Individual responses to using management control practices for hybridizing public-sector organizations: evidence from an emerging country

Abstract

In this article, we aim to examine the responses of individual actors to the use of management controls during the hybridization of public-sector organizations. We draw on an institutional logics perspective and the literature regarding the role of management controls in hybridizing organizations to analyze findings derived from a single case study of a public university in Vietnam. We find that the partial hybridization of an organization is a factor that may explain individuals' responses toward competing institutional logics. In the Vietnamese university we studied, the management controls in use were not contested, unlike their contents and formulae. Similarly, the compartmentalization strategy by the organizational leaders was uncontested due to traditional institutional logics being left mostly untouched. To the literature on hybrid organizations, we add the notion of "partial hybridization" and offer an emerging markets case, as evidence of the role management controls play in hybridizing emergingmarket public-sector organizations has thus far been scant.

Guest editorial

“…In line with this notion, Murr and Carrera (2022) present a case study of how institutional logics affected the adoption and implementation of risk management practices in a governmental entity in a developing country. Murr and Carrera (2022) thus enrich the growing literature on risk management in public sector organizations (Bracci et al, 2021) by confirming the usefulness of the institutional logics perspective for analyzing accounting and control change (Damayanthi and Gooneratne, 2017;Nguyen and Hiebl, 2021). In particular, Murr and Carrera (2021) illustrate how two competing institutional logicsin this case, a traditional logic and a modernization logicconfronted the involved actors with several tensions, which could only be lifted when a Royal Order was issued that mandated that all Saudi Arabian government entities adopt and implement adequate risk management practices.…”

Integrating a new management accounting routine into a routine cluster: the role of interactions between multiple management accounting routines

“…Unlike most existing studies (Hopper et al , 2009; Ndemewah and Hiebl, 2022; van Helden and Uddin, 2016; van Helden et al , 2021), the case here does not suggest that the actors at N&TCo adopted the new continuous improvement routine solely due to external pressure (from LeHolding). In contrast, given the intertwinedness of the new continuous improvement routine and the existing performance evaluation/reward routine, as well as the ostensive routines being present, mid- and lower-level managers at N&TCo did not resist the new routine as observed in other case studies of emerging-country organizations (Aliabadi et al , 2021; Harahap, 2021; How and Alawattage, 2012; Moses and Hopper, 2022; Nguyen and Hiebl, 2023). This case research thus suggests that such resistance may be lower if newly introduced management accounting practices are well intertwined with existing practices.…”

“…This implies that future research on the complementarities between management accounting and control practices may need to more closely distinguish between forms of complementarity. A second contribution is that in this case of an emerging-country organization, resistance to newly introduced management accounting practices was not as pronounced as in some prior cases (Aliabadi et al , 2021; Harahap, 2021; How and Alawattage, 2012; Moses and Hopper, 2022; Nguyen and Hiebl, 2023). A reason for such non-existing resistance might be found in the complementarity and intertwinedness of the new management accounting routine and the existing organizational routines.…”

“…First, although it was planned to conduct interviews with all hierarchical levels to get a comprehensive view of routine changes and interactions, fewer opportunities presented to interview team leaders, group leaders and workers due to their fear of disclosing sensitive information to the public media (cf. Nguyen and Hiebl, 2023). Thus, while the narrative is based mainly on views of senior managers, mid-level managers and some lower-level managers, their comments were continuously verified to minimize individual bias through cross-checks between informants throughout the interview process.…”

“…A total of 11 of 21 interviews were voice recorded. For the remaining interviews, extensive field notes were taken, as some respondents felt insecure with recording – a procedure that is often experienced when interviewing lower-level actors in emerging countries who may fear repression (Nguyen and Hiebl, 2023). These field notes were taken during and after the interviews and transcribed within 24 hours.…”