Management Accounting and Organizational Learning

The research project Management Accounting and Organizational Learning - Understanding Performance Measurement Systems in Their Social and Organizational Context aims to contribute to a better understanding of performance measurement and incentive systems. It intends to study practices that lead to changes in performance measurement systems, rationales behind certain performance measurement characteristics, implementation difficulties and effects of the use of performance measures (intentional as well as unintentional). Within extant research, diverging results have been reported regarding the impact of performance measurement and incentive system design and different ways of using such systems. Inconsistent results are supposedly due to context factors that have not been taken into account systematically so far. Studying the use and effects of performance measurement systems in organizational practice over a sufficiently long period of time constitutes a considerable challenge in terms of access and time resources. The current research project offers the rather unique opportunity to observe such an implementation process. In cooperation with other European accounting scholars I will conduct a long-term in-depth case study on the implementation, use and effects of new performance measures and associated incentive systems in a manufacturing company in Austria with production sites in Austria, Sweden, Germany, France and Great Britain. Data collection and analysis will focus on individual and organizational learning with regard to performance measurement implementation and use. Thus, the study will contribute to research on management accounting in its social and organizational context and particularly aims to offer explanations as to why performance measurement and incentive systems may work or fail in practice. The data will be collected and analysed in close cooperation with leading interpretive and critical management accounting scholars at Manchester Business School (MBS), notably Prof. Sven Modell who is experienced in qualitative management accounting research, particularly in the fields of performance management and implementation of performance measures. With the exception of the University of Innsbruck, and its research group on Accounting Theory and Research, interpretive and crtical accounting research is only poorly represented in German speaking countries. In order to complete my habilitiation in this area and, in general, in order to advance our research focus in Innsbruck, I apply for a Schrödinger fellowship funding for my research stay in Manchester.