Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how a state-owned Colombian multi-utility conglomerate (CMC) has used management accounting practices (MAPs) to shape efficiency. The authors bring out the interplay between structures and agency in the process of shaping efficiency, which has enabled the company to operate as a private enterprise, taking advantage of NPM-led reforms and management accounting technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an interpretative case study of a CMC. Data for the study are derived from interviews, non-participative observations and document analysis. Giddens' structuration theory (ST) provides the theoretical approach for the study.

Findings

Results show that MAPs have shaped efficiency in a CMC, promoting the profitability criteria prevailing in private enterprises. Theoretically, the paper shows how structure and agency are embedded in shaping efficiency in an emerging economy context through MAPs. It does this by analysing both the broader influence of the School of Mines and multilateral development banks and the micro-situated practices of employees at the CMC. The employees who have worked in the company for long periods of time have transformed the profitability criteria into a corporate value that influences their day-to-day practices.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the literature that draws on the ST by illustrating a paradigmatic case, in which agents have brought in knowledge and values to a state-owned company, and changed its ethos and practices whilst remaining under state control.

中文翻译：

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哥伦比亚一家多功能企业集团的管理会计实践和效率

目的

本文的目的是研究国有的哥伦比亚综合企业集团 (CMC) 如何使用管理会计实践 (MAP) 来提高效率。作者提出了在塑造效率的过程中结构和代理之间的相互作用，这使得该公司能够利用 NPM 主导的改革和管理会计技术作为私营企业运营。

设计/方法/方法

这是一个 CMC 的解释性案例研究。研究数据来自访谈、非参与式观察和文件分析。吉登斯的结构化理论 (ST) 为研究提供了理论方法。

发现

结果表明，MAPs 塑造了 CMC 的效率，促进了私营企业普遍的盈利标准。从理论上讲，本文展示了结构和代理如何通过 MAPs 在新兴经济环境中塑造效率。它通过分析矿业学院和多边开发银行的更广泛影响以及 CMC 员工的微观实践来做到这一点。长期在公司工作的员工将盈利标准转化为影响他们日常实践的企业价值观。

原创性/价值

该论文通过举例说明了一个典型案例来补充借鉴 ST 的文献，在该案例中，代理人为一家国有公司带来了知识和价值观，并在保持国家控制的同时改变了其精神和做法。