The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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JAOC
15,3
430
Received 23 June 2018
Revised 9 December 2018
12 January 2019
Accepted 5 March 2019
Journal of Accounting &
Organizational Change
Vol. 15 No. 3, 2019
pp. 430-452
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1832-5912
DOI 10.1108/JAOC-06-2018-0054
Accounting for strategic
management, strategising and
power structures in the Jordanian
higher education sector
Khaled Hutaibat
Department of Accounting, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a field study, investigating accounting,
strategising and accounting for strategic management and power structures in the Jordanian higher education
(HE) sector on the basis of Bourdieu’s theory of practice.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts an interpretive stance, seeking to investigate the
perceptions of actors in the field, with regard to accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic
management in HE. The adopted methodology is adapted grounded theory, as this study assumes a prior
theoretical stance of Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts. Data were collected through participant observation in
meetings, at the workplace, interviews and documentation.
Findings – The main findings of this paper reflect how strategising and accounting in practice manifest
themselves in the Jordanian HE sector. Bourdieu’s theory of practice sets the meta-theoretical context of the
current study, with field setting the scene, and habitus being represented in the strategising mind-set
participants adopt. The mind-set determines how strategic management accounting is perceived and dealt
with. Strategic management accounting takes place at varying degrees. The power structures that influence
and determine strategising and accounting in support thereof are researched on the basis of Bourdieu’s forms
of capital. Different forms of capital matter in the HE sector determined by fields’ doxa.
Research limitations/implications – The researcher is a part of the field, the Jordanian HE sector;
thus, their habitus has been exposed to its characteristics and features. Thus, certain internalised structures
and experiences needed to be challenged for this analysis, which was not an easy task.
Originality/value – This study investigates accounting, strategic management and power structures in
HE, and it highlights the different power structures, using Bourdieu’s forms of capital, which offers a great
insight into how different cultures approach similar issues.
Keywords Power, Accounting for strategic management, Bourdieu, Habitus,
Jordanian higher education, Strategizing, Strategizing mind-set
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Over the past few decades, countries’ economies have experienced significant developments
and changes (Aula and Tienari, 2011), with the economic crisis 2008/2009 being the most
recent event, from which many economies have not yet fully recovered. Strategic
management and related financial management are rendered even more necessary by these
developments. In higher education (HE), these include greater complexity due to increased
international competition, developments towards mass education, introduction of the notion
of customer with regard to students, tighter financial resources, and the general move
towards more business-like practices (Parker, 2002). In many countries, HE has taken on a
business-like quality (Aula and Tienari, 2011), with public and private universities charging
significant tuition fees to students, and research being as competitive as ever, since often Jordanian
spin-offs, marketable products and consultancy jobs would result from successful outcomes. higher
This article results from a study of accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic
management in Jordanian HE over a five-year time period. This was necessary to get
education
immersed completely in the field, in particular with regard to observation. The Jordanian sector
context highlights a number of perspectives that are also applicable in other sectors. First,
Jordan operates a rigorous austerity programme, which has reflected on HE as much as on
other sectors, in terms of salary structure, operational expenditure and capital investments. 431
Institutions are either public, thus fully accountable to the government, or private, in which
case they can be either non-profit or for-profit, with single or multiple relevant stakeholders.
Furthermore, tuition fees are a common policy in all institutions. Its financial context is
strained because financial means are limited, thus investigating accounting for strategic
management can provide insight into how such financial context is dealt with in practice. In
addition, the Jordanian HE sector is primarily teaching-focussed, because lack of resources
prohibits significant investment in research activities. Yet at the HE international level
competitiveness flourishes, as academic institutions and their human capital, academics
themselves, seek to achieve maximum recognition, and in the process seek to acquire
research funding, tuition fees or industry co-operations (Hutaibat et al., 2011; Parker, 2002).
Jordan is generally a good example for a developing, resource-limited HE sector, which
results in an education-driven and -dominated mission and strategy.
Apart from the regular operational activities of research and teaching, institutional
structures and practices play an important role. Appropriate strategic and financial
management structures can significantly affect a business’s, and similarly a university’s,
performance (Groves et al., 1997; Hutaibat et al., 2011). Long-term strategic investments
allow an institution to be in a stronger and more competitive position in the future, however
a number of questions arise that are addressed in the current study. Do institutions indeed
engage in such management and accounting activities? If so, what practices and methods do
institutions adopt? What decision-making structures exist and who has the power to
determine or at least influence what is considered strategically important? In the context of
lacking research resources, is accounting for strategic management impacted accordingly?
These questions address in particular the association of accounting and strategic
management in HE, which the current study seeks to investigate in the Jordanian context. It
addresses these issues, in a bid to provide a socially and practically relevant, and
theoretically well-informed study (Parker et al., 2011) that provides empirical insight into
how education strategy drives accounting for strategic management and develops guidance
for practical application of strategic management and accounting policies and practices.
Financial funding plays a major role, especially in not-for-profit institutions that are
bound by governmental policies. At the same time, the most effective use of financial
resources can significantly affect an institution’s reputation, its ability to attract high
quality staff and students, and its ability to obtain high profile research projects and related
funding. For the use of financial resources to be effective in the long run, their use should be
related to strategising. Despite recent criticism of its relevance in practice (Langfield-Smith,
2008; Otley, 2008), several recent publications have linked accounting and strategy (Carter
et al., 2011; Jørgensen and Messner, 2010; Ma and Tayles, 2009; Skærbæk and Tryggestad,
2010) and Chua(2007) has called for more publications connecting strategy and accounting
in practice. In this context, power structures play a very important role, as they significantly
affect strategic decisions and accounting for strategic management, but have not been
researched in the HE context. The data from the HE sector offer new insights regarding
strategy and accounting in practice, context of Jordanian HE and application of accounting
JAOC for strategic management in HE, and its reflections of and upon Bourdieu’s theory of
15,3 practice as the theoretical starting point. Bourdieu’s theory of practice (Bourdieu, 1990) leads
the investigation, with habitus being the dominant feature determining perceptions and
usability of strategising and accounting, represented through the strategising mind-set.
Jordanian HE possesses its own unique features, which represent the field that shapes the
strategising mind-set. Bourdieu’s forms of capital determine power structures in the
432 fragmented academic field (Lukka and Granlund, 2002), which affect accounting and
strategic management. While institutions are found to employ accounting practices in
support of strategic management, the strategising mind-set determines perceptions of such
practices and how they are employed by participants.
The strategising mind-set as addressed by Hutaibat et al. (2011) and Broad and Goddard
(2010) is the conceptual element that the current study contributes to investigating, in
relation to strategy and accounting, power structures and the HE context. It seeks to
contribute to how strategy and accounting, intentionally or organically, are connected and
enacted at the organisational level (Chua, 2007) and how power features in this relationship
(Carter et al., 2011; Jørgensen and Messner, 2010;Whittle and Mueller, 2010). The author
seeks to investigate how power structures manifest themselves in the researched HE sector
and how these affect management, decision-making and accounting for strategic
management, which presents the accounting context. The findings, therefore, outline the
different features of the strategising mind-set in the given context and then compares and
contrasts to relevant prior studies (Broad and Goddard, 2010; Hutaibat et al., 2011). The
current study importantly contributes to the body of studies investigating the strategising
mind-set that impacts strategising and accounting, as only few studies engage with the
concept (Broad and Goddard, 2010; Hutaibat et al., 2011).
The next Section, Section 2, outlines the relevant prior literature, then in Section 3 the
research approach and data collection and analysis will be discussed, in Section 4 the research
context and finally in Section 5 the findings are outlined. Lastly, the findings are discussed in
Section 6 in the context of the existing literature and conclusions regarding strategy and
accounting in HE and accounting for strategic management in general are drawn.

