The advent of the internet has provided a new possibility for companies to communicate with their stakeholders and this thesis uses a new institutional sociology perspective to investigate the adoption of Internet Financial Reporting (IFR) in Arab MENA countries (Middle East and North Africa) to: i) evaluate the extent of IFR; and ii) identify the factors that influence Arab MENA listed companies to voluntarily adopt IFR. The study examines the extent of IFR in Arab MENA countries in 2010 using a sample of 1,456 listed companies from the 16 Arab MENA countries that have a stock exchange. To determine the factors that affect listed companies to adopt IFR, 961 listed companies were investigated from ten Arab MENA countries from two regions. Seven factors are investigated; five of which (company size; profitability; leverage; type of auditor; and industrial sector) have been investigated in prior studies; the other two factors, country and region, are also investigated as the effect of a country has been investigated in very few studies; the regional factor has not been investigated at all in prior studies; and hence contributes to our knowledge. The main findings of this thesis indicate that IFR in Arab MENA countries is growing; but listed companies in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have the most extensive practice of IFR; North African listed companies are next whereas listed companies located in the Middle East excluding GCC countries have a lower level of IFR than the other two groups. Moreover, the findings reveal that communities of practice have been formed by large profitable companies as well as those audited by the Big-4 audit firms. Further, financial sector companies and companies from the GCC region also appear to have similar practices with more extensive IFR than other listed companies. These communities of practice may be due to coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism. From a mimetic pressure, arguably, listed companies imitate each other, as for instance, managers of large profitable companies, or financial companies may network and meet together and discuss issues relating to their businesses. Companies within the same country may also be exhibit homogeneous IFR practice for the same reason. Furthermore, companies from one region may be similar to each other because they have similar country characteristics such as political and economic factors. From a normative isomorphic perspective, the Big-4 audit firms may influence companies to adopt IFR across the globe. Further, banks in many countries have separate requirements bringing a coercive influence to bear on their practices.

This thesis reports the results of a case study conducted in a Portuguese manufacturing organisation, a part of a large group, which endured profound organisational changes. The initial objective of the research was to explore, in a processual way, the long-term interactions between an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, the consultants that implemented it and management accounting and control, in this organisation. However, during the fieldwork, the researcher was confronted with an apparent puzzle: in the past, formally powerful ‘central’ actors had been confronted with important limitations – including in their relations with formally less powerful actors, particularly ‘local’ actors at the plant level. At the time of the fieldwork, however, the situation had substantially changed. The researcher was therefore confronted with a puzzle, which seemed to be about the distribution of power in the organisation, about who the powerful actors were and, more fundamentally, what caused (or limited) actors’ relational power. Three innovations introduced by central actors appeared to have played an important role in this fundamental change in the organisation and in the distribution of power within it. At stake were a technological innovation – the adoption of the financial module of an ERP system (SAP FI) – and two organisational innovations: the relocation of the Corporate Centre (CC); and the creation of a Shared Services Centre (SSC), in the same location of the group headquarters and of the Chairman and majority shareholder. Clegg’s (1989) framework of ‘Circuits of Power’, based on a Foucauldian and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) approach, was drawn upon as interpretive lenses to address the empirical puzzle about power. The researcher’s mobilisation of the framework facilitated the understanding of what caused (or limited) actors’ relational power, not only in the past but, particularly, at the time of the fieldwork, when the ongoing repercussions of the three innovations were taking place. Such in-depth understanding was constructed through a qualitative, interpretive and processual research, adopting the method of an explanatory case study combining both retrospective and longitudinal components. During the three-year’ fieldwork, 54 interviews with 29 respondents, lasting more than 90 hours, were supplemented by other information generating techniques, such as documentation analysis and observation of meetings, presentations and artefacts in numerous socio-technicalinteractions. The researcher’s interpretation of the case study insights highlighted that the previous power limitations perceived by the formally powerful, ‘central’ actors could be traced to characteristics of the circuit of social integration (rules of meaning and membership across the organisation, as interpreted, accepted and enacted by actors) and of the circuit of system integration (techniques of discipline and production). The three technical and organisational innovations – SAP FI, the CC and the SSC - introduced by central actors in the circuit of system integration (conceptualised, in ANT terms, as nonhuman and collective actors, respectively) had significant repercussions across the various circuits of power. These repercussions had a structural nature, since the innovations collectively succeeded in giving rise to a network of complementary, mutually dependent and mutually reinforcing Obligatory Passage Points. The emerging network of Obligatory Passage Points was essential in promoting the introduction, interpretation, acceptance and enactment of rules across the organisation as desired by central actors. This thesis proposes several contributions concerning the repercussions of the collective of innovations across the circuits of power. Some examples are embedding rules in technology (Volkoff et al., 2007) and organisational processes, redefining the scope of agencies, creating non-zero sum outcomes, and the emergence of the perception of control inevitability and naturalness within organisational normalcy. Collectively, these innovations promoted rules enactment (by both human and nonhuman actors) in ways that benefited the interests of central actors. In addition, this thesis proposes contributions related with the two theoretical frameworks and literatures framing the research. It proposes several refinements to Clegg’s (1989) framework, comprising changes in its graphical layout, linkages and even concepts. The second contribution is an ANT-inspired, OIE model of rule-based action. This model draws on Burns and Scapens’ (2000) macro structure and concepts, but it proposes additional structures and substantially different perspectives, mechanisms and even concepts. It adopts a wide definition of rules, also viewing them as internal structures orienting actors. Thus defined, rules underlie routines and fill a gap in routines-focused frameworks – in particular, when there are no established routines as regards particular issues.The model acknowledges intra-organisational diversity and focuses on the processes of introduction, interpretation, acceptance and enactment of rules. It also relates rules with material conditions, in particular since rules may be technologically and organisationally embedded. Finally, the model highlights that rules may be enacted by both human actors (individual and collective) and nonhuman actors. The model provides a novel way to conceptualise how actors’ interests may be achieved through the various intersections between rules and material conditions, and by the ultimate enactment of rules by both human and non-human actors.

