What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

https://oem.bmj.com/content/oemed/26/3/249.2.full.pdf

Questionnaire Design and Attitude Measurement

Buried in the pedantic pages of this book is a pointed challenge to medicine. Simply stated, Freidson's view is that the medical profession has become too autonomous and too powerful for the good of society, and that it must therefore be regulated. Like the prominent medical sociologist he is, the author develops his argument through an exhaustive theoretical analysis. He begins with the formal organization of the profession and proceeds to the ways in which the performance of its work is organized and regulated. He denies that the knowledge required for clinical practice is so esoteric that it cannot be questioned by lay persons. The "clinical mentality" he finds to be characterized by action orientation and pragmatism. Physicians, he concedes, do have a service orientation as well, but he believes it to be not prominent and not a sufficient basis for claims to professional autonomy. Physicians expect to be allowed

Profession of Medicine: A Study of the Sociology of Applied Knowledge

Public Management Reform

Professional Dominance: The Social Structure of Medical Care

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the antecedent factor, top management's commitment to environmental sustainability, for the adoption of a sophisticated internal environmental information system; measured by the broad‐scope, timeliness, aggregation and integration of such information. The paper also seeks to examine whether the availability of such a system would lead to improved environmental performance.Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigates responses from a survey of Chief Financial Officers or chief management accountants in the top 200 listed companies in Australia. It uses linear regression analysis based on a multiple‐mediator model with percentile‐based bootstrap, bias‐corrected (BC) and bias‐corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap confidence intervals to identify significant mediators.Findings – It was found in this study that top management commitment to environmental sustainability was associated with the adoption of a sophisticated internal environmental information system....

The mediating effects of the adoption of an environmental information system on top management's commitment and environmental performance

Purpose



– The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of professional accountants from three countries from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in order to evaluate their perceived benefits associated with the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in their respective nations as well as the implications of these standards for the accounting and auditing professions in their country of practice. It also explores the extent to which the adoption of IAS/IFRS accounting standards have been supported by the state, media and local professional accounting bodies. 




Design/methodology/approach



– The study uses survey approach to seek perceptions of professional accountants in these three countries with a view to understanding their perceptions regarding the socio-economic issues related to the adoption of the IFRS and role of social institutions. The study also uses appropriate statistical tests for interpretation of the data. 




Findings



– The analysis of the data shows that accounting professionals in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia strongly supported IFRS adoption; their opinions did not differ significantly by place of training, experience or professional qualifications. Respondents agreed that their countries benefited economically from harmonisation with global accounting standards. The surveyed accountants believed that pressure from international agencies was instrumental in the adoption of IFRS in the region. The findings also show that governments, the media and professional accounting bodies have supported the adoption, communication and application of IFRS. 




Originality/value



– This is the first study examining the role of social and professional institutions in the adoption of the IFRS and one which also provides an inter-country comparison of accountant’s perspectives on adoption of the IFRS among three ASEAN countries.

IFRS adoption in ASEAN countries: Perceptions of professional accountants from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the field of accounting as a nexus between the rise of industrial societies, strategies of elites to preserve and reproduce privilege, practices of state control and the external forces of colonisation and globalisation. The authors explore this field in the context of Cambodia which embodies a particularly diverse range of internal and external influences. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research approach is employed. The research methods were an analysis of secondary sources and interviews with key officials former Head of State and academics. An effort was made to interview Khmer Rouge survivors about the nature of the accounting practices, class and state control. Findings – During the pre-colonial and the period of French colonial influence, there was relatively accounting practice or distinctive professional bodies. Under the Khmer Rouge there was both a clear rejection of individuals with accounting skills while there were some attempts ...

The field of accounting: Exploring the presence and absence of accounting in Cambodia

This paper extends the existing literature on accounting and colonialism. The question addressed in this paper is what would happen if the historical and political processes were disrupted to the extent that the development of an accounting practice and profession linked to colonial powers was no longer inevitable. Given the French colonial history it is reasonable to expect that Cambodia would develop a Continental European model of accounting profession influenced by the French. However, in this case there was little evidence of the emergence of a recognisable accounting profession under the French. The Khmer Rouge (KR) interrupted the ‘normal’ patterns of post-colonial social and professional development. This paper discusses that there was little capacity for accounting to exercise a particular elite role within the post-colonial and Marxist Cambodia as greater part of the Cambodian educated and middle class were killed. Cambodia offers an interesting example of an evolutionary extinction event in the accounting profession which is radically different to the literature on the accounting profession in both developed and developing countries.

Revolution and the accountant: The practice and profession of accounting in Cambodia

This article analyzes how new public financial management system should address the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector and the emerging accrual basis accounting with e-governance for greater e-transparency on public-sector accounting in Sri Lanka. Despite the setting up of e-framework in 1983, the Sri Lankan public-sector accountancy environment during the last two decades raises concerns about efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the e-framework. The findings provide evidence of the importance of the economy and efficiency in the usage of public funds to provide more convenient access to government accounting information for citizens in Sri Lanka.

Prem Yapa

Papers

The mediating effects of the adoption of an environmental information system on top management's commitment and environmental performance

IFRS adoption in ASEAN countries: Perceptions of professional accountants from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia

The field of accounting: Exploring the presence and absence of accounting in Cambodia

Revolution and the accountant: The practice and profession of accounting in Cambodia

Public-Sector Accounting and E-Governance in Developing Countries: Case of Sri Lanka