An institutional perspective on management accounting change in the public sector : a case study from Canada

This thesis reports on a four-year field study conducted at the Saskatchewan regional office of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, a large department of the Government of Canada. Over the course of the study, a sweeping government-wide accounting reform took place entitled the Financial Information Strategy. An ethnographic study was conducted that documented the management accounting processes in place at the regional office prior to the Financial Information Strategy reform, the organization’s adoption of the new accounting system associated with this initiative, and the state of the organization’s management accounting system once the implementation was complete. This research, therefore, captures in detail a management accounting change process in a public sector organization. This study employs an interpretive perspective and draws on institution theory as a theoretical framework. The concept of loose coupling and insights from the literature on professions were also employed in the explanation-building process for the case. This research contributes to institution theory and the study of management accounting change by recognizing conflicting institutional forces at the organizational level. An existing Old Institutional Economics-based conceptual framework for management accounting change is advanced and improved upon through the development of a new conceptual framework that incorporates the influence of wider institutional forces, the concepts of open and closed organizational systems and loose coupling, and the recognition of varying rates of change and institutionalization of organizational activity sets. Our understanding of loose coupling is enhanced by the interpretation of institutional influences developed in this study as is the role of professionalization as a normative influence in public sector organizations.

"Action at a distance":accounting inscriptions and the reporting of episodes of clinical care

This paper reports on an aspect of the implementation of a sophisticated system of Casemix Budgeting within a large public hospital in New Zealand. The paper examines the role of accounting inscription in supporting a system of “remote” management control effected through the Finance function at the hospital. The paper provides detailed description and analysis of part of the casemix technology in use at the research site. The implementation of clinical budgeting through the Transition casemix system will be examined by describing an aspect of the casemix system in detail. The design and use of management reporting is described. Reporting to different levels of management and for differing parts of the organisation are discussed with particular emphasis on the adoption of traditional analysis of costs using standard costing and variance analysis techniques.

Stakeholder accounting : the case of the electricity industry in England and Wales

This thesis proposes to explore the potential for stakeholder based accounting as a means to explain the social performance of organisations. It argues that organisations have a contract with society and as a consequence they must be accountable to that society for their actions. Further, it is suggested that as part of this accountability there is a broader need in the public interest for social accounting. Due to the pluralistic nature of modern societies it is argued that a stakeholder framework is one way in which this accountability can be achieved. In order to consider the nature of such social accounting a case study of the electricity industry in England and Wales is undertaken. This industry is very important to modern society, has significant environment implications and has a recent history of remarkable change. These factors make it an interesting and unique case within which to consider accountability. From the performance measurement and accounting literature and a series of interviews with both stakeholders and privatised companies a model of stakeholder performance is developed. This is then used to analyse the electricity industry in England and Wales since privatisation. The objective is to demonstrate how certain stakeholders have fared, whether they have won or lost. Further, institutional and resource dependency theories are used to consider what factors determine the relative success or failure of the different stakeholder groups. Finally the possible implications of recent developments in Social Accounting Standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), AccountAbility 1000 (AA1000) and Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000), and the potential for Internet reporting are considered.

Understanding accountants' participation in accounting information systems implementation : Malaysian evidence

The study is a two-part study starting with a nationwide survey in the private sector. The hypotheses derived from the Western literature were not significantly supported when the results were analyzed. It seems that the existing literature related to the phenomenon under investigation is mainly Anglo-Saxon culture oriented which is different from the Malaysian culture where the study was conducted. However, access barriers to private sector organizations shifted the focus of the research to the second part of the study that examined the issues in detail in four public sector organizations currently implementing accounting information systems – two hospitals and two universities. In the second part of the main study, the researcher developed formal and substantive propositions from the qualitative interviews which were substantiated using a cross-case analysis; as a result, a model for accountants’ participation in AIS implementation is proposed. The research shows that the process of influencing accountants to participate in AIS implementation is more complex than the literature suggests. There were many issues that surfaced during the case studies, such as conflict and empowerment which set a foundation for further research about how participation can be secured to help make the implementation of AIS part of an organizational agenda success.

Accounting in politics:devolution and democratic accountability, Mahmoud Ezzamel, Noel Hyndman, Age Johnsen and Irvine Lanley

Book review: Mahmoud Ezzamel, Noel Hyndman, A° ge Johnsen and Irvine Lapsley (eds), Routledge, 2008, 191 pp., £65 (hb), ISBN: 9780415425902

An empirical investigation of audit pricing in the public sector:the case of Greek LGOs

This paper investigates the associations between audit pricing and multidimensional characteristics of local governments by using a sample of Greek municipalities. The Greek institutional setting is interesting because it is politically pluralistic. Moreover, independent auditors appointed through a bid process exclusively perform the audits. Our results suggest a considerable variation on audit fees which is mainly driven by politically related factors indicating the importance of relevant theoretical anticipations in audit pricing in the public sector. Agency costs appear strong enough to explain audit pricing. We also confirm prior findings on the significance of audit complexity and size. Results also suggest that audit fees are reduced when an internal team dedicated to accrual accounting is appointed. Therefore, our conclusions offer practical implications for policy setters and regulators in the public sector in relation to audit quality.

Financial risk management for management accountants:Society of Management Accountants Canada, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

Management accounting guideline

Public R&D policies and private R&D investment:a survey of the empirical evidence

The importance of R&D investment in explaining economic growth is well documented in the literature. Policies by modern governments increasingly recognise the benefits of supporting R&D investment. Government funding has, however, become an increasingly scarce resource in times of financial crisis and economic austerity. Hence, it is important that available funds are used and targeted effectively. This paper offers the first systematic review and critical discussion of what the R&D literature has to say currently about the effectiveness of major public R&D policies in increasing private R&D investment. Public policies are considered within three categories, R&D tax credits and direct subsidies, support of the university research system and the formation of high-skilled human capital, and support of formal R&D cooperations across a variety of institutions. Crucially, the large body of more recent literature observes a shift away from the earlier findings that public subsidies often crowd-out private R&D to finding that subsidies typically stimulate private R&D. Tax credits are also much more unanimously than previously found to have positive effects. University research, high-skilled human capital, and R&D cooperation also typically increase private R&D. Recent work indicates that accounting for non-linearities is one area of research that may refine existing results. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Accounting and the emergence of care pathways in the National Health Service

This paper examines the effects of New Public Management reforms on the information infrastructure underpinning the work of public service professionals. Focussing on the case of the British National Health Service (NHS), the paper argues that hospital accounting reforms played a significant role in the emergence of standardised models of clinical practice. The paper moreover argues that, under the label “care pathways”, such standardised models of clinical practice became embedded in the information infrastructure of the NHS and concludes by discussing their implications for the work of doctors and hospital accountants.