Abstract

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Theoretical Background

۳٫ Methodology

۴٫ Results

۵٫ Some Reflections for Further Research and Concluding Remarks

References

Abstract

     The new public management reforms have led to significant changes in higher education institutions (HEIs) regarding the management accounting and control (MAC) of these organizations. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of the main studies on MAC in these types of organizations through a systematic literature review (SLR). The PRISMA guidelines were followed, and data were collected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The final sample encompassed 50 articles, published between 1981 and 2020. The results show that MAC research tends to focus on management control systems and performance evaluation systems. They also suggest that, although the development and implementation of various MAC tools are crucial for HEIs, such implementation often is partial. This is due to the stakeholders’ perceptions/attitudes regarding the importance of such tools. The results also indicate that institutional theory is the most addressed one. Most of the time, HEIs implement MAC tools due to external pressures. By synthesizing the main trends in MAC, this SLR intends to provide a theoretical contribution to the literature in this research field. Several themes for further research are suggested, such as assessing the relationship between MAC and the management of “knowledge” and intellectual capital in these institutions, and addressing sustainability issues. From a practical viewpoint, HEI managers can obtain important insights to apply the most appropriate tools to their institutions.

Introduction

     In past decades, accounting ceased to have as its sole purpose the mere registration of financial transactions, becoming a strong tool to, among other things, evaluate organizations’ performance and to maximize their profitability. Management accounting (MA) emerged as a means of responding to the shortcomings of financial accounting, which focuses essentially on controlling and recording relations with third parties, variations in equity and determining the net result in a global context (Hardan and Shatnawi 2013). In the 1980s, Johnson and Kaplan (1987) noted the need for organizations to have a system that could provide information on strategic variables deemed relevant to create value. For example, the Activity-Based Costing (ABC) system, developed by Johnson and Kaplan (1987), emerged as a response to the limitations inherent in the existing systems, which were known for not being timely and rigorous. As for management control, several studies have focused on addressing the deviations between the objectives initially planned and the ones achieved. Once the deviations have been estimated, corrections must be made.

     In fact, the word “management” refers to an effective manner of using material, human, financial, information and technological resources, which are implemented to address the objectives defined in advance (El Filali and Hassainate 2018). To achieve the desired efficiency and effectiveness, management control systems (MCS) are fundamental. These systems are useful in supporting decision making, such as on changing or maintaining certain organizational activities (Guenther and Schmidt 2015).

Results

     This section is devoted to the qualitative analysis of selected articles, highlighting their contents and bibliometric features.

     ۴٫۱٫ Main Topics Addressed in Studies on Management Accounting and Control in HEIs

     HEIs pertain to a sector that has been experiencing considerable changes through the reforms of the new public management (NPM). In fact, during the assessment of the sample, a category emerged, encompassing several articles focused on “NPM reforms and changes in HEIs”, through management control systems (MCS) or performance evaluation systems (see Sizer 1981; Petrides et al. 2004; Chung et al. 2009; Boitier and Rivière 2013, 2016; Martin-Sardesai 2016; Visser 2016; Martin-Sardesai et al. 2019; Kallio et al. 2020).

     With regard to NPM reforms, Kallio et al.’s (2020) study aimed to understand how public sector reforms have affected the organizing of HEIs in Finland, the performance evaluation criteria and ultimately their raison d’être. On the other hand, Boitier and Rivière (2016) studied how MCS can be drivers of a new management logic in a French university, considering a context where strong institutional logic prevails. Regarding changes in HEIs, Martin-Sardesai (2016) conducted a study that aimed to explore how MCS complement institutional entrepreneurship. Similarly, Agyemang and Broadbent (2015) examined how HEIs in the UK developed MCS in response to external impositions.