Habib Mahama

Mixed methods research in accounting

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to set the scene for this special issue by synthesising the vast array of literature to examine what constitutes mixed methods research, and the associated strengths and risks attributed to this approach. Design/methodology/approach - This paper takes the form of a literature review. The authors draw on extensive methods research from a diverse range of social science disciplines to identify and explore key definitions, opportunities and risks in mixed methods studies. They review a number of accounting studies that adopt mixed methods research approaches. This allows the authors to analyse variance in how mixed methods research is conceptualised across these studies and evaluate the perceived strengths and limitations of specific mixed methods design choices. Findings - The authors identify a range of opportunities and challenges in the conduct of mixed methods research and illustrate these by reference to both published studies and the other contributions to this special issue. Originality/value - With the exception of Modells work, there is sparse discussion of the application and potential of mixed methods research in the extant accounting literature.

Accounting and Control in Health Care: Behavioural, Organisational, Sociological and Critical Perspectives

Abstract This chapter synthesises literature exploring complex technical, social, political and institutional influences on the inception and operation of accounting in health care contexts and its diverse effects. The review is organised according to two key methodological positions adopted by researchers—behavioural/organisational and critical/sociological. The review demonstrates that although behavioural/organisational studies focus on technical economic imperatives associated with the design and use of accounting and control systems in health care organisations these cannot be disentangled or decoupled from the historical, institutional and socio-political contexts of health care accounting. To this end the chapter calls for increased methodological pluralism to further improve our understanding of accounting in health care contexts. A number of other suggestions for future research are offered and projected trends in the structure and delivery of health care services are discussed.

Enablers of Top Management Team Support for Integrated Management Control Systems Innovations

Top management team (TMT) support has been identified as one of the most important critical factors to the success of management control systems (MCS) innovations. However, prior studies have taken TMT support for MCS innovations as a given rather than considering the factors that determine whether that support will actually exist and the extent thereof. Prior studies also follow a monolithic approach and treat TMT support for MCS innovations as a black box rather than a combination of processes and stages that develop sequentially over time. We conceptualise TMT support for MCS innovations as consisting of two stages (TMT belief and participation in MCS innovations). We draw on Upper Echelon and knowledge creation theories to motivate and test four enablers of TMT support for an integrated MCS innovation. We theorize the four enablers as TMTs strategic IT knowledge, TMT knowledge creation processes, CIOs strategic business and IT knowledge, and the interaction between TMT and the CIO. We test the research model using survey data that was collected from 347 Australian organisations. The results from the data analyses confirm the hypothesised relationships, supporting the theorized synergies among the four antecedents to TMT support. There are several implications for theory and practice that should be considered in future studies examining the role of TMT in supporting new MCS innovations.

Relationships between strategic performance measures, strategic decision-making, and organizational performance: empirical evidence from Canadian public organizations

ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of strategic performance measures (SPM) in strategic decision-making and their impact on organizational performance. Based on 143 online survey responses from senior administrators across Canadian public organizations, the study found that SPM of efficiency and effectiveness are positively associated with performance, as well as, the former with both strategy implementation and strategy assessment decisions. The study extends prior research by linking both SPM and their use in strategic decision-making to organizational performance.

The use of performance information in strategic decision making in public organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the importance of different components of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS) and their deployment influence the use of performance information from the SPMS in making strategic decisions. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a survey of 143 managers of Canadian public organizations. Findings – The findings indicate that two SPMS components, namely, the importance of non-financial performance measures and the use of operational efficiency measures, have significant positive associations with performance information use for strategy implementation and strategy assessment decisions. The extent to which SPMS models were used is found to be positively associated with performance information use for strategy implementation, but not for strategy assessment, decisions. Furthermore, the relationships between SPMS variables and strategic decision making are moderated by information systems/data limitations and management’s ...

The Impact of Capital Proposal Guidelines and Perceived Preparer Biases on Reviewers’ Investment Evaluation Decisions

Past literature has highlighted the importance of using reviewers in the evaluation of investment proposals. This study examines whether and how the decisions of these reviewers are influenced by a proposal’s conformance with company guidelines and practices, and the incentives facing the proposal preparer. Our experiment shows that, holding the proposal’s content constant, the reviewers’ evaluation decision is less favourable if the proposal does not follow the company guidelines. Further, we find that the preparer’s incentive to persist in a project negatively affects the proposal reviewers’ decisions only when the proposal deviates from company guidelines but not when it is compliant. This result suggests that company guidelines may lower the willingness of reviewers to make independent decisions.

A Further Interpretation of the Relational Agency of Information Systems: A Research Note

This paper proposes a reinterpretation of the agency of information system (IS) as relational. It explores how the agency of IS has been articulated in the extant stream of accounting information system (AIS) research and explains how a relational view of agency can enhance our understanding of IS in its organizational context. This reinterpretation highlights the limitation of viewing IS as technology (technocentric view) with predefined functionality and predictable effects. Attention is also shifted away from an anthropocentric conceptualization of IS; where the technology is seen as a tool and agency is attributed only to humans. We argue in the paper that both the technocentric and anthropocentric views of IS limit what can be learned about the agency of IS. Drawing on actor-network theory (ANT), this study conceptualizes IS as a relational network and proposes a relational view of the agency of IS. This relational view suggests that the social and material entities that make up IS have no absolute essence when viewed in isolation; rather, their collective force defines the agency of IS. The implications of the relational view of agency for AIS research are also highlighted.