Abu Shiraz Rahaman

Social and environmental reporting at the VRA: institutionalised legitimacy or legitimation crisis?

Abstract Literature on social and environmental disclosure has sought to provide explanations for corporate decisions to disclose information in annual reports. This paper uses a combination of institutional theory and Habermas’ legitimation theory to explain social and environmental reporting at a Ghanaian public sector organisation, the Volta River Authority (VRA). In the case of the VRA a major influence on environmental reporting is the constant pressure to comply with the requirements of funding agencies, such as the World Bank, in order to provide institutional legitimation. The same sources of pressure which encourage the reporting of physical environmental impacts, lead to undesirable outcomes for the local population. Institutionalised practices lead to prices beyond the reach of local people and work against the original developmental goal of the VRA project. Such effects are invisible and remain so in accounting systems designed to meet the requirements of international institutional legitimisation. The result of institutionalised reporting procedures is not legitimacy, but a crisis of legitimation.

The adoption of international accounting standards in Bangladesh: An exploration of rationale and process

Purpose – This paper seeks to evaluate the recent decision of the Bangladeshi Government and accounting profession to adopt international accounting standards (IASs).Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a variety of archival data and interviews with key actors, including preparers and users of annual reports, members of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and members of the professional accounting bodies: ICAB and ICMAB.Findings – The paper finds that institutional legitimisation is a major factor that drives the decision to adopt IASs because of the pressure exerted by key international donor/lending institutions on the Bangladeshi Government and professional accounting bodies. Such pressure results from not only the need to provide credibility to foreign investors but also the need for strong accountability arrangements with lending/donor agencies. However, the perceived undemocratic nature of the adoption process appears to be creating and enhancing conflict among various constituencies, re...

Accounting and the move to privatize water services in Africa

Purpose - Using the recent attempts by the Ghanaian Government to privatize its urban water services, this paper seeks to understand the role and functioning of accounting within the global move to “reinvent government.” Design/methodology/approach - Unlike the attempts made in other African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania, the case of Ghana is interesting because of the vociferousness and length of the debate that has been going on. Using Bourdieus notion of field and capital and Foucaults idea of governmentality, and relying on a variety of archival documents and interviews with 27 key participants, the study examines the positioning of accounting practices, vocabulary and experts in this debate. Findings - The study shows how accounting is enlisted at an almost sub-conscious level, how its use can engender significant resistance and how accounting can be used to position the debate in various terms, including “profitability” “affordability” and “accountability.” Research limitations/implications - The paper shows that within new democracies such as Ghana policy-making requires the enlistment of technologies of government – including accounting – to articulate and justify divergent policy options. Practical implications - The findings of the paper have implications for regional policy-makers and their various development partners. Originality/value - Researchers and practitioners working in the area of public sector management and reforms should find significant value in the paper.

Accounting and public sector reforms: A study of a continuously evolving governmental agency in Australia

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to explore the role of accounting in the reform process of a continuously evolving governmental agency in the Australian state of New South Wales. Design/methodology/approach - Drawing on two complementary organizational change models, the paper investigates how the shifting objectives of the Department of Public Works and Services (DPWS) rendered its financial management and accountability systems inadequate and how “new” accounting technologies introduced to anchor the reform process clashed with bureaucratic procedures to create a very challenging context for the organizations management. The paper uses multiple research methods including interviews, archival material and observation to understand the reform process at the DPWS and its implications for public sector accounting and public sector management. Findings - The paper finds that the unique history and continuously evolving nature of the DPWS makes it an important context for re-examining the dynamics of change processes and the contribution of accounting technologies within that context. Since the late 1980s, the DPWS has transformed itself from a budget-dependent bureaucratic governmental agency to a business-oriented commercialized agency operating in a competitive environment. Research limitations/implications - Future research could be directed at understanding how cultural fragmentations are mended in this extremely challenging reform process. Further case studies employing the two organizational change models could provide additional insights in this area. Practical implications - The paper argues that the cultural fragmentation that is introduced by the reform of the Public Works Department and the diverse and often conflicting obligations of the sector have added to the complexities of managing the organization. Perhaps a transformational leadership-style might be appropriate for managing such a challenging context. Originality/value - This paper would be of value to researchers and practitioners with an interest in public sector reform and management.

Organisational knowledge creation and the commercialisation of State mail service

Over the last decade, the public sector of many economies has undergone various reform initiatives. A central element of these reforms is the introduction of “market‐oriented commercial practices” in the sector. Such initiatives have required public sector entities to engage in constant organisational learning processes. Using the New South Wales State mail service as a case illustration, this paper explores the “new knowledge creation” aspects of such reform initiatives. The paper explores how the State mail service underwent “new knowledge‐creation” processes as part of the commercialisation initiative. It is argued that the newly introduced commercial technologies have played a significant role in the process of creating and transferring knowledge within the organisation.

