Abstract Concepts of organizational power are the basis for a comparative study of schools of accounting or accountancy (SAs) and alternative organizational units used for accounting education in colleges and universities. The study uses questionnaires and Interviews to assess the power or Influence of SAs over accounting program decisions contrasted with that of NSAs (nonschools of accounting). The study focuses on “key players” within the accounting organizational unit at its interface with the larger organization (i.e., deans, accounting administrators, and senior accounting faculty). The principal findings of the questionnaire portion of the study are: (1) SAs have more control over accounting program decisions than NSAs, (2) accounting administrators are significantly more influential in SAs than in NSAs, (3) deans and accounting faculty are not significantly more or less influential in SAs than in NSAs, (4) both SAs and NSAs have oligarchic control structures, and (5) stereotypical response patterns can be associated with deans, accounting administrators, and faculty. The principal findings of the Interview portion of the study are: (1) most SAs were relatively powerful departments before becoming SAs and, thus, found their relative power unchanged by the new designation, and (2) among the small group of SAs whose power did change, significant administrative organization changes accompanied becoming an SA.
Collins et al. (Fri,) studied this question.