Syfte: År 2016 blev det lagstadgat i Sverige att större företag måste inkludera uppgifter om hållbarhet i sin årsredovisning. Eftersom större organisationer från trävaruindustrin i Sverige generellt sett publicerar omfattande och presentabla hållbarhetsrapporter, hade det varit intressant att undersöka incitamenten till detta med utgångspunkt i NIS. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka isomorfa faktorer som påverkar hur ett större företag inom den svenska trävaruindustrin utformar sin hållbarhetsrapport.  Metod: Studien genomfördes som en kvalitativ fallstudie med ett induktivt angreppssätt. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med 10 personer i ett företag inom den svenska trävaruindustrin. Det insamlade materialet har kodats tematiskt för att sedan kunna analysera den tillsammans med analysmodellen från teoretiska referensramen.  Resultat & slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det undersökta företaget blir påverkade av två isomorfa faktorer. Tvingande isomorfism påverkar företaget i högre grad medan den normativa isomorfismen påverkar företaget till viss del. Den härmande isomorfismen påverkar inte företaget i lika hög utsträckning. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens teoretiska bidrag är att öka förståelsen för vilka isomorfa faktorer som påverkar hur ett företag inom trävarubranschen upprättar sin hållbarhetsrapport. Det praktiska bidraget är att företag måste ta hänsyn till vad omgivningen efterfrågar ur hållbarhetsrapporten för att undvika att förlora sin legitimitet. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Utföra studier på fler företag inom samma bransch och jämföra resultatet. Även inkludera fler kontextuella teorier för att undersöka andra faktorer som påverkar rapportens utseende. Det hade även varit intressant att studera hållbarhetsrapporter över tid för att undersöka om det finns en förändring. Till sist hade det varit till stor hjälp att ta fram ett jämförelseinstrument för hållbarhetsrapporter. / Aim: In 2016, it became statutory in Sweden that larger companies must include information on sustainability in their annual report. Since larger organizations from the lumber industry in Sweden generally publish comprehensive and presentable reports, it would have been interesting to examine the incentives for this based on NIS. The purpose of the study is to investigate which isomorphic factors affect how a major company in the Swedish lumber industry designs its sustainability report.  Method: The study was conducted as a qualitative case study using an inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 employees in a company in the Swedish lumber industry. The empirical material has been coded thematically in order to then be able to analyze it together with the analysis model from the theoretical framework. Result & Conclusions: The results of the study show that the examined company is affected by two isomorphic factors. Coercive isomorphism affects the company to a greater extent, while normative isomorphism affects the company to some extent. The mimetic isomorphism does not affect the company to the same extent. Contribution of the thesis: The theoretical contribution of the study is to increase the understanding of which isomorphic factors affect how a company in the lumber industry establish their sustainability report. The practical contribution is that companies must consider what the environment demands from the sustainability report in order to avoid losing their legitimacy. Suggestions for future research: Perform studies on several companies in the same industry and compare the results. Also include more contextual theories to investigate other factors that affect the appearance of the report. It would also have been interesting to study sustainability reports over time to investigate whether there is a change or not. Finally, it would be helpful to develop a comparison instrument for sustainability reports.

This thesis addresses two case studies of two large state-owned manufacturing companies in Libya. The study focuses on management accounting and control system (MACS) changes within the two companies. The study is motivated by the paucity of literature on management accounting practices in the developing countries in general and in Libya in particular. The case study approach adopted in conducting the present research was useful in exploring the dynamics of the MACS in the two organizations. Data were collected from three sources of evidence. Firstly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers, heads of offices and accountants of each company. The participants were selected from different backgrounds and managerial levels so as to provide broader understanding of the operations of the MACS. Secondly, observations include the direct observation and the participant observation. Finally, various documents were reviewed to provide supporting evidence for the interview results. New institutional sociology (NIS) perspective provided the theoretical framework to interpret and analyze the findings. NIS provided explanations regarding how the MACS in the two companies were shaped by various external and internal factors. The main factors identified in shaping the operations of the MACS were the need to comply with the political pressures, the Libyan government’s laws and regulations, the instructions imposed by the management committee in both companies, leading organizations’ pressures (ISO), customers’ satisfaction (coercive isomorphism), the influence of professional associations (normative isomorphism) and the need to imitate efficient organizations in order to be more legitimate and successful (mimetic isomorphism). The study also investigates the interplay between the institutional forces, market forces and intra - organizational power relationships. This analysis is essential to overcome the criticism of NIS that it downplays the role of market forces and intra - organizational power relations. The findings of the study have implications for understanding the operations of MACS in developing countries.

