BSC Case Study Telecom Fiji

1

Strategic management and the balanced scorecard: A case study of a

telecommunication company

Umesh Sharma*

Department of Accounting

Waikato Management School

University of Waikato

PB3105

Hamilton 3240

New Zealand

e-mail: [email protected]

Stewart Lawrence

Waikato Management School,

University of Waikato.

Alan Lowe

Aston University,

UK.

*Corresponding author

2



Abstract

Purpose: This paper presents some evidence on an aspect of the design of a strategic control

at a micro level within Telecom Fiji Limited. The research aims to illustrate how the

balanced scorecard (BSC) has been used by the company as a calculative tool to enrol

employees on the path to commercial business routines as the organisation moved from

corporatisation to privatisation. The major focus is on BSCs implementation and practice.

Design/ Methodology/ Approach: a case study method is applied which was chosen to

illustrate the use of BSC model. It utilises qualitative field study approach to provide an

understanding of BSC implementation. Institutional and practice theory are utilised to inform

the case study.

Findings: BSC was used internally to bring employees on board for privatisation path and

encouraged employees to focus on customer and shareholder perspective. Employees were

rewarded for reasonable scores in the BSC through quarterly performance bonuses.

Research limitation/ Implications: The analysis is limited to one case company, thus no

generalisation, except to theory, can be implied.

Originality/ Value: Few studies have reviewed BSC in organisations that made transition

from public sector to private company. Combining insights from the emerging practice-

based literature on strategy and institutional theory, the paper examines how BSC contributed

to shape the strategy at TFL.

Keywords: performance measurement, employee share scheme, strategy formulation,

institutional theory, management control systems, Fiji.

3



1. Introduction

The relationship between strategy and management control has been researched over the past

two decades (Chenhall, 2005; Nyamori et al., 2001; Lord, 1996). The research on strategy

and management control has developed over time from being dominated by a contingency

perspective whereby strategy and management control have been treated as essentially given

or exogenously determined to how management controls are implicated in strategic change.

The broader literature has shown an increasing interest in aspects of strategy formulation and

practice at the level of individual manager (Johnson, 2000; Johnson et al., 2000; Modell,

2009; Lowe & Jones, 2004).

Strategy is perceived as imperative for the organisation since it is the key element leading the

organisation into future- guiding actions, plans and results (Modell, 2009; Lowe & Jones,

2004; Nayamori et al., 2000; Lawrence & Sharma, 2002). Bunce et al., (1995, p.253) note

that as strategies are changing in response to many competitive and structural pressures, it

seems evident that new management systems are needed to reflect these new realities.

Several scholars have addressed the emergence of performance management systems using

not only financial, but also nonfinancial measures and relating them to strategy (Kaplan &

Norton, 1992, 1993, 1996; Lynch & Cross, 1991; Nor-Aziah & Scapens, 2007; Neely et al.,

2001).

This paper presents some evidence on an aspect of the design of a strategic control at the

microlevel, within Telecom Fiji Limited. It provides information about how a

telecommunications company utilised financial and non-financial measures in the form of a

balanced scorecard to align its strategy. The research question being asked is: how did BSC

get implemented and embedded in practice at TFL? Was there any resistance to such

practices? To what extent did the BSC have to be modified from the four perspectives

advocated by Kaplan and Norton (1992) to suit Telecoms context? The research used a

qualitative field study approach to provide an understanding of strategy formulation. The aim

is to contribute to an area of literature which is of increasing significance, but relatively

4

underdeveloped in terms of application of in-depth field research techniques. Combining

insights from the emerging practice-based literature on strategy, management control and

institutional theory, the paper examines how the formation of management control practices

contributed to shape the strategy of Fijian Telecommunication Company which made

transition from a public sector to privatised company over 1989-2002. The paper examines

the role of managers within the process of identification of key performance indicators, and

more broadly the formulation of a strategic performance measurement practice

Where do new practices come from? While institutional theory research has been widely

renowned for its emphasis on tracing how novel innovations or activities become established

or taken-for-granted practices as a result of isomorphic diffusion, little work in this tradition

has addressed the origins of new practices (Scott, 2001; Lounsbury & Crumley, 2007;

Lounsbury, 2008). Part of the problem is that diffusion studies have normally treated

practices as objects that are either adopted or not, essentially precipitating the routine

acceptance of practice (Lounsbury & Crumley, 2007, p.994). This structural emphasis on

institutionalised processes has resulted in a number of critiques about the lack of attention

paid to the role of actors in creating and promulgating innovations (DiMaggio, 1988;

Greenwood & Hinings, 1996; Lounsbury, 2008; Seo & Creed, 2002; Lounsbury & Crumley,

2007). Within institutional theory, this broader structure-agency debate is often referred to as

the paradox of embedded agency (Friedland and Alford, 1991; Seo & Creed, 2002; Holm,

1995). The theoretical puzzle is as follows: if actors are embedded in an institutional field

and subject to institutional constraint (Clemens & Cook, 1999; Seo & Creed, 2002), how are

they able to envision alternative practices and then subsequently get others to adapt them?

One response to this disquiet has been the introduction of the concept of institutional

entrepreneur, featuring the role of powerful actors who are able to reshape social

organisations and help establish a new dominant practice (Garud, et al., 2007; Greenwood et

al., 2002; Lounsbury & Crumley, 2007). The concept of institutional entrepreneur is covered

more in-depth in the ensuing theoretical framework section.

The paper proceeds in the next section to outline the prior literature on balanced scorecard

and strategy, which is followed by the theoretical perspective adapted for the study. We

discuss how institutional and practice scholarship can be combined to shed light on practice

creation, motivating our empirical case. The case company is then described followed by the

5

research method. The next section of the paper presents the empirical evidence on the

strategic business plan and balanced scorecard as practiced at Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL).

This is finally followed by a discussion and conclusion section.

2. Balanced Scorecard and Strategy

Various authors have previously reviewed the BSC framework (Farneti & Guthrie, 2008;

Norreklit, 2000, 2003; Kaplan & Norton, 1996, 1998, 2001; Butler et al., 1997; Kloot &

Martin, 2000; Figgie et al., 2002). The CIMA (2005) report calls for research that focuses on

the implementation and practicability of the BSC framework.

The concept of strategic performance measurement such as BSC was developed in response

to the criticism that traditional performance management systems are financially driven and

historically focused (Kaplan & Norton, 1993). The traditional BSC was structured as a tool

to complement financial accounting measures, and provide non-financial measures, including

the activities of the organisation that can be regarded as operational, such as customer

satisfaction, internal processes and innovation. The BSCs four dimensions encompass

financial perspective, customer perspective, internal business perspective and innovation and

learning perspective (Kaplan and Norton, 1992). The BSC was developed as a tool to

develop strategy management, linking strategies and performance indicators.

Roselender & Hart (2003) suggest that strategic management accounting seeks to integrate

insights from management accounting and marketing management within a strategic

management framework. The marketing accountability project identifies the necessity to

employ multiple performance measures in a reporting format such as a balanced scorecard

(Roselender & Hart, 2003). Atkinson (2006) suggests that the essence of strategy

implementation suffers from a general lack of academic attention. The balanced scorecard

has been offered by its inventors as ...the cornerstone of a new strategic management

system.... (Kaplan and Norton, 1996, p.75), positively linking an organisations long-term

strategic intentions with its short term operational actions.

