Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to distinguish two roles of theories, domain theory and method theory, and examine their relationships in management accounting research. Are these two roles explicitly distinguished in management accounting studies? Can this be achieved in an unambiguous...

This paper extends and contributes to emerging debates on the validation of interpretive research (IR) in management accounting. We argue that IR has the potential to produce not only subjectivist, emic understandings of actors' meanings, but also explanations, characterised by a certain degree...

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyse the implementation of risk management as a tool for internal audit activities, focusing on unexpected effects or uncertainties generated during its application. Design/methodology/approach –Public and confidential documents as well as...

Purpose – The study seeks to add to the understanding of the diffusion and decline of environmental reporting practices Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews and municipal water utility publications are analysed to identify factors which have influenced the diffusion and...

This article investigates the dynamics of benchmarking in municipal water utilities. The authors explain how a voluntary project developed the characteristics of compulsory benchmarking. While the first adopters of benchmarking sought efficiency gains, later adoptions have mainly been driven by...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how performance management practices are implicated in the exercise of power with particular reference to the ability of individual managers to balance between more or less institutionalized conceptions of performance while pursuing...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the motivation for this special issue and its contributions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a conceptual editorial piece which discusses current methodological tendencies in qualitative accounting research. Findings – The...

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine how organisational experimenting with total quality management (TQM) and the balanced scorecard affects the bundling of design characteristics associated with these innovations in a Swedish central government agency. Design/methodology/approach...