so the findings might not be applicable to other countries if PR is organised and provided in a unique way or setting. Practical implications This paper provides valuable insights to patient perspectives offrom patients attending PR programmes, which are useful to those running and designing these services. Originality/value The findings identify the benefits and challenges for patients attending PR programmes and suggest areas where improvements can be made.

Economic geography and multipolar strategies: an empirical analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Caiazza ◽  
Graziella Ferrara
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Economic Geography ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Geographical Diversification

Purpose – In the last years global economy has become more integrated and multidirectional. Thus, in a world characterized by multiples center of economic power, firms need to define multipolar strategies based on geographical diversification in several countries that makes them able to compete with everyone, from everywhere and for everything. Despite of the relevance of such strategies, literature on this topic is almost absent. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Considering the exploratory nature of the research objectives, the authors present a case study for highlighting the main challenges of cross-border M & A under multipolar-world pressures. Findings – The paper evidences new trends in economic geography and multipolar strategies. Originality/value – The paper offers a new perspective on multipolar strategies.

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