Convergence versus divergence of performance measurement systems

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to report on two institutional change scenarios of performance measurement (PM) systems, namely, subversion and integration. Subversion represents insiders' use of existing institutional logic whereas integration represents insiders' use of imported institutional logic. Design/methodology/approach -The scenarios are drawn from two case studies: BAE Systems (a large UK manufacturing company) and Alpha (a medium-sized Sri Lankan manufacturing company). The data were collected through in-depth interviews and documentary sources. Findings -An internal "culture change programme" led to a business value scorecard (BVS) in BAE Systems, and an external knowledge diffusion programme gave rise to a balanced scorecard (BSC) in Alpha. The culture change programme was facilitated by a particular institutional logic resulting in a successful BVS practice. In contrast, at Alpha, the BSC project was externally imposed, although it was designed with the blessing of the owner-manager. This triggered internal controversies and the workforce became unreceptive. Consequently, attention was diverted to other management fads such as total quality management, Six Sigma, and enterprise resource planning but these were also short lived. Research limitations/implications -While this paper provides evidence on practice variation and adds to neoinstitutional-based management accounting research, the empirical materials, however, did not allow the authors to trace all four scenarios in the typology. Practical implications -PM systems, such as the BSC, seem to be malleable and adaptable to local requirements subject to organisational and managerial flexibility and democratic possibilities. Originality/value -This research highlights how the institutional environment is fragmented and contested, in different organisational and political conditions and spaces, resulting in variation in practices.

Qualitative management accounting research in QRAM: some reflections

“…QRAM has no theoretical bias, and over the first ten years of its publishing life various authors have adopted an array of theories, most commonly as a lens to assist the interpretation of longitudinal case studies. The theories that have been used to date, but in no particular order, include: institutional theory (Abrahamsson and Gerdin, 2006;Jazayeri et al, 2011;Moilanen, 2008;Rautiainen and Scapens, 2013;Ribeiro and Scapens, 2006), actor-network theory (Hansen, 2011;Rautiainen and Scapens, 2013;Voselman, 2012), structuration theory (Busco and Scapens, 2011), Foucault's govenmentality (Jakobsen, 2012), Schein's theory of culture (Busco and Scapens, 2011), transaction cost economics (Vosselman, 2012) and contingency theory (Porporato, 2009). Some articles in QRAM have also combined more than one theoretical approach in an attempt to draw out richer analysis and interpretation of empirical observationse.g., Rautiainen and Scapens' (2013) combination of actor-network theory and new institutional sociology, Vosselman's (2012) fusion of transaction cost economics and actor-network theory, and Busco and Scapens' (2011) combined use of Schein's culture theory and Giddens' structuration approach.…”

Finance managers in family firms: an upper-echelons view

“…Interestingly, only three papers (Di Giuli et al, 2011;Hiebl, 2015) on finance managers in family firms were published in finance journals. Indeed, with eight papers (Filbeck and Lee, 2000;Gallo and Vilaseca, 1998;Gallo et al, 2004;Gordini, 2016;Gurd and Thomas, 2012 Jazayeri et al (2011) contains two cases: one from the UK and one from Sri Lanka. However, only the Sri Lankan case is referred to in the present paper, as only this case was highlighted by Jazayeri et al (2011) as constituting a family firm, while the case firm from the UK can be classified as a non-family firm Hamilton, 1992;Hiebl, 2013a;Songini et al, 2015), family business and entrepreneurship journals appear to be the most frequent outlets for research on finance managers in family firms.…”

“…Indeed, with eight papers (Filbeck and Lee, 2000;Gallo and Vilaseca, 1998;Gallo et al, 2004;Gordini, 2016;Gurd and Thomas, 2012 Jazayeri et al (2011) contains two cases: one from the UK and one from Sri Lanka. However, only the Sri Lankan case is referred to in the present paper, as only this case was highlighted by Jazayeri et al (2011) as constituting a family firm, while the case firm from the UK can be classified as a non-family firm Hamilton, 1992;Hiebl, 2013a;Songini et al, 2015), family business and entrepreneurship journals appear to be the most frequent outlets for research on finance managers in family firms. Furthermore, with three papers (Hiebl, 2013b(Hiebl, , 2014aLutz and Schraml, 2012) and two papers (Amat et al, 1994;Jazayeri et al, 2011), respectively, general management and accounting journals were also found to be outlets for research on such managers.…”

“…However, only the Sri Lankan case is referred to in the present paper, as only this case was highlighted by Jazayeri et al (2011) as constituting a family firm, while the case firm from the UK can be classified as a non-family firm Hamilton, 1992;Hiebl, 2013a;Songini et al, 2015), family business and entrepreneurship journals appear to be the most frequent outlets for research on finance managers in family firms. Furthermore, with three papers (Hiebl, 2013b(Hiebl, , 2014aLutz and Schraml, 2012) and two papers (Amat et al, 1994;Jazayeri et al, 2011), respectively, general management and accounting journals were also found to be outlets for research on such managers. Of the 17 papers, nine relied on quantitative empirics as their primary method, six utilized qualitative empirical methods and one study each was designed as mixed methods research or conceptual research.…”

“…Only two papers relied on data from the USA and one paper each on data from Australia and Sri Lanka. Thus, of the 16 empirical papers in this review sample (the Hiebl (2013a) paper is conceptual), only one paper ( Jazayeri et al, 2011) contained empirical data on a finance manager in an emerging-market family firm.…”