2. Prior literature
The prior literature of this study is divided into two parts. First, Bourdieu is addressed as
the current study’s theoretical context. Second, accounting for strategic management in
general, its origins, its various practices and its application, are outlined.

2.1 The theoretical context – Bourdieu’s theory of practice, and notion of academia
Bourdieu’s theory of practice (1977) sets the theoretical context of the current study.
Bourdieu is understood as ‘one of the pioneers of the practice turn in sociology’ (Hurtado,
2010, p. 52). Practice theorists have developed their theories to include action in social
theories, considering how action arises from structures and how structures affect action
(Ahrens and Chapman, 2007). Bourdieu is such practice theorist, suggesting that objective
and subjective cannot exist on their own and cannot explain social phenomena individually
(Ahrens and Chapman, 2007). As this study engages in strategy and accounting in practice,
i.e. something that is actively done rather than just ‘is’ (Chua, 2007), Bourdieu’s theory of
practice is most fitting. For instance, Hurtado (2010) connects the theory of practice with the
strategy-as-practice field, i.e. strategising. Furthermore, this study focusses on power
structures in the public and private HE sectors (fields), using Bourdieu’s (1990) different
forms of capital, and drawing on the fragmented nature of academia (Lukka and Granlund,
2002). The theory of practice consists of several components, which Malsch et al. (2011) refer
to as the “Bourdieuian triad” (p.198). The components include habitus, field and capital. Jordanian
Field represents the objective social structure, whereas habitus stands for the subjective higher
individual (Bourdieu, 1977; Malsch et al., 2011). Capital creates power structures (Malsch
et al., 2011). These combine into what Bourdieu refers to as the “the logic of practice” (Baxter
education
and Chua, 2008a). Practice, or practical knowledge, represents what an individual gathered sector
from the field and has internalised in its habitus (Baxter and Chua, 2008a), which suggests
neither exclusive knowledge arising from objective structures, nor from subjective
phenomena. Habitus reflects an individual’s characteristics, background, origin and 433
experiences (Bourdieu, 1977). Essentially, it is a set of dispositions, which guide an actor to
function within and engage with their field. These dispositions are an internalised reflection
of the field and a person’s experiences. The perfect internalised representation of the field is
referred to as doxa by Bourdieu (1990), which creates a perfect alignment of habitus and
field structures (Baxter and Chua, 2008a). Doxa is related to power, as the concept favours
the most dominant in the field (Bourdieu, 1990). The field is the context in which the
participants are located and the habitus is created. The field represents the external and
societal structures that an actor functions within. Power structures play an important role in
the creation of the field and formal positions (Malsch et al., 2011). Field and habitus have a
reciprocal relationship as they influence, shape and impact on each other. Habitus is a
structuring structure and structured structure, which is created through incalculation of
structures, facilitated for instance through formal education (Malsch et al., 2011). This
bridges the gap between objective (field) and subjective (habitus), and creates a connection
between the two (Baxter and Chua, 2008a). No individual is only a product of their
surroundings, neither completely free from the structures within which they live (Ahrens
and Chapman, 2007; Bourdieu, 1977). The dominant will seek to remain in their position
through determining and adopting the fields’ doxa, to which end individuals utilise four
different forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1977), which separate the powerful and dominant from
the rest (Bourdieu, 1977). Capital and its relation to power also plays an important role in
Bourdieu’s social theory of practice, as Bourdieu (1977) suggests that pattern of practices
emerge in the field through individuals calling upon four different forms of capital to impose
their points of view of a situation (Baxter and Chua, 2008a). The four different forms of
capital are economic, social, cultural and symbolic (Baxter and Chua, 2008a). Economic
capital refers to the financial resources, social capital includes networks and connections an
individual has at their disposal (through family, friends, work, etc.), cultural capital
addresses an individual’s competencies, skills and qualifications, and symbolic capital
suggests legitimacy within a field based on socially determined classifications (Bourdieu,
1990; Jacobs, 2011). Bourdieu considers formal education as a key factor of passing on the
different forms of capital from one generation to another (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1990).
Academia represents one pillar of such formal education. Bourdieu researched the academic
field, and found that there are preconceived notions of how academia should be ranked, who
is the most powerful and influential, and which disciplines carry the greatest recognition
(Bourdieu, 1990). Based on this, he identified the fragmented academic field, in which the
elite dominate the field (Lukka and Granlund, 2002). All forms of capital are employed to
maintain a particular disciplinary order (Bourdieu, 1990). Bourdieu’s logic of practice sets
the theoretical context for the current study. It seeks to investigate the power structures of
the academic field in the Jordanian HE sector, and how these affect the habitus regarding
accounting and strategic management, as this has not been researched in detail previously.
Thus, it is used to investigate the mind-set adopted in Jordanian HE with regard to strategy
and related accounting practices, and which elements impact upon this mind-set. It is also
used to analyse the features that create the strategising mind-set in the current study.
JAOC In this vein, prior studies have investigated such mind-set in different contexts. Broad
15,3 et al. (2007) and Broad and Goddard (2010) primarily focus on performance management in
universities, but in the context refer to strategy, perceptions thereof, and the application of
strategy and accounting, surmised as strategising. Hutaibat et al. (2011) researched strategic
management and accounting in an English HE institution, and found that participants adopt
a particular mind-set, labelled strategising mind-set, which reflects their belief of strategy
434 and accounting in HE. They found that particular practices, such as a strategic planning
process, a long-term budget and associated budgeting process, customer accounting
(students as customers) and strategic investment decision-making and related capital
budgeting reflected strategic management and accounting practice in their case institution.
They also identified a split nature of strategising and accounting, as daily financial and
operational management are as much strategising as is long-term planning and financial
management. Based on the findings of these three prior studies, the conceptual context of
this study is the concept of the strategising mind-set (Hutaibat et al., 2011) and how it
manifests itself in different HE sectorial contexts. Broad and Goddard (2010) define
strategising as the mind-set which reflects participants’ perception of strategy, strategic
management and accounting in their respective institution and/or disciplinary division.
They suggest that there are two extreme positions, albeit on a continuum, where one places
great emphasis on institutional budgeting, whereas the other is more concerned with long-
term strategic management and positioning (Broad and Goddard, 2010). Hutaibat et al.
(2011) identify similar positions. They identify a two-fold split of the mind-set, where
participants are either bureaucrats or entrepreneurs, and accordingly perceive strategy and
accounting. Based on these two prior studies, the extreme positions of the mind-set imply
that in the accounting context on the one end individuals adopt a more outward-facing,
longer-term prospect and seek to finance their long-term strategic aspirations, while on the
other end individuals are more concerned with current, internal financial planning and
resource allocation. Both are relevant in a strategising and accounting context but
depending upon the position of the mind-set adopted a particular institution, faculty or
department is run. Due to the fragmented and diverse nature of HE the respective position
matters in terms of competitiveness, performance and success (Hutaibat et al., 2011).
The current study focusses on strategy and accounting, thus adopts the strategising
mind-set, which reflects perceptions, points of view and impressions that ultimately
influence the application of accounting and strategic management practices in general. In
this context, accounting in support of strategic management concerns itself with long-term
financial management which displays particular characteristics, such as long-term,
environmental or competitive, akin to Cadez and Guilding (2007), Hutaibat et al. (2011), Ma
and Tayles (2009) and Tillmann and Goddard (2008). Furthermore, Bourdieu’s theory of
practice leads into the investigation of power structures within the HE sector and its
institutions and their impact on accounting for strategic management and strategising. The
current study seeks to investigate the elements of the strategising mind-set in the particular
context, on the basis of Bourdieu’s theoretival concepts. Studies investigating the
strategising mind-set behind strategising and accounting are limited to Hutaibat et al. (2011)
and Broad and Goddard (2010), thus to have further insight, prior developments in
strategising and accounting will be addressed in the following section.

2.2 The accounting context – accounting for strategic management, and strategising and
accounting
Accounting in relation to strategy and strategic management has been addressed in a
number of studies over the years, and proponents have focussed on various angles and
elements. It suggests a profit incentive, and incorporates an outward-facing, competitor- Jordanian
concerning and future-planning stance (Ma and Tayles, 2009). The management accountant higher
is no longer supposed to just concern themselves with financial management in the current
year, but should extend their focus beyond that into the future, seeking to integrate financial
education
management and accounting with the organisation’s proposed strategy and strategic sector
management practices (Hopper et al., 2007; Pitcher, 2015). Recently, Roslender and Hart
(2010) suggested the concept of accounting for strategic management to express an equal
relationship between strategy, management and accounting. This is suggested to free 435
accounting from its traditional constraints, a suggestion that is adopted in this study.
Pitcher (2015) focussed on accounting for strategic management practices that were adopted
in practice, and identified that practitioners refer to these activities as “business partnering”.
The three practices that were identified as particularly relevant and applied were
competitor-focussed benchmarking future-oriented investment appraisal and customer-
centric customer profitability analyses. Complex costing, on the other hand, such as value
chain costing, were not applicable, as were complex tools, such as the Balanced Scorecard,
although financial and non-financial key performance indicators were tracked. The agreed
upon objective of such practices is the long-term creation of value and development and
sustainability of the organisational competitive advantage.
Different approaches are part of accounting for strategic management, but all adopt a
future-orientated approach with a focus on different details (Roslender, 1995; Lord, 1996).
These include a competitor focus (Bromwich, 1990; Lord, 1996; Simmonds, 1981), customer
orientation (Guilding and McManus, 2002), competitive advantage creation (Porter, 1985),
strategic long-term investment appraisal, strategic cost management (Shank, 1989, 2007), a
combination of accounting with other disciplines, like marketing (Roslender and Hart, 2003),
activity-based costing and activity-based management, and in general consideration of the
accountant’s involvement in strategic management (Langfield-Smith, 2008; Tillmann and
Goddard, 2008). Guilding et al. (2000) and Cadez and Guilding (2007) classify accounting
practices as traditional or strategic-related, on the basis of their environmental, marketing,
competitive or outward-looking, long-term orientation. Whittle and Mueller (2010) identify
the management control system as the obligatory strategic accounting tool in their case
study, in which they sought to determine how ideas are being considered strategic. Having
the “right numbers” (p. 641), generated through the management accounting system, created
a great deal of power for a particular group of employees (Whittle and Mueller, 2010), thus
allowing their ideas being viewed as strategic.
Other recent publications on accounting for strategic management have assumed a broad
stance as to what it constitutes. For instance, Roslender and Hart (2003) state that
accounting for strategic management is an approach to accounting for strategic positioning
(p. 255), and Tillmann and Goddard (2008) suggest that it should be understood as
management accounting practices in support of strategic decision-making (p. 80). Ma and
Tayles (2009) identify it to incorporate at the core a strategic focus, a future orientation and
an outward-facing focus (p. 474), and Nevries et al. (2006) determined it as management
accounting in support of the strategic process, whereby the process consists of an annual
planning cycle and involvement of top and divisional management. Carter et al. (2011) create
a strong link between strategy, power and political use of practices to convey a particular
message in a subtle manner. They believe that strategy, and its related practices, serve to
create a reality for an organisation, and that strategy and strategising are largely
determined and driven by the power structures in place (Carter et al., 2011). The authors
suggest that researching strategy in practice is useful but that researchers should go beyond
the practice and investigate on a more critical note, giving consideration to power and
JAOC politics regarding strategy. Power and politics play an important role in the current study, in
15,3 particular identifying power and strategic decision-making structures, and how accounting
relates to and supports these.
Chua (2007) addresses the practice turn in accounting in general and accounting for
strategic management in particular, in support of strategising, which reduces the focus on
particular practices and increases the adoption of a particular mind-set/stance regarding
436 strategising and accounting. Whittington (2004), who suggests that strategy is something
an organisation does, i.e. engages in strategising. Furthermore, Whittington (1996, 2006a,
2006b) suggests that there are two sides to strategy and strategising, one being the grand
plan side and the other one being the daily management activities (Hurtado, 2010). In
accounting, this is illustrated for instance by Ahrens and Chapman (2005), Hansen and
Mouritsen (2005) and Miller and O’Leary (2005). Accounting is something actually done in
practice, although few studies have been published highlighting accounting-in-practice
(Chua, 2007), which Boedker (2010) refers to as the performative approach for researching
accounting and strategy. Boedker (2010) suggests that strategy is a change-able object, as
opposed to being pre-defined and constant, depending on circumstances and who engages
with it, and that accounting does not just take a subordinate position to strategy, but rather
actively engages with strategy and is part of transforming and expanding strategy. Chua’s
(2007) reference to doing strategy in practice, i.e. strategising and accounting accordingly, is
referred to as the performative approach (Boedker, 2010). Not many studies have assumed
this research stance in accounting research, thus Chua (2007) concludes with a call for such
studies.
Some exceptions are Tillmann and Goddard (2008), Ma and Tayles (2009), Skærbæk and
Tryggestad (2010) and Jørgensen and Messner (2010), who investigate accounting for
strategic management in various organisational contexts. Tillmann and Goddard (2008)
identify sense-making as the main activity with regard to accounting for strategic
management in a large German corporation. Management accountants seek to make sense
of the past, current and future situation through relevant accounting information, to support
strategic decision-making (Tillmann and Goddard, 2008). Ma and Tayles (2009) investigated
the changing role of the management accountant in a longitudinal case study, identifying
that increasingly strategic decision-making was informed by management accountants, due
to external competitive pressures. For instance, accountants were strongly involved with the
marketing department, allowing both sides to get a better understanding of each other’s
daily activities (Ma and Tayles, 2009). Furthermore, they adopted a competitor focus and
future orientation, reflecting key notions of accounting for strategic management (Ma and
Tayles, 2009). Skærbæk and Tryggestad (2010) also assume a non-subordinate role of
management accounting to strategy but instead seek to determine what role management
accounting can adopt in relation to strategy. They find that accounting devices can play a
complex part in strategising, in enacting and formulating strategy (Skærbæk and
Tryggestad, 2010), i.e. assume a performative role. Skærbæk and Tryggestad (2010)
conclude that strategy is a temporary achievement that is constantly changing and
adapting, in which accounting devices can be actively involved. As one of the most recent
studies, Jørgensen and Messner (2010) have addressed strategising and accounting. They
investigate how accounting contributes to strategising, i.e. the determination of different
strategic objectives, during new product development projects. They also seek to answer to
Chua’s (2007) recent call for researching accounting in practice, and seek to determine to
which extent strategising is part of accounting, taken the concept beyond typical accounting
representation (Jørgensen and Messner, 2010). Their study sheds light on how accounting
can actively contribute to crafting strategy (Jørgensen and Messner, 2010), and it informs the
current study with regard to their interplay between accounting and the concept of Jordanian
strategising, which is a focal point of the current investigation. higher
Little research has been done regarding accounting for strategic management in HE
institutions. Traditionally, the HE sector is part of the Jordanian public sector. Private
education
universities exist but have to adhere to governmental policies. Several authors have sector
investigated managerial and accounting practices in HE (Angluin and Scapens, 2000; Brown
and Brignall, 2007; Covaleski and Dirsmith, 1988; Dearlove, 1998; Deem, 2004; Moll and
Hoque, 2011; Valderrama and Del Rio Sanchez, 2006) but only Agasisti et al. (2008), Broad
437
et al. (2007), Broad and Goddard (2010), Groves et al. (1997), Hutaibat et al. (2011) and Parker
(2002) address strategy and accounting in the university context. Agasisti et al. (2008)
analyse management accounting and strategy in four Italian universities, during a period of
change. They use institutional and self-referential theory, and find that each institution has
its own approach to accounting for strategic management, as the sectorial change led to an
increase in institutional autonomy, thus requiring more focus on management and
accounting. Parker (2002) addresses the changes HE has gone through, factors that are still
prominent features of HE sectors today. These include globalisation, financial pressures, the
difficulty to unite research, education and funding pressures, and all of these pressures have
altered the HE system permanently (Parker, 2002), in particular the domination of the
knowledge culture by commercial values. Deem (2004) suggests that academia has changed
and that academic workers have to manage the demands of an academic, i.e. teaching and
research, administration and performance-related expectations. Dearlove (1998) in particular
addresses the tribal nature of academia, as academics rather relate to the discipline than the
actual institution they work for. Consequently, they seek to further their discipline and their
own careers, as opposed to the institutional benefit (Dearlove, 1998).
The literature review illustrates that a variety of accounting and strategic management
elements matter and that strategic management and related accounting practices focus on
competitors, for instance through benchmarking, on future developments, for instance
through investment analysis, and on performance, in terms of profitability analyses. It also
illustrates that various studies have investigated strategy and accounting, also at HE level,
but none have focussed on Jordanian HE, and the relationship of power, strategic and
accounting practices in the Jordanian HE sector. The Jordanian HE example illustrates the
enactment of local and regional power structures in relation to more globally established
conventions of academia, and how these impact on strategic management and related
accounting practices. Furthermore, this study also sheds light on the structures of the
academic sector in a developing economy, the strategic priorities, and related accounting
practices.

