IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v12y2022i1p14-d728542.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Management Accounting and Control in Higher Education Institutions: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • José Vale

    (CEOS.PP—Centre for Organisational and Social Studies of Polytechnic of Porto, Porto Accounting and Business School, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4465-004 Porto, Portugal)

  • Joana Amaral

    (Porto Accounting and Business School, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4465-004 Porto, Portugal)

  • Luís Abrantes

    (Porto Accounting and Business School, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4465-004 Porto, Portugal)

  • Carmem Leal

    (CETRAD—Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal)

  • Rui Silva

    (CETRAD—Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, and NECE-UBI, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal)

Abstract

The new public management reforms have led to significant changes in higher education institutions (HEIs) regarding the management accounting and control (MAC) of these organizations. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of the main studies on MAC in these types of organizations through a systematic literature review (SLR). The PRISMA guidelines were followed, and data were collected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The final sample encompassed 50 articles, published between 1981 and 2020. The results show that MAC research tends to focus on management control systems and performance evaluation systems. They also suggest that, although the development and implementation of various MAC tools are crucial for HEIs, such implementation often is partial. This is due to the stakeholders’ perceptions/attitudes regarding the importance of such tools. The results also indicate that institutional theory is the most addressed one. Most of the time, HEIs implement MAC tools due to external pressures. By synthesizing the main trends in MAC, this SLR intends to provide a theoretical contribution to the literature in this research field. Several themes for further research are suggested, such as assessing the relationship between MAC and the management of “knowledge” and intellectual capital in these institutions, and addressing sustainability issues. From a practical viewpoint, HEI managers can obtain important insights to apply the most appropriate tools to their institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • José Vale & Joana Amaral & Luís Abrantes & Carmem Leal & Rui Silva, 2022. "Management Accounting and Control in Higher Education Institutions: A Systematic Literature Review," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:14-:d:728542
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/12/1/14/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/12/1/14/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Evi Marlina & Hendri Ali Ardi & Siti Samsiah & Kirmizi Ritonga & Amris Rusli Tanjung, 2020. "Strategic Costing Models as Strategic Management Accounting Techniques at Private Universities in Riau, Indonesia," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(1), pages 274-283, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carla Fontes & Joaquim Leite & Paula Odete Fernandes, 2022. "Structural Autonomy and Management Performance: An Influence Reinforced in the Particular Context of Portuguese Public Secondary Schools," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:14-:d:728542. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.