A Field Study on the Acceptance and Use of a New Accounting System

Abstract:     
This study examines the attitudes, use, and acceptance of a new accounting system in a pharmaceutical corporation that switched from an Activity Based Costing System to the Theory of Constraints System (TOC). Using structuration theory as a framework, we posit that user responses and attitudes towards TOC are influenced not only by the technical features of the system and the potential economic benefits, but also by the fit between TOC and the existing structures of the users’ environment. When users’ interact with TOC on an ongoing basis they form interpretations of the new system and based on such interpretations, they exhibit actions with respect to the use of TOC ranging from championship to rejection of the system. We explore cross sectional variations in the use of the system and link such variations to the practical features of the new system as well as the social structures of the users’ environments.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 45

working papers series