Role of accounting in a corporatised public organisation intertwined issues of accountability and trust / Nor Aziah Abu Kasim

This paper presents an in-depth case study of a Malaysian public utility undergoing reform to transform itself into a self-financing, and profitable organisation during corporatisation. As profitability became increasingly important, attempts to enhance profitability were made through imposing new budgeting rules and recruiting new accounting graduates. An explanatory case study method, using mainly semi-structured interviews was adopted. The theoretical framework for understanding the process of
implementing accounting change, the context in which change unfolded and
the emerging consequences of change is based on the insights of new
institutional sociology (Meyer and Rowan, 1977). The findings reveal that
accounting changes were enacted, but over time became separated from, or
loosely coupled with, other intra-organisational concerns. The top-down
manner in which the budget targets was imposed by the accountants created
tensions and constraints, changes in power relations and a climate of lack of
trust. The explanations on the emergence of loosely coupled budget enrich
our understanding of why budgeting changes are enacted but the budget is
used as rituals for requesting funds rather than for planning and guiding
operational decisions.