2006沈宇峰Inter-organisational-cost-management-Towards-an-evolutionary-perspective.pdf

Management Accounting Research 17 (2006) 342–369 Inter-organisational cost management: Towards an evolutionary perspective Alan F. Coad a,∗, John Cullenb a The Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom b Management School, University of Sheffield, 9 Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 4DT, United Kingdom Abstract This paper investigates how evolutionary theories might further our understanding of inter-organisational cost management. Core concepts of institutionalisation, capabilities, and learning and change are explored in the con- text of a longitudinal case study. Through the case, we describe the introduction of heuristics as a basis for cost management. Our evolutionary perspective interprets the heuristics as search routines leading to unpredictable mod- ifications to activities, costs and organisational boundaries. Initial analysis indicates that the learning and change evident in these modifications is facilitated by previously instituted capabilities and relatively high levels of trust in inter-organisational relationships. The paper makes three main contributions. First it highlights the blurring of the boundaries between intra- and inter-organisational phenomena. The processes of institutionalisation, capabilities in resource utilisation, and learning and change appear to spill over from the organisational domain to the inter-organisational domain and vice versa. Second, the temporal dimension of evolutionary theories distances us from the apparently instantaneous cost minimising boundary decisions of other theoretical perspectives. Nevertheless, we caution against an overly deterministic view of path dependence. Third, further reflection on the empirical evidence leads to the suggestion that existing routines may blind