This study, covering 65 French manufacturing companies, replicates Sulaiman and Mitchell's study [Sulaiman, S., Mitchell, F., 2005. Utilising a typology of management accounting change: an empirical analysis. Management Accounting Research 16, 422–437]. Apart from the similarities, some differences due to cultural and macroeconomic factors are noted. The findings advance understanding of how national cultures and the macroeconomic context influence the nature and location of change in management accounting and control systems (MACS). In addition, this study refines S & M's typology by separating output modifications into two dimensions, information representation changes and information frequency changes. This extension enhances examination of the heterogeneous nature of change in MACS. Finally, this study seeks to examine the factors (top management support, levels of complexity/simplification and degree of resistance to change) contributing to the success of the changes made.
Since advocacy by Hopwood (1983) in Europe and Kaplan (1983) in the USA, the study of change in management accounting control systems (MACS) has become an increasingly popular research topic. Using a range of methods, researchers have examined the motivations, constraints and consequences of change in management accounting (MA) (e.g. Innes and Mitchell, 1990, Scapens and Roberts, 1993, Ezzamel, 1994, Malmi, 1997, Vaivio, 1999, Burns and Scapens, 2000, Granlund, 2001 and Lukka, 2007). Yet researchers largely neglected identification of the volume and location of MA change until Libby and Waterhouse (1996). Moreover, the nature of change has frequently been taken for granted by researchers (Quattrone and Hopper, 2001). Sulaiman and Mitchell (2005) were the first to develop a typology of change in MA (addition, replacement, output modification, operational modification and reduction) in order to study both its nature and location. The results of their research in Malaysian companies show that various types of change are represented in all MA sub-systems, with the exception of MA reduction, which was not observed in any of the companies surveyed.
The purpose of this research is to replicate and extend S & M's study in French manufacturing companies. Similar results are evident in the location and nature of change although some differences are apparent, which can be explained by national cultures and macroeconomic factors. Two extensions to S and M are also introduced. First, this study refines S and M's typology by separating output modification into two dimensions, information representation changes and information frequency changes. We find it relevant to separate changes in information frequency, which are required for rapid responses in the face of greater competition (Gordon and Miller, 1976), from changes in the representation of information, which are introduced to improve internal communication (Moores and Yuen, 2001). This extension enhances examination of the heterogeneous nature of change in MA. Second, this study sets out to examine the factors contributing to the success of the changes made. We especially want to assess top management support (Innes and Mitchell, 1991, Shields, 1995, Innes and Mitchell, 1995, Krumwiede, 1998 and Innes et al., 2000), the level of complexity/simplification (Sulaiman and Mitchell, 2005), and the degree of resistance to change (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987, Argyris and Kaplan, 1994 and Shields, 1995).
