Mariannunziata Liguori

Bio: Mariannunziata Liguori is an academic researcher from Queen's University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Public sector & New public management. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 42 publications receiving 707 citations. Previous affiliations of Mariannunziata Liguori include Queen's University Belfast.

Some like it non-financial … Politicians’ and managers’ views on the importance of performance information

Abstract: Over the last decades the process of modernization in the public sector has fostered the adoption of new accounting techniques, such as accrual accounting and non-financial performance measurement systems. The purpose of this paper is to test hypotheses on the different perceptions of politicians and managers as to the importance of performance information. Our findings suggest that politicians’ and managers’ views on the importance of performance information are more similar than expected. They also show that accounting innovations are in some cases embraced with enthusiasm (non-financial performance), whereas in other cases they are hardly recognized (e.g. accrual accounting).

Accounting change: explaining the outcomes, interpreting the process

Abstract: Purpose – The issue of accounting change, why and how accounting evolves through time and within specific organisational settings, has been addressed by an important body of literature. This paper aims to explain why, in processes of accounting change, organisations confronting similar environmental pressures show different outcomes of change.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on archetype theory, the paper analyses the case of two Italian local governments. Comparative case studies were carried out, reconstructing a period of 15 years.Findings – Although confronted with similar environmental pressures, the two cases show two different patterns of accounting change, where only one case is able to finally reach radical change. Accounting change can be prompted by external stimuli, but, once the change is prompted, the outcomes of the change are explained by the dynamics of intra‐organisational conditions.Originality/value – The study contributes to accounting change literature by adopting an approach (i...

Public Sector Reforms: Changing Contours on an NPM Landscape

Abstract: Previous studies suggest that public sector accounting has moved from Public Administration (PA) to New Public Management (NPM) ideas and, more recently, towards a New Public Governance (NPG) approach. These systems are presented as mutually exclusive and competing. Focusing on accounting changes in the UK central government, this paper explores whether movements towards NPG ideas can be identified at the level of political debate. No evidence is found that NPM is a transitory state. Rather, the findings demonstrate that political debate continues to utilise predominantly NPM arguments, with the three systems viewed as containing complementary, rather than competing, schemes.

The Supremacy of the Sequence: Key Elements and Dimensions in the Process of Change

Abstract: How single organizations manage the process of change and why only some of them are able to actually reach radical change are central questions in today’s theoretical debate. The role played by the process of change and its dimensions (namely, pace, sequence and linearity), however, has been poorly investigated. Drawing on archetype theory, this paper explores: (i) whether a specific pace of radical change exists; (ii) whether different outcomes of change are characterized by different sequences of change in key-structures and systems (iii) how the three dimensions of the process of change possibly interact. As an example of organizational change the study takes into consideration processes of accounting change in three departments of two Canadian and two Italian municipalities. The results suggest the supremacy of the sequence of implemented changes over the other two dimensions of the process in order to achieve a radical outcome of change.

Experts, networks and inscriptions in the fabrication of accounting images: A story of the

Abstract: Abstract This ethnography of three Australian hospitals seeks to understand how and why new accounting systems are “experimented” with in organizations. Latour's sociology of translation is adapted to argue that accounting change emerged not because there was certain knowledge of positive economic outcomes but because an uncertain faith, fostered by expert-generated inscriptions and rhetorical strategies, was able to tie together shifting interests in an actor network. The paper also highlights how accounting may ironically be both real and a simulation.