3. Research approach and methods

This study has adopted an interpretive stance, as it seeks to investigate interpretively
(Burrell and Morgan, 1979), outlining the status quo of accounting, strategising, accounting
for strategic management and power in HE, and using meta-theory to explain and critically
examine this status quo. The chosen qualitative methodology adopts analytical practices
according to Glaser and Strauss (1967), Glaser (1978, 1992) and Strauss and Corbin (1990,
1998), who sought to develop theory inductively from the field by virtue of specific
analytical rules and practices. These rules and practices form the base for thorough
construction of a qualitative argument. This study assumes Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts
(1977, 1990) as prior meta-theory that influences data collection and analysis (Chapman,
2008).
JAOC Glaser and Strauss’s analytical practices are theoretical sampling, constant comparison
15,3 and theoretical saturation (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Gurd, 2008). Theoretical sampling
guides the data collection and analysis, as new findings spur further collection (Glaser, 1992;
Von Alberti-Alhtaybat and Al-Htaybat, 2010). Constant comparison takes place throughout
the data collection and analysis stages, where incidents are constantly compared to
incidents, later on incidents to categories and concepts, until theoretical saturation is
438 achieved (Glaser, 1978). Having reached theoretical saturation means that the qualitative
argument is completed. Analysis takes place in two stages, referred to as open and selective
coding (Glaser, 1978; Von Alberti-Alhtaybat and Al-Htaybat, 2010). Initially, no specified
hypothesis should be adopted but a broad research area should be identified, reflecting its
interpretive character (Parker, 2008). For this study, the broad subject was strategising,
accounting, accounting for strategic management, in the context of Bourdieu’s logic of
practice and concepts of power.
Data collection took place through in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant
observation and document analysis. Using more than one form of data collection supports
the convincingness of the findings (Baxter and Chua, 2008b; Denzin, 1978). Interviews were
taped where possible, and the majority of interviews were transcribed. A set of basic
questions was prepared, based on the actual management, accounting and strategic
management practices of the initial HE institution, which were used for subsequent data
collection for consistency. In total, 40 interviews were undertaken, considering public and
private institutions. Participants were representative of institutional layers, i.e. leading
management to managed academics and professionals, and of all institutional divisions,
both academic and administrative. Participant observation played an important role, akin to
Parker (2003), as, during the study, the researcher engaged with several HE institutions, and
also joined meetings in various universities in both public and private institutions, which
gave a field-related insight that cannot easily be achieved through interviews alone. A total
of 15 meetings were used for data collection. Notes were taken during meetings but also as
part of daily observations. Official accounting documents and unofficial financial
information provided objective, factual data for the analysis. Data analysis was undertaken
in two stages, open and selective coding, although these overlapped at times and it was not
always possible to distinctively separate the two. Open coding is undertaken on a line-by-
line basis and seeks to identify as many codes as possible, until the core concept emerges
(Glaser, 1978). Once the core concept emerges, selective coding begins, as existing codes are
amalgamated into higher order categories (Von Alberti-Alhtaybat and Al-Htaybat, 2010).
These categories are related to the core, as any unrelated categories will be excluded during
selective coding.
As with any research study, the academic community has to be convinced that the
study’s findings reflect the collected data. Terms such as reliability and validity are
commonly used but do not necessarily reflect the “reality” of interpretive research.
Trustworthiness and convincingness (Baxter and Chua, 2008b) of findings are more
relevant, which are considered on a three-dimensional level. Golden-Biddle and Locke (1993)
identify these as authenticity, plausability and criticality (Baxter and Chua, 2008b), which
were adopted in this study. An authentic study conveys a feeling of the field, i.e. the author
having been there and having understood the field’s context (Baxter and Chua, 2008b), for
instance through narratives of the field and interview/meeting quotes. Furthermore,
findings should be plausible and make sense to the reader, given their previous knowledge
of the field (Baxter and Chua, 2008b). Critical findings force the reader to engage with their
beliefs and preconceived notions.
4. Research context – Jordanian higher education sector Jordanian
This section discusses the research context and addresses the main aspects of the Jordanian higher
HE sector. Anonymity was requested and agreed upon in all cases, which is the reason why
financial details cannot be publicised.
education
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan HE sector is small and very young when comparing sector
at the international level. The oldest institution was opened in the 1962, and the most recent
institution was opened in 2005, arising out of cooperation between the German and
Jordanian governments (EACEA website) Education is an important aspect of the Jordanian 439
economy, as people depend upon a degree to get a job, any job in some cases. Having
university education is in most cases not a question but a given, as it is culturally ingrained
to study.
The sector is split into public and private institutions, which are evenly represented, but
public institutions have a considerably higher standing. HE institutions primarily focus on
education; as financial funding is mainly available for teaching students. In addition, tuition
fees are charged in all institutions. Public institutions charge a fixed rate per taught hour but
also offer a parallel system, which allows students to enter the institution at private
university fee level. Furthermore, students that take just a few courses fall into a separate
fee category which is double of the original credit hour cost. Private universities charge a
multiple of their public counterparts at their own discretion. International students
primarily join from neighbouring and other Gulf countries but do not pay different fees from
local students.
Funding for private institutions happens exclusively through tuition fees, whereas public
institutions are part of government’s annual budget (Jordan Times, 2011). Their fees alone
will not sustain their operations, as they are severely under-financed in some cases and in
many disciplines under-staffed (Jordan Times, 2011). Institutions that have created spin-off
ventures are financially more independent. A common feature of the Jordanian HE sector is
funding a future member of staff’s postgraduate studies abroad, and as a result committing
them as a member of staff for a fixed number of years. For the survival of the sector, this is a
necessity as salary structures of surrounding countries’ HE sectors and other industries, and
altogether remaining in the USA, England, Canada or Australia, lead to a loss of academic
members of staff. The afore-mentioned countries are the most targeted and regarded in that
respective order concerning postgraduate studies. Jordanian university education is loosely
modelled on the American system but has several legal structures in place to ensure student
attendance, staff qualification and managerial structures. The sector has undergone
changes by introducing a Board of Trustees as the governing body of each institution,
reducing the Ministry of HE’s influence on the public institutions.