A tese analisa o processo de mudança no ciclo de gestão de finanças públicas (ciclo PFM) do setor público do país, utilizando a abordagem da sociologia institucional aplicada ao estudo das organizações (teoria organizacional institucional). Alterações legais recentes têm proposto novas regras no ciclo PFM, o que requer mudanças na lógica institucional orçamentária largamente presentes nas organizações do setor público. Esse é o caso da introdução do planejamento de resultados (PBB) no país, que contém uma lógica que conflita com a lógica orçamentária por inputs. Como as lógicas são conflitantes, e desafiam o status quo, os atores na organização passam a resistir às propostas. Consequentemente, a estratégia de implementação de tais reformas acaba por contemplar ajustes de escopo, revisões de prazos de adoção, quase sempre justificadas pelas restrições colocadas pela \'falta de estrutura\' dos municípios. Contrariando tal justificativa, a tese propõe que a baixa adoção das reformas decorre de resistências de natureza institucional, quando lógicas institucionais conflitantes reduzem as chances de adoção das práticas levando ao uso cerimonial quando existe uma fonte de coerção externa. Essa resistência seria reduzida se atores com maior reflexividade percebessem pontos favoráveis na reforma e passassem a apoiar a nova prática, sobretudo se janelas de oportunidade para sensibilização dos demais indivíduos na organização fossem criadas. Foi empregada uma abordagem mixed-method. Iniciou-se com a abordagem qualitativa, pela observação participante em uma prefeitura um município de grande porte do Estado de São Paulo. A observação participante articulada com a teoria institucional sugeriu as hipóteses de que uma maior renovação das equipes que atuam em planejamento e orçamento aumentaria as chances de adoção do PBB, sobretudo na presença de choque exógeno que questionasse a forma como a organização vem operando. As hipóteses foram testadas na parte quantitativa com dados do planejamento de resultado de 639 municípios do Estado de São Paulo para os anos de 2011 e 2015. Os resultados indicam que, para amostra de municípios de São Paulo, a crise fiscal acabou fortalecendo a lógica orçamentária tradicional, supostamente pela pressão de obter respostas de curto-prazo. Ainda, observa-se a presença generalizada de uso cerimonial da prática do PBB em algum nível. Em alguns casos, mais de 40% dos indicadores de desempenho e metas não possuem qualquer valor informacional. Por fim, observado pelo uso cerimonial da prática, são discutidos alguns fatores que poderiam ter potencializado o baixo nível de institucionalização da nova prática orçamentária. Entre tais fatores estão o modelo de adoção do PBB adotado desde 2002 e a ausência de um patrocinador da reforma presente no processo de difusão, enfraquecendo a etapa de teorização a favor da reforma. / The thesis analyzes the process of change in public finances management cycles (PFM cycle) in the country\'s public sector, using an institutional sociology approach applied to the study of organizations. Recent legal changes propose new rules for the PFM cycle that require a change in institutional budgetary logic. This is the case with the introduction of performance based budgeting (PBB) in the country, the logic of which conflicts with a budgetary logic based on inputs. Since the logics are in conflict and challenge the status quo, the actors in organizations come to resist the proposals. Consequently, a strategy to implement such reforms ends up encompassing scope adjustments, revisions to adoption deadlines, and restrictions arising from the lack of municipal structure. Contrary to this justification, the thesis proposes that the low adoption of these reforms stems from resistance of an institutional nature, in which the conflicting institutional logics reduce the chances of adoption of such practices, leading to ceremonial use when there is a source of external coercion. This resistance would be reduced if those of greatest importance in an organization perceived favorable aspects of the reform and thus would come to support the new practice, above all if windows of opportunity to raise the awareness of others in the organization were created. A mixed method approach was employed. It began with a qualitative approach, by observing participants in a city hall of a large municipality in the state of São Paulo. A participant observation articulated with an institutional theory gave rise to the hypotheses that greater renewal for teams that act in planning and budgeting would increase the chances of adopting PBB, especially with the presence of shock that questions the way in which an organization has been operating. The hypotheses were tested quantitatively using performance based budgeting data from 639 municipalities in the state of São Paulo from 2011-2015. The results indicate that, for a set of São Paulo municipalities, a crisis ended up consolidating traditional budgetary logic, supposedly due to pressure to achieve short-term results. We also observed a generalized presence of ceremonial practice of PBB at some level. In some cases, more than 40% of the indicators and targets do not possess informational value. Finally, based on observations of this use of ceremonial practice, we discuss some factors that would have potentiated the low level of institutionalization of the new budgetary practice. Among these values, the PBB adoption model since 2002 and an absence of a sponsor for the reform mean that there is no process of diffusion, thus weakening a theorization stage in favor of the reform.

