Norio Sawabe - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Norio Sawabe
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012
Simons' (1995b) levers of control have become one of the most prominently utilized management con... more Simons' (1995b) levers of control have become one of the most prominently utilized management control system frameworks in the accounting literature. In this paper we focus on core values, which guide and motivate an organization, an area of the framework not examined in the accounting literature. Specifically we examine the process through which a new core value develops. We also show how this process is influenced by and acts upon the other levers of control. We highlight how this process initially involves few actors, little complexity and creates a descriptive definition for the core value. This descriptive definition prompts more actors to become involved resulting in greater complexity. The prompt for these actors to become involved is their search and discovery activities aimed at understanding the practical relevance of the new core value. The process of developing the core value and the search for practical relevance necessitates the creation and transformation of other management controls. These management controls in turn change the core value and other actors within the process. The process of search and discovery provides belief control through embedding elements of the core value in the management controls that were created or transformed. While the core value may be displaced its effects on other controls remain in place thus showing how and why controls embody both technical and social elements.
Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change
Purpose Using institutional theory, this study aims to understand how the management control syst... more Purpose Using institutional theory, this study aims to understand how the management control systems (MCSs) designed by top managers influence the micro-level process practices of organization members during product innovation. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a case study carried out at NZMed to examine the design and use of MCSs and their product innovation practices. Simons’ levers of control was used to understand the ways in which MCSs were designed and used in a product innovation setting. Findings The findings indicate that the everyday micro-level processes of organization members encoded MCS when their espoused values aligned with those of top managers. However, when the perspectives within the organization differed, variations to the micro-level processes of organization members emerged. The authors show how this resulted in an increase in innovation capabilities necessary to meet organizational goals. Practical implications The misalignment between espous...
The Journal of Management Accounting, Japan
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2009
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2008
The Journal of Cost Accounting Research, 2013
This paper examines how accounting is implicated in strategizing practices at a financial institu... more This paper examines how accounting is implicated in strategizing practices at a financial institution. We investigate micro processes of strategizing in which proclaimed abstract concepts in the formally disclosed middle range plan are given concreted shape through everyday practices at local divisions, and examine the way in which accounting plays in the strategizing processes. In order to understand the relationships between strategy and accounting, we draw on a practice theory perspective (Ahrens & Chapman, 2007; Jorgensen & Messner, 2009 cf. Schatzki, 2005), which is helpful in picturing roles of accounting in micro processes of strategizing. In particular, this paper examines emotional aspects of accounting in everyday practices that give shape to the proclaimed strategic concepts in its middle range plan. This paper contributes to the existing literature on accounting and strategy by shedding lights on the way in which emotional aspects drive micro-processes of strategising an...
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2012
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2008
This paper explores the way dynamic tensions are created by the management control system (MCS) a... more This paper explores the way dynamic tensions are created by the management control system (MCS) at the lower management level in the context of a more flexible mode of management. Using Simons’ levers of control (LOC) framework, we adopt a case study method to investigate the way in which core values affect the design and use of a responsibility accounting system, which in turn shape the challenges which operational managers face, and how such managers fulfil their responsibilities by delivering financial results while at the same time being faithful to the organisation’s core values. Contrary to the existing literature, which argues that internal consistency of core values is required in order to create dynamic tensions, we find that dynamic tensions are created by competing elements of the core values, which are embedded in various facets of the responsibility accounting system. This paper contributes to the extant literature on dynamic tensions first by demonstrating how competin...
Journal of Political Economy, 2003
：Drawing upon the conce ノ ア' q厂 teleoaffe 【 ］tive 舘 厂ucture proposed わ y Schatzki θ 996， 2002 丿 ，... more ：Drawing upon the conce ノ ア' q厂 teleoaffe 【 ］tive 舘 厂ucture proposed わ y Schatzki θ 996， 2002 丿 ， 読 ε e 〃 iotional ゴimension in retation tO the tegeok ・ 8 ' cat ・dime' τsion qブ ace ・ unting prac ' ices is examined in this papen び麟 脚 8 the data obt ・ 廨 d加 m ethnograph た 海 〃 research qプ α 勲 砌 C ' α 伽 3 "tution ｝y みたん α ∬ ists' ts ctients to ≠ 配 厂聯 0 槻 ゴ 伽 ケ 加 ∫惚 ∬ ， ' ∫ 岬 bμη4 ' 鰡 伽 trumenta 〃 y 溜 ' ona 'acti ソities are S) ' stematica-y cOnnected to the emotionat め ア' ゾ ' 加 伽 ．陥 ゴ ' e ・ n ・ the ・ tele・ 1 ・ gi 【 ・ al dimension ， signti6) ing chain tinks 〃lea 脚 9S of ' ocal activities with the s 鰄 egic agenda set by the top 〃 lanagement ， a dilemma betwee 't discontin " i リブ ｝ em ' he past and the pe rcei レed プ 診α ∫ 棚 距 弓 1 げ 伽 ∫惚 ∬ tuniarOund is overcOme by the s')磁 1 signtpucatiOn genera ' ed on the emotiOnal dimension(ゾ the " ' ite ． Keyw α ds ：accounting praCtices ， e 'η o ∫ 融 α ' 砲 ∫ e ！ ω ！ (丿 9) 1 ， practice theory ， business tμ 厂naro " nd
This paper investigates how core values affect the design and use of a responsibility accounting ... more This paper investigates how core values affect the design and use of a responsibility accounting system in an organisation, and how the r esponsibility accounting system function both as a diagnostic control system and a belief sy stem simultaneously. Informed by Simons (1995b, 2000) levers of control framework, we analy se the relationship between a belief system and diagnostic control system through the in v stigation of a company’s core values and its responsibility accounting system using a ca se study method. The core values of the case organisation are found to be constituted with competing values, which are reflected in various parts of the responsibility accounting syst em. While it is found that the responsibility accounting system is used primarily as a diagnostic control system to monitor performances relative to pre-set plans, dynamic tensions emerges not only between the diagnostic control system and the belief system, but also within the b elief system. The competing v...
