Strategy, enrolment and accounting: the politics of strategic ideas

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to use Actor Network Theory to explore the role of management accounting systems (MAS) in the construction of business strategy. Design/methodology/approach -The paper draws on findings from an ethnographic study of a UK-based firm. Theoretical concepts from Actor-Network Theory are used to illuminate the findings of the study. Findings -The study found that MAS acted as an obligatory point of passage into the strategic agenda of the firm. However, the findings also reveal the political tactics used by employees in order to work within, against and around the MAS. Originality/value -The paper shows that MAS are a key player in the political contests that occur during the process of strategy formulation, as opposed to offering a neutral tool for measuring the strategic value of innovative ideas.

Strategy, political regulation and management control in the public sector: Institutional and critical perspectives

“…However, at this stage the ideal conception of strategy as a goaldirected and focused means of aligning the organization with political regulation was largely taken for granted, or seen as a "normal" part of management control, by broad managerial cadres. In contrast to prior studies Whittle and Mueller, 2010), no compelling, alternative understandings of the notion of strategy emerged and engendered resistance to the dominant strategy discourse. This is indicative of the unobtrusive power of such discourses and goes some way towards a critical understanding of the process of institutionalization as less disconnected from value-laden discourses fostering normalization (Cooper et al, 2008).…”

“…However, critical analyses of this phenomenon display more innate concerns with how discourses permeate actors' life-worlds and contribute to construct particular institutional arrangements (Cooper et al, 2008). This reduces the likelihood of unfettered, calculating agency as a vehicle of change although it does not preclude the possibility of resistance to emerging organizational practices, such as those being mobilized in the name of strategy (see Ezzamel and Willmott, 2008;Whittle and Mueller, 2010).…”

“…Researchers need to venture further and examine why certain issues do not emerge or disappear from such agendas (Carter et al, 2008Whittle and Mueller, 2010). This requires close attention to unfolding strategy discourses, defined as the texts and conversations through which notions of strategy are made explicit.…”

Strategy-as-Practice: Taking Social Practices Seriously

“…A close processual analysis can also reveal the very ways in which practices may be changed-either incrementally or precisely in and through deliberate strategizing. Furthermore, such analysis can help to better comprehend how and why some practices-and not others-come to be seen as "strategic" with all kinds of organizational implications (see also Ezzamel & Willmott, 2008;Whittle & Mueller, 2010). Thus, this kind of research has the potential to elucidate the dialectic of deliberate vs. emergent strategies; i.e.…”

“…Ezzamel and Willmott (2008) have in turn examined how accounting practices gained strategic significance in and through discourse, with major performative implications for the organization's strategy. Finally, in a similar spirit, Whittle and Mueller (2010) have highlighted the role of management accounting systems and the related discursive practices in the construction and legitimation of strategic ideas.…”