Doing qualitative field research in management accounting: Positioning data to contribute to theory

In this paper we argue that theory, method, methodology, and knowledge gains in qualitative field studies are intertwined through the ongoing hypothesis development in the field. We develop our argument through a discussion of specific qualitative field studies in management accounting. We emphasise in particular the distinctive role of theory in qualitative research as relating to expression of a subjective reality more than clarification of an objective one. In considering this subjectivity we discuss the ways in which the doing of qualitative research brings to bear discipline on the researcher allowing us to assess the trustworthiness of their accounts. The intention is to develop a more appropriate basis for judging the plausibility of qualitative field studies than notions borrowed from positivistic methodology.     

The learning curve and the health care industry

This article will examine the learning curve and its potential impact on the health care industry. Although the learning curve has traditionally been applied to the manufacturing industry, a labor-intensive industry like health care is a prime candidate for the benefits of the learning curve. Specifically, we will look at past research on the learning curve and discuss what effects learning might have on health care costs and outcomes in the current health care environment.     

Governance And The Implementation Of Technology Policy In Less Developed Countries

This study discusses key issues of technology policy in less developed countries from a governance perspective. In particular, it analyzes critical problems of policy implementation and looks for general principles which may be suitable as guideposts in making the state more effective regardless of the particularities of its technology policy. The main argument is that governments need to assume a market-enhancing role and must enhance the state's capabilities and capacities for implementing public policies. Crafting public institutions which ensure accountability, transparency, and predictability of policy making and involve the private sector in political decision-making processes is critical for successful policy implementation. Besides institutional arrangements which help governments to credibly precommit to policies, the quality and institutional design of the public administration and the public-private interface are crucial ingredients of an effective governance structure.     

Signed Central Moments of Integer Random Variables with Decreasing Density

Signed central α-moments of integer valued rv with decreasing density are considered. These are all positive if α≥3/2. We state sharp universal bounds on α depending only on the expectation of the random variable. For special cases the bounds are also evaluated numerically.     

Strategic interventions of management accountants: everyday practice of British and German brewers

A popular stereotype has it that German firms are somehow ‘long-term strategically oriented’ and British firms focus on short-term financial gain. Analysing ethnographic material from British and German brewers, this paper explores how management accountants in the two countries conceive of their relationship with processes of strategic formulation and how they seek to mobilize strategic arguments in their day-to-day contacts with operational management. The focus of this study is not on the strategy debates which one might expect among senior management, but on routine interaction between management accountants and managers in which the mundane events of organizational life are made to happen in the name of loftier ‘strategic’ priorities. From observations of such interaction and management accountants' reflections on them, contrasting ways of integrating management accounting expertise with operational knowledge of the firm are suggested for the British and German brewers studied. Those contrasts are developed by drawing on the relationship between time and the possibility for strategic intervention more generally.     

Overcoming the subjective–objective divide in interpretive management accounting research

Methodological debates in accounting frequently emphasise the distinction between objective and subjective research. A growing body of interpretive management accounting studies, often based on fieldwork, is continuing to develop approaches that seek to overcome that distinction by exploring the various ways in which accounting can become part of the contexts in which it operates.     

Heterogeneous expectations in the foreign exchange market

In this study a regime-switching approach is applied to estimate the chartist and fundamentalist (c&f) exchange rate model originally proposed by Frankel and Froot (1986). The c&f model is tested against alternative regime-switching specifications applying likelihood ratio tests. Nested atheoretical models like the popular segmented trends model suggested by Engel and Hamilton (1990) are rejected in favour of the multi-agent model. Our findings turned out to be relatively robust when assessing the models sub-sample estimates and out-of-sample performance.JEL Classification: F31, F37, G12, G15 Correspondence to: S. Reitz