Reading C
Covaleski, M. A., Dirsmith, M. W.and Samuel, S. (1996). Managerial accounting research:
The contributions of organizationaland sociological theories.Journal of Management
Accounting Research, 8, 1 – 35. Reproduced by permission of American Accounting Asso-
ciation.
Questions
1 Contrast contingency theory, interpretive and critical perspectives in terms of
how each perspective can inform an understanding of management accounting.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each paradigm?
2 What is the advantage of the ‘paradigmatic pluralism’ that Covaleskiet al.
promote?
3 In undertaking management accounting research in an organizational setting,
how would you determine the methods of enquiry that you would adopt?
Further reading
Boland, J. R. J. and Pondy, L. R. (1983). Accounting in organizations: A union of natural and
rational perspectives.Accounting, Organizations and Society, 8(2/3), 223 – 34.
Hopper, T. and Powell, A. (1985). Making sense of research into the organizational and
social aspects of management accounting: A review of its underlying assumptions.
Journal of Management Studies, 22(5), 429 – 65.
Lowe, T. and Puxty, T. (1989). The problems of a paradigm: A critique of the prevailing
orthodoxy in management control. In W. F. Chua, T. Lowe and T. Puxty (eds),Critical
Perspectives in Management Control, London: Macmillan.
Neimark, M. and Tinker, T. (1986). The social construction of management control systems.
Accounting, Organizations and Society, 11(4/5), 369 – 95.
Otley, D. (1989). A strategy for the development of theories in management control. In
W. F. Chua, T. Lowe and T. Puxty (eds),Critical Perspectives in Management Control,
London: Macmillan.