No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Outcome-based Performance Budgeting in German and Dutch Local Government*
... According to a survey of the State Audit Office in Rhineland Palatinate, budgets of municipalities in this state containing 800 products, 230 targets and almost 1,700 indicators are not an exception (LRH, 2011). Municipal performance budgets in other countries are usually less voluminous, as a comparison of the budget sizes of the German city of Mannheim and of Eindhoven in the Netherlands shows (Reichard & van Helden, 2021). While Mannheim's budget had 916 pages, Eindhoven's had only 148 pages. ...
IMPACT
German municipalities have prepared performance budgets for over 10 years. The incorporation of performance information into the budget is, however, still work in progress. Local politicians perceive the usability of non-financial information in the budget as low and do not use such information intensively for budget composition or other purposes. German municipal budgets are usually voluminous because of their highly detailed structure and the large amount of displayed performance data which rarely informs about outcomes. Such information does not meet the needs of councillors, for example in their struggles with political opponents. Some options for improving the usability of budgetary information are presented.
Das Konzept des Performance Budgeting hat sich in den zurückliegenden Jahrzehnten immer stärker im öffentlichen Sektor verbreitet. In Deutschland ist dieses Reformkonzept vor allem auf kommunaler Ebene in Form von Produkthaushalten umgesetzt worden. Auf der Basis der vorliegenden Empirie ist allerdings festzustellen, dass die Leistungs- und Wirkungsinformationen des Produkthaushaltes weder in der Verwaltung noch in der Politik eine gewichtige Rolle bei Budgetentscheidungen spielen. Erstaunlicherweise gibt es jedoch kaum Hinweise darauf, dass diese Praxis in Deutschland infrage gestellt wird oder dass es ernsthafte Bemühungen um eine nachhaltige Verbesserung gibt. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Nützlichkeit sowie die tatsächliche Nutzung von Leistungs- und Wirkungsinformationen im Produkthaushalt mit Blick auf wichtige Nutzergruppen, um hieraus Perspektiven für die künftige Praxis abzuleiten.
One of the main unintended consequences of NPM-reforms is increased detailed -steering and recentralization due to attempts to decentralize the public sector, which, in turn, leads to restrictive hierarchical accountability relationships. This paper reports an attempt by the Swedish government to solve these problems by decentralizing the Swedish central agencies’ performance reporting and thereby broadening the possibilities of accountability in the Swedish central government. Whereas several studies have presented cases in which the “superior” (e.g., the government) is the main driver behind detailed performance control and recentralization, the findings in this paper show that centralized detailed control can be highly desirable for those accountable for their performance. In line with findings made in previous studies, the decentralization in the Swedish central government is now followed by a recentralization. However, this recentralization is mainly driven by the central agencies and not by the government. The paper suggests that to understand the dynamics between decentralization and recentralization in the area of public performance reporting, it is necessary to consider institutionalized reporting structures as well as the difficulties associated with defining performance. This allows for further insights into the possibilities of broadened accountability in the public sector.
Purpose
Within societies in the 21st century, individuals who are embedded in a controlled context that impedes their political actions deal with the tensions they are experiencing through attempts at resistance. Several studies that examine individual infrapolitics in organizations explain how the subtle mix of compliance and resistance are constructed at the level of individual identity in a complex mechanism that both questions the system and strengthens it. However, the interplay between managers' identities and management accounting tools in this process is a topic that deserves more investigation. The aim of this article is to understand how the subtle resistance of individuals constructs neoliberal reforms through management accounting (MA).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a case study on three health and social organizations two years after major reforms were implemented in the health and social services sector in Québec, a province of Canada. These reforms were part of a new public management dynamic and involved the implementation of accounting tools, here referred to as New Public Management Accounting (NPMA) tools.
Findings
The authors’ findings show how managers participate in reforms, at the same time as attempt to stem the dehumanization they generate. Managers engage in subtly resisting, for themselves and for their field professional teams, the dehumanization and identity destruction that arises from the reforms. NPMA tools are central to this process, since managers question the reforms through NPMA tools and use them to resist creatively. However, their subtle resistance can lead to the strengthening of the neoliberal dynamic of the reform.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to both the literature of infrapolitics and MA by showing the role of NPMA tools in the construction of subtle resistance. Their article enriches the MA literature by characterizing the subtle forms of resistance and showing how managers engage in creative resistance by using the managerial potential flexibility of NPMA tools. The article also outlines how NPMA tools play a role in the dialectic process of resistance, since they aid managers in resisting reform-induced dehumanization but also support managers in reinventing and reinforcing what they are trying to fight. The authors’ study also illustrates the dialectic dynamic of resistance through NPMA in all its dimensions: discursive, material and symbolic. Finally, the authors contribute to management accounting literature by showing that NPMA tools are not only the objects of neoliberalization but also the support of backstage resistance to neoliberalization.
As we finalise this paper, political and economic
conditions in Australian society are still being
challenged by the health impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic. Like other countries around the world,
Australia has taken unprecedented steps to balance
public health and economic risks in response to
coronavirus. As a geographically distant island nation,
with a small population and the ability to close its
borders, this country avoided the death tolls suffered
by other nations after measures were taken from
mid-March. At the time of writing, Australian states
are cautiously reopening again, with the virus mainly
under control thanks to firm Federal and State action,
and the public’s compliance with unprecedented
control measures.
This article presents a comparative study of two regions of Russia. The focus is on regional budgets and budget reforms for the period 2004-2014 with the aim to show the contextual specificity of the High North regions. Recent research on public sector reforms shows the imposition of power and the search for legitimacy as well as the resilience of traditional accounting instruments and their contradiction with New Public Management ideas as the main sources of changes. This study attempts to describe and understand other drivers that seem to shape and force changes in such public sector institutions as budget reforms, along with the previously revealed drivers. Thus, the actions of transnational companies and federal players such as military and financial authorities as well as the initiatives of regional politicians and executives may also be important elements in budget developments, while their role may vary from context to context. I will describe and analyse these incentives through studying changes in normative frameworks regulating budgets and budget reforms in the rather new context of Russia's regions. A very cautious generalization from this study suggests that the governance of the High North regions in Russia is more dependent on the federal level, implying less local autonomy than in non-High North regions with similar economic profile.
Purpose
The paper explores how the implementation of performance budgeting unfolds public managers' attention and responses to competing accountability demands over time.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a longitudinal study of one Russian municipality's implementation of PB under central government pressures during 2013–2017. Using triangulation of 25 interviews, documentary analysis and field observations, we employed institutional logics to guide the study.
Findings
The paper demonstrates the dynamic properties of PB construction under competing accountability demands via the “creative distraction” metaphor. PB was a “distraction” mechanism, which, on one hand, strengthened external accountability, while, on the other, distracting the municipality from internal municipal demands. Nevertheless, this “distraction” was also “creative,” as it produced proactive responses to competing accountability demands and creative effects over time. Specifically, PB also led to elements of creative PB negotiations between departments when managers started cooperating with redirecting the irrelevant constraints of performance information in budgeting into necessary manipulations for municipal survival. The demonstrated “creative distraction” is explained by the changing institutional logics of public managers supplemented by a set of individual factors.
Originality/value
The paper responds to the recent calls to study PB practice under several accountability demands over time. In this regard, we show the value of public managers' existing institutional logics as they shape PB's capacity to balance competing accountability demands. As we revealed, this capacity can be limited, due to possible misalignment between managers' attention toward “what to give an account for” during budget formation (input orientation driven by OPA logic) and “what is demanded” with the introduction of PB (output orientation driven by NPM logic). Yet, the elements of proactive managerial responses are still evident over time, explained by a set of individual factors within the presented case, namely: learning NPM logic, strengthened informal relationships and a common saturation point reflected by managers.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight and compare insights from research
conducted in different disciplines on the effects of the use of calculative practices in academia. It also acts as an introduction to the special issue on “Governing by numbers: audit culture and contemporary tales of universities’ accountability”.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the findings and reflections provided in academic literature on the various types of consequences stemming from the diffusion of the “audit culture” in academia. In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature in education, management and accounting, and other papers included in this special issue of Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management.
Findings – The literature review shows that a growing number of studies are focusing on the hybridization of universities, not only in terms of calculative practices (e.g. performance indicators) but also in relation to individual actors (e.g. academics and managers) who may have divergent values and thus act according to multiple logics (business and academic logics). It highlights many areas in which further robust academic research is needed to guide policy and practice developments in universities.
Research limitations/implications – This paper provides academics, regulators and decision makers with relevant insights into the critical issues of using calculative practices in academia. Despite the negative effects have been observed in various disciplines, there is an evident perpetuation in the use of those practices.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the disillusion of
calculative practices in academia. Yet, positive changes can be achieved within the complex settings of “hybrid” universities when the apparent class division between academics and managers is bridged.
New Public Governance assumes that co-production leads to beneficial outcomes, such as increased efficiency and better citizen well-being. However, few empirical studies have documented these outcomes, and some have demonstrated that the assumed outcomes do not emerge. This study establishes that co-production is a complex, social phenomenon, which implies that there cannot be a clear cause-effect relationship between co-production activities and their outcomes. To qualify and enable further empirical investigation of the outcomes of co-production, the study proposes that contribution analysis should be applied as an appropriate evaluation paradigm to theoretically reduce complexity and define a generic programme theory for co-production. The study also discusses how the creation and operationalisation of a local co-production programme theory can take place to evaluate the relationship between co-production initiatives and outcomes on a localised level. Finally, directions are provided for how the outcomes of co-production can be co-evaluated with citizens.
This article discusses the increasing importance of publication metrics in research. Four themes are addressed: the impact of journal metrics on issues like research funding and tenure; the unintended consequences of these metrics; whether the niche domain of public sector accounting journals is threatened by these metrics; and how researchers can best deal with the mania surrounding journal metrics. This article is part of an ongoing and larger research project about the identity shift of public sector accounting researchers due to an increasing importance of publication metrics.
This study contributes to the current debate on competing institutional pressures and logics and performance measurement practices in hybrid universities and examines how shifts in logics have affected performance measurement practices at the organizational and individual levels. It draws upon the theoretical lenses of institutional theory and adopts a longitudinal case study methodology based on participant observations and retrospective interviews. The findings show that universities and academic workers are affected by external pressures related to higher education that include government regulations and control of the state (state pressure), the expectations of the professional norms and collegiality of the academic community (academic pressures), and the need to comply with international standards and market mechanisms (market pressures).
Academic workers operate in an organizational context in which conflicting conditions from both academic and business logics co-exist. The results indicate that institutional pressures and logics related to the higher education field and organizational context shape the use of universities’ performance measurement practices and result in diverse solutions. While previous literature has focused mainly on competing logics and the tensions they may generate, this study shows that, in a university context, potentially conflicting logics may co-exist and create robust combinations.
There has recently been an upsurge of interest in the role of co-production in public services. This paper focuses on how the capabilities of public service users and other citizens can improve the outcomes of public services such as policing and the criminal justice system, where the role of citizens is altering significantly. The paper develops a model of pathways to public service outcomes, showing the connections between citizen co-production and the core activities in policing and criminal justice, in line with the classic public policy model of problem prevention, detection, treatment, support for recovery and rehabilitation, and contribution to higher quality of life outcomes. The paper then explores the empirical evidence from the literature for the impacts of each of the identified pathways to outcomes in this co-production model. The literature review finds some evidence for almost all relationships modeled but also reveals serious limitations in the research base. Finally, the paper provides a conceptual framework for exploring potential dysfunctional implications of co-production of policing and community justice, and summarizes the evidence for this 'dark side' of co-production.
Governance models are increasingly driven by information technology (IT) and are being applied to measure the performance of all kinds of organisational activity including that of universities. This paper investigates whether the language embedded in the production and use of data for governance models based on IT facilitates a governance culture that excludes the scholarly insights of university professionals. Drawing on the language philosophy of the live language games of capable habitus-based practices and that of the digital language of IT systems, we argue that the reductive, digital language embedded in IT-based performance measures might destroy the live language game through which scholars of universities produce and develop complex cognitive conceptual habitus. Managers in thrall to the digital language of control accessible via IT can use it to create operational paths that crowd out the free cognitive conceptual habitus of the university scholars. Accordingly, the culture of the corporate university is moving towards a post-truth state. The situation suggests that the role of universities as the foundation for the whole project of enlightenment and knowledge-based society is threatened.
This study reports on an attempt to remove management accounting's calculative practices at the operational level of a Swedish Public Agency. Using a Habermasian perspective, the study shows how the agency has attempted to replace the previous accounting practice, which involved target setting, performance management and measurement with a new leadership philosophy, and accounting practices that aim at generalizing the individual's private interest toward organizational interests. The result is interpreted as an attempt to make the individual responsible for the welfare of the collective in which, in its absence, the kind of validity that accounting's calculative practices enable is very much present as a longing to soothe the anxiety and uncertainty brought about by the responsibility to lead oneself.
An extensive literature has focused on the impact of new public management (NPM) oriented structural changes on academics’ practice and identity. These critical studies have been resolute in concluding that NPM inevitably leads to a degeneration of academics’ ethos and values. Drawing from the moral philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre, we argue that these previous analyses have overlooked the moral agency of the academics and their role in ‘moralizing’ and consequently shaping the ethical nature of their practices. The paper provides a new theoretical understanding of NPM-oriented reforms in light of the virtue ethics approach, thereby directing the attention to the moral character and moral agency of academics. Our analysis of interviews collected in the business department of a Danish university provides an example of how individuals have divergent ethical understandings of these structural changes and enact/resist pre-defined social roles in different ways. While in some cases the NPM agenda of the institutions has triggered internal moral conflict and a crisis of moral character, in other cases the new logic resonates with academics’ values and evaluative standards. Partially departing from the theoretical ground of MacIntyre (1981), we conclude that academics can play a crucial role in shaping the morality of NPM-oriented institutions and in transforming these settings into suitable contexts for the cultivation of virtues.
This article looks at performance information use by legislators at the central level in a budgetary context. The multi‐method approach (interviews, quantitative and qualitative analysis of plenary speeches held during budget readings) allows drawing a broader picture of the use of performance information. The findings provide new insights into different purposes of performance information use. We identify four general use types, i.e. de‐legitimizing, legitimizing, improving and understanding, and deflecting, which together with the addressed subjects blend into different use purposes. Second, the study sheds light onto different factors affecting performance information use, i.e. the attributes of users of performance information, the properties of performance, and the role of institutional support.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Drawing on the results of a systematic literature review of empirical studies, this paper sheds light on six broad factors that facilitate the initiation and implementation of coproduction in public services. The factors are classified into two overarching categories: (1) organizational factors, including organizational arrangements, professional roles, and managerial tools, and (2) procedural factors, including participant recruitment, participant preparation, and process design. For each set of factors, the paper provides a series of management implications. It concludes with additional observations for practice.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a deeper understanding of the uses and users of performance measurement (PM) in the university context.
Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were gathered from four universities. This approach allows for a multilevel and comparative analysis based on the neo-institutional theory. The results are discussed alongside interdisciplinary literature on the use of PM in the public sector.
Findings – PM practices at universities have become increasingly popular on institutional, organisational and individual levels. The results indicate that different types of PM are used in universities and that the extent, and scope of PM used by various actors differ. Universities often use PM in a ceremonial and symbolic manner, with the aim of legitimising themselves externally as research-oriented institutions. The
use of PM depends on both, exogenous factors (such as isomorphic pressures) and endogenous factors related to the different responses of organisations and individual actors (university managers, and academics). However, the analysis at the internal level reveals different attitudes and some resistance to the use of such kinds of PM. In universities with a local focus, the use of PM for rational decision-making is
generally loosely coupled with the reporting performance for external accountability purposes. Moreover, the internal use of PM can be also symbolic.
Research limitations/implications – This paper focusses on four case studies that are currently undergoing changes. The comparative analysis is supported by the use of different data collection methods and several in-depth interviews with key university actors.
Originality/value – The authors assume that the use of PM depends on a number of exogenous and endogenous factors. PM uses and users are discussed in the specific context of the higher education system in Poland. The four business school cases facilitate a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences in
terms of the uses and users of PM in the context of internationally and locally oriented universities.
Keywords Performance measurement, Institutional theory, Poland, Universities, Users, Uses
Paper type Research paper
Based on data from interviews conducted with 14 academic managers at two Swedish universities, this article investigates the consequences of the increasing prevalence of performance measurement in the higher education sector. The study contributes to the discussion of how performance measurement impacts academic work, focusing specifically on its influence on how meaning is created and recreated by academic managers. By applying the sensemaking perspective, as proposed by Weick ([1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications]), the article explores seven properties of the sensemaking process. The study results demonstrate the influence of metrics on the process by which managers give meaning to academic work. Performance measures are interpreted by academic managers as important in acquiring resources, supporting decision-making, and enhancing organisational legitimacy. They also reinforce social scripts of competition and success, although they are often understood as being unable to indicate scientific quality. The consequence for sensemaking in teaching and research activities is that measurable performance is understood to be increasingly important. However, a notable finding from the study is that the managers are aware of how metrics promote specific forms of academic work and often attempt to balance these incentives by acknowledging the values and priorities that these metrics are unable to assess. This finding highlights the important role of academic managers as they counteract some of the pressure caused by various performance measures.
This paper defines and then observes processes of glocalization surrounding the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for public sector financial reporting. Glocalization can be best understood using sociological institutionalism, because this theory focuses on the retention of identity, and processes of legitimacy, during adaptation (diffusion) of standards.
The paper discusses the history of standard-setting for the public sector in New Zealand to explain why this theory has value.