6

The balanced scorecard was developed to address a number of significant weaknesses

associated with traditional performance measurement systems- including particularly, that

they are dominated by short-term or financial metrics that are internally oriented and are not

linked to organisational strategy (Eccles, 1991; Lynch & Cross, 1991; Kaplan & Norton,

1992; Norreklit, 2000; Hoque & James, 2000). BSC makes explicit the link between

strategic objectives and operational goals, by identifying clear performance targets at all

levels in the organisation, and by engaging employees at all levels of the organisation in the

discussion of the strategic priorities. Atkinson (2006) underscores that the effective

integration of the balanced scorecard with strategic and management control systems,

however, remains a potentially significant inhibitor to successful strategy implementation.

According to Otley (2003), it appears that designers of performance management systems do

not fully anticipate the likely response of those being controlled.

The BSC has found favour in many organisations (Chenhall and Langfield-Smith, 1998;

Hoque & James, 2000; Lawrence & Sharma, 2002; Sharma & Hoque, 2001). Given the

obvious benefits of a BSC, it is assumed to be relatively unproblematic to implement in a

logical and sequential fashion (Northcott & France, 2005). However, this view is challenged

by academics and practitioners who have found the BSC elusive and problematic to

implement (Ittner and Larcker, 1998; Norreklit, 2003; Sandhu, Baxter & Emsley, 2008). The

implementation process brings together managers from different organisational functions,

such as accounting, marketing operations and human resources (Sandhu et al., 2008). Sandhu

et al., (2008) suggest that a network of actors, both human and non-human is involved in

translating a BSC.

Norreklit (2003) suggests that the BSC may be good at justifying cost reductions and at

making employees increase their level of customer service. Through the BSC employees

need to show themselves and their surroundings that they are in control of the uncertainty

involved in their jobs. They do so by becoming isomorphic relative to their surroundings and

adopting the behaviour of others (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983, 1991).

7

Ax and Bjornenak (2005) examine the communication, diffusion and transformation of the

BSC in Sweden from a supply side perspective. They argue that BSC perspectives can be

examples of stakeholder rather than shareholder models. They cite an example of a scorecard

developed in a Swedish state school that includes a financial perspective, a student

perspective, a teacher and staff perspective, a development perspective and a school

administration perspective. The current study in telecommunication intends to examine the

various perspectives employed within company and whether it extends the perspectives

conveyed in the original Kaplan and Norton literature on BSC. Ax and Bjornenaks (2005)

study noted that in addition to Kaplan and Nortons four perspectives, the majority of

Swedish organisations include an employee perspective. The next section examines the

theoretical basis for the study.

3. Theoretical Framework

Institutional theory and practice theory have been adapted for this case study. Particularly

useful to institutional theory is the attempt by some practice scholars to draw on activity

theory (Engestrom, 1999) and to perceive practice as subsuming activity (Lounsbury &

Crumley, 2007). Ahrens & Chapman (2007) employ practice theory in considering the role of

management accounting in the constitution of organizations. They build on Schatzki (2002,

2005) for their particular version of practice theory. According to Ahrens & Chapman (2007)

using practice theory enabled them to describe management control systems as structures of

intentionality which both shape and are shaped by shared norms and understandings in the

interrelationships between technical and interpretive accounting processes.

According to Schatzki (2002, 2005), social practices are organized by human activities.

Jarzabkowski (2005) views activity as the action of and interactions between actors as they

perform their daily routines, while practice refers to activity patterns across actors that are

infused with broader meaning and provide tools for ordering social life and activity.

Lounsbury & Crumley (2007) posit that activity involves acts that are generally devoid of

deeper social meaning or reflection such as pounding a nail, while practice, such as

professional carpentry, provides order and meaning to a set of otherwise banal activities.

Defined this way, practice is seen as a kind of institutionally- taken-for-granted set of rules

and routines (Lounsbury & Crumley, 2007; Lounsbury, 2008; Seal, 2010).

8

By focusing more on actors and organizational heterogeneity, institutional theorists may seek

connections to currently fashionable domains such as practice theory that have been

somewhat influential in contemporary studies of accounting (Ahrens & Chapman, 2007;

Hopwood & Miller, 1994; Lounsbury, 2008; Malmi & Granlund, 2009; van Helden,

Aardema, ter Bogt, Groot, 2010; Baldvinsdottir, Mitchell & Norreklit, 2010). The theoretical

gap between actor micro-processes and institutions provide an opportunity for theoretical

development and empirical insight, and the new directions of institutional analysis to be

explored (see Lounsbury, 2008). Combining institutional theory and practice theory in this

paper offers a new direction for institutional analysis in capturing organisational

heterogeneity and practice variation (Lounsbury, 2001, 2008) by allowing a focus on actors

and their activities. A practice perspective offers a way of understanding the diverse

activities involved in balanced scorecard practice at TFL.

Given this approach to practice as a kind of institution, the research question giving our

efforts is: how may innovation such as BSC in activities lead to the establishment of a new

practice via institutionalization? Institutional theorists have long grappled with the issue of

how institutionalized structure and agency exercised by actors with vested interests influence

each other (Barley and Tolbert, 1997, DiMaggio, 1988; Hirsch and Lounsbury, 1997).

Research on institutional sources of practice variation has only began to be developed (Burns

& Scapens, 2000; Siti-Nabiha & Scapens, 2005; Modell, et al., 2007; Seo & Creed, 2002;

Dorado, 2005; Beckert, 1999; Sharma & Lawrence, 2008; Sharma, Lawrence & Lowe, 2010).

The problem of embedded agency may be resolved to some extent by institutional

entrepreneurs who act as internal change agents in the organisation (Benson, 1977; Beckert,

1999; Seo and Creed, 2002; Dorado, 2005). The term institutional entrepreneurs refers to

actors who have an interest in particular institutional arrangements and who leverage

resources to create new institutions or to transform existing ones (Maguire et al., 2004,

p.657). Garud, Hardy and Maguire (2007) put forward that juxtaposing institutional (taken-

for-granted rules and routines) and entrepreneurial forces into a single concept, institutional

9

entrepreneurship offers opportunity for understanding how and why certain novel practices or

new organizational forms come into existence and become well established over time.

Institutional contradictions allow institutional entrepreneurs to disrupt existing routines

within an institutional arrangement. Institutional structure, informal rules and taken-for-

granted rules and routines come under pressure from agents who recognize that these factors

constrain more efficient outcomes. There is an ontological position that understands the

world as always in flux and that the new practices lie in the everyday activities of actors

(Lounsbury, 2008).

In many organizations, the management control system constitutes the stable rules and

routines which enable and constrain actions (Scapens, 1994; Burns and Scapens, 2000).

Rules are the formally recognised ways in which things should be done while routines are

defined as the way things are actually done (Burns and Scapens, 2000, p.6). Rules capture

the formal characteristics of an accounting system: for example, rules are standard operating

procedures, budget manuals and appraisal guidelines. The Burns and Scapens (2000) model

of institutional theory emphasises the stability embodied in rule-based behavior and routines

in organizational systems. Nevertheless, to study accounting change we need to study

institutional contradictions that give rise to changes in rules and routines via institutional

entrepreneurs.

Practice theory emphasizes the role of actors in drawing upon rules and routines of

management control practice (Seal, 2010; Lounsbury & Crumley, 2007). The theory assumes

that actions are organized around practical understandings, rules and engagements that define

and connect agents qua practitioners (Ahrens & Chapman, 2007). Practice is shaped through

purposeful activities and as a concept seeks to capture actors skilful working with and

constructing of understandings, rules and routines (Ahrens & Chapman, 2007; Burns &

Scapens, 2000; Burns & Baldvinsdottir, 2005). The rules and routines are discursive and

practical resources that actors manipulate skillfully to signal interests, motivation and

achievements. Our practice perspective emphasises the way in which BSC come to be

constructed through the daily activities of individuals engaging with each other and

interacting with management control systems.