5. Findings
This study investigates accounting and strategic management practices, on the basis of
Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts, in the public and private HE sector context. Importantly, the
unique features of the HE sector and of the Jordanian HE sector in particular will be
addressed. This section outlines the findings, which will be structured according to
Bourdieu’s three main featured aspects, as discussed in in the literary section: field, forms of
capital/power, and habitus reflected in the context of strategising, strategising mind-set and
accounting for strategic management.

5.1 The academic sector’s context – the field

The academic field is characterised by distinctively unique and universally applicable
features. Differences are perceived very strongly, whether in comparison to the non-
JAOC academic “outside” world or amongst disciplines, and were quickly addressed by
15,3 participants. This field defines its own rules and characteristics, referred to as academia-
inherent characteristics and structures. Characteristics that uniquely reflect academia in
general are those that address the tribal culture among fragmented disciplines, the notion of
academic freedom and academic operations – research and education. Disciplines feature
very strongly which became apparent in heterogeneous faculties in particular, where
440 different disciplines rival each other with regard to positioning, operations, investment and
students. “Well, those are the engineers, so we can’t really compare ourselves to them, they
just do things differently, better somehow, this is the Business School, so why bother?”
(Academic Manager, Jordanian Institution 2).
Academics primarily seek to advance their field and discipline, ultimately also for their
own advantage and advancement. As transpired from various meetings, their primary
concerns were their department and faculty in terms of funds allocation, and debates ensued
how funds were being distributed within institutions. In public universities, funds were
distributed on the basis of student numbers per discipline, where differential funding was
available according to discipline, while private universities collected funds in form of tuition
fees from students directly. Institutions play only a role if they are perceived the top-level
destination, in other words, if this is the best position an academic can achieve:
Currently, this institution is considered to be able to take the top spot in the country, through
word of mouth, but I think it is trying to compete with the [oldest university in the country], and I
am not sure if we are quite there yet. It definitely has the best work atmosphere, and it is the most
international institution [. . .]. We compete with only few chosen public institutions {nationally}
at the end of the day (senior academic manager, Jordanian Institution 1).
Academic freedom is identified as a relevant feature and the Jordanian system considers
academic freedom in the delivery of material, design of syllabus, choice of material and type
of assessment. It does not automatically qualify for an independent critic of contemporary
society and development. While academic operations do not differ widely to other HE
sectors, research matters only as a secondary activity in Jordanian institutions. Academics
need to publish but only for personal advancement, as promotion from one rank to another
will only take place on the basis of published research, while daily operations focus on
teaching and administration only. This element of the data confirmed publicly debated
concerns regarding research activity among Jordanian academics.
Management structures in general depend on the individual institutional arrangement,
but cultural contexts create certain managerial structures that can be found in all
institutions of the sector. The Jordanian sector includes both public and private institutions.
It is hierarchical with the president of a university having the exclusive decision-making
power, that is to say, no decision can be made without presidential approval. The hierarchy
is very strictly adhered to, so for instance communications outside the faculty can only take
place officially through the Dean’s office, outside the institution only through the president’s
office. At department and faculty level, decisions are made through committees that cannot
be overturned easily, although they need presidential approval. Open criticism is not well
received and has to be phrased very carefully, regarding whichever matter:
Really, if the president does not support a decision, it will not go through. Yes, at department level
we can decide to not hire someone, and no one can force us to hire someone, but there are so many
decisions that are made by the president, and you can go into open war but it is going to make
your position very difficult (senior academic, Jordanian Institution 2).
Financially, the sector is in a permanently critical situation, as the majority of public
institutions have deficits, in some cases so critical that they need the ministry’s support to
pay staff salaries. However, they do not receive block grants and actually need to prove Jordanian
financial need to get governmental support, thus it is ex post funding, as opposed to ex ante, higher
as is the case in other international HE sectors. The sector is very commercialised though, in
the case of both private and public institutions. Examples of public institution’s
education
commercialisation would be customer accounting, postgraduate study funding and sector
utilisation of market opportunities. Customer accounting manifests itself through a double
fee structure. Student admission takes place through a central body that allocates students
based on their school grades. If a student does not get the desired seat, they can apply to an 441
institution directly for specific programmes but they will pay double or treble fees. This,
however, takes place at the expense of quality.
They introduced the parallel system a few years ago, the public universities. So now they have
100 instead of 30 students in the class. Of course, this is at the expense of quality, because you
can’t tell me that the instructor can provide education in the same way as with less students. But
the university gets more money, so they can supplement their budget (external advisor, university
auditor, Jordan).

In private institutions, students pay generally much higher fees. Accordingly, their needs are
prioritised, as opposed to delivering high quality education. ‘If the doctor enters the class with an
English book, you can be sure that all the students will leave the class afterwards and drop the
course. The Dean will call then and say: what are you doing? We want to make profits, so teach in
Arabic. We have a lot of students from Saudia {Saudi Arabia} who don’t speak English well and
this is the student body we have to cater to (academic, Jordanian institution 3).
One major issue is the shortage of adequate staff in sought-after areas, such as business
fields, engineering specialisations and rare subjects. Postgraduate study funding is the
sector’s survival programme, as institutions fund their future academic staff to study
Masters and doctoral programmes abroad, in order for them to return and work a set period
of time for each funded year:
The sector has a few problems: for one we are really under-staffed, like accounting, there are just
not enough qualified people, they are all going to the Gulf, because they pay better. Yes, the
funding helps because they have to come back and they sign a collateral agreement, so they can’t
just leave in most cases (academic manager, Jordanian Institution 1).
Thus, the long-term survival strategy is to fund future academics’ post-graduate education
and grow an active research body through allowing them to experience other HE sectors and
their policies.
One of the significant influences in Jordanian HE is the societal structures and influential
power positions that are attributed to groups and individuals within the Jordanian society.
The following section explores the capitals and power structures in more detail.

