Hanne Nørreklit

The Balanced Scorecard: what is the score? A rhetorical analysis of the Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard currently receives much attention. This article analyses the means by which the authors of The Balanced Scorecard have created that attention. Is it the result of a new and convincing theory,or is it merely the result of persuasive rhetoric,where convincing theory differs from solely persuasive rhetoric in that concepts and claims are based on sound argumentation? The article concludes that the text is not so convincing as persuasive—a feature characteristic of the genre of management guru texts; and,at the end,the article discusses the reasons for and appropriateness of such a genre and the consequences that should follow from the results of the analysis. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards a paradigmatic foundation for accounting practice

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework (pragmatic constructivism) for a new paradigm for accounting practice. The paradigmatic base of practice is an important element in explaining, understanding, justifying and defending practice. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is designed to argue the case for the use of pragmatic constructivism as a basis for the development of a paradigmatic foundation of accounting practice. To achieve this, pragmatic constructivism is explained and its application to accounting is illustrated and contrasted with the traditional paradigm of realism. Findings - The analysis shows how the use of a less reductionist paradigm than realism can assist accountants both in the creation of a rationale and a defence for practice. Research limitations/implications - The analysis is exploratory in the sense that a new paradigmatic framework is outlined and used to illustrate its potential to develop a paradigm for practice. The creation of a full practice paradigm for accounting is beyond the scope of one paper. Hence this analysis should be viewed as only a first step towards developing a paradigm of accounting practice. Originality/value - The proposal of pragmatic constructivism for this purpose is novel to the accounting literature. The value of its application lies in its potential to explain and defend accounting practice.

Some thoughts on cost accounting developments in the United States

This article examines the claim that current deficiencies in some cost accounting practices are due to a predominance of financial accounting requirements in both teaching and practice. We have reviewed textbooks and bulletins of the National Association of Cost Accountants (1920–1959) to find whether the criticisms of cost accounting are well founded. Our review showed that if cost accounting practices had been driven by financial accounting requirements, it happened despite the concepts and suggestions advocated in the text books on cost accounting throughout the period in question. The ideas on more accurate product costing for managerial purposes, which have recently been re-popularized under the name of activity costing, have long been present in cost theory and writings on cost accounting. Many of these ideas can also be found in articles on costing practices in the bulletins of the National Association of Cost Accountants and in the textbooks of the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

A discourse analysis of the disciplinary power of management coaching

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the control assumptions embedded in some textbooks on management coaching with a view to uncovering the potentialities and constraints applying to the individuals self‐realisation project.Design/methodology/approach – By means of a qualitative discourse analysis of selected works on management coaching, the paper examines the rhetorical articulation of the management coaching concept in terms of established discourses of managing and controlling the individual.Findings – As a result of the findings, the paper categorises the management coaching literature into two types: employee and executive coaching, respectively. It demonstrates that employee coaching seems to involve action control and direct monitoring, while executive coaching involves control of the spirit as well as results/achievements, thereby generating tight constraints on the individuals self‐realisation project. It concludes that coaching can be a stronger disciplining technique than contr...

Management accounting and decision making: Two case studies of outsourcing

Highlights • The Management Accounting and Decision Making: Two Case Studies explore the production and use of accounting information in complex and strategic significant decision settings.• We draw on two case companies that make outsourcing decisions based on accounting calculations.• Two methods for outsourcing decision-making are uncovered: an analytical and an actor-based.• The two methods have substantially different ways of managing information uncertainty, of fostering interaction among the coalition of decision-participants and of making use of management accounting.• The findings reveal that management accounting can be produced and used in relation to complex and strategic decision situations. Abstract Studying the outsourcing decision in two substantial manufacturing companies, the paper explores the use of management accounting information in a complex and strategically significant decision-making setting. The setting involves multiple decision participants with potentially conflicting preferences, constrained information provision capabilities and uncertainties in respect of the financial outcomes of alternative decision options. The two case studies reveal two different methodological approaches to decision-making: analytical and actor-based. These approaches incorporate substantially different ways of managing information uncertainty, fostering interaction among the coalition of decision-participants and making use of management accounting. The findings show that management accounting information and techniques do play an important role in relation to organisationally complex and strategic decision situations. The revealed methods provide potentially educational examples from which other organisations can learn. The findings address the simplistic nature of the conventional management accounting literature on decision-making (e.g. outsourcing and “make or buy”).

