A structuration theory perspective on the interplay between strategy and accounting: unpacking social continuity and transformation

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Anthony Giddens is generally considered one of the most prominent sociologists of modern time. In this paper, we draw upon a micro-process case study to explore how his theory of structuration (ST) can be used to analyze the interplay between strategy and accounting in day-to-day-organizational life. In short, we find that strategizing and accounting should not be viewed as two separate practices, but rather as two aspects of one and the same practice, which form and feed each other in a recursive manner over time. Based on these findings, we also elaborate on how ST may be usefully applied to understand continuity and transformation of strategizing practices more generally. An overall conclusion is that ST not only provides a strong and consistent ontological framework for theorizing about these practices, but also offers a rich conceptual toolbox which can be usefully applied to better understand how and why structural continuity and change may coexist and intermingle in the durée of daily organizational life.We thank the participants of the Workshop “24 hours on strategy”, Newcastle, 15-16 September 2014, for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. We also gratefully acknowledge the valuable comments received from the two anonymous reviewers and the guest editors. Financial support for this project was provided by Örebro University and the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundatio