The implementation of management accounting change constitutes much more than the selection of what may be perceived as being 'optimal' accounting systems and techniques, followed by a 'technical' process of implementation. Selecting and implementing the 'right' accounting systems and techniques...

Purpose – To illustrate and discuss how different types of responsibility values are mobilised in a Swedish international company. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is informed by a constructivist pragmatism framework. The part of the study related to the case site was inspired by an...

This paper explores the complexities of government financial management in China andexamines the nature of the recent Public Finance Framework reform in that country. Weargue that this Public Finance Framework reform is not just the latest idea in a centrallydominated reform agenda (and a...

Over the past decade institutional theory, and particularly the Burns and Scapens framework has been used for many studies of management accounting change [Burns, J., Scapens, R.W., (2000). Conceptualizing management accounting change: an institutional framework. Management Accounting Research,...

PurposeDrawing on recent research, which recognises the situated nature of accounting practices, the aim of the paper is to extend the Burns and Scapens (B&S) framework and illustrate its potential for studying the situated nature of management accounting practices. The extended framework...

This paper examines a failed change initiative (the implementation of economic value added, EVA™) in an in-depth case study of a major UK retailer (RetailCo, a pseudonym). The paper locates this change initiative within inter-professional competition between on the one hand the finance...

Clothed in various formulations, the question of “coherence” is central to management control. Thus it is widely accepted that different forms of control “cannot be used effectively in every situation” (Merchant, 1998: 32, 69) – a statement referring to the contingency framework. It is...