5.2 Forms of capital and power structures

Power matters considerably when it comes to decision-making. There is an important
distinction between power to make a decision and power to influence a decision. Decision
makers usually hold a particular position that allows them to have a final say, whereas
influential people are those that can affect the decision maker’s mind-set regarding a
particular matter.
Economic capital is understood as monetary resources or such resources that can easily
be converted into cash. In the institutional context, economic capital is reflected in which
discipline earns most fees. Typically, courses such as business and law are high-fee earning,
low-cost running programmes that largely depend on having a large enough lecture room
JAOC and a qualified instructor. Jordanian institutions focus on earning power of faculties and
15,3 individual programmes because they need funds from fees, but it does not grant prime level
status. Although these disciplines are considered to be financially the most rewarding for
HE institutions, they are not considered to be the most prestigious, as the ranking for
disciplines typically awards medical studies the highest position, next engineering and
computer-related studies, then finance-related education, and then any other subject.
442 Consequently, significant cross-subsidy takes place within universities. Furthermore, the
most prestigious subjects, such as medical studies, are only offered at public universities –
amongst others due the need for a training hospital, and related financial resources, but also
due to the fact that public institutions are valued significantly higher than private
universities. For instance, holding a certificate from a public university will be valued higher
for job opportunities than from a private university, in particular when candidates do not
have social capital.
Social capital represents one’s social connection in society. This form of capital reigns
strongest in the Jordanian sector, which has created its own concept, referred to as “wasta”.
It is almost the first thing one learns upon joining the culture, and it is explained multiple
times to any outsider. While “wasta” reflects the concept of connections in other societies, it
is more than connections, as it is the key to almost any aspect of success.
So, did they explain to you what wasta means? {interviewer nods}, yeah, it is the key to success
in Jordan. I mean, you can achieve anything if only you have the right kind of wasta (academic,
Jordanian Institution 2).
Wasta is created through networking, being financially affluent, holding a particular
position, and commonly through one’s family association, which often offers positions and
money. Jordan is a tribal culture, with some tribes being in a very strong position to
influence. This also extends to the university sector, with regard to grade distribution,
position, ability to influence decisions and ability to command funds. Social capital is
therefore very transparent in the Jordanian HE sector. Positions matter as heads of
departments, deans, administrative managers and senior institutional management are able
to make decisions, determine directions and adopt new practices due to their position.
However, the position itself often needs to be supported by other factors, be it connections,
i.e. additional social capital, money, i.e. economic capital, or knowledge, i.e. cultural capital.
Cultural capital refers to what people get as part of their formal or societal education:
knowing how to dress, speak, eat and host visitors in the appropriate manner, knowing how
to act and react in certain situations, and knowing the culturally appropriate response. This
form of capital is relevant in the Jordanian sector, as appropriate clothing and hosting people
appropriately when they visit the institution is the most important. In certain situations,
religion-appropriate behaviour and religious knowledge is compulsory. The last form of
capital refers to what is legitimate in a field, and how this might be communicated.
Significant for the Jordanian HE sector is that a lot of hidden meaning is conveyed in simple
sentences, which a person from a low-context culture cannot easily comprehend. One-
worded answers might be understood as rude, as a long-winded and flowery sentence might
be more appreciated in an official situation. Furthermore, symbolic capital is also expressed
in positions achieved and degrees held. The Jordanian sector has a clear hierarchy, where
PhD holders have prevalence over Master degree holders. Masters can only be hired as
lecturers/instructors, whereas PhDs start as assistant and can get promoted till professor.
Only they are able to take administrative positions, and be part of powerful and influential
structures.
 Power manifests itself in various forms. Jordanians care most about social capital, Jordanian
followed by economic and symbolic forms of capital. Their connection structures matter higher
most, as they can help get money and attain a position. In the institutional contexts, social
capital is the most relevant to get a senior position and to influence decision-making.
education
Institutional members that influence or determine decisions regarding strategising and sector
accounting possess the relevant form of capital, which renders them powerful enough to be
influential. Importantly, social capital is reflected through positions within the university
but also through family and tribal affiliation, with social capital being the primary factor
443
that influences and controls decision-making in the Jordanian society and in Jordanian HE.

