Discourse and Action: Analysis of the Process of Change in the Management Control System in a Brazilian Industrial Organization Under the Perspective of Institutional Theory
Name: CÉLIA BUBACH
Publication date: 15/07/2015
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| EMANUEL RODRIGUES JUNQUEIRA DE MATOS | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ALFREDO RODRIGUES LEITE DA SILVA | External Examiner * |
| EMANUEL RODRIGUES JUNQUEIRA DE MATOS | Advisor * |
Summary: The aim of this study was to investigate the process of change in management control system (MCS), analyzing the change of management control practices in the structure of this system, from the perspective of institutional theory. The research question is how does the process of change in MCS occur in a Brazilian industrial organization? Therefore, was decided to a single case study with a qualitative approach with descriptive purpose using data collection from unstructured and semistructured interviews of 11 managers and users of MCS, non-participant observation and documentary survey. Data collection took place from August 2014 to March 2015. Discourse analysis elements were used as the method for analysis and interpretation of data. The main theoretical references were the jobs of Meyer and Rowan (1977), DiMaggio and Powell (1983, 1991, 2007), Scott (1995, 2008a, 2008b) and Machado-da-Silva and Vizeu (2007) on institutional theory; Huy (2001), Beekman, Chenhall and Euske (2007) and Machado-da-Silva, Fonseca and Crubellate (2010) for the change process; and Malmi and Brown (2008) and Simons (1995) for the MCS; highlighting the empirical application of theoretical frameworks of Malmi and Brown (2008), Simons (1995) and Huy (2001). In data analysis, the design and the use of MCS has been identified, reporting how it is taking place the change of management control practices, identifying the incentive and resistance factors to institutionalize these practices and who are the organizational actors who are acting as agents of change. Finally, the recurrent discursive aspects that permeate the discourse of the company researched have been identified. As contributions it was demonstrated the influence of isomorphic factors in the choice of management control practices, the evidence that the MCS is constructed socially, the implications of centralization of power and the absence of strategies for MCS, the evidence that the process of change in MCS is not just mechanical or automated and further, that the discourse of change can permeate the organization without the action to be implemented, showing a mismatch between discourse and action.