Many studies report a gap in the inter-relationships between different factors and the acceptance of, or resistance to, an ERP system. Specifically, there is lack of literature on the individual factors that drive or delay the adoption of advanced technologies such as the Enterprise Resource Planning system ERP. It motivated me to carry out a study that investigates the non-linear views of change, in order to provide a general picture of how external and internal factors influence employees to accept or reject an ERP system. My thesis explores individual choices and behaviours and the socio-cultural context in which the cases are set to identify the factors that influence individuals’ actions and to determine from an employee perspective whether reactions to using ERP systems are intentional or unintentional. The thesis follows an interpretive approach using two case studies in Saudi Arabia where multiple sources of evidence including interviews, document analysis and observation have been employed. Pattern matching, logic models and cross-case synthesis are used for thematically organising and analysing the case studies. The thesis discusses the relationship between factors including politics, economics, religious social culture, the culture of the company and technical issues and the behaviour of employees towards change. I will argue that those factors directly affect the behaviour ofemployees and indirectly affect the acceptance or rejection of the ERP system. The thesis extends the scope of institutional analysis by explaining how the behaviours of employees influence both the acceptance of, or resistance to, an ERP system. The thesis adds to the knowledge in the literature by showing the relationship between external and internal factors and the acceptance of, or resistance to, an ERP system in Saudi Arabia as less developed countries LDCs. Also the thesis shows how the effects of the socio-cultural landscape of the middle east cannot be ignored when exploring the factors that initiate and shape management accounting change. Practical implications: the thesis provides some examples on how external and internal factors influence the behaviour of employees in Saudi Arabia. The thesis suggests that companies can exploit the behaviour of employees to influence change and avoid resistance.

This study examines the role of three institutional factors (regulative; normative and cultural-cognitive pillars of institutions) in addressing agency problems of Australia. In the wake of the series of corporate collapses of current decade, director and executive remuneration was identified as one of the major causes behind these scandals. The Australian government and other related organisations made both regulative and non-regulative institutional reforms to manage this agency conflict. These reforms, encapsulated in Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (CLERP) Act 2004 demanded an increased level of disclosure of director and executive remuneration particularly, the disclosure of performance based salary. Subsequently, these amendments provided an opportunity through a non-binding vote to shareholders to participate in executive remuneration decisions. This study proposes a new synthesis of institutional and agency theories by examining how institutional interventions addresses agency conflicts in the Australian context. A conceptual model is developed to measure both the conjoined and distinctive institutional impact on the disclosure level of director and executive remuneration in Australia. To measure and quantify the aforementioned impact a mixed method research strategy was used. First, content analysis as an investigative tool was used to develop a disclosure index which determined the level of disclosure of director and executive remuneration from top 100 Australian listed entities. Second, a conceptual model, positing the relationships between independent and dependent variables was verified through an econometric analysis of collected data, performed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 15. The findings of this research reveal that there exists a significant difference between the levels of disclosure in the pre and post stages of the introduction of the CLERP Act 2004. This result highlights the significance of regulatory intervention in addressing agency conflicts. The study also indicates that regulative and normative pillars have a higher impact than the culture-cognitive pillar on disclosure practices of Australian firms. In light of these results, the new blend between agency and institutional theories highlight the role of different institutions, particularly the government, in stabilising the organisational practices for good governance and creating national competitive advantages.

