IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v24y2013i1p62-73.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of structure and agency in management accounting control change of a family owned firm: A Greek case study

Author

Listed:
  • Stergiou, Konstantinos
  • Ashraf, Junaid
  • Uddin, Shahzad

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the changes in management accounting controls in a large Greek company (pseudonym: FA), with a focus on understanding the role of structure and agency in this change. In order to do this, we have employed a critical realist philosophy, pioneered by Roy Bhaskar (Bhaskar, 1979; 1997). We believe that the empirics of the case, the time span under consideration, and our theoretical approach provide us with a unique opportunity to explore the role of structure and agency in changing management accounting controls within the case firm. Our analysis revealed that changes in management control practices in FA were a function of different interacting structural conditions as mediated through human agency. This paper contributes to the debate about how to conceptualise agency and structure in management accounting control change (Kilfoyle and Richardson, 2011). Our analysis also demonstrates that the ‘dualism’ approach to agency and structure will result in a better analysis of management accounting control changes within firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Stergiou, Konstantinos & Ashraf, Junaid & Uddin, Shahzad, 2013. "The role of structure and agency in management accounting control change of a family owned firm: A Greek case study," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 62-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:24:y:2013:i:1:p:62-73
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2012.09.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235412000986
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2012.09.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toms, Steven, 2005. "Financial control, managerial control and accountability: evidence from the British Cotton Industry, 1700-2000," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(7-8), pages 627-653.
    2. Peter Armstrong, 1989. "Management, Labour Process and Agency," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 3(3), pages 307-322, September.
    3. Dent, Jeremy F., 1991. "Accounting and organizational cultures: A field study of the emergence of a new organizational reality," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 705-732.
    4. McConaughy, Daniel L. & Walker, Michael C. & Henderson, Glenn Jr. & Mishra, Chandra S., 1998. "Founding family controlled firms: Efficiency and value," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19.
    5. Whitley, R., 1999. "Firms, institutions and management control: the comparative analysis of coordination and control systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(5-6), pages 507-524, July.
    6. Cruz, Inês & Scapens, Robert W. & Major, Maria, 2011. "The localisation of a global management control system," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 412-427.
    7. Ahrens, Thomas, 2008. "Overcoming the subjective-objective divide in interpretive management accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(2-3), pages 292-297.
    8. Makridakis, Spyros & Caloghirou, Yannis & Papagiannakis, Lefteris & Trivellas, Panagiotis, 1997. "The dualism of greek firms and management: Present state and future implications," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 381-402, August.
    9. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas, 2011. "Agency and structure in management accounting research: Reflections and extensions of Kilfoyle and Richardson," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 581-592.
    10. Hopper, Trevor & Armstrong, Peter, 1991. "Cost accounting, controlling labour and the rise of conglomerates," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(5-6), pages 405-438.
    11. B. Leca & P. Naccache, 2006. "A critical realist approach to institutional entrepreneurship," Post-Print hal-00290012, HAL.
    12. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas & Burns, John, 2011. "25 Years of Giddens in accounting research: Achievements, limitations and the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 494-513.
    13. Tsamenyi, Mathew & Noormansyah, Irvan & Uddin, Shahzad, 2008. "Management controls in family-owned businesses (FOBs): A case study of an Indonesian family-owned University," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 62-74.
    14. Mahmoud Ezzamel & Noel Hyndman & Åge Johnsen & Irvine Lapsley & June Pallot, 2007. "Experiencing institutionalization: the development of new budgets in the UK devolved bodies," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(1), pages 11-40, March.
    15. Mouritsen, Jan, 1999. "The flexible firm: strategies for a subcontractor's management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 31-55, January.
    16. Uddin, Shahzad, 2009. "Rationalities, domination and accounting control: A case study from a traditional society," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 782-794.
    17. Mathew Tsamenyi & Irvan Noormansyah & Shahzad Uddin, 2008. "Management controls in family-owned businesses (FOBs): A case study of an Indonesian family-owned University," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 62-74, March.
    18. Caramanis, Constantinos V., 2002. "The interplay between professional groups, the state and supranational agents: Pax Americana in the age of 'globalisation'," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(4-5), pages 379-408.
    19. Miller, Peter & O'Leary, Ted, 1987. "Accounting and the construction of the governable person," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 235-265, April.
    20. Bryer, R. A., 2005. "A Marxist accounting history of the British industrial revolution: a review of evidence and suggestions for research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 25-65, January.
    21. Unknown, 2005. "Forward," 2005 Conference: Slovenia in the EU - Challenges for Agriculture, Food Science and Rural Affairs, November 10-11, 2005, Moravske Toplice, Slovenia 183804, Slovenian Association of Agricultural Economists (DAES).
    22. Kilfoyle, Eksa & Richardson, Alan J., 2011. "Agency and structure in budgeting: Thesis, antithesis and synthesis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 183-199.
