The unfolding rationales surrounding management accounting innovations: a balanced scorecard case
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 25 November 2021
Issue publication date: 30 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) possesses an inherent duality, as it has been described as a carrier of institutions (i.e. the BSC is a “management ideology” or “mode of thinking”) and a flexibly interpretive boundary object at the same time. This study examines how this inherent duality of the BSC may influence the unfolding rationales surrounding its implementation and use.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical support for this investigation is gathered from an in-depth field study. The focal firm is a Brazilian electricity distribution company that transitioned from state to private ownership under hyper-regulation, and whose holding company experienced strategic and structural changes.
Findings
The study identified a misalignment between the characteristics of the firm (e.g. organizational logics) and the perceived BSC features. This misalignment initially produced tensions and institutional logics complexity for the organization forcing the BSC implementers to rationalize it to provide meaning regarding its implementation in the firm. The findings also show why and how the promoters of the BSC conducted its “strategy of translation” in order to disentangle and reassemble both the material and symbolic components of the BSC to facilitate its implementation and use. It was found that promoters of the BSC engaged in contextualization work, which featured two main actions: a combination of coupling and selective decoupling and a change of meaning.
Originality/value
This paper advances current understanding of the process of the unfolding rationales surrounding management accounting innovations (e.g. the BSC). The study shows that the BSC unfolds in more complex, time-related and simultaneous ways than has previously been reported in the literature. Moreover, the paper contributes by explaining how the management's rationales, relating to their historical understanding, perception of legitimation needs and social skills, contributed to the continuous unfolding of the BSC. In addition, four potentially interesting areas for further research were identified.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 10th Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Conference (Stockholm, 2015), and research seminars at the University of Amsterdam, University of Essex and São Paulo University. The authors are grateful to Macario Camara, Mahmoud Ezzamel, Luis Fernandez-Revuelta, Kate Horton, Maria Major, Ricardo Malagueño, Lee Parker (the editor), Brendan O'Dwyer, Frank Verbeeten and to three anonymous referees for their insightful comments on their paper. A special thank you to Salvador Carmona for his support for this research project over the years. Financial support for this investigation was provided by the Capes Foundation (Ministry of Education of Brazil), the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq – 472430/2013–0).
Citation
Wanderley, C.d.A., Cullen, J. and Tsamenyi, M. (2022), "The unfolding rationales surrounding management accounting innovations: a balanced scorecard case", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 1212-1238. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-05-2019-4001
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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