O presente estudo visa a identificar os fatores institucionais que influenciaram a adoção de um Centro de Serviços Compartilhados em uma unidade organizacional de uma empresa brasileira pertencente ao setor de tabaco, tendendo a inibir, favorecer ou condicionar sua implementação. Tendo como elementos metodológicos predominantes a abordagem descritiva, qualitativa e o estudo de caso, a presente pesquisa busca embasamento teórico nas concepções da Nova Sociologia Institucional e na literatura disponível sobre serviços compartilhados a fim de averiguar os tipos de motivações predominantes para a adoção do CSC, sejam elas relacionadas à procura por eficiência ou legitimidade. Este trabalho também objetiva identificar os tipos de pressões institucionais presentes e predominantes na ocasião da adoção do CSC, verificar a presença ou não de decoupling e investigar se esses fatores inibem, favorecem ou, de alguma forma, condicionam a implementação do CSC. Os resultados demonstram que a busca por legitimidade é a motivação predominante na primeira fase de transição ao CSC, sendo que, na segunda fase, destaca-se a exigência de eficiência. Predominam as pressões institucionais miméticas na ocasião da adoção e as pressões coercitivas são interpretadas de forma positiva pelos gestores e colaboradores; não há decoupling; e, por fim, os achados demonstram que tais fatores favorecem a implementação do CSC. / This study aims to identify the institutional factors influencing the adoption of a Shared Services Center in an organizational unit of a Brazilian company belonging to the tobacco industry, which tended to inhibit, promote or constrain its implementation. With the methodological elements prevailing the descriptive and qualitative approach and the case study, this research seeks theoretical foundation in the concepts of the New Institutional Sociology and in the available literature on shared services in order to investigate the predominant types of motivations for the adoption of the SSC, whether related to the search for efficiency or legitimacy. This study also intends to identify the types of prevailing institutional pressures at the time of adoption of the SSC, verify the presence or absence of decoupling and investigate whether these factors inhibit, promote or somehow condition the implementation of SSC. The results demonstrate that the search for legitimacy is the predominant reason in the first stage of transition to the shared services model, while in the second one, it stands out the requirement of efficiency. Mimetic institutional pressures are prevalent at the time of adoption and coercive pressures are interpreted positively by managers and employees; there is not decoupling; and finally, the findings demonstrate that such factors favor the implementation of the SSC.

A tese analisa o processo de mudança no ciclo de gestão de finanças públicas (ciclo PFM) do setor público do país, utilizando a abordagem da sociologia institucional aplicada ao estudo das organizações (teoria organizacional institucional). Alterações legais recentes têm proposto novas regras no ciclo PFM, o que requer mudanças na lógica institucional orçamentária largamente presentes nas organizações do setor público. Esse é o caso da introdução do planejamento de resultados (PBB) no país, que contém uma lógica que conflita com a lógica orçamentária por inputs. Como as lógicas são conflitantes, e desafiam o status quo, os atores na organização passam a resistir às propostas. Consequentemente, a estratégia de implementação de tais reformas acaba por contemplar ajustes de escopo, revisões de prazos de adoção, quase sempre justificadas pelas restrições colocadas pela \'falta de estrutura\' dos municípios. Contrariando tal justificativa, a tese propõe que a baixa adoção das reformas decorre de resistências de natureza institucional, quando lógicas institucionais conflitantes reduzem as chances de adoção das práticas levando ao uso cerimonial quando existe uma fonte de coerção externa. Essa resistência seria reduzida se atores com maior reflexividade percebessem pontos favoráveis na reforma e passassem a apoiar a nova prática, sobretudo se janelas de oportunidade para sensibilização dos demais indivíduos na organização fossem criadas. Foi empregada uma abordagem mixed-method. Iniciou-se com a abordagem qualitativa, pela observação participante em uma prefeitura um município de grande porte do Estado de São Paulo. A observação participante articulada com a teoria institucional sugeriu as hipóteses de que uma maior renovação das equipes que atuam em planejamento e orçamento aumentaria as chances de adoção do PBB, sobretudo na presença de choque exógeno que questionasse a forma como a organização vem operando. As hipóteses foram testadas na parte quantitativa com dados do planejamento de resultado de 639 municípios do Estado de São Paulo para os anos de 2011 e 2015. Os resultados indicam que, para amostra de municípios de São Paulo, a crise fiscal acabou fortalecendo a lógica orçamentária tradicional, supostamente pela pressão de obter respostas de curto-prazo. Ainda, observa-se a presença generalizada de uso cerimonial da prática do PBB em algum nível. Em alguns casos, mais de 40% dos indicadores de desempenho e metas não possuem qualquer valor informacional. Por fim, observado pelo uso cerimonial da prática, são discutidos alguns fatores que poderiam ter potencializado o baixo nível de institucionalização da nova prática orçamentária. Entre tais fatores estão o modelo de adoção do PBB adotado desde 2002 e a ausência de um patrocinador da reforma presente no processo de