Network control and balanced scorecard as inscriptions in purchaser–provider arrangements: insights from a hybrid government agency
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 16 December 2020
Issue publication date: 9 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This article examines the power of management control mechanisms as “inscriptions” for bringing the interests of organisations within a purchaser–provider network into alignment.
Design/methodology/approach
The study contributes to accounting and accountability literature in hybrid organisations by applying actor-network theory to a case study organisation. This enables an analysis of how a government agency, operating as a social service provider to the community, developed and used management control mechanisms in its intra-organisational units to ensure its operations were aligned with the expectations of inter-organisational networks in a purchaser–provider context. Data were collected using open-ended interviews and by examining internal accounting and management reports, government archival records and newspaper articles.
Findings
Analysis of the results demonstrates that inter-organisational network control was internalised within the provider organisation because of the ability of the controls to function as inscriptions that influenced organisational actions. The authors conclude that the network control travelled across boundaries over time and was assimilated by the provider organisation to become its internal management control mechanisms.
Research limitations/implications
A single case study of a government service provider agency may limit the generalisation of the findings to other hybrid entities or networks. The significant practical essence of this study lies in the diversity within the results that offer a rich representation of the impact of purchaser–provider arrangements on internal organisational systems within a hybrid public sector setting.
Originality/value
The outcomes enhance knowledge of how a hybrid government agency developed, mobilised and institutionalised its management control mechanisms to ensure the activities of one party are consistent with the other parties' expectations within a network.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Professor Giuseppe Grossi (the guest editor), two anonymous reviewers and all the employees at SES-D who participated in the field study. The paper also benefitted from comments made by several participants at the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand conference, the Asia–Pacific Interdisciplinary Research on Accounting Conference and the Seminar of the School of Commerce at the University of South Australia.
Citation
Zawawi, N.H.M. and Hoque, Z. (2022), "Network control and balanced scorecard as inscriptions in purchaser–provider arrangements: insights from a hybrid government agency", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 981-1005. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-11-2019-4242
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited