Stability and change: an institutionalist study of management accounting change

Purpose – This paper explores the relationship between “stability and change” within with the process of accounting change It focuses on the ceremonial way in which a new system of value‐based management (VBM) was implemented and how the key performance indicators (KPIs) became decoupled from the day‐to‐day activities of the business, thereby creating a level of stability which ultimately contributed to accounting change. Design/methodology/approach – It uses a longitudinal study of a company in which value‐based management was imposed by its parent. It is informed by an institutionalist framework which draws on concepts from both old institutional economics (OIE) and new institutional sociology (NIS). Findings – It shows that stability and change are not necessarily contradictory or opposing forces, but can be intertwined in an evolutionary process of change. Research limitations/implications – Although there is accounting change within the case study, it is problematic to characterise it as either successful or unsuccessful change – this has important implications for the way in which “success” is defined in studies of accounting change. Originality/value – It is argued that in contrast to the normal assumption that decoupling is an “organisational” response to external pressures, it is shown how decoupling can occur through the working out of a complex and dynamic process of resistance to accounting change: a process which simultaneously involves both stability and change.