10

While there have been other attempts to address the relationship between innovation and

institutions (Burns & Scapens, 2000; Dillard et al., 2004), there have been no explicit efforts

to draw upon practice and institutional theories to address how new practices are created and

enacted. The next section presents the research method for the case company.

4. Research Method

The case study was conducted over a 6 year period from 2002 to 2007. Our research study

made use of multiple sources to collect evidence. Data were gathered from four sources:

publicly available information, including TFL annual reports for the last fifteen years; media

and government reports; internal proprietary documentation, including board papers; and

semi-structured interviews.

The researchers were also given internal proprietary documentation such as TFLs Strategic

Business Plan, annual reports and performance evaluation templates. Media reports were

obtained from the National Archives of Fiji in Suva. The reports as far back as 1990

described the organizational culture prior to TFLs corporatization. Government reports were

obtained from the National Archives of Fiji. These reports included parliament papers

pertaining to TFL when it was government-owned, together with other documentation such

as an enquiry report on FPTL affairs which covered a period when there was open

resistance to corporatization. Compared to a single source of data, these multiple data

sources helped provide a more comprehensive and valid portrayal of the phenomenon (Jick,

1979; McKinnon, 1988; Modell, 2005; Perera et al., 2003). TFL annual reports were used to

provide an understanding of the history of the organisation and to facilitate the interviews.

The interviews were carried out between 2002 and 2007. Interviewees were asked to reflect

on past events surrounding the privatization of TFL as well as the current implementation of

new management control practices such as balanced scorecard. Forty two semi-structured

interviews were conducted at TFL, each lasting from one to two hours. Twenty five staff

11

were interviewed at head office in Suva and its branches in Nadi, Lautoka, Ba and Tavua.

Interviews ranged between 6 and 8 in each year from 2002 to 2007. Some interviewees such

as quality manager, strategic manager, public relations officer and accountants were visited

more than once to clarify information and review our picture of the change process. The

interviewees were selected from different sections of TFL such as the Finance, Human

Resources, Customer, Public Relations and Strategic Management divisions. The interviews

took place in formal surroundings, either within the office space of employees or in the

companys board room. Most of the interviews were tape-recorded and were subsequently

transcribed. For a few interviews that were not tape-recorded, notes were made by one of the

researchers as the interviews proceeded. Furthermore, three informal contacts were made by

e-mail or phone. The informal contacts were particularly useful for checking or

supplementing evidence collected during the formal interviews.

While the data triangulation approach (Hoque and Hopper, 1997) adopted was useful in

enabling us to capture a contextual understanding of the social phenomena under study, it

also created challenges in terms of analyzing and making sense of empirical evidence

collected from various sources. To overcome this problem, the analysis was initiated by

preparing tables listing issues frequently raised in interviews in order to answer our research

questions: how were agents able to introduce MCS (such as BSC) within TFL? How were

BSC institutionalised at TFL? Several themes (such as business plan, shaping BSC and

initial reception, resistance to change and enactment of BSC) were drawn from these

responses. The data representing the themes were clustered together at this stage. The

documentary evidence collected was subsequently matched with themes (Tsamenyi et al.,

2006). In the last part of the analysis, we drew on our theoretical framework to make sense

of the data.

5. Background to the Case Company

TFL was of interest to the researchers as it was the first public sector enterprise in Fiji to be

fully privatized and listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange through its parent company of

12

Amalgamated Telecom Holding Limited. Accounting and organisational changes were

introduced and provided the focus for our study.

The Fiji government began to dismantle state-owned enterprises in the late 1980s and

corporatised many public enterprises, including Fiji Post and Telecommunications Limited

(FPTL). Under further restructuring FPTL was split into Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) and

Post Fiji Limited in 1996. Currently, TFL is the sole provider of local and national (trunk)

telephone services. The company owns the only public switched telephone network in Fiji.

The TFL network comprises 55 telephone exchanges throughout Fiji, connecting more than

101,000 customers (Telecom Fiji website, 2010). In 1998 the Fiji government consolidated

all telecommunications companies into one company: Amalgamated Telecom Holdings

Limited (ATH). ATH owns all the shares in TFL. For the organisation chart of ATH, see

Appendix 1.

In 2002, the government floated its stock in ATH to the general public in an initial public

offering of $1.06 per share. The general public owns almost 7.2% of shares in ATH, while

the government holds 34.6% of the shares. The Fiji National Provident Fund has a

shareholding of 58.2%.2 ATH was formally listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange in

Fiji on 18 April, 2002 (Telecom Fiji website, 2010). TFL describes its vision as Telecom

Fiji, bringing the best of telecommunications to the Pacific (TFL website, 2010). The

mission of the company is to:

- provide telecommunication products and services that our customers value

- strive for excellence in everything we do

- develop a capable workforce by rewarding superior performance and

- grow shareholder value (TFL website, 2010).

In April 2002, Internet Services Fiji Ltd (operating as Connect) was set up to take over

internet service provision at the retail level from TFL. TransTel Limited was formed on

2 The Fiji National Provident Fund is a superannuation company in Fiji. The employer and the employee each

contribute 8% of gross wages to the Fiji National Provident Fund.

13

April 2003 to market and sell prepaid calling and internet cards and manage all public booths

on behalf of TFL.

Vodafone Fiji Limited (Vodafone) was incorporated in 1993 in the form of a joint venture

between Vodafone Europe BV Holdings (49%) and TFL. The latter has assigned part of its

domestic licence which deals with mobile communication to its subsidiary in which it has

51% shareholding. Vodafone has a customer base of approximately 154,000 (Amalgamated

Telecom Holdings Limited annual report, 2006). Xceed Pasifica was formed in April 2003,

taking over all customer premises equipment and related activities such as cabling from TFL.

Fiji Directories Limited was set up as a joint venture in 1993 between FPTL (90%) and

Edward OBrien Ltd (10%) and moved to ATH in December 2002 (Telecom Fiji website,

2010). The next section outlines the case findings for the study.

6. Case Findings

This section presents the findings in 3 subsections. The first subsection examines the

introduction of a business plan. This is followed by shaping BSC and its initial reception,

linking that to the strategy of the company. The third subsection examines reservations about

the possibilities of BSC.

6.1 Business Plan at TFL

This section examines the role of the business plan which is part of the management control

system at TFL and how accountants and management contributed to planning. The

accountants were pivotal in the establishment of commercial targets in the plan. TFL had a 5

year business plan, as evidenced by a strategic manager:

We have a business plan which company accountants were helpful in putting in place

and everything may need to be achieved in accordance to the plan. We have specific

profit targets on the plan which we are striving towards. The targets include

connection of lines, service restoration, revenue level, expected profits and so on.

TFL sets out its vision as: We are committed to building a better Fiji by being the best in

service, providing quality communications and making it easier for people to keep in touch

14

and provide a better return on shareholders fund (TFL Strategic Business Plan, 2001-2006,

p.4). The vision was mobilized to encourage people to get themselves more challenging.

The management and workers were expected to work towards the business plan by the CEO

and the Board. The business plan was also developed with the assistance of Telecom New

Zealand consultants on the invitation extended by TFL CEO. The steering committee at TFL

was made up of key managers and accountants who helped to develop the business plan. The

plan focused on the aims of meeting customers expectations and cost reduction. The key

goals for five years were:

1. Financial- achieve revenue, profit targets which were in terms of return on

investment of 12.5% and debt to equity ratio

2. Development- add at least 8,000 lines per year and increase telephone penetration

to about 35 per 100 population

3. Reliable delivery of quality service on time, in full, every time, and

4. Be easy to do business with.

(TFL Strategic Business Plan, 2001-2006, p.10).

