IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v44y2017icp59-82.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing appreciation of micro-organizational processes of accounting change and indicating pathways to more ‘Enabling Accounting’ in a micro-organizational domain of research and development

Author

Listed:
  • Masquefa, Bertrand
  • Gallhofer, Sonja
  • Haslam, Jim

Abstract

The paper contributes by developing and refining the critical theoretical framing of organizational processes implicating accounting change. This includes articulating how accounting can become more ‘enabling’ in a dynamic micro-organizational context. The latter articulation reflects a critical theoretical appreciation and mobilization of the construct ‘enabling accounting’ that begins to contextualize and reconcile aspects of differing usages of this construct in the literature. In framing organizational processes implicating accounting change, the paper furthers understanding of accounting colonization around categories building upon Laughlin (1991) and related studies, including work seeking to develop Laughlin (notably Tucker, 2013; and the Social Network Theory he promotes). Change pathways implicating colonization are in this respect seen as shaped by structural, relational and social mechanisms. The theoretical framing advanced helps to illuminate aspects of colonization processes that facilitate, as well as hinder or counter, meaningfully enabling dimensions of accounting. This enhances the critical theoretical appreciation of colonization in terms of a more complex evaluation. The theorizing is fleshed out and developed through an action research project conducted at the Research and Development (R&D) site of a multinational corporation in France during the implementation of a performance measurement system (PMS). In theorizing accounting colonization and dynamics of an enabling accounting in an R&D setting, we add to prior appreciations of the relation between creative, innovative, ostensibly intuitive and unstructured processes, and, systems of financial control.