Met ingang van de begroting 2017 zijn de gemeentelijke verslaggevingsrichtlijnen ingrijpend vernieuwd. Een belangrijk deel van de vernieuwingen was erop gericht om te komen tot een betere vergelijkbaarheid en daarmee meer transparantie. Dit artikel gaat aan de hand van onderzoek met gebruik van meer dan 100 verantwoordingsstukken na in hoeverre deze doelen geslaagd lijken te zijn. Uit de resultaten komt naar voren dat de vernieuwingen wel formeel zijn doorgevoerd, maar dat de wijze waarop dat is gebeurd onvoldoende leidt tot een betere vergelijkbaarheid, en daarmee verbeterde transparantie.
Visual management (VM) has become an important lean management practice for continuous improvement and has gained increasing attention from academics and practitioners. While operations management scholars have studied its benefits and functions, the factors that enable or hinder VM implementation have not been systematically investigated. Against this background, our study analyses qualitative case study data from Swiss manufacturing firms to reveal important barriers and success factors that are relevant for the implementation of VM. Moreover, for each success factor, we present several best practices observed in the case companies to overcome the associated barriers. The results contribute to the emerging field of VM within the lean management literature and provide insights for practitioners how to implement VM more effectively.
Performance budgets emphasize activities performed and their costs, and include various performance measures in the budget to document what is gained from what is spent. These measures usually include unit cost comparisons over time or between jurisdictions. Performance budgeting tends to emphasize measures of efficiency and effectiveness. Broader measures (outcome) are often difficult to define and measure, particularly in human service areas. Nonetheless, performance budget concepts have proven persistent. For the federal government, a key measure that has stimulated increased interest in the topic was passage by Congress of the Government Performance and Results Act in 1993 (GPRA) and subsequently the Government Management and Results Act (GMRA) in 1995. This article notes the long period of experimentation with performance budgeting in the U.S. and identifies some of the lessons learned from this initiative. It also addresses reforms including the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) as they relate to incentives for budgeting based on performance. Conclusions also touch upon the difficulties faced in attempting budget reform in the midst of a period of fiscal and monetary stress. We conclude that while the expressed interest of the Obama administration in assessing the performance of federal government agencies is evident, there is no evidence to suggest that the administration will attempt to implement performance budgeting per se as a means to accomplish this end. Rather, performance is now reviewed by OMB only as an input to budget decision making, which is perhaps the best that advocates of performance budgeting can hope for in the medium term. What it would take to interest federal government decision makers, particularly members of Congress, to accept performance budgeting is impossible to determine given the present focus of the government on health care reform, job creation, the state of the economy and armed conflicts abroad. Administrative reform, except in the areas of regulation of financial institutions, national security and transportation safety, has not been high on the agenda of the Obama administration or Congress in the period 2008–2010. However, this could change with new initiatives recently announced by the administration and Congress.
The present research wishes to adopt a pragmatic constructivist approach in order to understand and explain the functionality of private- inspired reforms in the public sector. In particular, the research investigates the introduction and implementation of a relevant but challenging managerial reform, performance- based budgeting (PBB), become widespread in the public sector worldwide.
Purpose
Crises constitute stress tests for public sectors, with public financial management (PFM) systems having to respond to emergency needs. In this study, we analyse (1) what elements of the Austrian PFM system were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) what mechanisms were applied to close identified gaps in the PFM system and to ensure alignment with budget principles. We then reflect on these PFM measures.
Design/methodology/approach
The research departs from the pre-crisis configuration of the Austrian PFM system. Making use of a data triangulation strategy, the paper analyses draft laws and regulations with corresponding explanatory notes and impact assessments, transcripts from debates in the federal Parliament, and articles and commentaries issued by various stakeholders.
Findings
The analysis of five areas relevant to the re-configuration of the Austrian PFM system shows that the pandemic caused an external shock, but at the same time, the current system was not challenged in substance and was utilized to react to the pandemic – resulting in (ad-hoc) modifications. The system proved robust and crisis responsive, however, in a reactive pattern emerging ad-hoc elements were integrated – with a number of defensive mechanisms ensuring compliance with budget principles. In addition, in some areas more proactive actions were taken for closing system gaps (e.g. risk disclosure).
Originality/value
We evaluate the likelihood for (proposed, decided and implemented) emerging elements or revisions to a PFM system to be embedded into the existing PFM system, alongside reflecting on results and necessary further adjustments.
