IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03134361.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Management accounting systems in institutional complexity: Hysteresis and boundaries of practices in social housing

Author

Listed:
  • Aziza Laguecir

    (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Anja Kern
  • Cécile Kharoubi

Abstract

This paper examines how organizational actors use Management Accounting Systems (MAS) in a public social housing organization in a context marked by institutional pressures for both social and financial accountability. More specifically, we use practice theory to examine the articulation of practical intelligibility, i.e. how actors make sense of competing institutional pressures in their day-to-day practices while being informed by less financially loaded MAS. Our findings underline that, despite increased institutional pressures on social aspects, actors' compromises reveal the predominance of financial concerns. We show that this might be due to, not only the current institutional pressures or the MAS, but also to the hysteresis of a structuring element of practice: the financially oriented teleo-affective structures imposed by previous NPM reforms. This study also describes the role of ABC/M and practice boundaries in the articulation of practical intelligibility for conflicting institutional pressures and in the way actors compromise.

Suggested Citation

  • Aziza Laguecir & Anja Kern & Cécile Kharoubi, 2020. "Management accounting systems in institutional complexity: Hysteresis and boundaries of practices in social housing," Post-Print hal-03134361, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03134361
    DOI: 10.1016/j.mar.2020.100715
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03134361
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03134361/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.mar.2020.100715?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heidi Sundin & Markus Granlund & David Brown, 2010. "Balancing Multiple Competing Objectives with a Balanced Scorecard," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 203-246.
    2. 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.
    3. Lukas Goretzki & Martin Messner, 2016. "Coordination under uncertainty," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 92-126, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Miller, Peter, 1990. "On the interrelations between accounting and the state," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 315-338.
    6. Ahrens, Thomas & Chapman, Christopher S., 2007. "Management accounting as practice," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-2), pages 1-27.
    7. Jane Broadbent & James Guthrie, 2008. "Public sector to public services: 20 years of “contextual” accounting research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 129-169, February.
    8. Thomas Ahrens & Laurence Ferry & Rihab Khalifa, 2018. "The hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(3), pages 341-357, March.
    9. Thomas Ahrens, 2018. "Management Controls that Anchor other Organizational Practices," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(1), pages 58-86, March.
    10. Llewellyn, Sue & Northcott, Deryl, 2005. "The average hospital," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 555-583, August.
    11. Hans Englund & Jonas Gerdin & Gun Abrahamsson, 2013. "Accounting ambiguity and structural change," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(3), pages 423-448, March.
    12. Ezzamel, Mahmoud & Robson, Keith & Stapleton, Pam, 2012. "The logics of budgeting: Theorization and practice variation in the educational field," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 281-303.
    13. Martin Messner & Brian Jørgensen, 2010. "Accounting and Strategising: A Case Study from New Product Development," Post-Print hal-00528382, HAL.
    14. Cristiano Busco & Paolo Quattrone, 2015. "Exploring How the Balanced Scorecard Engages and Unfolds: Articulating the Visual Power of Accounting Inscriptions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 1236-1262, September.
    15. Jordan, Silvia & Mitterhofer, Hermann & Jørgensen, Lene, 2018. "The interdiscursive appeal of risk matrices: Collective symbols, flexibility normalism and the interplay of ‘risk’ and ‘uncertainty’," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 34-55.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. Pollock, Neil & D’Adderio, Luciana, 2012. "Give me a two-by-two matrix and I will create the market: Rankings, graphic visualisations and sociomateriality," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 565-586.
    19. Jordan, Silvia & Messner, Martin, 2012. "Enabling control and the problem of incomplete performance indicators," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 544-564.
    20. Covaleski, Mark A. & Dirsmith, Mark W. & Weiss, Jane M., 2013. "The social construction, challenge and transformation of a budgetary regime: The endogenization of welfare regulation by institutional entrepreneurs," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 333-364.
    21. Burchell, Stuart & Clubb, Colin & Hopwood, Anthony & Hughes, John & Nahapiet, Janine, 1980. "The roles of accounting in organizations and society," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 5-27, January.
    22. Pascale Amans & Agnès Mazars-Chapelon & Fabienne Villesèque-Dubus, 2015. "Budgeting in institutional complexity: The case of performing arts organizations," Post-Print halshs-01218556, HAL.
    23. Stewart Smyth, 2017. "Public accountability: reforms and resistance in social housing," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 212-231, February.
