Privatisation and management accounting change in a Brazilian electricity distribution company.

The main objective of this study is to explain how the management accounting
information system of a privatised Brazilian electricity distribution company was
shaped by both inter and intra organisational factors. As a consequence, this thesis
seeks to explore the key factors that influenced the dynamics of management
accounting change in the privatised company. In so doing, there is a great interest in
understanding the complex interaction of both intra-organisational factors (e.g.
organisational culture and power relations within the company) and interorganisational
factors (e.g. the electricity sector regulation system) which influenced
the process of change in management accounting practices.
This study adopts an interpretive case study as research method to analyse the
changes in management accounting that occurred in the case company over a period
of 8 years, that is, from 2000 (the privatisation year) to 2007. Face-to-face interviews
semi-structured in design constitute the primary method of data collection in this
study. For its theoretical framework the study draws upon institutional theory and its
extensions, as well as structuration theory to explain the process of management
accounting change in the case study organisation. More specifically, this study uses
three theoretical frameworks that explain changes in organisations, namely: Dillard
et al (2004); Seo and Creed (2002) and Bums and Scapens (2000). By combining
these three frameworks, this thesis provides a new theoretical framework to
understand the process of management accounting change.
The analysis of this case indicates that there were profound changes in the case
company's management accounting systems after the process of privatisation. In
particular changes were evident in the budgetary system; the performance
measurement system; and in the way that managers use the management accounting
information. It was also identified that the Balanced Scorecard system played a
ceremonial role in the organisation. This study also explores the regulator's role in
the process of management accounting change in the case company as a source of
coercive isomorphism.