Institutional contradictions and change of organisations and accounting: Case evidence from Greenland

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how contradictions between institutional pressures shape accounting and organisational change within Air Greenland.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies document analysis and retrospective interviews to trace accounting and organisational change spanning 50 years and analyses developments on multiple levels: societal, governance and micro levels.

Findings

The paper illustrates the didactical development of the organisation and management accounting. The contradictory impetus from the institutional level generates a space where actors are able to affect development and change management accounting systems. Actors at the company level further acted on the institutional level to affect change in governance and institutions.

Research limitations/implications

The case differs from case studies in emerging countries owing to the low number of inhabitants in Greenland, its income per capita and the legislative influence asserted by Denmark, the former colonial power, restricting the generalizability of findings.

Originality/value

The paper extends extant research on development of organisations and management accounting change in developing countries through a longitudinal study of how contradictory demands from the governance and legislative levels affect accounting and organisational change. Moreover, the paper is the first case study to address management accounting practices in Greenland.

Citation

Thrane, S. and Balslev, L. (2017), "Institutional contradictions and change of organisations and accounting: Case evidence from Greenland", Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 310-330. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAOC-02-2016-0009