This thesis aims to contribute to research in management accounting and control systems (MACS) in a developing country context: that of Fiji. It seeks to gain a theoretical understanding of how MACS reflect the social and political contexts in which they operate by using a case study of Telecom Fiji Limited (a major supplier of telephone communications in Fiji). The definition of MACS for the purpose of the thesis is broad- a social constructivist perspective is adopted in which systems are used to align employee behaviour with organisational objectives and to assist external relationships (with the State, Commerce Commission, aid agencies and customers). The thesis draws on institutional theory while raising questions as to how to refine and extend institutional theory. This theory has often been associated with institutional embeddedness (stability). The social constructivist approach helps to incorporate agency and cultural issues normally missing in conventional applications of institutional theory to accounting change. Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) was restructured under the Fiji government's public sector reforms. Such reforms were insisted upon by the international financial agencies of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Under the reform policy, TFL was transformed from a government department into a corporatised organisation and was subsequently privatised. The MACS changes which eventuated helped to change TFL management and employees' interpretive schemes. However, employees resisted initial changes to commercial business routines and it took some years for TFL actors to assimilate commercial practices. While the literature dealing with MACS changes has mostly portrayed changes as occurring with little resistance, MACS changes at TFL took several years to become institutionalised, partly because of cultural and political factors specific to Fiji. The study has practice implications as it shows that management accountants can act as institutional entrepreneurs in organisations, shaping new accounting technologies in reformed entities, and changing actors' interpretive schemes. The study has implications for policy makers, consultants and other stakeholders in terms of promoting a need for better understanding of the sensitivity to cultural and political circumstances in Less Developed Countries (LDC's) like Fiji in relation to the introduction of MACS changes. The study has implications for other recently corporatized/ privatised and state-sector organisations in Fiji and elsewhere. It also has implications for other researchers as institutional theory can be refined on the basis of new empirical evidence.

Seminar Date: 28th May, 2010 Level: Master Thesis – EFO705 Program: MIMA – International Business and Entrepreneurship Authors: Alisa Pongsriwat & Wissawa Aunyawong Title: Cross Institutional and Cultural Barriers: The opportunity of Thai entrepreneurs in doing business in Sweden - Case study of Restaurant business Tutor: Sune Tjernström Background: Doing Thai Restaurant in Sweden seems to be opportunity of Thai entrepreneurs as there are potential trend leading to business success and many advantages supporting investment. However, cross institutional and cultural barriers can cause business failure. Research Problem:´How can Thai entrepreneur overcome the cross institutional and cultural barriers for successfully running restaurant business in Sweden to beat in Swedish market? Purpose: Our purpose is to understand and explain the cross cultural barriers in doing Thai restaurant business in Sweden in the context of cultures embedded in both Thailand and Sweden. The foundation of our research is based on the case study of Thai food restaurants in Sweden. Method: Our research is mainly based on qualitative research using the case study and the secondary information gathered during the research. We have also taken into account some primary information by conducting three semi-structured interviews from the Thai owners of Thai restaurants in different locations in Sweden. All the information collected during the course of our research has been analyzed and has finally led us to a conclusion. Conclusion: After the analysis of outcomes, both from the interviews and the secondary information conducted, we concluded that Thai entrepreneurs need to strictly follow the laws and regulations of Sweden because they cannot be changed. They also need to adapt some norms and cultures but not too much in order to maintain Thai uniqueness as competitive advantage in Swedish market. We have recommended that Thai entrepreneurs should recognize the key characteristics between Thai and Swede as the key successful business. Contribution: Our research will give the useful information and practical recommendations in the future to the Thai entrepreneurs in Thailand, who are interesting in doing business in Sweden in order to seeking new opportunity.