This paper examines how management philosophy and management accounting systems are linked to man... more This paper examines how management philosophy and management accounting systems are linked to management accounting practices by utilizing structuration theory and the concept of phronesis as heuristic devices. Base upon a detailed field study, we argue in this paper that potential contradictions within written management philosophy are reflected in management accounting practices, through which potential contradictions are realized as conflicts and tensions that turn out to open up spaces for creative actions. It is observed that the tight coupling between management philosophy and management accounting systems create problems that are sources, rather than barriers to, discretionary activities. By constraining reality, we open up a space to work with. The changing stability of accounting practices are explained in terms of dialectic dynamics in structuration processes which are fused with competing normative ideals.
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Purpose Organisations produce effects that go beyond the economic framing within which they opera... more Purpose Organisations produce effects that go beyond the economic framing within which they operate, referred to as overflows in this paper. When an organisation comes under pressure to address these overflows they must decide how to respond. Previous research has placed social and environmental reporting as an important tool organisations mobilise in their attempts to mediate these pressures and the groups that give rise to them. However, these reports are typically only released once a year while the pressures that organisations face can arise at any time and are ongoing and constant. The purpose of this paper is to explore situated organisational practices and examine if and how management controls are mobilised in relation to the actions of pressure groups. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes a case study approach to understand how an organisation attempts to mediate the pressures from a number of overflows: carbon emissions, changing lifestyles, aspartame and obesity. ...
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012
Simons' (1995b) levers of control have become one of the most prominently utilized management con... more Simons' (1995b) levers of control have become one of the most prominently utilized management control system frameworks in the accounting literature. In this paper we focus on core values, which guide and motivate an organization, an area of the framework not examined in the accounting literature. Specifically we examine the process through which a new core value develops. We also show how this process is influenced by and acts upon the other levers of control. We highlight how this process initially involves few actors, little complexity and creates a descriptive definition for the core value. This descriptive definition prompts more actors to become involved resulting in greater complexity. The prompt for these actors to become involved is their search and discovery activities aimed at understanding the practical relevance of the new core value. The process of developing the core value and the search for practical relevance necessitates the creation and transformation of other management controls. These management controls in turn change the core value and other actors within the process. The process of search and discovery provides belief control through embedding elements of the core value in the management controls that were created or transformed. While the core value may be displaced its effects on other controls remain in place thus showing how and why controls embody both technical and social elements.
Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change
Purpose Using institutional theory, this study aims to understand how the management control syst... more Purpose Using institutional theory, this study aims to understand how the management control systems (MCSs) designed by top managers influence the micro-level process practices of organization members during product innovation. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a case study carried out at NZMed to examine the design and use of MCSs and their product innovation practices. Simons’ levers of control was used to understand the ways in which MCSs were designed and used in a product innovation setting. Findings The findings indicate that the everyday micro-level processes of organization members encoded MCS when their espoused values aligned with those of top managers. However, when the perspectives within the organization differed, variations to the micro-level processes of organization members emerged. The authors show how this resulted in an increase in innovation capabilities necessary to meet organizational goals. Practical implications The misalignment between espous...
The Journal of Management Accounting, Japan
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2009
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2008
The Journal of Cost Accounting Research, 2013
This paper examines how accounting is implicated in strategizing practices at a financial institu... more This paper examines how accounting is implicated in strategizing practices at a financial institution. We investigate micro processes of strategizing in which proclaimed abstract concepts in the formally disclosed middle range plan are given concreted shape through everyday practices at local divisions, and examine the way in which accounting plays in the strategizing processes. In order to understand the relationships between strategy and accounting, we draw on a practice theory perspective (Ahrens & Chapman, 2007; Jorgensen & Messner, 2009 cf. Schatzki, 2005), which is helpful in picturing roles of accounting in micro processes of strategizing. In particular, this paper examines emotional aspects of accounting in everyday practices that give shape to the proclaimed strategic concepts in its middle range plan. This paper contributes to the existing literature on accounting and strategy by shedding lights on the way in which emotional aspects drive micro-processes of strategising an...
