This paper explores accounting change in the product development department of a small UK chemicals manufacturer. An institutional framework of accounting and a framework of power mobilisation help tease out the dynamics of the processes of change. The case highlights power over resources,...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which a profound change in the image of accountants can be seen in the discourse used in accounting software adverts that have appeared in the professional publications of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants over the...

This paper is offered as a discussion piece. Drawing from personal research on management accounting change in the UK, and the changing roles, skills, and knowledge base required of management accountants, it argues for significant pedagogical reform to redirect education and training to these...

Purpose – To explore the contributions made by two strands of institutional research that have been applied to the study of management accounting change: “old institutional economics” and “new institutional sociology”. To propose ways of developing these theories, and in general to...

Purpose – To illustrate and discuss how different types of responsibility values are mobilised in a Swedish international company. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is informed by a constructivist pragmatism framework. The part of the study related to the case site was inspired by an...

Purpose – Based on an institutional perspective, this study explores the role of management accounting (MA) in promoting or impeding changes in the employees' conceptions of shopfloor worker responsibility in a company trying to implement a continuous improvement (CI) working practice....

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse how cost accounting knowledge is mediated in a large multinational organisation employing a company‐wide enterprise resource planning system and off‐the‐shelf activity based costing software to create a uniform profitability management system within...

Purpose – This paper focuses on the implications for management accounting of “connectivity” amongst modern enterprises. It seeks to illustrate how practical guidance for management accountants who work in business networks can be gleaned from analogies out of traditional management...