In recent years, family firms have been stressed as important contributors to economic wealth. An increased focus from both researchers and practitioners can therefore be seen in various forms such as research institutes and conferences. Furthermore, family firms are often treated as a group of similar kind while inherent differences are played down. From a theoretical perspective, organisations look at the behaviour of others that face similar complex situations, such as succession. Information can be found in institutional carriers who connect groups of firms. By imitating what is perceived as successful practices, family firms face the risk of employing inefficient procedures in times of succession. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate what kind of ideas Dagens Industri as institutional carrier communicates about succession in family firms. To fulfil the purpose, data was retrieved in the form of Dagens Industri articles concerning family businesses and succession. Interpretations were based on theoretical constructs on family firms as well as institutional theory. From our findings, it was observed that family firms differ on the basis of industry presence and ownership structure. Furthermore, importance of time and communication was stressed in Dagens Industri.

By investigating the business environment in Sub-Saharan Africa from an institutional theory perspective, the purpose of this thesis is to explain organizational response to the forces of this particular institutional environment. Coercive, normative and mimetic pressures serve as the basis for explaining the institutional environment. The organizations respond to these pressures by seeking legitimacy from the environment. The study is based on a qualitative research method relying on qualitative secondary data. Additionally a questionnaire was sent out to a limited number of experts to validate the findings. The main conclusion of this thesis is that networks are formed on the basis of norms and cultural processes working upon organizations in order to counter balance malfunctioning regulatory institutions. It has been revealed that organizations cannot rely solely on their response to coercive pressures for legitimacy. Normative aspects in networks are formed through repeated transactions that create trust and reputation between business partners that lead to legitimacy. Moreover, it is difficult for organizations to construct a proper response to cultural pressures since they stem primarily from heritage and ethnicity.

The purpose of this study was to understand the governance of Olympic Games legacy. Legacy is broadly described as “all planned and unplanned, positive and negative, intangible and tangible structures created by and for a sport event that remain for a longer time than the event itself” (Preuss, 2007a, p. 86). The specific objectives of this study were: a) to map the historical evolution of legacy throughout the modern Olympic Movement (OM) (i.e., 1896-current day) in order to contextualize and conceptualize the major trends (e.g., changes in legacy, network actors/stakeholders, governance structures and processes) over time; b) to understand, explain, and compare/contrast the network governance of Olympic legacy, using Australian and Canadian case settings; and c) to critically analyze the overall structure and process of the governance of legacy within the OM focusing specifically on the aspects of performance, transparency, accountability, and participation to build a framework and provide policy recommendations for the governance of legacy in mega-events. In order to accomplish these objectives, a historical review of legacy within the OM and two descriptive case studies (Sydney 2000 and Vancouver 2010) were built using interviews and archival materials. Findings showed how the growth of the Games has culminated in the increased use and importance of legacy, leading to greater concept complexity. This resulted in the emergence of several trends including: new legacy themes, heightened interconnectedness, and formalization of governance mechanisms. Institutional theory was then applied to further explore the emergence of legacy and its habitualization, objectification, and sedimentation as an accepted norm in the Olympic Field. The examination of the legacy governance networks in the two cases showed four legacy network governance phases: legacy conceptualization, legacy planning and implementation, legacy transfer, and post-Games legacy governance, as well as a number of governance mechanisms (e.g., contracts, policies) that had an impact on the overall governance of the event’s legacy. Finally, a critical analysis of the governance of Olympic Games legacy was completed. The end result of the research project was a theoretical framework detailing the levels and fluidity of legacy governance in the OM.

This research examines institutional transformation of the board of directors in Canada to a collaborative model in which the board, in addition to its monitoring function, provides a service role by acting as a sounding board to management and providing advice and counsel to management on strategic issues. This thesis also examines how director search, likely initiated by the ‘Enron’ scandals, led to some boards adopting a new model of practice that directors deemed more efficacious and possessing legitimacy, bringing together the old and the new institutionalism in institutional change processes. Legitimacy was drawn from guidance from a professional association for directors that outlined how boards could become strategic asset to the firm that was consistent with a stewardship model of governance that saw boards collaborative with management. It is also argued in this thesis that following the Enron scandal, directors searched for a model of practice that would be more efficacious such that their fears of liability were reduced. In searching for and adopting a new model of practice, the collaborative board, it is also argued that adoption requires coupling to the technical core (enacted), as opposed to symbolic, if it is to be effective. This research studies directors and senior management of public firms of the TSX Composite by way of survey methods. The findings provide support that the board is evolving in Canada to a new collaborative model and that the model of practice appears to be enacted (coupled) as opposed to symbolic (decoupled). Further, the results did not find that collaborative boards are impaired in their monitoring function and support is found that the board’s monitoring role may actually be enhanced. These results are discussed as well as future research directions and limitations of the study.