The business plan was a bulky document, intended to inform the management of the expected

targets. It may not be read by everyone except the senior management. The senior

management established new performance targets and benchmarks by which business

decisions and actions would be judged and perceived and formed part of management control

systems (MCS). The steering committee decided to publicise the plan throughout the

organization, down to the operational staff, ensuring it is an integral element of business

practices at TFL. Business plan pamphlets were distributed to staff while seminars were also

held to spread corporate awareness and develop new knowledge of the plan. The business

plan was designed to establishing new ways of thinking, as well as helping to dismantle old

taken-for-granted public service assumptions. A manager commented:

With the implementation of the business plan, some of us now aim to complete work

even if it is after 5:00p.m. This was not the case when we were with the government;

we might leave it for the next working day. But now completion of work has become

important practice for us.

15

A strategic manager claimed that the business plan drove everything at TFL. According to

a manager, business processes were aligned to the business plan. So, the business plan was a

new rule that embodied the intended new ethos of the business, and to which other

organizational phenomena (systems, structure, practices, etc) should be aligned.

The Finance Strategic Business Unit employees played a significant role at TFL and advised

management on financial decisions, in terms of cost reduction and undertaking projects that

yielded positive net present values and EVA. In these contexts, the Finance division

employees recast dialogue from telecommunication language and engineering into their

business language of markets and profitability. The establishment of new accounting systems

had been vital in changing organizational practices from a centralized bureaucratic one to a

decentralized management one and in shaping new roles so that meaningful budgets and

performance reports could be established. Through business planning, the accountants,

public relations personnel, marketing managers and customer service managers increased

their power relative to engineers.

The management team was bound up in the creation of the business practice. While there

were some initial resistance when TFL was privatized, nevertheless with wider education and

performance based pay incentives, employees were bound to adapt new business plan. The

management and the finance teams, including a steering committee, were the institutional

entrepreneurs of the change. Seminars were conducted for the various operation managers by

Finance, consisting of financial awareness practices aimed at such topics as budget setting,

budget management, capital expenditure and cost reductions. A finance manager described

this as a skill transfer.

What we have been doing is a skill transfer- providing knowledge to operation

managers on decision making based on financial information. And we showed them

financial information and said this is how you use it.

The finance team attended team meetings to contribute to business decisions that previously

would not have concerned them. The operation managers appeared to embrace such

interactions and relationships with the Finance team. A strategic manager commented:

16

Accountants are now more integrated into the business. Theyre more proactive and

help us. We often ask them to help us focus on what is needed for improvement.

Through the integration of accountants, thrift and concern for money became much more

important for TFL members. Accountants, as institutional entrepreneurs, continually advised

the managers of Strategic Business Units of sound business practices, becoming powerful

actors within TFL and well respected. A couple of managers spoke high of the management

accountants in their business units. They claimed that these management accountants guided

them in financial decision making and were highly regarded by the members in their division.

The business practices became new routine for TFL actors which was reinforced by the

business plan. The business practices was further enabled by the enactment of BSC. The

next section examines the shaping of BSC at TFL.

6.2 Shaping of BSC and its initial reception

This subsection examines managers perceptions of BSC and its initial reception. In the later

section, we will illuminate the opposition to BSC and how it was not working well for some

of TFL employees. The possibilities being attached to TFLs BSC were informed by the

transition of the organization to privatized company from a public sector entity. The idea was

to enroll actors into commercial business oriented ways of thinking. The CEO commented:

through BSC we measure output and the pay and job advancement is based on BSC scores.

This has been well communicated to the employees and they very well understand the

consequence of not working up to par. BSC was thought appropriate by the CEO to enable

actors to assimilate commercial business practices. Satisfying the expectations of

stakeholders such as customers and shareholders was pivotal for TFL managements business

units. TFLs corporate performance was measured using historical accounting measures;

there was little or no information on the underlying drivers of performance. Some senior

managers felt there was a need for more forward-looking measures and a better alignment

between performance management system and strategy. The BSC measures had to be

aligned with the companys business plan. A manager maintained:

if we dont align our staff to our companys strategy or goals, and if we are not measuring them, we wont be fulfilling those goals.

17

Some senior managers and the CEO championing the BSC became aware of it during their

undergraduate studies and gained a better understanding while undertaking MBA studies. A

senior manager stated:

From what I understand, the BSC is a scorecard that measures the company

performance and drives the company towards achieving its goals and gain some

advantage by measuring financial results, customer results, internal processes and

learning and growth.

Some senior managers and CEO convened a meeting with other managers to float the idea of

BSC. Overall, the managers were receptive to the idea of implementing a BSC, with some

expressing genuine interest in it. Others were motivated to join the project because of an

awareness of senior managements intention of linking BSC to an incentive scheme. A

senior manager commented:

The last thing we want our guys is to come to work and get fortnightly wages and not

know how to contribute to the companys strategy the BSC will help us manage that. I want to make sure BSC is linked to their pay.

Measuring financial, customer, internal processes and learning and growth perspectives

possibly made the BSC attractive to each departmental manager because of possible

improvements that might emerge in their respective fields of work.

The BSC performance indicators were aligned with the business plan for the organization. It

starts with macro objectives, that is what the company likes to achieve in terms of its vision

and mission which filters down to the operational level. A manager stated:

BSC performance management system outlines what were expected to do and what were actually doing. Each business unit has its own measures. There are key areas one is measured on. The divisions are given their own targets- monthly targets and

then finally, of course, it comes to daily performance.

Another manager stated:

Generally if we do not measure performance of employees, then we simply cannot

manage them. BSC like PMS is used as a discipline exercise for employees.

All the employees have a job description and the key performance indicators are discussed

with them by the superiors. The BSC like performance measurement system took a year of

education. The new CEO and the Human Resource division staff were instrumental in the

education and implementation of BSC. External consultants were also involved in training

18

staff to adapt the new BSC. The CEO advocated setting of goals of every people in the

company. A manager commented:

Through training, the staff developed an awareness that it is important to measure

performance.

The PMS document was continually revisited to simplify the document. From initially 5 to 6

pages, it was reduced to 2 pages. Initially employees were allowed to set KPIs for

themselves around four perspectives of the BSC. It became a bulky document and was

gradually reduced to two pages. Employees chose KPIs around their professional

development needs, reliability of customer services, punctuality to work, customer

complaints, in-house and external training needs amongst others. Initially, the workers and

employees did not lay emphasis in making a target explicit but rather on learning the process

of setting goals. A manager commented:

I think it is a struggle to set KPIS. I was sometimes not so eager to set clear targets.

Most managers find difficulty to set KPIS and they cannot identify good KPIs. But

they tried and began to manage to do so. It was a good challenge for them.

There were differences between managers. Some senior managers could set quantitative

measures but others could not. The CEO and the Human Resource Division were

instrumental in assisting the managers in order to share the long-range framework among the

managers.

BSC measures set by the CEO and management team involved a wide range of performance

indicators covering quality, human resources, operational and financial matters. The

employees were assessed by their superiors on a quarterly basis on indicators such as

customer service focus, business/financial focus, professional attribute/interpersonal

relationship, managing change and job expertise, and were assessed out of a total weighting

of 100%. Those getting 70% and above were entitled to a quarterly bonus (see Appendix 2

for performance measurement forms). Interviewees claimed:

These performance indicators were developed to make TFL employees more

customer focused and quality driven.

The performance indicators are seen as a means of motivating staff. The agreement

with workers is there in terms of setting objectives. Union was also consulted in the

process of target setting and they wanted the percentage to be around 70%. rather than

80-90% which the management was advocating.