difusão, enfraquecendo a etapa de teorização a favor da reforma. / The thesis analyzes the process of change in public finances management cycles (PFM cycle) in the country\'s public sector, using an institutional sociology approach applied to the study of organizations. Recent legal changes propose new rules for the PFM cycle that require a change in institutional budgetary logic. This is the case with the introduction of performance based budgeting (PBB) in the country, the logic of which conflicts with a budgetary logic based on inputs. Since the logics are in conflict and challenge the status quo, the actors in organizations come to resist the proposals. Consequently, a strategy to implement such reforms ends up encompassing scope adjustments, revisions to adoption deadlines, and restrictions arising from the lack of municipal structure. Contrary to this justification, the thesis proposes that the low adoption of these reforms stems from resistance of an institutional nature, in which the conflicting institutional logics reduce the chances of adoption of such practices, leading to ceremonial use when there is a source of external coercion. This resistance would be reduced if those of greatest importance in an organization perceived favorable aspects of the reform and thus would come to support the new practice, above all if windows of opportunity to raise the awareness of others in the organization were created. A mixed method approach was employed. It began with a qualitative approach, by observing participants in a city hall of a large municipality in the state of São Paulo. A participant observation articulated with an institutional theory gave rise to the hypotheses that greater renewal for teams that act in planning and budgeting would increase the chances of adopting PBB, especially with the presence of shock that questions the way in which an organization has been operating. The hypotheses were tested quantitatively using performance based budgeting data from 639 municipalities in the state of São Paulo from 2011-2015. The results indicate that, for a set of São Paulo municipalities, a crisis ended up consolidating traditional budgetary logic, supposedly due to pressure to achieve short-term results. We also observed a generalized presence of ceremonial practice of PBB at some level. In some cases, more than 40% of the indicators and targets do not possess informational value. Finally, based on observations of this use of ceremonial practice, we discuss some factors that would have potentiated the low level of institutionalization of the new budgetary practice. Among these values, the PBB adoption model since 2002 and an absence of a sponsor for the reform mean that there is no process of diffusion, thus weakening a theorization stage in favor of the reform.

O presente estudo visa a identificar os fatores institucionais que influenciaram a adoção de um Centro de Serviços Compartilhados em uma unidade organizacional de uma empresa brasileira pertencente ao setor de tabaco, tendendo a inibir, favorecer ou condicionar sua implementação. Tendo como elementos metodológicos predominantes a abordagem descritiva, qualitativa e o estudo de caso, a presente pesquisa busca embasamento teórico nas concepções da Nova Sociologia Institucional e na literatura disponível sobre serviços compartilhados a fim de averiguar os tipos de motivações predominantes para a adoção do CSC, sejam elas relacionadas à procura por eficiência ou legitimidade. Este trabalho também objetiva identificar os tipos de pressões institucionais presentes e predominantes na ocasião da adoção do CSC, verificar a presença ou não de decoupling e investigar se esses fatores inibem, favorecem ou, de alguma forma, condicionam a implementação do CSC. Os resultados demonstram que a busca por legitimidade é a motivação predominante na primeira fase de transição ao CSC, sendo que, na segunda fase, destaca-se a exigência de eficiência. Predominam as pressões institucionais miméticas na ocasião da adoção e as pressões coercitivas são interpretadas de forma positiva pelos gestores e colaboradores; não há decoupling; e, por fim, os achados demonstram que tais fatores favorecem a implementação do CSC. / This study aims to identify the institutional factors influencing the adoption of a Shared Services Center in an organizational unit of a Brazilian company belonging to the tobacco industry, which tended to inhibit, promote or constrain its implementation. With the methodological elements prevailing the descriptive and qualitative approach and the case study, this research seeks theoretical foundation in the concepts of the New Institutional Sociology and in the available literature on shared services in order to investigate the predominant types of motivations for the adoption of the SSC, whether related to the search for efficiency or legitimacy. This study also intends to identify the types of prevailing institutional pressures at the time of adoption of the SSC, verify the presence or absence of decoupling and investigate whether these factors inhibit, promote or somehow condition the implementation of SSC. The results demonstrate that the search for legitimacy is the predominant reason in the first stage of transition to the shared services model, while in the second one, it stands out the requirement of efficiency. Mimetic institutional pressures are prevalent at the time of adoption and coercive pressures are interpreted positively by managers and employees; there is not decoupling; and finally, the findings demonstrate that such factors favor the implementation of the SSC.