5.3 Habitus of strategising mind-set and accounting/accounting for strategic management

and strategising
The strategising mind-set represents participants’ habitus regarding strategising, i.e.
strategy in practice, and accounting in the public and private sectors. The strategising mind-
set according to Hutaibat et al. (2011) is twofold: individuals adopt either a bureaucratic or
an entrepreneurial stance, perceive strategising and accounting and apply and utilise related
practices accordingly. In the current study, the concept of a strategising mind-set was
adopted and developed but the characteristics differ. During the selective coding stage the
characteristics of the strategising mind-set core concept were coded for, which have to
reflect strategising practices. The main themes that were identified are forms of strategising
and accounting, and strategising elements, such as commercial versus traditional, and
strategising, accounting/accounting for strategic management and power.
5.3.1 Forms of strategising and accounting. The strategising mind-set incorporates the
different perceptions of strategising and accounting, how strategy and accounting are
enacted in practice. It includes a spectrum of perceptions and practices, which reach from
officially implemented practices to unofficially adopted thinking styles. The most common
accounting practice employed in HE is the management control tool, the budget. Budgeting
is done in all institutions at varying levels, in some cases very sophisticated with a strategic
focus, in some cases simple daily management with a short-term focus. In the Jordanian
context, long-term investments are made by funding future academics’ studies abroad to
guarantee the long-term survival of the sector:
Well, they have to work for in their respective institutions for at least six years, in some cases up
to fifteen, and they have to put up a collateral to guarantee their return. This ensures a minimum
level of staff, because as you know, going to the Gulf is much more beneficial for staff, money-
wise. It is hard to compete with those salaries because the public structure just does not allow for
that. At least in the private institutions they have some leeway, they can negotiate salaries
(academic, Jordanian institution 2).
Beyond the deliberate strategic and budgetary planning, strategising also takes place
unconsciously in an ad-hoc manner, which can occur in interplay with deliberate
strategising. This usually manifests itself in the actions and reactions to events, news and
operations in daily work situations. While the deliberate strategising activity is usually
instigated by an event, such as planning for the upcoming academic years, budgeting round,
institutional strategic planning round or a person, e.g. superiors, colleagues, students,
alumni, industry partners and other externals, unconscious strategising is much less
evident, even to the individual themselves, and more subtle. It reflects the reciprocal
response to the field, for instance to unexpected changes and developments. In these cases,
the strategising mind-set is completely aligned with the field and reflects the doxa, the self-
evident features of the field:
JAOC So we had advertised for scholarships, and all the papers had come through, and we had finished
the interview process, and then one extra paper came through. This came through one of the
15,3 senior managers in the university, and we were in the process of making our decision, but now we
changed everything. The new applicant was definitely qualified, and we don’t like someone to
use wasta, but what do we want to do? We met the applicant and in the end chose this person for
the scholarship position, although he did not have the best qualifications of all applicants, just the
best connections (academic manager, Jordanian Institution 3).
444 This excerpt illustrates how strategic decision-making was automatically and
unconsciously adjusted to the new event, illustrating how deliberate planning and
unconscious strategising interact. The strategic element here reflects the investment
appraisal for long-term survival, in this instance the critical resource of academic faculty.
Brain drain is a critical issue in Jordanian HE, which is typically counter-acted by funding
the brightest but financially challenged graduates to continue their post-graduate education
in international institutions in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. In return, funded
scholars have to work a set number of years in their respective institutions, unless they have
the financial means to repay their “loan”. Such positions are highly sought after and are not
easily obtained. The above situation describes events that are significant because they
require an alignment of habitus with the dominant features of the field, the doxa. Once the
habitus has incorporated the structures of the field, the individual unconsciously adapts to
the relevant situation. Thus, people that are new to the culture and the Jordanian HE sector
will find their habitus misaligned with the field, which was made explicit in interviews with
new and non-local faculty:
It is hard to understand the decision-making processes and determine the influential decision-
makers – one problem is of course the language that is holding me back but I don’t see any major
decision-making in official meetings, most of the decisions are already made at that point
(academic, Jordanian institution 4).
Not uncommonly, decision-making takes place in less formal setting, typically instigated by
the most influential member of a group, e.g. a dean, a well-established academic, a member
of faculty with close connections to powerful members of society, which is then officially
confirmed in relevant meetings. Thus, financial funds are typically managed and distributed
in a rather opaque and hierarchical manner, and strategic decisions and management take
place on the basis of what benefits the sector as determined by relevant players in the
hierarchy. These unique features strongly influence and determine the strategising mind-set
and strategic management and accounting practices.
5.3.2 Strategising characteristics. In the Jordanian sector, the commercial aspects of the
strategising mind-set manifest themselves very dominantly – fees are not considered
contrary to quality of education, per se, but seek to raise tuition fees where possible, which is
manifested in the double-fee structure in Jordan:
The double-fee structure allows us to accept students that otherwise would go to private
universities, and we charge them more than students that made it through the central
distributions office. We also charge special studies students {note: students that do not study for
a regular degree} a lot more than regular students – they come for only one class and we can take
advantage of that (Senior Academic and Administrator, Jordanian institution 2).
Furthermore, institutions seek to establish additional financial funding means, which allows
them to supplement their existing earnings. This can take place through investments, such
as buildings that can be rented out, selling of assets to free up cash for other endeavours and
through business-like activities, such as setting up enterprise centres that support the
creation of spin-off companies and subsequently investing in spin-offs, and setting up of
training and consultancy centres, which is common practice at all Jordanian institutions. Jordanian
Importantly, the benefits of these additional financial funding inflows are typically higher
distributed at the central top hierarchy level, thus strategic developments are always tied in
with who is related to a particular initiative. Since the national initiative is to improve HE
education
and research, the individual disciplines and faculties within institutions will benefit on the sector
basis of their powerful connections and relations.
The established power structures through the forms of capital play an important role
with regard to strategising and accounting. As previously discussed, social capital, and to 445
some extent symbolic capital, is strongest in Jordan. Strategic decisions and strategic
funding take place on the basis of who has the most influence in almost all institutions:
You have a big enough wasta, you will get what you want. He (referring to another colleague) got
here because he had someone big call for him, and now he is going to the UK for PhD study on a
scholarship (academic, Jordanian institution 3).
The exception is those institutions where senior management is strongly seeking to focus on
merit. The purpose is to favour people or projects that ‘deserve’ to take a particular chance,
but merit and connections combined are considered to be a winning formula in those
institutions. “I mean, he has the qualifications, and the wasta. Just because x,y,z calls I
would not take someone but he is qualified, so it is ok, why not” (Academic Manager,
Jordanian Institution 3). Jordanians demonstrate power in accordance with hierarchical
rank, so always top-down, not bottom-up. If someone in a lower hierarchical rank seeks to
influence a higher-up decision, usually through social and symbolic capital, it is done behind
closed doors.
These influences of power structures are reflected in both private and public HE
institutions, although private universities have additional elements to consider, such as
financial impact, institutional shareholder and stakeholders’ requirements and institutional
feasibility. Thus, strategising is fundamentally subject to external and individual influences,
as opposed to a clearly executed strategy. As the collective university efforts focus on the
student body, job market needs, societal perceptions of disciplines and programmes, and
quest for diversification are strong drivers for long-term strategic decision-making.

5.4 Accounting practices for strategic management

While the previous sections have addressed how power structures impact upon strategising,
accounting and strategic management practices, the current section focusses particularly on
accounting-in-practice at Jordanian HE institutions. Some of the following elements were
explicitly referred to when discussing accounting and strategy, while others emerged during
observation and in the context of other topics during interviews. As mentioned previously,
budgeting was considered the primary accounting technique when discussing financial
planning in support of strategy and operations. However, in most cases it did not extend
beyond a one-year planning timeframe, which significantly limits the strategic element of
this accounting practice. When discussing strategic management practices in general,
financial and non-financial benchmarking in relation to other Jordanian HE institutions was
explicitly mentioned by all participants and transpired in different meetings. In particular,
public universities experienced financial benchmarking through external constituencies. A
further technique that was addressed explicitly was capital budgeting, which transpired in
different conversations with private university participants, with regard to assessing larger-
sum investments and their potential returns. Payback, often also referred to as break-even
for an investment, was a commonly addressed method when discussing the value of an
investment, such as investing in the education of future academics and for which subject
JAOC area in particular to invest in academics, as “some subject areas attract more students, thus
15,3 we can generate faster a higher return on our investment” (Academic Manager, Jordanian
Institution 5). Finally, a form of profitability analysis transpired in terms of the parallel
system and in the context of private universities. The success and attraction of certain
subject areas lead to a significant number of applications, which can be accepted due to the
ease of education provision, such as large number of students per classroom and academic.
446 This suggests that awareness of cost per student as well as cost per course exists, and
financial success of certain subject areas is being exploited, although no documentation was
provided to this effect. Essentially, strategic investment decision-making takes place when
deciding about investments in certain subject areas, such as commencing a new programme
or opening a new branch, and related funding and resource requirements, such as fixed
assets and human capital investments. In public institutions, external constituencies, such
as the Ministry of HE, are part of the decision-making process, while in private institutions
relevant stake- and shareholders drive institutional choices.