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2012
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research
Melco Journal of Management Accounting Research, 2008
This paper explores the way dynamic tensions are created by the management control system (MCS) a... more This paper explores the way dynamic tensions are created by the management control system (MCS) at the lower management level in the context of a more flexible mode of management. Using Simons’ levers of control (LOC) framework, we adopt a case study method to investigate the way in which core values affect the design and use of a responsibility accounting system, which in turn shape the challenges which operational managers face, and how such managers fulfil their responsibilities by delivering financial results while at the same time being faithful to the organisation’s core values. Contrary to the existing literature, which argues that internal consistency of core values is required in order to create dynamic tensions, we find that dynamic tensions are created by competing elements of the core values, which are embedded in various facets of the responsibility accounting system. This paper contributes to the extant literature on dynamic tensions first by demonstrating how competin...
Journal of Political Economy, 2003
：Drawing upon the conce ノ ア' q厂 teleoaffe 【 ］tive 舘 厂ucture proposed わ y Schatzki θ 996， 2002 丿 ，... more ：Drawing upon the conce ノ ア' q厂 teleoaffe 【 ］tive 舘 厂ucture proposed わ y Schatzki θ 996， 2002 丿 ， 読 ε e 〃 iotional ゴimension in retation tO the tegeok ・ 8 ' cat ・dime' τsion qブ ace ・ unting prac ' ices is examined in this papen び麟 脚 8 the data obt ・ 廨 d加 m ethnograph た 海 〃 research qプ α 勲 砌 C ' α 伽 3 "tution ｝y みたん α ∬ ists' ts ctients to ≠ 配 厂聯 0 槻 ゴ 伽 ケ 加 ∫惚 ∬ ， ' ∫ 岬 bμη4 ' 鰡 伽 trumenta 〃 y 溜 ' ona 'acti ソities are S) ' stematica-y cOnnected to the emotionat め ア' ゾ ' 加 伽 ．陥 ゴ ' e ・ n ・ the ・ tele・ 1 ・ gi 【 ・ al dimension ， signti6) ing chain tinks 〃lea 脚 9S of ' ocal activities with the s 鰄 egic agenda set by the top 〃 lanagement ， a dilemma betwee 't discontin " i リブ ｝ em ' he past and the pe rcei レed プ 診α ∫ 棚 距 弓 1 げ 伽 ∫惚 ∬ tuniarOund is overcOme by the s')磁 1 signtpucatiOn genera ' ed on the emotiOnal dimension(ゾ the " ' ite ． Keyw α ds ：accounting praCtices ， e 'η o ∫ 融 α ' 砲 ∫ e ！ ω ！ (丿 9) 1 ， practice theory ， business tμ 厂naro " nd
This paper investigates how core values affect the design and use of a responsibility accounting ... more This paper investigates how core values affect the design and use of a responsibility accounting system in an organisation, and how the r esponsibility accounting system function both as a diagnostic control system and a belief sy stem simultaneously. Informed by Simons (1995b, 2000) levers of control framework, we analy se the relationship between a belief system and diagnostic control system through the in v stigation of a company’s core values and its responsibility accounting system using a ca se study method. The core values of the case organisation are found to be constituted with competing values, which are reflected in various parts of the responsibility accounting syst em. While it is found that the responsibility accounting system is used primarily as a diagnostic control system to monitor performances relative to pre-set plans, dynamic tensions emerges not only between the diagnostic control system and the belief system, but also within the b elief system. The competing v...
This paper examines how management philosophy and management accounting systems are linked to man... more This paper examines how management philosophy and management accounting systems are linked to management accounting practices by utilizing structuration theory and the concept of phronesis as heuristic devices. Base upon a detailed field study, we argue in this paper that potential contradictions within written management philosophy are reflected in management accounting practices, through which potential contradictions are realized as conflicts and tensions that turn out to open up spaces for creative actions. It is observed that the tight coupling between management philosophy and management accounting systems create problems that are sources, rather than barriers to, discretionary activities. By constraining reality, we open up a space to work with. The changing stability of accounting practices are explained in terms of dialectic dynamics in structuration processes which are fused with competing normative ideals.
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Purpose Organisations produce effects that go beyond the economic framing within which they opera... more Purpose Organisations produce effects that go beyond the economic framing within which they operate, referred to as overflows in this paper. When an organisation comes under pressure to address these overflows they must decide how to respond. Previous research has placed social and environmental reporting as an important tool organisations mobilise in their attempts to mediate these pressures and the groups that give rise to them. However, these reports are typically only released once a year while the pressures that organisations face can arise at any time and are ongoing and constant. The purpose of this paper is to explore situated organisational practices and examine if and how management controls are mobilised in relation to the actions of pressure groups. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes a case study approach to understand how an organisation attempts to mediate the pressures from a number of overflows: carbon emissions, changing lifestyles, aspartame and obesity. ...