In pursuit of environmental excellence: A stakeholder analysis of the environmental management strategies and performance of an Australian energy company

Purpose - This paper aims to provide a stakeholder analysis of the environmental management strategies and a two-dimensional (economic and environmental) performance of an Australian energy company that seeks environmental excellence. Unlike the dominant largely positivistic studies which seek an association between environmental and financial performance, the paper aims to use the richness of a case study methodology to gain a deeper understanding of how environmental concerns are handled and what outcomes in terms of environmental and economic performance are achieved. Design/methodology/approach - An in-depth case study approach involving interviews, archival material and site visits is used in this paper. It starts with a brief engagement with the largely positivistic literature, highlighting the major deficiencies of this scholarship and then presents a more interpretive empirical analysis using an Australian energy company. Findings - The paper finds that there are socio-political processes that are enlisted to control, monitor, and instil discipline in the organizations pursuit of its social initiatives, which help to improve both its financial and environmental performance. Practical implications - The paper provides evidence that environmental and economic performance are not always mutually exclusive, and corporate entities can excel in both simultaneously. The paper also provides evidence that the environmental strategies may be overt attempts at pushing the socio-political agenda of the dominant stakeholder group. What seems like a win-win situation may only represent a political-ethical attempt to promote environmentalism in the Australian energy sector. Originality/value - This paper uses a two-stage investigation process to extend ones understanding of the relationship between corporate environmental and financial performance. First, evidence of improving environmental and financial performance of an energy company is provided, and then the paper explores why and how this relationship exists in the second stage of the analysis. The mainstream and critical accounting literature is bridged by focusing on issues that are largely the domain of one sub-literature with a differentiated case study that is largely encouraged in the other.

Culture and corporate voluntary reporting: A comparative exploration of the chairperson's report in India and New Zealand

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the cultural underpinnings of accounting practices through a comparative analysis of India and New Zealand, using the chairpersons report, which is increasingly becoming one of the most important segments of the corporate annual report. Design/methodology/approach - The annual reports of Indian and New Zealand companies from 2001 to 2005 were selected to investigate the extent and nature of information disclosure in their chairpersons report. “Content analysis” is the main methodological orientation of the paper. Findings - The paper argues that, contrary to propositions based on Hofstedes cultural framework, Indian companies provide more disclosure in their chairpersons report than their New Zealand counterparts. This leads to the conclusion that voluntary disclosure, more generally, is a complex phenomenon and cultural variables alone may not be sufficient predictors of the voluntary disclosure practices of a country. Originality/value - Using India and New Zealand, two countries with significant cultural differences, according to Hofstedes typology, the paper extends the literature by focusing on the chairpersons report, a more recent accounting phenomenon which is gaining popularity across the globe.

Independent financial auditing and the crusade against government sector financial mismanagement in Ghana

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the increasing role of financial auditing in the fight against government sector fraud and financial mismanagement in Ghana, Africa. Using a Foucauldian-inspired theoretical framing, the paper explores the growing cases of fraud in the Ghanaian public sector and the technologies of government that have been enlisted to combat it. The paper also discusses the particular interests that are likely served by the push for financial audits as the preferred weapon for fighting government sector fraud in the country. Design/methodology/approach - The approach of the paper is qualitative involving the use of a variety of archival material and interviews with employees of the Ghana Audit Service, the Controller and Accountant-Generals Department, and global agencies like the World Bank and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Findings - The paper finds that contrary to the view of “auditing as an alien phenomenon in most parts of the Third World, certainly Africa,” financial auditing is the preferred approach to fighting government sector fraud in Ghana. The paper also shows that financial auditing is privileged over other technologies of government, in this context, largely because it reinforces the hegemony of international development agencies like the World Bank and the imperialism of the big four accounting firms. Originality/value - The paper adds insight into the increasing role of financial auditing in the fight against government sector fraud and financial mismanagement in Ghana.

The role of accounting in the enterprise bargaining process of an Australian university

Recent writings have demonstrated how accounting provides a facilitating or conflict‐resolving role in organisations and society. However, some studies have argued that conflict‐creating and conflict‐enhancing roles of accounting are equally prominent and in some cases may overshadow accounting’s facilitating roles. This paper provides evidence supporting the latter thesis within an enterprise bargaining context. Using the University of New England, as a case study, the paper highlights how opposing parties engage similar accounting technologies to support their positions in the bargaining process. The paper draws on the 1992 union heterogeneity and employer equivocality model of Amernic and Craig to argue that the perceived facilitating roles of accounting not only disappear, but accounting also becomes largely obstructive in reaching a settlement.

Trust, Morality, and the Privatization of Water Services in Developing Countries

This article examines the business of water privatization and the ethics implied in the transformation of the water services sector in developing countries. Drawing on data derived from field visits and semi‐structured interviews held with members of government, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders in one country undergoing transformation in this sector, Ghana, the article considers the ethical perspectives of the various involved stakeholders. The analysis draws on three perspectives - Gilligans ethic of care, Rawls’ principles of justice, and virtue ethics - which together highlight the economic, class, and gender‐based dimensions of the privatization debate. Finding that endemic mistrust characterizes this debate, the article considers what is needed to re‐instill trust among stakeholders. Specific implications are provided for business leaders and government policymakers.