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The purpose of this paper is to adopt “whole network” perspective and analyzes the governance and control mechanisms in the Universal Postal Union (UPU), one of the oldest and largest inter-governmental networks, through the lens of institutional entrepreneurship theory. The purpose is to introduce a typology of network governance forms to the accounting literature and to analyze the governance and management control mechanisms within the UPU, a “participatory federation” (Provan, 1983) type of network that has managed the challenges of collective collaboration since 1875.

The study benefits from unlimited access to all archival materials of the UPU such as minutes of Congress and committee meetings since 1875 as well as secondary documents and market studies related to the postal sector. The data reported in this study are derived from the archives of the UPU in Berne, Switzerland and interviews conducted with senior officials.

Drawing on the work of Provan (1983) and Provan and Kenis (2008) the authors identify five “ideal type” network governance forms based on such variables as differences in the relative power of network participants and whether these networks have arisen spontaneously or due to external coercion, the authors classify the UPU as a “participatory federation.” Within the theoretical boundaries of this typology the authors identify the multi level governance structures and the use of management control mechanisms by each level of governance. The authors introduce a distinction between the “network constitutional organization” that focusses on the socialization of network members and strategy-level orchestration of the overall network and the “network administrative organization” (NAO) that mobilizes management accounting and control mechanisms to monitor, encourage and facilitate member collaboration. The authors propose that control within a participatory federation is enacted through collective entrepreneurship by governance bodies using management accounting and control mechanisms as institutional carriers.

The paper is focussed on the current state of the UPU’s network structure and processes and did not explore the dynamics around the emergence of the different network governance and control mechanisms. An exploration of the collective construction by network participants of the need for these mechanisms would provide insights into how they emerge and might lead to a better understanding of the role of NAOs in networks.

The paper highlights the challenges faced by collaborative networks and identifies enabling characteristics of a participatory federation’s governance bodies. The empirical observations within the context of the UPU contribute to the theoretical understanding of the desirable characteristics of participatory federations that might be applicable to similar public and private collaborative networks

This study expands the knowledge of management accounting and control systems in networks. It bridges a gap in the accounting literature by adopting a “whole network” perspective and by differentiating types of network governance structures that use management accounting and control systems. This contributes to the understanding of accounting and control across the full range of organizational forms.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how an Higher Education Institution’s (HEI) choice of undergoing a voluntary reorganisation, motivated by its own interest of increasing its autonomy, whilst also having to satisfy the government in order to maintain the level of public funding, impacts on the HEI’s accounting.

The paper draws on the institutional logics perspective to present a single case study of a German HEI that chose to be reorganised from a public into a foundation university. Data were obtained using multiple data collection methods.

The findings suggest that organisational characteristics, which act as filters for institutional logics, play an important role for HEIs’ ability to increase not only their de jure, but also their de facto autonomy through self-motivated, rather than government imposed, reform processes.

The paper is based on a single case study in a country-specific context, limiting the empirical generalisability of the findings.

Germany is not only one of the main nations exporting higher education, but its economy has also been recognised for its stability and development over the last decades. Nevertheless, Germany struggles in its transition to become a knowledge-based economy. Yet, research has so far tended to neglect educational reforms in Continental European countries, such as Germany. By addressing this gap in the literature, this paper is among the first to explore how reform processes shape accounting in German HEIs.

This paper highlights how technical devices last in organizations. Instead of focusing on the usual implementation or short-term post-implementation phases, this study aims to explore what happens to established technical devices.

The authors build on a 10-year in-depth longitudinal case study examining a CRM package, a type of Enterprise Resource Planning system specialized in customer relationship management, in a door-drop advertising company. This case is based mainly on 35 interviews and four weeks of non-participant observation, made over three different periods.

Drawing on the literature on drift and maintenance, this study investigates two tensions foregrounding lasting: one regarding the degree of human intervention on the technical device (object being maintained vs object maintaining itself) and one regarding the relationship to the initial expectations towards the technical device (relinquishment of certain hopes vs regeneration of interests). This case combines these tensions and allows to highlight four alterations in the CRM system to show how apparently stable devices keep on changing.

In a time of resource exhaustion, it is important to reflect upon our relationships to information technology and their modalities of lasting. By stressing that uses emerge from relinquishment and reduction, the authors wish to help organizations move towards more sustainable engagement with their technical devices in the long run.

Lasting is not just a matter of being maintained in a context of threat but also builds upon the capacities of a technical device to maintain itself. The self-alteration dynamics that the authors come up with, shedding and ramification, offer a dedramatized interpretation of maintenance that complements studies on institutional maintenance. The results also contribute to studies on technological drift. The authors stress that drifts are triggered by ties that run out, in particular, discontinuation of maintenance in the system. The durability of technical devices in organizations thus does not consist in always more uses or functionalities, but is also made of reductions and relinquishment.