PurposeThe present study aims to explore how various doings, strategic actions and power relations stemming from internal agents are instrumental in (re)constituting the different forms and meanings of budgeting in a specific field.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a single-case study method based on a Sri Lankan public university. Data are collected using interviews, documentary evidence and observations.FindingsThe empirical evidence suggested that internal agents are crucial, and they are the producers of budgetary practice as they possess practical knowledge and power relations in the field where they operate. The case data demonstrate that organisational agents do have real essence as active and acting to produce effects in budgeting practices, and the significance of exploring the singularity of multiple agents in terms of their viewpoints, trajectories, dispositions and power relations, who may form, sustain or interrupt budgetary practices in a given setting.Research limitations/implicationsAs the research is directed towards the selection of in-depth enquiry of specific setting infused with culture, values, perception and ideology, it might cause to diminish the researcher's analytical objectivity and independence of the research.Practical implicationsAs budgetary practices are product of human interaction, it is important to note that practitioners should be concerned with what agents do in actual practice and their inactions, influences and power relations in budgeting practices, which might not align with the structural forces enlisted in the budgeting. It would be of interest for future empirical research to explore the interplay between the diverse interests of organisational agents and agents beyond the individual organisations.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on management control practices by documenting the importance of understanding the “practice” through relational thinking of all three concepts is emphasised, such interrelated theoretical insights are seldom used to understand accounting practices. This research emphasises the importance of bringing out the microprocessual facets of management control to open up its non-conscious, non-strategic and non-rationalist forms.
Purpose This study aims to explore the role of individuals’ habitus in an organization’s performance measurement practices. Habitus refers to how individuals with a particular background perceive and react to the social world. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the habitus philosophy developed by Bourdieu in his practice theory (Bourdieu, 1977), this study used a qualitative research methodology involving face-to-face interviews, observations of performance evaluation meetings and examination of documents within a Sri Lankan public university. Findings The authors revealed the power of university individuals as they possess practical knowledge in their field where they operate to make effects in the practice of a performance measurement system (PMS). In addition, the research findings show that mutually opposing strategies, self-interests and individuals’ varied power relations collectively play a dominant role in deciding the practical operation of the PMS at the university. Research limitations/implications While this study is constrained to a Sri Lankan public university, its findings offer insights into how individuals within an organization can emerge as influential players in PMS practice. Originality/value The findings enhance the understanding of how PMS practice may operate beyond traditional, calculative and abstract forms in an organizational setting. Instead, individuals, as micro-level forces in a specific social space, shape organizational practices, such as PMS, in universities.
Organizational cynicism has become a growing issue in present organizations. Empirical studies done on the concept of organizational cynicism and employee performance have been mainly carried out in foreign counties, there is dearth of research in this respect in the Sri Lankan context. Therefore, a gap can be identified to discover the relationship between organizational cynicism and employee performance of employees in different levels in Sri Lankan audit firms. Hence, examination of organizational cynicism and employee performance of employees in Sri Lankan audit firms was conducted throughout this research study. This research is expected to reveal the relationship of all three types of organizational cynicism (i.e. cognitive cynicism, affective cynicism, and behavioural cynicism) have with employee performance in audit firms in Sri Lanka. The perception of employees in the audit firms in Sri Lanka about their organization and the employment contract and their motivation towards work are further analysed. Primary data are collected through questionnaire from audit trainees, supervisors, managers in big 4 audit firms in Sri Lanka (n = 80) by using a convenient sampling technique. Analysis of data is undertaken quantitative approach and to achieve the research objective, Hierarchal multiple regression models are used by using SPSS to identify the impact of organizational cynicism on employee performance. The study concludes that organizational cynicism has a significant negative relationship with employee performance at audit firms and that each dimension of organizational cynicism (cognitive, affective, and behavioural) individually have significant negative relationship with employee performance. Furthermore, it was revealed that most of the respondents experience a breach of contract by the firm’s management. Thus, causing organizational cynicism and affecting negatively on employee performance. The findings of this study are expected to be particularly useful to audit firm management in effectively managing and retaining the best suited employees for auditing, for the success of the firm. Keywords: Affective cynicism, Behavioural cynicism, Cognitive cynicism, Employee performance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.