Another manager stated:

19

On every quarter, assessment is done. Every individuals assessment is done. Percentage rating is done which measures the amount of bonus. If one doesnt meet the target of 70% or more in the first quarter, then they can catch up with the targets

in second quarter and will be paid back bonus for the first quarter as well.

The BSC encompassed an open system where the targets were agreed with ones supervisor

which was then signed off. The managers actually worked out targets with subordinates.

The subordinates have to meet the 70% BSC KPIS. According to a manager, the employees

were given an opportunity to view the report and to respond as well. The employees may

also request for specific knowledge and skills to be developed for the BSC exercise. The

managers normally provide a short training program to improve ability of such employees.

The training used to happen on a regular basis. Some staff in Finance division were

encouraged to take Bachelors degree papers from the University of the South Pacific at their

own expense. On passing the paper, the company used to reimburse employees the

appropriate tuition fees. Participation in the BSC process needs to include the staff who will

be key users of performance measures (Lynch & Cross, 1991; Neely et al., 2001). At TFL,

majority of measures were developed by employees.

Apart from the performance indicators, the financial ratios of liquidity, profitability and

financial structure ratios became important for TFL management. TFLs balance sheet

showed strengthening results over the years, partly due to BSC, total quality management

practices and other commercial goals. Return on assets, for example, averaged 12% from

2001 to 2006 while return on shareholders fund improved from 17.5% in 2000 to 39% in

2006 (ATH annual report, 2006).

According to an interviewee, once the key performance indicators (KPIs) were developed,

which included customer consciousness as one of the five factors to be evaluated in terms of

customer complaints, peoples attitude changed and they gradually began to accept business

routines. The aim was to also reduce defects in the telephone lines. A manager commented:

There is no doubt that quality has the strongest connection with customers. Thats why we put the greatest emphasis on quality. Decrease defect rates and dont deliver defect services to our customers. These are the focal points in our continuous

improvement activities.

20

Also, to have resisted business practice change would have been unhelpful for employees

career prospects. Those accepting business practices were rewarded in the form of quarterly

bonuses which were not extended to those who opposed business practices. There were some

employees who resisted the BSC. According to a manager the resistance came from old

workers. He summarized the resistance as:

Older horse possibly take longer to understand the new race course.

Those who did not get bonuses were mainly people who received below 70% in their

quarterly performance report. Chenhall (1997) points out that an important concern in the

implementation of business practice such as Total Quality Management and its relevance to

MACS is the extent to which such practices are developed together with a managerial

performance evaluation system. It is argued that business practice is enhanced once

managers and employees are evaluated on the basis of non-financial measures such as

customer satisfaction (Chenhall, 1997).

As a movement towards the BSC exercise, TFL management established in-house and

external training programmes for all its employees which included commercial awareness

courses. The following interview quotes illustrate this:

We develop our staff. We send them for training and further studies at the University

of the South Pacific, the Fiji Institute of Technology and the Training and

Productivity Authority of Fiji.

We gave our people a lot of in-house training including customer service training

which is conducted by external consultants. This makes employees more sort of

responsible in the manner they deal with customers. We also depend a lot on

information systems that provide reports so that we can give quick answers to our

customers.

We have a number of people qualified in Masters degree. A number of people have BA Economics or BA Accounting or Management. People are still studying. We

also sponsor people for Training and Productivity Authority of Fijis short-term courses. People also have opportunity to bring their new ideas to the company and we

say to them okay this idea is fine as long as it is beneficial to the company. We have

been training people a lot even by sending them on overseas trip for short courses.

21

I previously have been to Japan, Australia and New Zealand Telecom and brought the

ideas from there, blended and retuned it until it fitted into our system. Once it fits into

our system, then it is okay.

An additional employee perspective was also common at TFL apart from the traditional four

perspectives of BSC. Such attributes included professional attribute/ interpersonal

relationships. Under the employee perspective, a technicians BSC would include ensuring

repair works on all faulty products were carried out in accordance to manufacturing

specification, ensuring health and safety procedures at workplace were carefully observed

and to observe and adhere to service targets. Training and development needs were also

identified for the incumbent by an assessing officer. Other employee attributes constitute

team work, analytical skills, effective communication, self management amongst others.

Through the BSC practices, individual performance is evaluated, based on routine tasks and

current year work plans which were derived from the companys broader action plan and the

operational KPIs, which were used for staff evaluation (see Appendix 2).

The individual workers were assessed by their superiors on a quarterly basis and are allocated

marks out of 100 on BSC achievement. A manager at a regional office in Nadi commented:

BSC practice is measured on individual accountability. Individual workers are

allocated marks out of 100 by their respective supervisors. Some of the key

performance measures at the regional centres are: punctuality, maintaining error free

work and disputes in terms of customer complaints.

Through BSC we dont measure time, but performance. Previously in government

days, people used to fill time by working from 8:00-4:30pm. Now they work beyond

4:30pm to ensure the assigned work is completed.

One of the managers who was interviewed at lunch hour responded about his employees:

Some of my people as you came down; you would have seen that they are still

working at lunch time. Thats the change, the biggest change we have seen in our

people. I dont care if you want to have two hours off to pay your bills and all that

but end of the day I want the report whatever I wanted from them. How one utilises

the time, it is upon them. But there is a strict target on your head. Everything is

based on targets here. Everybody has been set against BSC like KPIS. Before there

was no BSCs. We have set BSC targets, we give them time frame, and you must

finish that kind of job. I need those reports because I have to make decisions based on

their answers.

22

An interviewee stated that amongst some of the common accountability areas in which

people are evaluated are profitability and staff development. The staff development

encompasses expected versus actual performance in terms of training undertaken. As for

customer perspective, the key accountability factor is the quality of service in terms of line

repairs which, for residential customers, are as follows:

80% of customer line repairs to be done in 24 hours after receiving a

complaint;

95% of customer line repairs are to be done in two working days after

receiving a complaint;

100% of residential customers line repairs are to be done in five working days

after the receipt of a complaint.

For corporate customers, 80% of the line repairs were to be done within two hours of

receiving complaints. According to an engineer, once a complaint (fault in line) is received,

it was logged in the computerised Integrated Customer Management System and had to be

cleared within a specified time limit. TFL managers and employees were result-oriented.

The use of new BSC practices allowed employees to be rewarded for bonuses if they

exceeded 70% in their quarterly BSC report. A Human Resource Manager commented:

There are a number of rewards in the company. If one performs one gets a bonus. If

the company performs better than budgeted amounts, you get extras, and also on top

of that is the Cost of Living Adjustment rewards.

A Quality Manager commented:

The BSC targets are within the reach of employees and encompass both financial

and non-financial indicators and are a fair system.

Some workers possibly did not consider BSC as a fair system as will be evidenced in the next

sub-section. A manager stated that non-financial targets relate to customer queries. TFL has

been instrumental in setting up customer contact centres in various urban centres in Fiji.

Through this centres the companys management are readily able to capture customer

complaints, number of telephone faults reported and so on. A senior manager commented:

We give our own people a lot of customer service training courses in-house as well as

externally such as attending customer service courses at the Training and Productivity

Authority of Fiji. This makes employees sort of responsible in the manner they deal

23

with customers. We depend a lot on information systems that provide reports so that

we can give quick answers to our customers.

Another manager commented:

Customer is the source of revenue and so in order to maximise profit we need to keep

them happy.

An engineer stated:

Customers are important for us. Before we used to call them subscribers to telephone

but now we call them customers. Our focus has changed. We need to keep our

customers happy to retain profit and earn bonuses.