This paper reports on a field study of how a range of inter-institutional and organisational forces shape the evolving rhetoric and practice of multiple accountabilities in public services. Drawing on the institutional logics perspective, we carried out a qualitative field study in the Australian Commonwealth Public Service involving semi-structured interviews, two focus group discussions, and the examination of internal accounting, management reports, and government archival records. The findings suggest that emphasis on conventional instrumental mechanisms and reporting tools, such as budgeting and accrual-based reporting, support managerial (instrumental) accountability through compliance logic. We conclude that an emphasis on public (relational) accountability through public dialogue is central to the public sector accountability debate, and that more attention needs to be paid to the question of how to balance the dual logics (instrumental and relational) in public services. The findings provide practical insights for public sector managers, policymakers and governments responsible for designing and implementing reforms, accounting tools and accountability practices.
The apparently successful early years of post-transition democratization and consolidation of Hungary’s system of governance gave space, increasingly, to a remarkable fatigue and stagnation of the post-accession years. This was the starting point of the genuine and drastic transformation of governance and of the entirety of state–society relations having taken place since 2010. The article argues that Hungary’s public management landscape is dominated by this grand illiberal transformation; that the significance of this transformation extends well beyond the region; and that this significance is not only practical but poses true challenges to mainstream theorizing in public management, too.
Purpose
This purpose of this study is to understand how the spread of audit culture and the related public sector reforms have affected Finnish universities’ organization principles, performance measurement (PM) criteria and ultimately their reason for being.
Design/methodology/approach
Applying extensive qualitative data by combining interview data with document materials, this study takes a longitudinal perspective toward the changing Finnish higher education field.
Findings
The analysis suggests the reforms have altered universities’ administrative structures, planning and control systems, coordination mechanisms and the role of staff units, as well as the allocation of power and thus challenged their reason for being. Power has become concentrated into the hands of formal managers, while operational core professionals have been distanced from decision making. Efficiency in terms of financial and performance indicators has become a coordinating principle of university organizations, and PM practices are used to steer the work of professionals. Because of the reforms, universities have moved away from the ideal type of professional bureaucracy and begun resembling the new, emerging ideal type of competitive bureaucracy.
Originality/value
This study builds on rich, real-life, longitudinal empirical material and details a chronological description of the changes in Finland’s university sector. Moreover, it illustrates how the spread of audit culture and the related legislative changes have transformed the ideal type of university organization and challenged universities’ reason for being. These changes entail significant consequences regarding universities as organizations and their role in society.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to dismantle the complex issue of “use of accounting information (AI)” by pointing to different groups of information users, diverging interests and needs of these user groups and various influential factors on the usability and the actual use of AI.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper includes a literature review and conceptual reflections.
Findings
The review of recently published articles on the issue of “use of accounting information” presents an actual picture of the academic debate on purposes of use, user types, needs of various user groups and factors influencing the usability and the actual use of AI. The subsequent conceptual reflections deal with so far less regarded user groups, with options to strengthen the user perspective in budgeting and financial reporting, with approaches for engaging users in the content of accounting documents, with interrelations between user needs, usability and use intensity, including various antecedents of the different variables of the information-use issue.
Research limitations/implications
This paper presents promising routes for future research.
Practical implications
The paper emphasizes the importance of paying more attention to the specific information needs and the motivations of various stakeholder groups generally interested in using financial information.
Originality/value
The paper presents results of reviewing recent literature on the issue of “use of accounting information” and provides some insight into specific aspects of this issue.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of public sector research in the 1998–2018 period.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the extant literature of this era to study the theorisation of, and the findings of, public sector research.
Findings
This is a vibrant field of a study in a wide range of study settings and with many interdisciplinary studies. The influence of new public management is pervasive over this period. There are numerous instances of innovations in study settings, in key findings and the approach taken by investigators.
Research limitations/implications
This is not a comprehensive review of all literature in this period.
Practical implications
This study also explored the relevance of academic research of this era to policymaking by governments.
Originality/value
This paper offers a distinctive critique of theorisation of public sector accounting research. It reveals the dominant theoretical reference points in use during this period and observes the increasing tendency for theoretical pluralism to investigate complex study settings.
Looking at accounting reforms in central government, the paper investigates how key actors (senior managers responsible for developing and/or implementing change) account for the related change outcomes subsequent to implementation. Using aggregated data from three countries (the UK, Italy, and Austria), and a mixed‐methods approach, the study investigates which rhetorical strategies are used to construct ex‐post legitimation or delegitimation of the changes, and how these strategies are associated with different perceived outcomes of change. Building on previous literature, possible strategies for ex‐post (de‐)legitimation and outcomes of change are identified. The study finds that radical change (leading to new accounting systems bedding down with accompanying new interpretative schemes) is associated with ex‐post legitimation based on rationalization. In contrast, incremental change (introducing new accounting tools, but not resulting in changed interpretative schemes) is often connected with narratives criticizing (or delegitimating) the change. The study contributes to the scant body of literature focusing on ex‐post legitimation of accounting change. How managers justify change in relation to its outcomes provides useful insights for the current situation when, as a consequence of crisis and austerity, new roles and relevancies for accounting and control systems continue to emerge. It is argued that for change to be substantive, it is not only essential that the actual systems and structures of accounting are adjusted, but it is critical that the way people interpret and make sense of accounting information (and consequently take decisions) is also modified. The particular challenges of achieving this in a period of crisis are highlighted.
