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Carbon controls in a New Zealand electricity utility: An application of theoretical triangulation
Author(s) -
Bui Binh,
Fowler Carolyn
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
accounting and finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.645
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-629X
pISSN - 0810-5391
DOI - 10.1111/acfi.12942
Subject(s) - transactional leadership , legitimacy , triangulation , control (management) , stakeholder , electricity , management control system , environmental economics , resource (disambiguation) , process (computing) , transaction cost , business , economics , environmental resource management , knowledge management , microeconomics , political science , computer science , management , engineering , geography , politics , computer network , cartography , electrical engineering , law , operating system
This article examines the drivers and process of change in carbon controls within a New Zealand electricity utility, using a meta‐triangulation approach that employs three theoretical perspectives (transactional cost economics, the resource‐based view and new institutional sociology). Results suggest three main objectives motivate carbon controls: cost control, competitiveness and legitimacy. Multiple environmental demands and expectations were met by focusing controls on a particular stakeholder group or objective. Further, the research identifies the conditions under which carbon controls are integrated and institutionalised within an organisational management control system. The theoretical interplay provides insight into inter‐relationships between institutional environments, organisational resources and carbon transactional characteristics.