6. Discussion and conclusion

This research embarked upon an illustration of strategising, accounting-in-practice and
accounting for strategic management. In particular, this study sought to determine what is
understood as accounting for strategic management and strategising in Jordanian HE
institutions, and how the field and habitus of Jordanian HE impact on strategising and
related accounting practices. Bourdieu’s theory of practice was used as the theoretical
context of the current study, and findings were discussed accordingly. Bourdieu’s notion of
habitus refers to the individual’s internalised structures of the field, their experiences,
knowledge, education and their understanding of power structures in the field. Individuals’
habitus of strategising and accounting was identified as the strategising mind-set, a concept
that had been previously defined by Hutaibat et al. (2011) and was reflected in Broad et al.
(2007). Habitus interacts with the relevant field, in this case academia, and both have a
reciprocal relationship (Bourdieu, 1990). In this study, the field played an important role as
the academic context addresses various unique features that in principle are sustained
across HE, such as academic freedom, but may be practiced differently when comparing
public and private institutions. Accordingly, the strategising mind-set reflects in Jordan the
business-like features of the sector (Parker, 2002), which are not questioned and are
naturally assumed.
This study adopted a previously determined concept, the strategising mind-set, and
added a new understanding of such mind-set. The mind-set reflects individuals’ approach to
what was identified as accounting for strategic management (Roslender and Hart, 2010). It
has shown that the concept itself is applicable in different fields but that it is defined by
different characteristics. Hutaibat et al.’s (2011) separation into bureaucratic and
entrepreneurial was abandoned, as it was too reflective of the English sector but did not
capture Jordanian features. Their understanding of the mind-set was based on a clearly
communicated strategic vision and mission at institutional level, which was then dealt with
on the basis of two extreme strategic mind-set positions, either in a bureaucratic or in an
entrepreneurial manner. Bureaucratic denoted a more operational, entrepreneurial and a
more strategic focus. Either presents deliberate positioning in relation to a given strategic
focus and related accounting practices. Either stance assumes the same managerial
accounting practice, budgeting in particular, and uses its output in line with the adopted
mind-set. In a similar manner, the same performance management practices were assumed
but their interpretation and adoption by individuals differed according to their mind-set. In
the current study, a deliberate and an unconscious dimension was identified, which is
applicable regardless of the differing fields’ structures. Deliberate strategising uses Jordanian
deliberate accounting practices, such as a budget or other forms of management control higher
systems, with strategic intent (Chapman, 2005; Simons, 1991), while unconscious
strategising is accompanied by quick and short financial calculations, e.g. forecasting
education
expected earnings and comparing to expenditures. This reflects Whittington’s (1996) sector
twofold nature of strategising of grand planning and daily routines. Importantly, formalised
strategic visions and objectives did not play an important role in the Jordanian HE
strategising mind-set because power structures are significantly more prevalent and 447
dominant, which rest with individuals more than positions or institutions. The primary
concern of the field is the sector’s survival in terms of academic body, which was determined
to be the single most dominant investment focus. Relevant decision-making was limited by
scarcely available financial resources, thus who was fostered and supported by institutions
mattered significantly based on their doxa in the field. Individuals’ and institutional
responses and handling strategies were either deliberate, i.e. actively engaged in strategic
decision-making and financial planning, or unconscious, i.e. passively supporting a given
decision, depending upon their doxa and their relation to the more superior power structure,
if relevant.
So, do institutions indeed engage in strategising, strategic management, accounting and
accounting for strategic management? Agasisti et al. (2008), Broad et al. (2007) and Hutaibat
et al. (2011) certainly suggest so; however, neither suggests particular methods or practices,
but rather a qualitative nature of accounting, often resulting out of discussions of cost/
benefit trade-offs. Jørgensen and Messner (2009) suggest such relationship of accounting
and strategising. During a strategic discussion, the costs and benefits of foregoing one
strategic direction or objective for another were also analysed and often would influence
final decision-making. Strategising and accounting-in-practice thus were found to be part of
daily activities in the Jordanian HE sector. Boedker (2010) suggests that strategy changes
according to given circumstances and adapts to changes, and that accounting is connected
with strategy at the same level. Unconscious strategising reflects this suggested fluidity of
strategy and the equal stance of accounting, as individuals seek to respond to the field-based
circumstances. Universities do indeed think long-term and engage in strategising to achieve
whatever long-term goals they have set themselves, focussing on students as customers, and
other institutions on a national and international level as competitors, as advocated by
Simmonds (1981) and Guilding (1999). Power structures play an important role in the
Jordanian sector, and different forms of capital create these power structures. As Carter et al.
(2011) suggest, the power structures in place drive strategising and accounting, as powerful
individuals are able to determine and influence strategising, accounting and decision-
making.
The findings of this study illustrate the inter-relatedness of strategising and accounting.
Accounting refers to a holistic concept and its related practices, and in this study, the former
is the main focus. In relation to strategising, accounting academics have coined the term
accounting for strategic management, as an amendment to strategic management
accounting, which is assumed here as accounting in support of strategy/strategising. The
author found that individuals would engage in strategising and in related accounting
deliberately through planning/decision-making, and unconsciously when dealing acting and
reacting in the field. For instance, a discussion was raised of how to sustain an institution in
the long-term in the Jordanian market, and one suggestion raised was to create long-term
ties with industry, a relatively uncommon concept in the field, and arrange for funding
streams through such relationships. This denotes a deliberate planning move, just like
feasibility studies that were executed to determine whether a particular project should be
JAOC undertaken. On the other hand, it was observed that individuals quickly adapted to
15,3 unexpected developments that were aligned with their field. For instance, unexpected
discussions of opening a new course at faculty-level would be accompanied by quick
calculations, which served to identify financial implications and served to support cost-
benefit discussions of introducing a new course.
Accountants are involved in budget preparation and are included in all deliberate
448 planning/decision-making/management stages. However, at the unconscious level, the
individual’s habitus, the strategising mind-set, takes over. Jordanians commonly think of
economic and financial implications because the sector is riddled with financial difficulties.
Therefore, strategising and accounting are alive in the field but one has to refrain from
believing that particular practices are needed to refer to this as accounting for strategic
management. Rather, one should consider individuals’ strategising mind-set, which has
been found to have different facets and characteristics, depending upon the field’s
structures.
The current study illustrates that under the umbrella of strategic management and
related accounting practices, a number of accounting and strategic management practices
are applied. However, these only support, and do not determine, strategising, because actual
decision-making is based on the most influential players in the sector. In particular, social
capital carries a great weight regarding influence, control and financial fund distribution,
which is representative of the local and regional HE sectors. For the participant observer, it
was extremely interesting to unearth the “obvious”, yet hidden, to identify the various
structures and the doxa of the field, and to feel one’s own habitus aligned with the Jordanian
HE field. Naturally, this poses a limitation, as always questioned by quantitative
researchers: the close relationship between researcher and subject of research, and the
researcher’s inherent subjectivity in such study’s context. It took a great deal of self-
reflection, and reviews from interviewees and other colleagues in the sector, to conclude that
the storyline itself is not driven by the author-writer (Baxter and Chua, 2008b) alone. The
principles of grounded theory allow to take a step back and look “as if through a one-sided
mirror” (Glaser, 1978) in order “see” what is happening, to identify the meta-categories that
surmise the simple codes and smaller categories. The author sought to follow Baxter and
Chua’s (2008b) suggested regimen of authenticity, plausibility and criticality, to achieve a
believable qualitative account, and would like to call for further studies following the same
principles. The author also would like to call for studies investigating taken-for-granted
assumptions adopted by individuals, the field within which researchers function, and the
habitus individuals have adopted. It has been a real eye-opener to analyse what one has
taken for granted, and find that in different contexts, different solutions, that also work, are
offered to the same problem. It remains to be concluded that, the doxa of the field are strong,
certainly when indoctrinated throughout upbringing and education, and it will shape the
individuals within but can also be shaped by individuals and their experiences.

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Corresponding author
Khaled Hutaibat can be contacted at: hutaibat@mutah.edu.jo

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