    23. Kakkuri-Knuuttila, Marja-Liisa & Lukka, Kari & Kuorikoski, Jaakko, 2008. "Straddling between paradigms: A naturalistic philosophical case study on interpretive research in management accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(2-3), pages 267-291.
    24. Briers, Michael & Chua, Wai Fong, 2001. "The role of actor-networks and boundary objects in management accounting change: a field study of an implementation of activity-based costing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 237-269, April.
    25. Macintosh, Norman B. & Scapens, Robert W., 1990. "Structuration theory in management accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 455-477.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ashraf, Junaid & Uddin, Shahzad, 2016. "New public management, cost savings and regressive effects: A case from a less developed country," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 18-33.
    2. Anja Heinicke, 2018. "Performance measurement systems in small and medium-sized enterprises and family firms: a systematic literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 457-502, February.
    3. Martin Quinn & Martin R. W. Hiebl & Ken Moores & Justin B. Craig, 2018. "Future research on management accounting and control in family firms: suggestions linked to architecture, governance, entrepreneurship and stewardship," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 529-546, February.
    4. Mattias Sandgren & Timur Uman & Mattias Nordqvist, 2023. "Accountants in family firms—a systematic literature review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 349-388, June.
    5. Modell, Sven, 2017. "Critical realist accounting research: In search of its emancipatory potential," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-35.
    6. Francesca Maria Cesaroni & Annalisa Sentuti, 2019. "Il cambiamento dei sistemi di controllo manageriale e il processo di successione nelle imprese familiari. Quali possibili relazioni?," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1), pages 17-44.
    7. Pianezzi, Daniela & Ashraf, Muhammad Junaid, 2022. "Accounting for ignorance: An investigation into corruption, immigration and the state," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    8. Martin R. W. Hiebl & Barbara Mayrleitner, 2019. "Professionalization of management accounting in family firms: the impact of family members," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(5), pages 1037-1068, November.
    9. Daniel Magalhães Mucci & Ann Jorissen & Fabio Frezatti & Diógenes de Souza Bido, 2021. "Managerial Controls in Private Family Firms: The Influence of a Family’s Decision Premises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Constable, Philip & Kuasirikun, Nooch, 2020. "From cosmological to commercial form: A Buddhist theory of ‘form’, ‘space’ and ‘stream of re-becoming’ in mid-19th century Thai accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    3. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas & Burns, John, 2011. "25 Years of Giddens in accounting research: Achievements, limitations and the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 494-513.
    4. Modell, Sven, 2017. "Critical realist accounting research: In search of its emancipatory potential," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-35.
    5. Toms, Steven & Fleischman, Richard K., 2015. "Accounting fundamentals and accounting change: Boulton & Watt and the Springfield Armory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-20.
    6. Norma Pontet Ubal, 2016. "Cost Accounting Systems and Institutional Theory: Analysis in a Uruguayan Terminal Port," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 7(5), pages 249-263.
    7. Modell, Sven & Vinnari, Eija & Lukka, Kari, 2017. "On the virtues and vices of combining theories: The case of institutional and actor-network theories in accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 62-78.
    8. Luft, Joan & Shields, Michael D., 2003. "Mapping management accounting: graphics and guidelines for theory-consistent empirical research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 169-249.
    9. Cooper, Christine, 2015. "Entrepreneurs of the self: The development of management control since 1976," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 14-24.
    10. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas, 2014. "Structuration theory in accounting research: Applications and applicability," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 162-180.
    11. Juhani Vaivio, 2008. "Qualitative management accounting research: rationale, pitfalls and potential," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(1), pages 64-86, March.
    12. Anne Pezet & Jérémy Morales, 2010. "Les contrôleurs de gestion, « médiateurs » de la financiarisation," Post-Print halshs-00498673, HAL.
    13. Ben Khaled, Wafa & Gérard, Benoît & Farjaudon, Anne-Laure, 2022. "Analysis of the political and identity dynamics of a dominant mode of control: The case of business ethics control and its legalization," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Ahrens, Thomas & Mollona, Massimiliano, 2007. "Organisational control as cultural practice--A shop floor ethnography of a Sheffield steel mill," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(4-5), pages 305-331.
    15. Skærbæk, Peter & Tryggestad, Kjell, 2010. "The role of accounting devices in performing corporate strategy," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 108-124, January.
    16. Mihret, Dessalegn Getie, 2014. "How can we explain internal auditing? The inadequacy of agency theory and a labor process alternative," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 771-782.
    17. Kakkuri-Knuuttila, Marja-Liisa & Lukka, Kari & Kuorikoski, Jaakko, 2008. "No premature closures of debates, please: A response to Ahrens," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(2-3), pages 298-301.
    18. Bryer, Alice Rose, 2014. "Conscious practices and purposive action: A qualitative study of accounting and social change," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 93-103.
    19. Conrad, Lynne, 2014. "Reflections on the application of and potential for structuration theory in accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 128-134.
    20. Ulrike Schmidt & Thomas Günther, 2016. "Public sector accounting research in the higher education sector: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 66(4), pages 235-265, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:24:y:2013:i:1:p:62-73. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.