There is the view that non-financial performance measures of employees are better indicators

of management effort (Ittner & Larcker, 1995, 1997; Banker, Potter & Srinivasan, 2000).

Non-financial measures need to supplement financial measures to provide support for

business practices (Hoque, 2003). The non-financial performance measures can provide

feedback to decision makers on the outcomes of their efforts (Chenhall, 1997). The feedback

from PMS provides information to enhance managers and employees to achieve performance

goals.

Through the BSC of TFL participants, business practices became routinised within TFL.

Employees were rewarded with bonuses on achievement of 70% and above on their quarterly

BSC assessment. This bonus reward would be equivalent to a fortnights pay for an

employee. According to a manager, the BSC practices regime creates and demand systems of

surveillance and trigger discipline amongst TFL employees. A manager claimed that the

employees perform to achieve desired outcomes and receive a bonus, which is a motivational

instrument. According to an interviewee, BSC practice is used as a form of discipline, a

way of making TFL workers more efficient, focused and compliant. That is, they are

institutionalised as part of shared norms of discipline and result-oriented. An interviewee

claimed that self-interest by participants in the form of bonus payments motivates them to

adapt to business practices. The next section examines the resistance by the employees about

the possibilities of BSC.

24

6.3 Reservations about the possibilities of BSC practice

This section presents evidence from employees and managers to demonstrate how BSC

practice was not working for some of them. While interviewees in the study believed

positive benefits would eventuate from a BSC, there were concerns about the best way to

localize it. These concerns were acknowledged by a senior manager:

My concern is accuracy of measures. Some measures are subjective which needs to

be removed.

A manager commented that the BSC like PMS still had some bias due to Fijis communal

nature of society which includes tribal loyalty and tribal rivalry. It is a challenge to keep

quarterly bonus confidential due to the close relationship that employees have with one

another in accordance to the Fijian culture. A manager sated:

Sometimes people may say how come, for example, Timoci got the bonus while I

didnt and I worked much harder than Timoci. These sorts of problems were ongoing at TFL.

A senior manager proclaimed that they were attempting to make the system as transparent as

possible and ensuring that the system was fair. He highlighted the problem as:

In a work place there are people who feel that they have not been rewarded the way

they expected of course. Last thing we can think of is two human beings are involved

and the relationship may be affected. Then we are always requesting managers to be

working on performance rather than looking at who the performer is.

A manager commented:

Workers, in particular, the traditional ones are conservative and do not want changes.

We still have some around. These workers feel that in terms of assessment if there is

a payout, give everyone 2 to 3% irrespective of whether they perform or not. People

say we all play for this team. If there is $1000 given to team, everyone should get a

share of that. For example, with ten players, they should each get $100. But BSC

looks at each player; this is where the difference is. Some people still argue that we

all should get equal share rather than that being distributed inequitably.

The above comments reflect Fijian societys communal relationship where they believe in

sharing and caring. Kerekere system is pervasive whereby if a person seeks assistance in

form of goods or money and the other person has it, then this cannot be denied. Denial may

25

represent being unfijian and an insult to the culture. Kerekere demonstrates the generosity of

Fijian culture.

A technician had some scepticism of the system. He commented that sometimes they had to

go to the interior, several kilometres from the city on the gravel road, for maintenance

purposes. It may take hours to reach there. The company does not take into consideration

the travelling time. The worker responded:

Roads in the interior areas are pretty bad gravel roads with lots of pot holes that are

not so good for the vehicles. To reach area like Monosavu, it takes two hours from

here (Tavua). The speed limit is 80km per hour. If someone is caught driving beyond

that speed limit by the police, then they are fined and the driver has to pay the fine in

quest for reaching the target and not the company, TFL. The company does not

consider our grievances here.

Another manager commented:

There was some kind of resistance when PMS was initially implemented. PMS is all

about information. When you got to understand the whole exercise, it works well.

There was contention at the beginning that a lot of paper work is involved. In the

initial stages people had to spend their weekends catching up with the paper work,

The employees at the initial stage had to set goals for themselves and their subsequent

accomplishment alongside their job description which meant that a lot of time had to be

invested in that exercise. The assessing officer reviewed this and the goals may have to be

subsequently revised or rewritten extensively. This was all happening around the

introduction of PMS. Over time it led to a standard bulky document of 8 pages which now

have been reduced to 2 pages only, overcoming some of the resistance of the past. The

managers expected resistance to BSC as it brought an increase in workload. The technicians

claimed that there was a lot of administrative (paper) work after coming back from job sites.

A manager expressed some scepticism of the PMS as follows:

There are some elements of subjectivity in the PMS. There is some victimisation as

well. If one doesnt get along with their boss, then they may become victimised. Some rating is given by judgement. In Telecom, we know one another and some

people are even related and thus the system can have biasness.

While data manipulation may be an issue, the senior managers championing the BSC were

also concerned about limitations of the existing management information system. Much of

the information was not useful as a manager explained:

26

A lot of time when we have data, we do not make best use of itthe data may be all over the place.

The unintegrated and manually intensive nature of TFLs existing system was seen to be

problematic. According to a manager, there was a lot of manual recording of data which

possibly needed to be done electronically. As a non-human actor, the management

information system limited the possibilities of what the BSC might become. A manager

proclaimed that BSC possibly shaped more cooperation, productivity and businesses. The

BSC shaped actors to assimilate business practices. The next section brings the narrative

together in relation to the theoretical framework and concludes the paper.

7. Discussion/Conclusion

This paper presents some evidence on an aspect of the design of a strategic control at a micro

level within TFL. The research aimed to illustrate how the BSC has been used by the

company as a calculative tool to enrol employees on the path to commercial business

practices as the organisation moved from corporatisation to privatisation. Institutional and

practice theory have been utilised to inform the case study. BSC as a practice perspective is

concerned with the relationship between what BSC promised to do and what BSC actually

does (Vaivio, 1999). The BSC practically links performance measures with business strategy

(Otley, 1999). Otley (1999) points out that traditional BSC did not emphasise BSCs link to

reward structures and other perspectives such as employee perspective. Our paper attempts

to address these issues.

BSC was used as a calculative tool to enrol actors into commercial business routines.

Participation in the BSC process included the staff who were the key users of the

performance measures developed. The study suggests insights into how BSC practices

became integrated with MACS. Practice theory emphasises the role of actors in drawing

upon rules and routines of BSC practice. The CEO and senior managers were the

institutional entrepreneurs introducing BSC at TFL. The main institutional entrepreneur was

the CEO. Our practice perspective emphasises the way in which BSC comes to be

constructed through the daily activities of individuals engaging with each other and

interacting with management control system of BSC. The majority of measures were

developed by employees. Our paper made an effort to address the relationship between

innovation and institutions (Burns & Scapens, 2000); Dillard et al., 2004). There have been

27

scarcely any explicit efforts to draw upon practice and institutional theory to address how

new practices such as BSC are created and enacted. While traditional BSC framework

emphasised on the four perspectives of financial, customer, learning and growth and internal

business, our study shows that an additional employee perspective is utilised by TFL.

Future research may like to expand on institutional theory and practice theory on other

organisational case studies in other settings on BSC practices. Cultural practices and their

implication on BSC practices in settings like Fiji may provide new insights so that possibly

cultural dimensions may also need to be added to BSC dimension. Fijian society is more

communal in nature; power distance is large and ahs a high uncertainty avoidance society.

Kerekere (borrowings) is pervasive with no intention of returning what is borrowed

showing the generosity of the culture. Such cultural attributes may make Fijian case studies

somewhat unique. Our study shows that an additional perspective in BSC of employee

perspective is widely utilised at TFL.

