ANALYSIS OF FACTORS THAT FAVOR INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF VALUE BASED MANAGEMENT (VBM) IN LIGHT OF THEORETICAL ARGUMENTS OF VERTENT NEW INSTITUTIONAL SOCIOLOGY (NIS )

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that a gap exists between theory and practices in Managerial Accounting. However, research indicates that Value Based Management – VBM, by means of residual income, its most representative component, has become one of the practices most used by corporate managers over the last few years. This paper uses Institutional Theory, with a focus on New Institutional Sociology (NIS), which has been used by researchers to explain the stability and processes of change of managerial accounting practices. The choice of NIS is largely motivated by the focus this approach gives to isomorphism. The main purpose of this article is to identify the contributions of Institutional Theory to explanations of VBM institutionalization, with a focus on the NIS. The results, reflections from a critical analysis that compared events with the theories of NIS, concluded that the institutionalization of VBM is strongly sustained in the cognitive-cultural pillar, by use of the mimetic mechanism. Another causal factor was managers’ need to legitimate their actions to stockholders, which was materialized through the adoption of the VBM. They also recognized the institutionalizing role played by consulting companies and the specialty media.