Research Methods used in this Research

In this research, two kinds of data are collected: primary and secondary. The primary data is collected by interviewing ADEC and ADP organisation employees in order to analyse the benefits, difficulties and core factors. The secondary data is obtained from internal and external documents including resources such as training sessions, objectives and progress plans (Tarý, 2006).

4.7.3.1 Interviews in this Research

The interview method has been chosen for its suitability for gathering information at different levels (Yin, 2003) which helps the researcher in addressing the lack of information and also in clarifying the situation within the ADP organisation at the macro level, as explained in the theoretical framework adopted for this research. According to Saunders et al. (2003), semi-structured interviews are often used in qualitative research. Therefore, this type of interview is considered most suitable in the present case to explore the behaviour of ADEC and ADP organisation employees. The interviewer has the freedom to choose between using the questions listed or other questions to clarify the data. Furthermore, it allows the researcher to seek other data which is not mentioned in the questions (Saunders et al., 2003).

Twenty interviewees were interviewed. They were the associate members of different levels and also belong to various groups within the organisation. Two of them were executive level members from ADEC, two were leaders of two entities that are supervised by ADEC. Also, five were mid-level officers and eleven were subordinate level members within ADP. The first group of executive level members have an important effect on the organisation. They make decisions, guide and lead the organisation, and plan and affect the change process. The mid-level members directly supervise the lower ranking staff and have considerable information regarding their feelings and employee behaviour.

The last group comprises subordinate level members or staff. The interviews were based on exploring their attitudes and manners within the context of management. The duration of interviews was approximately two hours. To sum up, the interviews explored the circumstances of the implementation of MACh in the ADP organisation. Most of the interviewees belonged to different departments and sections, including finance, strategic, human resources, audit and recruitment.

4.7.3.2 Other Sources of Data

The previous section discussed the main research method (i.e. interview). However, there are other sources of data that were used to collect data during the research for the purpose of enhancing the quality of the data and extend it to past actions and events within the organisation. There are two such sources of data: observation and documentation, the latter comprising internal and external documents which had been selected. The internal sources include documents on the organisation’s strategy, its structure, key performance indicators, the organisation’s website, intranet, annual reports, emails, organisation policy, minutes of meetings, posters, training programmes and performance reports (Scapens, 1990).

In the ADP organisation case study, the official website was reviewed in order to explore the type of information related to the research objectives. The ADP organisation also has an intranet network that facilitated the researcher in finding relevant information during the entire research process. Moreover, it contains some examples of employee’s thoughts and ideas regarding various issues, especially related to the improvement that the ADP organisation is looking for. Annual reports were collected

and reviewed in order to analyse the progress in implementing the new accounting system. Some emails relating to the change process and MACh implementation were also reviewed. Samples of minutes of meetings were collected from a number of departments, especially those dealing with the strategy formulation. The ADP organisation displays its values and strategy at its HQ and in its departments. The Human Resource Department offered training programmes from 2007 to 2010 to analyse and clarify the roles of the employees in dealing with the change process required by ADEC. Finally, performance reports were gathered and analysed in depth. The external sources include documents written by external parties that contain information about the organisation; for example, in newspapers, general magazines, specialist journals, auditors’ reports and public documents. In this research, archival reports from newspapers, magazines, and journals were gathered and reviewed. Auditors’ reports also formed part of the review process. The final source of data was observation, carried out during field work. The interactions of the ADP organisation’s employees in some sections were observed in relation to the change process (Yin, 1994; Collier, 2001).

4.7.3.3 Case Studies in this Research

The research aims to explain why the Abu Dhabi local government was subject to an organisational change programme and to understand how management accounting responded to it. These aims require the explanation of a number of issues. First, the research interpretive perspective was investigated, as discussed in section 4.5.3. In addition, the suitability of the interpretive research in the public sector allows the researcher to contribute to knowledge in alternative management accounting research as a result of the real nature of this perspective. It is linked to social contexts, rather than technical aspects of accounting tools (Covaleski et al., 1996; Baxter and Chua, 2003). Moreover, the interpretive perspective influences the ontological and epistemological assumptions. This arises by implementing the theoretical framework, employing the case study approach and making logical assumptions. Thus, institution theory is an appropriate framework which enhances the interpretive perspective in accounting research. This leads to an exploration of subjective social reality as a description of the meaning of action and facts in the social world and of the meaning that could be given

to human action. It is argued that accounting data and information are to be considered objective facts; however, these actions are based on such information. For example, decision-making is essentially believed to be subjective (Hopper and Powell, 1985; Covaleski et al., 1996; Baxter and Chua, 2003). This discussion supports the choice of case study as one type of qualitative methodology for this research. This research therefore adopts the case study approach to an examination of management accounting change in the public sector, taking the Abu Dhabi local government and more specifically the ADP organisation, which it examines as the case study.

4.7.3.4 Overview of the Case Study

This section presents brief background information about the organisation studied in this research. More detailed information is provided in Chapter 5. In order to clarify the position of the ADP organisation in relation to government levels, information about UAE regimes and ministries is given.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federal state with seven constituent emirates i.e. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras Al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The UAE is based on two-tier government regime such as local and federate. The federate regime provides services to all the emirates through its Ministry of Interior. On the other hand, each emirate has its own government which provides services locally. Since the establishment of the UAE in 1971, it has assigned and authorised its ministries, authorities, and local government for the provision of services to inhabitants and expatriates. Today, the country has grown extensively due to many reasons such as oil exploration, infrastructure developments etc. Accordingly, the government of the UAE has realised that it is essential for the country to reform the structure and core systems within the public sector in order to ensure the provision of quality services (Ministry of Information & Culture, 2005).

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE and in 2007, its local government realised that the emirate needs to change its national strategy to get hold over entire activities in public sector organisation in order to improve their performance. The Chairman of the Executive Council was the responsible authority for improving the performance of public entities. He settled a vision of making Abu Dhabi a chief player in business and international tourism (Abu Dhabi Local Government Agenda, 2007).

Although the Federal Ministry of the Interior supervises all local police services in the UAE, the ADP organisation is supervised and controlled locally by the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi. Therefore, the ADP organisation has a significant role in implementing the national plan of the ADEC, which requires it to achieve certain key performance indicators (KPIs) (Abu Dhabi Local Government Agenda, 2007). The concept of the KPI is new to ADEC, so the implementation of a new accounting system was postponed until 2009 to allow time to address any resistance or dissatisfaction which might arise as a result of organisational change (Local Government Agenda, 2007). In addition, Chapter 5 provides detailed information regarding the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi Emirate and the Abu Dhabi police.