Suggested Citation

  • Masquefa, Bertrand & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2017. "Developing appreciation of micro-organizational processes of accounting change and indicating pathways to more ‘Enabling Accounting’ in a micro-organizational domain of research and development," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 59-82.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:44:y:2017:i:c:p:59-82
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2016.07.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235416300375
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2016.07.001?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. 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.
    2. Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, James, 1991. "The aura of accounting in the context of a crisis: Germany and the first world war," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(5-6), pages 487-520.
    3. Zan, Luca & Blackstock, Anthony & Cerutti, G. & Carlo Mayer, Maestro, 2000. "Accounting for art," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 335-347, September.
    4. Antonio Davila & George Foster & Daniel Oyon, 2009. "Accounting and Control, Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Venturing into New Research Opportunities," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 281-311.
    5. Martin Messner & Brian Jørgensen, 2010. "Accounting and Strategising: A Case Study from New Product Development," Post-Print hal-00528382, HAL.
    6. Malmi, Teemu, 1999. "Activity-based costing diffusion across organizations: an exploratory empirical analysis of Finnish firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(8), pages 649-672, November.
    7. Eric Abrahamson & Lori Rosenkopf, 1997. "Social Network Effects on the Extent of Innovation Diffusion: A Computer Simulation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(3), pages 289-309, June.
    8. Andrew B. Hargadon & Beth A. Bechky, 2006. "When Collections of Creatives Become Creative Collectives: A Field Study of Problem Solving at Work," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(4), pages 484-500, August.
    9. Ingrid Jeacle & Chris Carter, 2012. "Fashioning the popular masses: accounting as mediator between creativity and control," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(4), pages 719-751, May.
    10. Wouters, Marc & Wilderom, Celeste, 2008. "Developing performance-measurement systems as enabling formalization: A longitudinal field study of a logistics department," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 488-516.
    11. Davila, Antonio & Foster, George & Li, Mu, 2009. "Reasons for management control systems adoption: Insights from product development systems choice by early-stage entrepreneurial companies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 322-347, April.
    12. Kilduff, Martin & Crossland, Craig & Tsai, Wenpin & Krackhardt, David, 2008. "Organizational network perceptions versus reality: A small world after all?," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 15-28, September.
    13. Bisbe, Josep & Otley, David, 2004. "The effects of the interactive use of management control systems on product innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 709-737, November.
    14. Sonja Gallhofer & Jim Haslam & Akira Yonekura, 2015. "Accounting as differentiated universal for emancipatory praxis," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(5), pages 846-874, June.
    15. Adler, Paul S. & Chen, Clara Xiaoling, 2011. "Combining creativity and control: Understanding individual motivation in large-scale collaborative creativity," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 63-85, February.
    16. Ahrens, Thomas & Chapman, Christopher S., 2006. "Doing qualitative field research in management accounting: Positioning data to contribute to theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 819-841, November.
    17. Thomas Ahrens & Christopher S. Chapman, 2004. "Accounting for Flexibility and Efficiency: A Field Study of Management Control Systems in a Restaurant Chain," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 271-301, June.
    18. Chenhall, Robert H. & Hall, Matthew & Smith, David, 2010. "Social capital and management control systems: a study of a non-government organization," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 32980, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Oakes, Helen & Berry, Anthony, 2009. "Accounting colonization: Three case studies in further education," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 343-378.
    20. Jørgensen, Brian & Messner, Martin, 2010. "Accounting and strategising: A case study from new product development," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 184-204, February.
    21. Josep Bisbe & Ricardo Malagueno, 2009. "The Choice of Interactive Control Systems under Different Innovation Management Modes," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 371-405.
    22. Kimberly D. Elsbach & Andrew B. Hargadon, 2006. "Enhancing Creativity Through “Mindless” Work: A Framework of Workday Design," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(4), pages 470-483, August.
    23. Suzuki, Etsuji & Takao, Soshi & Subramanian, S.V. & Komatsu, Hirokazu & Doi, Hiroyuki & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2010. "Does low workplace social capital have detrimental effect on workers' health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1367-1372, May.
    24. Ditillo, Angelo, 2004. "Dealing with uncertainty in knowledge-intensive firms: the role of management control systems as knowledge integration mechanisms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 401-421.
    25. Brown, Judy, 2009. "Democracy, sustainability and dialogic accounting technologies: Taking pluralism seriously," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 313-342.
    26. Chenhall, Robert H. & Hall, Matthew & Smith, David, 2010. "Social capital and management control systems: A study of a non-government organization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 737-756, November.
    27. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Brownell, Peter, 1997. "Management control systems in research and development organizations: The role of accounting, behavior and personnel controls," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(3-4), pages 233-248.
    28. Silvana Revellino & Jan Mouritsen, 2009. "The Multiplicity of Controls and the Making of Innovation," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 341-369.
    29. Mundy, Julia, 2010. "Creating dynamic tensions through a balanced use of management control systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 499-523, July.
    30. Bertrand Masquefa, 2008. "Top management adoption of a locally driven performance measurement and evaluation system: A social network perspective," Post-Print halshs-00282391, HAL.
    31. Tucker, Basil, 2013. "Environmental disturbances, organizational transitions and transformations: A view from the dark side," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 242-259.
    32. Dillard, Jesse & Roslender, Robin, 2011. "Taking pluralism seriously: Embedded moralities in management accounting and control systems," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 135-147.
    33. Marc Wouters & Diana Roijmans, 2011. "Using Prototypes to Induce Experimentation and Knowledge Integration in the Development of Enabling Accounting Information," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 708-736, June.
    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. McLaren, Josie & Appleyard, Tony, 2022. "Social movements, identity and disruption in organizational fields: Accounting for farm animal welfare," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. O’Leary, Susan & Smith, David, 2020. "Moments of resistance: An internally persuasive view of performance and impact reports in non-governmental organizations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Aresu, Simone & Monfardini, Patrizio, 2023. "Oppressed by consumerism: The emancipatory role of household accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    4. Ferry, Laurence & Haslam, Jim & Green, Stuart & Adegbite, Emmanuel & Gebreiter, Florian, 2021. "Accounting colonization, emancipation and instrumental compliance in Nigeria," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    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. Chenhall, Robert H. & Moers, Frank, 2015. "The role of innovation in the evolution of management accounting and its integration into management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-13.
    2. Eva Lövstål & Anne-Marie Jontoft, 2017. "Tensions at the intersection of management control and innovation: a literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 41-79, February.
    3. O’Leary, Susan & Smith, David, 2020. "Moments of resistance: An internally persuasive view of performance and impact reports in non-governmental organizations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Emer Curtis & Breda Sweeney, 2017. "Managing different types of innovation: mutually reinforcing management control systems and the generation of dynamic tension," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 313-343, April.
    5. Bisbe, Josep & Kruis, Anne-Marie & Madini, Paola, 2019. "Coercive, enabling, diagnostic, and interactive control: Untangling the threads of their connections," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 124-144.
    6. François Meyssonnier, 2015. "Les dispositifs de pilotage de la performance en environnement innovant et incertain : étude comparative de huit startups," Working Papers hal-01147206, HAL.
    7. Cristiano Busco & Ariela Caglio & Robert Scapens, 2015. "Management and accounting innovations: reflecting on what they are and why they are adopted," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(3), pages 495-524, August.
    8. Henri, Jean-François & Wouters, Marc, 2020. "Interdependence of management control practices for product innovation: The influence of environmental unpredictability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    9. Habib Mahama & Zhichao (Alex) Wang, 2023. "Impact of the interactive and diagnostic uses of performance measurement systems on procedural fairness perception, cooperation and performance in supply alliances," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3253-3296, September.
    10. Ewelina Zarzycka & Justyna Dobroszek & Lauri Lepistö & Sinikka Moilanen, 2019. "Coexistence of innovation and standardization: evidence from the lean environment of business process outsourcing," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 251-286, October.
    11. Rúben Silva Barros & Ana Maria Dias Simões da Costa Ferreira, 2023. "Management control systems and innovation: a case study grounded in institutional theory," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 109-133, March.
    12. Chenhall, Robert H. & Hall, Matthew & Smith, David, 2013. "Performance measurement, modes of evaluation and the development of compromising accounts," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 51294, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Müller-Stewens, Benedikt & Widener, Sally K. & Möller, Klaus & Steinmann, Jan-Christoph, 2020. "The role of diagnostic and interactive control uses in innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Adler, Paul S. & Chen, Clara Xiaoling, 2011. "Combining creativity and control: Understanding individual motivation in large-scale collaborative creativity," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 63-85, February.
    15. Bedford, David S. & Bisbe, Josep & Sweeney, Breda, 2019. "Performance measurement systems as generators of cognitive conflict in ambidextrous firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 21-37.
    16. Andrea Fried, 2017. "Terminological distinctions of ‘control’: a review of the implications for management control research in the context of innovation," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 5-40, February.
    17. Cuguero-Escofet, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep M., 2012. "The just design and use of management control systems as requirements for goal congruence," IESE Research Papers D/949, IESE Business School.
    18. Norio Sawabe, 2015. "Value-driven responsibility accounting - dynamic tensions generated by competing values embedded in the management control system," Discussion papers e-14-020, Graduate School of Economics Project Center, Kyoto University.
    19. Chenhall, Robert H. & Hall, Matthew & Smith, David, 2017. "The expressive role of performance measurement systems: A field study of a mental health development project," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 60-75.
    20. Lill, Philipp A. & Wald, Andreas, 2021. "The agility-control-nexus: A levers of control approach on the consequences of agility in innovation projects," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

    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:44:y:2017:i:c:p:59-82. 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.