    24. Baxter, Jane & Carlsson-Wall, Martin & Chua, Wai Fong & Kraus, Kalle, 2019. "Accounting and passionate interests: The case of a Swedish football club," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 21-40.
    25. Hopwood, Anthony G., 1987. "The archeology of accounting systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 207-234, April.
    26. Paul M. Collier, 2008. "Stakeholder accountability," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(7), pages 933-954, September.
    27. Lukka, Kari & Modell, Sven, 2010. "Validation in interpretive management accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 462-477, May.
    28. Pascale Amans & Agnès Mazars-Chapelon & Fabienne Villesèque-Dubus, 2015. "Budgeting in institutional complexity: The case of performing arts organizations," Post-Print hal-03616225, HAL.
    29. Miller, Peter & O'Leary, Ted, 1993. "Accounting expertise and the politics of the product: Economic citizenship and modes of corporate governance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(2-3), pages 187-206, April.
    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. Tuomas Korhonen & Virpi Sillanpää & Aki Jääskeläinen, 2023. "Anchor practices that guide horizontal performance measurement: an interventionist case study of the financial aspect of new technology implementation in healthcare," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(3), pages 787-816, September.
    2. Rouault, Julie & Albertini, Elisabeth, 2022. "Reconciling the social sector with external accountability requirements: Lessons from stewardship theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 485-498.
    3. Klein Jr., Vitor Hugo & Reilley, Jacob T., 2024. "The temporal dynamics of enterprise risk management," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(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. Boedker, Christina & Chong, Kar-Ming & Mouritsen, Jan, 2020. "The counter-performativity of calculative practices: Mobilising rankings of intellectual capital," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Yu, Lichen & Mouritsen, Jan, 2020. "Accounting, simultaneity and relative completeness: The sales and operations planning forecast and the enactment of the ‘demand chain’," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Crvelin, David & Becker, Albrecht, 2020. "‘The spirits that we summoned’: A study on how the ‘governed’ make accounting their own in the context of market-making programs in Nepal," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Palermo, Tommaso & Power, Michael & Ashby, Simon, 2022. "How accounting ends: self-undermining repetition in accounting lifecycles," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115278, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Giovannoni, Elena & Quarchioni, Sonia, 2019. "Exploring the generative power of performance measurement systems design," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 211-225.
    7. Casarin, Veronica, 2023. "Calculative frames, compromising metrics, and the multiple values of innovation: The case of technology incubation in the UK," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. van Erp, Wil & Roozen, Frans & Vosselman, Ed, 2019. "The performativity of a management accounting and control system: Exploring the dynamic relational consequences of a design," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    9. Fasshauer, Ingrid, 2012. "Les interactions entre contrôle et stratégie : redéfinition du rôle des cadres intermédiaires et du levier interactif de contrôle," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/11150 edited by Berland, Nicolas.
    10. Power, Michael, 2015. "How accounting begins: Object formation and the accretion of infrastructure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 43-55.
    11. André, Kévin & Cho, Charles H. & Laine, Matias, 2018. "Reference points for measuring social performance: Case study of a social business venture," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 660-678.
    12. Janni Grouleff Nielsen & Rainer Lueg & Dennis van Liempd, 2019. "Managing Multiple Logics: The Role of Performance Measurement Systems in Social Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-23, April.
    13. Baxter, Jane & Carlsson-Wall, Martin & Chua, Wai Fong & Kraus, Kalle, 2019. "Accounting and passionate interests: The case of a Swedish football club," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 21-40.
    14. Martinez, Daniel E. & Cooper, David J., 2019. "Assembling performance measurement through engagement," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Kaufman, Matt & Covaleski, Mark A., 2019. "Budget formality and informality as a tool for organizing and governance amidst divergent institutional logics," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 40-58.
    16. Lukas Goretzki, 2013. "Management accounting and the construction of the legitimate manager," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 319-344, February.
    17. Kraus, Kalle & Kennergren, Cecilia & von Unge, Amelie, 2017. "The interplay between ideological control and formal management control systems – A case study of a non-governmental organisation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 42-59.
    18. 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).
    19. 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.
    20. Robson, Keith & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2023. "The cultural fields of accounting practices: Institutionalization and accounting changes beyond the organization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Management accounting systems; NPM; Institutional complexity; Social and financial accountability; Practice theory; Social housing; Hysteresis; Practice boundaries;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:hal:journl:hal-03134361. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.