Our findings have both theoretical and practice implications. Different actors hold various

interpretations of BSC; there are various translation of BSC which sustain the multiple

possibilities informing the overall implementation process of BSC.

There are implications for practitioners as well. The study provides practitioners with an

understanding of how the BSC functions. Managers need to be aware that a BSC emerges

from a particular network that shapes its possibilities. As Sandhu et al. (2008) note that BSC

does not exist as an independent and external object waiting to be implemented; rather it has

to be translated locally. The practitioners or consultants may also need to be aware of

cultural attributes of Fijian society in order to implement practice changes locally. Lack of

sensitivity to local culture may shape resistance to organisational change practices such as

BSC.

28

Appendix 1

Figure 1 ATH Ownership Structure

Telecom Fiji

Limited

(100%)

FINTEL

(51%)

Trans

Tel Ltd

(100%)

Xceed

Pasifica

Limited

(100%)

Internet

Services Fiji

Limited

(100%)

Vodafone Fiji

Limited (49%

Vodafone

Europe BV

Holdings)

(51%)

Fiji National

Provident

Fund 58.2%

Institutional &

Individuals

7.2%

Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Ltd

Government

of Fiji 34.6%

ATH Technology

Park Ltd-

proposed owner

and operator of

technology

park

(100%)

Fiji

Directories

Limited

(90%)

29

Appendix 2

30

Appendix 2: Performance Assessment Forms continued

31

References

Ahrens, T., & Chapman, C. (2007). Management accounting as practice. Accounting,

Organizations and Society, 32, 1- 27.

Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Limited Annual report for the year ended 31 March 2006.

(2006). Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Limited.

Atkinson, H. (2006). In search of strategic management accounting: Theoretical and field

study perspectives. Management Accounting Research, 14, 255-279.

Ax, C., & Bjornenak, T. (2005). Bundling and diffusion of management accounting

innovations- the case of Balanced Scorecard in Sweden. Management Accounting

Research, 16, 1-20.

Baldvinsdottir, G., Mitchell, F., & Norreklit, H. (2010). Issues in the relationship between

theory and practice in management accounting Management Accounting Research,

21, 79-82.

Banker, R., Potter, G., & Srinivasan, D. (2000). An empirical investigation of an incentive

plan that includes non-financial performance measures. The Accounting Review,

75(1), 65-92.

Barley, S. R., & Tolbert, P. S. (1997). Institutionalisation and structuration; Studying the link

between action and institution. Organization Studies, 18(1), 93- 117.

Beckert, J. (1999). Agency, entrepreneurs and institutional change. The role of strategic

choice and institutionalised practices in organisations. Organization Studies, 20(5),

777-799.

Benson, J. K. (1977). Organisations: A dialectical view. Administrative Science Quarterly,

22, 1-21.

Bunce, P., Fraser, R., & Woodcock, L. (1995). Advanced budgeting: A journey to advanced

management systems. Management Accounting Research, 6(3), 253-265.

Burns, J., & Baldvinsdottir, G. (2005). An institutional perspective of accountants' new roles-

The interplay of contradictions and praxis. European Accounting Review, 14(4), 725-

757.

Burns, J., & Scapens, R. W. (2000). Conceptualising management accounting change: An

institutional framework. Management Accounting Research, 11(1), 3-25.

Butler, A., Letza, S.R., Neale, B. (1997). Linking the balanced scorecard to strategy. Long

Range Planning, 30(2), 242- 253.

Chenhall, R. H. (1997). Reliance on manufacturing performance measures, Total Quality

Management and organisational performance. Management Accounting Research, 8,

187- 206.

Chenhall, R. H. (2005). Context and process approaches to studying strategy and

management control systems. In C. S. Chapman (Ed.), Controlling Strategy,

Management Accounting and Performance Measurement. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

Chenhall, R. H., & Langfield-Smith, K. (1998). Factors influencing the role of management

accounting in the development of performance measures within organisational change

programs. Management Accounting Research, 9(4), 361- 386.

CIMA. (2005). Effective Performance Measurement the Balanced Scorecard: Technical

Report, . London: CIMA.

Clemens, E. S., & Cook, J. A. (1999). Politics and institutionalism: Explaining durability and

change. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 441-466.

32

Dillard, J. F., Rigsby, J. T., & Goodman, C. (2004). The making and remaking of

organisational context duality and the institutionalisation process. Accounting,

Auditing and Accountability Journal, 17(4), 506 -542.

DiMaggio, P. J. (1988). Interest and agency in institutional theory. In L. Zucker (Ed.),

Institutional patterns and organisations: Culture and environment (pp. 3-21).

Cambridge: MA: Ballinger.

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism

and collective rationality in organizational fields,. American Sociological Review,

48(2), 147- 160.

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1991). Introduction. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio

(Eds.), The new institutionalism in organisational analysis (pp. 1- 38). Chicago:

University of Chicago Press.

Dorado, S. (2005). Institutional entrepreneurship, partaking and convening. Organization

Studies, 26(3), 385-414.

Eccles, R. (1991). The performance measurement manifesto. Harvard Business Review

(January/February), 131-137.

Engestrom, Y. (1999). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. In Y.

Engestrom, R. Miettinen & R. L. Punamaki (Eds.), Perspectives on Activity Theory.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Farneti, F., & Guthrie, J. (2008). Italian and Australian local governments: Balanced

Scorecard practices. A research note. Journal of Human Resource Costing &

Accounting, 12(1), 4- 13.

Figgie, F., Hahn, T., Echaltegger, S., & Wagner, M. (2002). The sustainability balanced

scorecard- Linking sustainability management to business strategy. Business Strategy

and the Environment, 11, 269- 284.

Friedland, R., & Alford, R. R. (1991). Bridging society back in symbols, practices and

institutional contradictions. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The New

Institutionalism in Organisational Analysis (pp. 232-263). Chicago: University of

Chicago Press.

Garud, R., Hardy, C., & Maguire, S. (2007). Institutional entrepreneurship as embedded

agency: An introduction to the special issue. Organization Studies, 28, 957-969.

Greenwood, R., & Hinings, C. R. (1996). Understanding radical organizational change:

Bringing together the old and the new institutionalism. The Academy of Management

Review, 21(4), 1022- 1054.

Greenwood, R., Suddaby, R., Hinings, C.R. (2002). Theorizing change: the role of

professional associations in the transformation of institutionalized fields. Academy of

Management Journal, 45(1), 58- 80.

Hirsch, P. M., & Lounsbury, M. (1997). Ending the family quarrel: Towards a reconciliation

of "old" and "new" institutionalisms. American Behavioral Scientists, 40, 406-418.

Holm, P. (1995). The dynamics of institutionalisation: Transformation processes in

Norwegian Fisheries. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 398-422.

Hopwood, A. G., & Miller, P. (1994). Accounting as a Social and Institutional Practice.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hoque, Z. (2003). Total Quality Management and the Balanced Scorecard Approach: A

critical analysis of their potential relationships and directions for future research.

Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 14(5), 553- 566.

33

Hoque, Z., & Hopper, T. (1997). Political and industrial relations turbulence, competition and

budgeting in the nationalised Jute Mills of Bangladesh. Accounting and Business

Research, 27(2), 125- 143.

Hoque, Z., & James, W. (2000). Linking Balanced Scorecard measures to size and market

factors: impact on organisational performance. Journal of Management Accounting

Research, 12, 1-17.

Ittner, C. D., & Larcker, D. F. (1995). Total Quality Management and the choice of

information and reward systems. Journal of Accounting Research, 33(Suppl.), 1-34.

Ittner, C. D., & Larcker, D. F. (1997). Quality strategy, strategic control systems and

organisational performance. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 22, 293-314.

