Vernacular accountings: Bridging the cognitive and the social in the analysis of employee-generated accounting systems

Kilfoyle, Eksa; Richardson, Alan J.; MacDonald, Laura D.

doi:10.1016/j.aos.2013.08.001

Cited by 42 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Our study answers to these calls, and extends the literature on “new” risk management in the public sector by drawing attention to the concept of vernacular accounting, which is defined as those “accounting and information systems that are self‐generated by managers and/or employees and not officially sanctioned within the organizational hierarchy” (Kilfoyle et al., , p. 382). Vernacular systems are not the product of centralized design, but rather the creation of individuals within the organization who inscribe their local knowledge into these systems to deal with local contingencies.…”

Section: Previous Research and Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Vernacular systems are not the product of centralized design, but rather the creation of individuals within the organization who inscribe their local knowledge into these systems to deal with local contingencies. Vernacular systems are recognized to be enduring and valuable parts of organizational functioning (Clancy & Collins, ; Frow, Marginson, & Ogden, ; Hopwood, ; Kilfoyle et al., ). As Simon, Guetzkow, Kozmetsky, and Tyndall (, p. 34) put it long ago: “Almost every company had some colorful term to describe the unofficial reports kept by operating executives—“black books,” “bootleg reports,” “butcher books.” Invariably when such records were kept, they showed evidence of constant use.” In this paper, we argue that systems like these can play an important role in the public sector through their introduction for vernacular risk management at the local level.…”

Section: Previous Research and Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As noted by Kilfoyle et al. (), an informal system is often referred to as a word‐of‐mouth transfer rather than actual systems such as an Excel model or a written report (which is what we focus on). In addition, we extend the literature by considering the interaction between vernacular and formal risk management systems.…”

Section: Previous Research and Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we focus on one specific alternative form, namely employee‐generated, but not formally sanctioned, information systems. By drawing on the concept of vernacular accounting, that is, systems developed by organizational actors in the context of their work without these being officially sanctioned by the organizational hierarchy (Kilfoyle, Richardson, & MacDonald, ), we introduce the notion of vernacular risk management systems . Vernacular risk management systems are developed and used by local managers in relevant daily activities and as such they will depend on the context of the work and the individual's knowledge and experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing risk in the public sector – The interaction between vernacular and formal risk management systems

et al. 2018

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This paper examines the management of risk in a large public sector organization. Accounting research on “new” risk management in the public sector has focused on how formal risk management systems emerge through a top–down approach, primarily driven by external demands. Our study contributes to this body of work by detailing the emergence and operation of vernacular risk management systems, that is, systems self‐generated by organizational actors in the context of their work and not officially sanctioned within the organizational hierarchy (cf., Kilfoyle, Richardson & MacDonald, 2013). In this, we theorize how such systems interact with formal risk management systems, thereby also contributing to other disciplines such as crisis management and project management. Drawing on Fischer and Ferlie (2013), we detail how several vernacular systems co‐exist and have different interaction modes with the formal risk management system, and consider how these modes of interaction also change over time. Finally, our results highlight the link between the operation of “new” risk management and inter‐organizational relationships, demonstrating that such relationships can be an important asset to build on in risk management work.

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Section: Previous Research and Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Previous Research and Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Previous Research and Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Managing risk in the public sector – The interaction between vernacular and formal risk management systems

et al. 2018

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“…In this sense, global systems are often implemented to replace such locally developed systems—so‐called vernacular accounting systems (VAS) (Kilfoyle et al. )—which local actors use to organize and control local processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Roles of Vernacular Accounting Systems in the Development of “Enabling” Global Accounting and Control Systems

Goretzki

Strauß

Wiegmann

2018

Contemporary Accting Res

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This study sheds light on how self‐developed local accounting and control systems (so‐called vernacular accounting systems; VAS) can influence knowledge integration in development processes of enabling global accounting and control systems. We focus on accounting and control systems as devices that enable local actors to build on codified knowledge to create “new” knowledge that can facilitate local problem solving. We argue that local actors would evaluate a proposed global system as enabling or coercive depending on both their ability to manipulate the knowledge codified within as well as the consequences that the codified knowledge has for their authority in the local knowledge creation process. Based on a case study of the development process of a global accounting and control system, we demonstrate that VAS can play a crucial role in both local actors’ evaluation of a proposed system (as points of reference) and their influence on knowledge integration (as knowledge transformation devices). Furthermore, local actors may continue to rely on their VAS if they realize that the proposed global system does not fit their needs. Local actors can thus use their VAS (as negotiation devices) to strengthen their position in the development process as counterparts to the global system designers because the “threat” of continuing to use the VAS may prompt system designers to integrate local knowledge into the proposed global system. We thus also suggest that, if made visible to others and actively mobilized, VAS may foster productive debates that facilitate the migration of local knowledge into global systems.

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Cash-Flow-Planung – Anforderungen und praktische Umsetzung im internationalen Konzern

Burck

Glaum

Schnürer

2018

Schmalenbachs Z betriebswirtsch Forsch

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Vernacular accountings: Bridging the cognitive and the social in the analysis of employee-generated accounting systems

Cited by 42 publications

References 69 publications

Managing risk in the public sector – The interaction between vernacular and formal risk management systems

Managing risk in the public sector – The interaction between vernacular and formal risk management systems

Exploring the Roles of Vernacular Accounting Systems in the Development of “Enabling” Global Accounting and Control Systems

Cash-Flow-Planung – Anforderungen und praktische Umsetzung im internationalen Konzern

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