STRUCTURATION ANALYSIS ON A LONGITUDINAL CASE STUDY OF ACCOUNTING CHANGE EFFORT DURING TRANSFORMATION PROCESS

Abstract

Effort to transform public sector, especially statutory bodies, has been more evident since 1980s, with the dominance of privatization policy and 'managerialism' concept. The results of these efforts, as at today, are equivocal. Indeed, organizational change process Is a complex phenomenon and difficult to manage. Accounting system, as part of the overall social systems is expected to play important roles in such efforts. It is especially critical since the ability of accounting, as a business language, to facilitate the adoption commercial ethos, through the calculative and constitutive power it posses. This paper investigates the role of accounting in such phenomena, by using structuration analysis in a case study. This paper suggests that the effort to transform public sector, a statutory body in this case, is not an easy and straight forward process. The utilization of accounting process as part of the organizational systems must be carefully planned and executed, whereby its interconnectedness with the overall organizational structure and system must be considered.