Ittner, C. D., & Larcker, D. F. (1998). Innovations in performance and measurement: trends

and research implications. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 10, 205-

238.

Jarzabkowski, P. (2005). Strategy as Practice: An Activity Based Approach. London: Sage.

Jick, T. D. (1979). Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: Triangulation in action.

Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 602- 611.

Johnson, G. (2000). Strategy through a cultural lens: Learning from a manager's experience.

In Management Learning. CA: Thousand Oaks, Sage.

Johnson, G., Smith, S., & Codling, B. (2000). Microprocesses of institutional change in the

context of privatization. The Academy of Management Review, 25(3), 572- 580.

Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1992). The balanced scorecard- Measures that drive

performance. Harvard Business Review, January- February, 71-79.

Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1993). Putting the balanced scorecard to work. Harvard

Business Review, September - October, 134- 147.

Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic

management system. Harvard Business Review, 75-85.

Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1998). Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic

Management System (Part 1). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2001). Transforming the balanced scorecard from

performance measurement to strategic management: part 1. Accounting Horizon,

15(1), 87- 104.

Kloot, L., & Martin, J. (2000). Strategic performance management: A balanced scorecard

approach to performance measurement issues in local government. Management

Accounting Research, 11, 231-251.

Lawrence, S., & Sharma, U. (2002). Commodification of education and academic labour:

Using balanced scorecard in a university setting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting,

13(5/6), 661-677.

Lord, B. R. (1996). Strategic management accounting: The Emperor's new clothes.

Management Accounting Research, 7(347- 366).

Lounsbury, M. (2001). Institutional sources of practice variation: Staffing college and

university recycling programs. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, 29-56.

Lounsbury, M. (2008). Institutional rationality and practice variation: New directions in the

institutional analysis of practice. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 33, 349-361.

Lounsbury, M., & Crumley, E. T. (2007). New practice creation: An institutional perspective

on innovations. Organization Studies, 28, 993-1012.

Lowe, A., & Jones, A. (2004). Emergent strategy and the measurement of performance: The

formulation of performance indicators at the microlevel. Organization Studies(25),

1313- 1337.

34

Lynch, R. L., & Cross, K. F. (1991). Measure up- Yardsticks for continuous improvement.

Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.

Maguire, S., Hardy, C., & Lawrence, T. B. (2004). Institutional entrepreneurship in emerging

fields: HIV/AIDs treatment advocacy in Canada. Academy of Management Journal,

47(5), 657-679.

Malmi, T., & Granlund, M. (2009). In search of management accounting theory. European

Accounting Review, 18, 597-620.

McKinnon, J. (1988). Reliability and validity in field research: Some strategies and tactics.

Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 1, 34-54.

Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutional organizations: Formal structure as myth and

ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340- 363.

Modell, S. (2005). Triangulation between case study and survey methods in management

accounting research: An assessment of validity implications. Management Accounting

Research, 16, 231-254.

Modell, S., Jacobs, K., & Wiesel, F. (2007). A process (re)turn? Path dependencies,

institutions and performance management in Swedish central government.

Management Accounting Research, 18, 453-475.

Modell, S. (2009). Bundling management innovations: A field study of organisational

experimenting with total quality management and the balanced scorecard. Accounting,

Auditing and Accountability Journal, 22(1), 59-90.

Neely, A., Sutcliff, M., & Heyins, H. (2001). Driving Value through Strategic Planning and

Budgeting. New York: NY: Accenture.

Norrekilt, H. (2000). The balance on the balanced scorecard- a critical analysis of some of its

assumptions. Management Accounting Research, 11, 65-88.

Norrekilt, H. (2003). The balanced scorecard: what is the score? A rhetorical analysis of the

balanced scorecard. Accounting, Organisations and Society, 28, 591-619.

Nor-Aziah, A. K., & Scapens, R. W. (2007). Corporatisation and accounting change: The role

of accounting and accountants in a Malaysian public utility. Management Accounting

Research, 18(2), 209-247.

Northcott, D., & France, N. (2005). The balanced scorecard in New Zealand health sector

performance management: dissemination to diffusion. Australian Accounting Review,

15(3), 34-46.

Nyamori, R. O., Perera, M. H. B., & Lawrence, S. (2001). The concept of strategic change

and implication for management accounting research. Journal of Accounting

Literature, 20, 62-83.

Otley, D. (1999). Performance management: A framework for management control systems

research. Management Accounting Research, 10, 363-382.

Otley, D. (2003). Management control and performance measurement. British Accounting

Review, 35(4), 309-326.

Perera, S., McKinnon, J. L., & Harrison, G. L. (2003). Diffusion of transfer pricing

innovation in the context of commercialization- A longitudinal case study of a

government trading enterprise. Management Accounting Research, 14, 140-164.

Powell, W. W. (1991). Expanding the scope of institutional analysis. In W. W. Powell & P. J.

DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organisational analysis (pp. 183-203).

Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Roselender, R., & Hart, S. J. (2003). In search of strategic management accounting:

Theoretical and field study perspectives. Management Accounting Research, 14, 255-

279.

35

Sandhu, R., Baxter, J., & Emsley, D. (2008). The balanced scorecard and its possibilities: The

initial experiences of a Singaporean firm. Australian Accounting Review, 18(4), 16 -

24.

Scapens, R. W. (1994). Never mind the gap: Towards an institutional perspective on

management accounting practice. Management Accounting Research, 5(3/ 4), 301-

321.

Schatzki, T. R. (2002). The site of the Social: A Philosophical Account of the Constitution of

Social Life and Change. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania University Press.

Schatzki, T. R. (2005). The sites of organizations. Organization Studies, 26(3), 465- 484.

Scott, W. R. (2001). Institutions and Organizations (Second Edition). Newbury Park, CA:

Sage.

Seal, W. (2010). Managerial discourse and the link between theory and practice: From ROI to

value-based management. Management Accounting Research, 21, 95-109.

Seo, M. G., & Creed, W. E. (2002). Institutional contradictions, praxis and institutional

change: A dialectical perspective. Academy of Management Review, 27(2), 222-247.

Sharma, U., & Hoque, Z. (2001). Implementing the balanced scorecard in government: The

housing authority of Fiji. Journal of Cost Management, 15(4), 37- 41.

Sharma, U., & Lawrence, S. (2008). Stability and change at FPTL: An institutional

perspective. Australian Accounting Review, 18(1), 25-34.

Sharma, U., Lawrence, S., & Lowe, A. (2010). Institutional contradiction and management

control innovation: A field study of total quality management practices in a privatized

telecommunication company. Management Accounting Research, 21(4), 251-264.

Siti-Nabiha, A. K., & Scapens, R. W. (2005). Stability and change: An institutional study of

management accounting change. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal,

18(1), 44 - 73.

Telecom Fiji Limited Strategic Business Plan (2001 - 2006). (2001). Suva, Fiji.

Telecom Fiji website. (2010). www.tfl.com.fj 2010

Tsamenyi, M., Cullen, J., & Gonz'alez, J. M. (2006). Changes in accounting and financial

information system in a Spanish electricity company: A new institutional theory

analysis. Management Accounting Research, 17, 409-432.

Vaivio, J. (1999a). Exploring a "non- financial" management accounting change.

Management Accounting Research, 10(4), 409- 437.

van Helden, G. J., Aardema, H., Bogt, H. J. T., & Groot, T. L. C. M. (2010). Knowledge

creation for practice in public sector management accounting by consultants and

academics: Preliminary findings and directions for future research. Management

Accounting Research, 21, 83-94.

BSC Case Study Telecom Fiji

Documents

Transcript of BSC Case Study Telecom Fiji