To better focus financial reporting research on key issues as seen by participants in the financial reporting process and to give added depth to the interpretation of archival and experimental results, there have been increased calls for financial reporting researchers to “enter the field.” As field research methods, especially interview-based, are rarely covered in accounting doctoral programs that focus on archival or experimental research, the goal of this article is to provide a basic primer on how to conduct positivist field-based research using qualitative interview methods. We assemble a set of resources that facilitate the transfer of knowledge about the interview method, both by reviewing the explicit knowledge that needs to be acquired, as well as by illustrating how we carried out a study on the earnings press release creation process. Such a “how to do” approach is well suited for the passing on of the tacit knowledge required by researchers beginning a qualitative research program. We hope to aid novice field researchers in financial reporting gain a basic fluency in qualitative interview-based methods. Increased fluency in the production of valid, reliable, field-based financial reporting research will benefit the financial reporting research community as a whole by leading to a greater appreciation of how financial reporting process participants see the world they are active in.
Budgeting is used throughout all types of organizations and is a significant topic of accounting research. In order to advance the discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of budgeting, future budgeting research will benefit from a comprehensive review of the theories used by previous budgeting researchers. This literature review highlights the major theoretical perspectives and specific theories used in budgeting research as well as the common variables used and methodologies, among other observations of budgeting research in 249 articles. Although we find no cohesive theory of budgeting, we identify the importance of a unified thought process to budgeting research and provide insights for future work in the area. EN QUÊTE D'UNE THÉORIE DES PROCESSUS BUDGÉTAIRES : UNE ANALYSE DOCUMENTAIRE RÉSUMÉLes processus budgétaires sont utilisés dans toutes les formes d'organisations et retiennent beaucoup l'attention des chercheurs en comptabilité. Pour faire en sorte que progresse l'analyse des avantages et des inconvénients des processus budgétaires, les chercheurs qui s'intéressent à ce sujet bénéficieront, dans leurs travaux à venir, d'une compilation exhaustive des théories utilisées par les chercheurs précédents. L'analyse documentaire proposée par les auteures met en relief les principales perspectives théoriques dans lesquelles le sujet est abordé et les théories précises adoptées dans la recherche sur les processus budgétaires ainsi que les variables et les méthodologies communément utilisées, entre autres observations tirées des travaux réalisés dans ce domaine, décrits dans 249 articles. Bien que les auteures ne notent pas de cohésion dans les théories avancées relativement aux processus budgétaires, elles mesurent l'importance d'un processus de réflexion cohésif dans la recherche sur les processus budgétaires et proposent des pistes de recherche future dans le domaine.Mots clés : analyse documentaire; comptabilité de gestion; processus budgétaires; théorie * Accepted by Pascale Lapointe-Antunes. We would like to thank Pascale Lapointe-Antunes for the opportunity, anonymous reviewers, Alan Webb, and participants at CAAA for their helpful and insightful comments. All other mistakes are our own. 508ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVES / PERSPECTIVES COMPTABLES 2. A subjective act at the best of times, we understand that there may be a few discrepancies should another set of researchers choose to do the same literature review that we have done. However, we worked to ensure integrity of the classification process.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the challenges of implementing a new activity-based budgeting model in a university setting. Design/methodology/approach The authors have conducted heuristic inquiry and content analysis to provide an in-depth examination and overview of the process of budget change at a not-for-profit institution. Findings Despite attempts to design a process where resource allocation is guided by principles of revenue generation, cost attribution, measures of quality and fit with strategic plan, overarching issues such as complexities of implementation and a lack of continuity of key personnel made it difficult to implement a new budgeting system. Research limitations/implications As it is a single case study, there may be some concerns regarding reliability and replicability. Subsequent work on a larger scale may mitigate some of these concerns. Practical implications The study demonstrates the challenges of implementing a new budgeting system where strategic choices may differ from revenue generating opportunities and when there has been significant turnover in personnel. The authors provide a perspective on how budgeting can be used to support an organization’s mission in addition to supporting revenue generating prospects, the empirics reinforce the implementation challenges and the need for continuity of key employees to implement change effectively. Originality/value The study suggests a new approach to incentive-based budgeting where resource allocation is informed by a number of activities (revenue generation, cost attribution, fit with strategic goals and quality of programs). It is not formula-driven and it stresses the importance of judgment to determine final resource allocation. Furthermore, the authors provide some support for the change management literature for implementing change in a complex organization.
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