A variety of empirical studies have investigated the relationship between management controls (MCs) and the financial and nonfinancial performance of for-profit firms, but there is a dearth of research on MCs in the higher education (HE) sector. Our study contributes to MC research by investigating the mediating role of MCs in the relationship between structural autonomy and both research and teaching performance in HE institutions and by comparing the perceptions of two major actors: heads of administration and academic deans. We use survey data of two paired subgroups with 104 heads of administration and 104 academic deans and perform a multigroup analysis with structural equation modeling. We find significant differences between heads of administration and academic deans concerning the relationship between structural autonomy and MCs and between MCs and teaching and research performance for the diagnostic and interactive use of controls. For heads of administration, we find that only strategic boundaries and strategic beliefs are significantly associated with teaching performance, whereas for academic deans, more autonomy is associated with more emphasis on most MCs. Furthermore, for academic deans, more emphasis on diagnostic use, but less on interactive use, is associated with higher research performance.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to synthesize insights from previous accounting, performance measurement (PM), and accountability research into the rapidly emerging field of knowledge-intensive public organizations (KIPOs). In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature and other papers included in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper reviews academic analysis and insights provided in the academic literature on accounting, PM, and accountability changes in KIPOs, such as universities and healthcare organizations, and paves the way for future research in this area.
Findings: The literature review shows that a growing number of studies are focusing on the hybridization of different KIPOs, not only in terms of accounting tools (e.g., performance indicators, budgeting, and reporting) but also in relation to individual actors (e.g., professionals and managers) that may have divergent values and thus act according to multiple logics. It highlights many areas in which further robust academic research is needed to guide developments of hybrid organizations in policy and practice.
Research limitations/implications: This paper provides academics, regulators, and decision-makers with relevant insights into issues and aspects of accounting, PM, and accountability in hybrid organizations that need further theoretical development and need empirical evidence to help inform improvements in policy and practice.
Originality/value: The paper provides the growing number of academic researchers in this emerging area with a literature review and agenda upon which they can build their research.
Keywords: Knowledge-intensive public organizations, Accounting, Performance measurement, Accountability, Hybridization
Paper type: Literature Review
Gender budgeting needs to become institutionalized more strongly in our societies and public policies. The article suggests some of the possible challenges to be taken into consideration to make it ‘work’, including availability of technical capacities and data, securing support in the political agenda, involving stakeholders, balancing spontaneity and standardization, and considering wider sources of inequality. IMPACT: Gender budgeting has an important unexploited potential. However, much more needs to be done for it to become institutionalized. A stronger commitment by practitioners, policy-maker and scholars is needed. This article suggests possible conditions to make it work. © 2019
Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies
Purpose
Performance measurements have become a prominent part of government steering of public agencies. At the same time, they are increasingly criticized for creating heavy administrative burdens. The purpose of this paper is to argue that consent on part of the heads of agencies is vital for making performance measurement an efficient tool for not only control but also organizational learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports a survey with a nearly total sample of Swedish Director Generals.
Findings
Findings suggest that Director Generals who feel that they are able to influence the goals and indicators of their agencies are significantly more willing to consent to the government’s reporting requirements.
Originality/value
The paper suggests that a more encompassing, interactive and participatory process might increase agency consent with reporting requirements.
Large contemporary organizations seem to be in an almost continual state of change. Whether in public or private organizations, managers are trying to implement new organizational forms, introduce new procedures or systems, or change the attitudes of employees. Such reforms often yield disappointing results, and so new reforms are deemed necessary. This book considers why reform takes place. It looks at why reforms occur when they do, what their consequences are, and the role of social intuitions, public discourse, reform models, fashions, and hope. The text draws on both European and American traditions to develop a distinctive voice and stance.
