Innovativeness and accounting practices: an empirical investigation

Purpose Innovation, the outcome of innovativeness, is a collaborative activity, requiring an integrated approach to the development and management of organisational capabilities (Tushman and Nadler, 1986), and therefore inextricably implicated in the accounting practices of organisations. Extant research however is not conclusive as to the influence of accounting practices on organisational innovativeness with some considering them enabling while others view them as restricting. This study aims to investigate the process of innovation as suggestive of a greater understanding of innovativeness as a dynamic organisational capability and therefore requiring greater consideration of the enabling conditions underpinning this. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study approach, and from the perspectives of three separate functionally specific organisational actors, this paper investigates the role of accounting practices in managing innovativeness within one high-technology organisation. Structuration theory is used as a lens through which the data collected are analysed. Findings Creative tensions (Simons, 2000) at the operational level between innovativeness and performance measurement are managed through the development of creative boundaries (guide rails), within which innovative solutions must be developed. Practical implications The findings support the assertion that the use of performance metrics (i.e. accounting practices) can support organisational innovativeness thereby potentially contributing to enhanced organisational performance. Originality/value Accounting metrics are simultaneously enabling and constraining, whereby the tension created from this dual functionality generates ways of empowering organisational capabilities for innovativeness throughout the organisation.