Combining two different actor-network theory perspectives and relying on the single case study methodology, this book offers important empirical evidence and managerial implications on the use of blockchain for accounting and control purposes. Exploring the first agro-food European case of blockchain application for supply chain management, this research work is among the pioneers in analysing the interaction between this new technology and traditional management accounting and control practices.
Author(s): Gianluca Vitale
Series: SIDREA Series in Accounting and Business Administration
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 212
1 Information Technologies for Business Management: From Big Data to Blockchain, a Literature Overview 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 What Is Big Data? 2
1.3 BD and Management Issues 4
1.3.1 BD in Management Accounting and Control Activities 5
1.4 What Is Blockchain? 7
1.5 Blockchain and Management Accounting Issues 10
1.6 Literature Shortcomings and Research’s Objectives 13
1.7 Conclusion 18
References 18
2 Theoretical Framework: The Actor-Network Theory (ANT) 23
2.1 Introduction 23
2.2 Conceptualizing Technology in Management Research: Why ANT? 24
2.3 What Is Ant? A Historical Background 26
2.3.1 Power 27
2.3.2 Actors 28
2.3.3 Actor-Network 29
2.3.4 Control 30
2.4 The Sociology of Translation 30
2.5 Latour’s Five Sources of Uncertainty 33
2.6 ANT in Management Accounting and Control Studies 36
2.6.1 ANT in Business Information Technologies Studies 37
2.7 Research Questions Development 39
2.8 Conclusion 41
References 42
3 Research Methodology 47
3.1 Introduction 47
3.2 The Paradigm Concept 48
3.2.1 Ontology 50
3.2.2 Epistemology 50
3.2.3 Methodology 51
3.3 Historical Approaches to Social Studies 52
3.3.1 Positivism 52
3.3.2 Postpositivism 53
3.3.3 Interpretivism 54
3.4 The Case Study Method 56
3.4.1 Triangulation 60
3.5 Case Selection and Data Collection 62
3.6 Conclusion 65
References 67
4 Unboxing the Network: The Empirical Case Study 71
4.1 Introduction 71
4.2 Background 71
4.3 The First Source of Uncertainty: The Nature of Groups 73
4.4 The Second Source of Uncertainty: The Nature of Actions 79
4.4.1 The Role of Management Control Activities in Network Creation 82
4.5 The Third Source of Uncertainty: The Nature of Objects 86
4.5.1 The Accounting Objects 87
4.5.2 The Blockchain Objects 90
4.6 The Fourth Source of Uncertainty: Matter of Facts Vs. Matter of Concerns 92
4.7 The Fifth Source of Uncertainty: The Nature of the Study Itself 95
4.8 Discussion 96
4.9 Conclusion 100
References 101
5 Conclusion, Managerial Implications and Limitations 105
References 107
Annex 1: Draft of the Questions Made During the Semi-Structured Interviews 109