Quality in qualitative management accounting research

Purpose - – The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the quality of Design/methodology/approach - – Drawing on language game theory and pragmatic constructivism, the paper analyzes the “practice doing” embedded in key language games of the case descriptions of three articles on intra-organizational buyer-supplier relations published in Findings - – The analysis documents that the three Research limitations/implications - – In providing a framework for analyzing practice relevance, the paper has implications for contemporary discussions on doing research that is relevant for practice. Originality/value - – The paper provides novel insight into the analysis of quality in management accounting research. Additionally, it provides a framework for reflecting on the accumulation of practice-relevant knowledge and identifying areas requiring more research.

A pragmatic constructivist approach to accounting practice and research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce the practice paradigm of pragmatic constructivism. Design/methodology/approach Pragmatic constructivism emphasizes the role of the actors in the construction of organized reality. For such construct to function successfully, four dimensions of reality must be integrated in the actor-world relations. Findings This includes an examination of pragmatic constructivist theory as an alternative to traditional realism and critical theories of organizational reality. The papers of the special issue include methodological, conceptual and empirical studies to expand the understanding of management accounting in relation to the actors’ construction of functioning organizational practices. Research limitations/implications As pragmatic constructivism is a relatively new paradigm, there is a need for further methodological and conceptual development and empirical studies of functioning practices. Originality/value In a discipline such as management accounting that can be theoretically polarized between the “realist” scientific mainstream and social constructivist criticism, pragmatic constructivism offers a mediating model in which realism is retained as the pragmatic criteria of success of the organizational actors’ construction.

The art of managing individuality

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the symbolic forms used in selected mainstream management models and to assess whether it would be expedient for enforcing the connection between leadership and individual human reality if such management models were fundamentally inspired by a successful manager and artist. Design/methodology/approach - The theoretical starting point of this article is Cassirers philosophy on symbolic forms. The paper analyses the symbolic forms embedded in the management discourse practice of art in the way that the concept is practiced by Kasper Holten, the highly successful Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Opera. Findings - The analysis shows that conventional management control models are rooted in the symbolic form of science, but are at risk of getting caught in assumptions of the form gliding into the symbolic form of religion and myth, where all the forms tend to oppress essential aspects of individuality. Kasper Holten integrates the symbolic forms of art and science, which makes him capable of binding to the individuals life-world. Research limitations/implications - Analysing Kasper Holtens views on management reveals features and structures for a new management discourse practice which is far better suited to most of the knowledge jobs in contemporary society than the more conventional management discourse. Originality/value - The paper provides novel insight into the interrelationship between the specific way of using language and the way of managing and constructing a world. It paves the way for another way of doing management control and accounting.

Internal Performance Measurement Systems: Problems and Solutions

This article pursues two aims: to identify problems and dangers related to the operational use of internal performance measurement systems of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) type and to provide some guidance on how performance measurement systems may be designed to overcome these problems. The analysis uses and extends Nørreklits (2000) critique of the BSC by applying the concepts developed therein to contemporary research on the BSC and to the development of practice in performance measurement. The analysis is of relevance for many companies in the Asia-Pacific area as an increasing numbers of them are implementing the BSC.

Understanding practice generalisation - Opening the research/practice gap

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enhance the relationship between research and practice. It addresses the question: How can practitioners’ use of generalisations be understood, with a view towards producing research-based generalisations that facilitate use in practice? Design/methodology/approach Language games are used to explore generalisation in practice, and the framework of pragmatic constructivism is adopted to characterise the generation of practice generalisation. Findings Practice is conceptualised as a complex set of clusters of organised actions run by a set of applied generalisations and driven by human intentions. Practice also encompasses reflective activities that aim to create the generalisations and reflect them into the specific circumstances to create functioning practice. Generalisations depend on underlying concepts. The formation and structure of concepts is explored and used to create the construction and use of different types of generalisation. Generalisations function as cognitive building blocks in constructing strings of interconnected functioning activities. Managers make their own functioning generalisations that, however, do not satisfy the research criteria for acceptable generalisations. The research/practice gap is shaped by the very different language games played. Research limitations/implications If research is to be useful to practice, the generalisations produced must methodologically articulate the types of generalisation that pervade the methods with which practitioners construct functioning activities. Further research has to give more insight into such processes. Originality/value The paper contributes insight into both the generalisation debate and the research/practice gap debate.