Performance budgeting (PB) has been implemented during the last two decades in each of the three German-speaking countries, although not at all government levels. Switzerland is a pioneer in PB; federal government as well as most cantons and the larger municipalities have a harmonized format of a PB. Germany has PB-experiences primarily at local level and to a minor extent at state level. In sharp contrast, Austria has introduced PB at its federal level and expects changes to such a concept in a few of its subnational governments. In most country cases, the move to PB is accompanied by a change of the accounting system from cash to accruals. Because of rather recent implementation, experiences with PB-practice are rather scarce and also mixed.
Despite considerable progress in understanding the adoption and practice of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a performance management tool in government organisations, how a well‐designed BSC can become a sustainable organisational practice remains under explored and of central importance. Through a qualitative field study carried out within a government agency (Alpha), this paper demonstrates that Alpha's senior management implemented a BSC framework because they believed it would benefit the agency to realise its broader organisational and socio‐economic goals, namely sustainable organisational efficiency and social status. We conclude that an organisation's performance management systems can travel across internal organisational boundaries over time and could be assimilated by organisational actors to become a sustained internal control mechanism in a complex socio‐political setting. This paper traces the implementation and adaptation of the balanced scorecard (BSC) by a government agency (Alpha) from its introduction by the company's first CEO through to recent times. It offers an understanding of how the BSC has changed over time in improving organisational system efficiency and effectiveness. This study will add to the body of knowledge for the public sector by providing an example of successful BSC adoption and the functionality and sustainability of the model in public sector entities.
Auf globaler Ebene lassen sich für die vergangenen Dekaden drei dominierende Verwaltungsparadigmen identifizieren: Public Administration, New Public Management und Public Governance. Tobias Polzer untersucht, wie sich diese Paradigmen in den Reformen des österreichischen Bundeshaushaltsgesetzes über die letzten 30 Jahre widerspiegeln. Die Studie zeigt zum einen, dass in jedem Zeitabschnitt Kernideen aus allen drei Paradigmen im Reformdiskurs auftreten. Darüber hinaus findet keine Ablösung von Reformparadigmen statt; vielmehr kann eine Hybridisierung und Sedimentierung des Feldes beobachtet werden.
Der Inhalt
• Diffusion von Konzepten und institutioneller Wandel
• Institutioneller Pluralismus
• Vokabularanalyse von Reformdokumenten
• Sichtbarkeit und Konstellationen von Verwaltungsparadigmen
• Hybridisierung und Sedimentierung
Die Zielgruppen
• Dozierende und Studierende der Verwaltungs- und Politikwissenschaft, Public Management/öffentliche Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Verwaltungs- und Organisationssoziologie sowie Rechnungswesen
• Führungskräfte und Change Agents in öffentlichen Verwaltungen und Managementberater
Der Autor
Tobias Polzer ist Assistenzprofessor an der Universität Essex in Colchester. Er absolvierte ein Diplomstudium in Verwaltungswissenschaft an der Universität Potsdam und ein Doktoratsstudium in Public Management an der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte liegen in den Bereichen Public (Financial) Management, Public Governance und öffentliche Beschaffung.
Purpose – The paper investigates the role and impact of accounting within the fragmented field of public value theory literature.
Design/methodology/approach – The work develops a structured literature review and seeks to shed light on the state of public value research, with particular emphasis on the role of accounting scholarship.
Findings – The lack of empirical research and the limited number of papers on accounting for the creation of public value means that accounting scholars need to address ‘theoretical stagnation’ to achieve a deeper understanding of how to govern the public value creation process.
Originality/value – The paper develops the first wide-ranging structured literature review on public value accounting. It is a starting point to develop new research avenues, both in the fields of accountability/external reporting, and management accounting and performance management.
Keywords: public value, performance measurement, public value accounting, structured literature review
Paper type: Literature review
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect various pathways for public sector accounting and accountability research in a post-new public management (NPM) context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper first discusses the relationship between NPM and public sector accounting research. It then explores the possible stimuli that inter-disciplinary accounting scholars may derive from recent public administration studies, public policy and societal trends, highlighting possible ways to extend public sector accounting research and strengthen dialogue with other disciplines.
Findings
NPM may have represented a golden age, but also a “golden cage,” for the development of public sector accounting research. The paper reflects possible ways out of this golden cage, discussing future avenues for public sector accounting research. In doing so, it highlights the opportunities offered by re-considering the “public” side of accounting research and shifting the attention from the public sector, seen as a context for public sector accounting research, to publicness, as a concept central to such research.
Originality/value
The paper calls for stronger engagement with contemporary developments in public administration and policy. This could be achieved by looking at how public sector accounting accounts for, but also impacts on, issues of wider societal relevance, such as co-production and hybridization of public services, austerity, crises and wicked problems, the creation and maintenance of public value and democratic participation.