Syfte: I Sverige kan SME:s välja att redovisa enligt regelverken K2 eller K3. Tidigare forskning visar att redovisningsval styrs av olika institutionella påtryckningar på organisationer. Innovativa företag har en viktig roll i länders ekonomi, trots detta finns lite forskning kring dessa företag och deras redovisningsval. Vi har därför valt att titta närmare på innovativa företag och vad som påverkat deras val av k-regelverk. Detta med syftet att undersöka hur institutionella påtryckningar påverkar innovativa och kunskapsintensiva SME:s i valet mellan K2 och K3. Forskningsfrågan som ställts för att besvara detta är:  hur upplever företagen att isomorfa faktorer påverkar dem i valet mellan K2 och K3? Metod: Studien utgår från ett induktivt angreppssätt. Studien består av en kvalitativ fallstudie av innovativa företag i inkubatormiljö inom Gävleborg. Det empiriska materialet består av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med företagsledare inom dessa företag som studieobjekt. Vidare analyseras företagen genom en  tematisk analys med framework-synsätt utifrån egenutformad modell förknippad med isomorfa påtryckningar. Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten visar att företagen framförallt påverkas av tvingande isomorfism i form av regelverkens begränsningar. Möjligheten att kunna aktivera utvecklingskostnader med K3 visade sig vara den största faktorn till val av regelverk. Normativ isomorfism har också visat sig utgöra en påtryckning i form av revisorer och redovisningskonsulters deltagande i besluten om regelverk. Härmande isomorfism kan även föreligga i samverkan med andra påtryckningar men i begränsad omfattning. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till teoribildning om både NIS och  SME:s. Studien skapar också praktisk kunskap till framtida företag som står inför samma val samt ger normgivare och redovisningsreglerare insikter om möjligheter och begränsningar i dagens valbara regelverk. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Begränsningar återfinns i studiens omfattning till antalet deltagande och geografiska omfång. Förslag till vidare forskning är därför att undersöka liknande företag med ett geografiskt bredare urval, studera utifrån andra kontextuella teorier eller ekonomiska aspekter. / Aim: In Sweden, SMEs can choose between the accounting regulations K2 or K3. Previous research shows that accounting choices are governed by various institutional pressures on organizations. Innovative companies play an important role in countries' economies, despite this there is little research on these companies and their accounting choices. We have therefore chosen to take a closer look at innovative SME:s and what influenced their choice of accounting method. This with the aim of examining how institutional pressures affect innovative and knowledge-intensive SMEs in the choice between K2 and K3. The research question asked to answer this is: how do companies feel that isomorphic factors affect them in the choice between K2 and K3?  Method: The study is based on an inductive approach. The study consists of a qualitative case study of innovative companies in an incubator environment within Gävleborg. The empirical material consists of ten semi-structured interviews with business leaders within these companies as study objects. Furthermore, the companies are analyzed through a thematic analysis with a framework approach based on a self-designed model associated with isomorphic pressures.  Result & Conclusions: The results show that companies are primarily affected by coercive isomorphism in the form of regulatory constraints. The possibility of being able to capitalize development costs with K3 proved to be the biggest factor in the choice of regulations. Normative isomorphism has also been shown to be a pressure in the form of the participation of auditors and accounting consultants in regulatory decisions. Mimetic isomorphism can also exist in conjunction with other pressures but to a limited extent. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes to theory creation about both NIS and accounting standards choice. The study also creates practical knowledge for future companies that are facing the same choice. It also gives norm-setters and accounting regulators insights into opportunities and limitations in today's elective accounting choice in Sweden. Suggestions for future research: Limitations are found in the scope of the study to the number of participants and geographical scope. Suggestions for further research are therefore to examine similar companies with a geographically wider selection, study from other contextual theories or economic aspects.