Conceptualising Management Accounting Change: An Institutional Framework

Abstract

Starting from the position that management accounting systems and practices constitute organisational rules and routines, this paper describes an institutional framework for the conceptualisation of management accounting change. Drawing from (old) institutional economics, the framework explores the complex and ongoing relationship between actions and institutions, and demonstrates the importance of organisational routines and institutions in shaping the processes of management accounting change. The inherent stability and continuity of organisational life is discussed and three categorisations of institutional change are explored. The framework is offered as a starting point for researchers interested in studying management accounting change, and through such research the framework will be extended and refined. Key Words: Management accounting; Organisational change; Institutions; Routines; Institutional economics; Resistance to change