Management accounting change in an Egyptian organization: an institutional analysis
Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change
ISSN: 1832-5912
Article publication date: 15 March 2013
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of management accounting change within an Egyptian organization that implemented an extranet.
Design/methodology/approach
Old institutional economic (OIE) theory and Hardy's model of power mobilisation are chosen as a theoretical framework to inform the analysis of the case.
Findings
The results show that the extranet facilitated changes in information availability and business process re‐design. The findings confirm that management accounting practices have changed in the case under study and show how management accountants have become more involved in planning and control. The case highlighted some factors that facilitate the natural processes of routinisation and institutionalisation over time.
Research limitations/implications
It could be argued that one limitation of this research is related to the gap between the change in leadership in TexCo (1993) and the timing of the visits (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005). However, this problem has been minimized by crosschecking memories of events through interviews. Another limitation of this study is that the author was not allowed to review some of the financial documents in TexCo. However, the author tried to verify the financial figures given by them through inter‐subject checking.
Originality/value
This paper fills a gap in the literature as it focuses on the process of management accounting change associated with the implementation of business‐to‐business (B‐to‐B) e‐commerce. The findings, indicate that the B‐to‐B e‐commerce has facilitated the change in the management accounting practices towards decision support and control. Implementing the B‐to‐B e‐commerce system in TexCo facilitated greater control over inventory and invoicing. It improved the planning process through providing the accountants with accurate and real time information about sales, receivables, cash collection and inventory turnover. The system also facilitated the settlement process, the performance evaluation of TexCo's exhibitions; and saved the time and effort of the accountants during the stocktaking process. The case suggested that there are some factors that may facilitate the processes of routinisation and institutionalisation.
Keywords
Citation
Youssef, M.A. (2013), "Management accounting change in an Egyptian organization: an institutional analysis", Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 50-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/18325911311307203
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited