Christopher Lorin Akroyd

Scopus Publications

Beyond the bottom line: a qualitative content analysis of sustainability performance drivers in Indonesian banks
Iwan Suhardjo, Chris Akroyd, Meiliana Suparman
Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 2026
Purpose Banks are key to sustainable development, influencing corporate behavior by allocating capital towards sustainable initiatives. Because of this, they can drive the transition to a more sustainable future through financing, technical assistance and risk management. This study aims to identify the key drivers of sustainability performance in Indonesian banks by analyzing their sustainability reports. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in stakeholder theory, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of the sustainability reports of two Indonesian banks (PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk [BNGA] and PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) [BMRI] from 2022 to 2023. The authors examined the alignment between materiality, strategy and stakeholder engagement, the presence of external assurance and the implementation of Green Taxonomy. The authors also analyzed the relationship between reported sustainability performance, firm valuation and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk ratings. Findings The four key drivers that influence the sustainability performance of banks are the alignment of materiality, strategy and stakeholder engagement; implementation of Green Taxonomy; strong sustainability governance; and effective risk management. By incorporating environmental and social performance alongside governance and economic performance, these banks have demonstrated a comprehensive approach to sustainability that can positively impact their firm valuation and ESG risk ratings. This analysis showed that BNGA prioritizes customer data security, privacy and governance. BMRI highlights its own unique strengths in sustainability reporting with different priorities and commitments. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing insights into the specific drivers of bank sustainability performance in Indonesian. It offers practical recommendations for banks seeking to improve their sustainability practices and contribute to positive social and environmental impacts.
Double materiality and sustainability reporting: a qualitative study in a developing country
Iwan Suhardjo, Chris Akroyd, Astrid Rudyanto, Meiliana Suparman
Meditari Accountancy Research, 2026
Purpose Double materiality is crucial for assessing a company’s sustainability performance. This study aims to explore how Indonesian companies are addressing double materiality communicated in their sustainability reports. The authors do this by focusing on the internal interactions between accounting and sustainability teams, and external interactions with environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating agencies. Design/methodology/approach Using stakeholder theory, this study reports on a qualitative study based on semistructured interviews with middle managers and executive-level managers as well as content analysis of company sustainability reports, annual reports and the company websites of eight listed Indonesian companies. Findings The findings indicate that Indonesian companies generally prioritize financial materiality. However, banking and environmentally sensitive industries show a balanced approach where powerful stakeholders exert stronger regulatory pressure. Through a stakeholder theory lens, the authors found that collaboration between accounting and sustainability functions remains limited to compliance activities, demonstrating companies’ tendency to prioritize salient financial stakeholders while marginalizing broader stakeholder concerns. A notable misalignment exists between companies’ materiality assessments and ESG ratings, reflecting divergent stakeholder prioritization approaches. This stakeholder power imbalance creates challenges to addressing double materiality as companies respond primarily to dominant stakeholders rather than addressing the broader stakeholder interests. Originality/value This study explores how double materiality is addressed in Indonesia, a developing country with mandatory sustainability reporting regulations. The authors analyze both internal organizational dynamics and external influences to provide insights into how double materiality issues are identified and prioritized across different stakeholder groups.
Advances in Management Accounting
Advances in Management Accounting, 2026
Volume 38 of Advances in Management Accounting uses a variety of methods, from experiments and case studies to surveys, to build upon existing knowledge within the management accounting discipline. Containing a diverse range of authors from around the world, this publication focuses on theoretically sound and practical research which has a cutting-edge and wide-reaching appeal to academics and practitioners. Showcasing methods of and analysis on varied statistical testing and performance measurement models, this edited collection will appeal to both management accounting academics and professionals. Topics analysed include the effects and significance of statistical testing, the limits and goals of such testing and modelling, compensation moderation, and how to handle ethical issues affecting management accounting. Advances in Management Accounting (AIMA) publishes thought-provoking volumes that advance knowledge in the management accounting discipline and are of interest to both academics and practitioners. The series seeks thoughtful, well-developed articles on a variety of current topics in management accounting, broadly defined. AIMA seeks to publish commentaries on research methodology and new management accounting areas of interest as well as papers using research methods including survey research, field tests, case studies, experiments, meta-analyses, and modelling.
Management control system stability and change in a global corporation: the role of cultural capital
Chris Akroyd, Satoko Matsugi, Yoshinobu Shima
Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 2025
Purpose This paper aims to understand the role that the “cultural capital” of managers has on the stability and change of management control systems (MCS) in the subsidiary of a global corporation. Design/methodology/approach A seven-year longitudinal case study was conducted at the US subsidiary of a Japanese-based global corporation. The theoretical concepts of cultural capital and MCS package typology are used to examine how management controls were understood by locally hired employees and expatriate Japanese managers at the case study site. Findings The findings show that the managers at the Japanese headquarters transferred an MCS package that had a high level of interdependence between cultural control and results control to their US subsidiary in the 1960s. This MCS package did not influence the behavior of locally hired employees in ways that the Japanese expatriate managers expected; instead, it led to the cultural exclusion of local employees. Even when the Japanese managers were faced with a changing environment, the MCS package did not change. When Japanese managers realized they could not achieve their goals in the USA without local managers, they slowly started to hire mid-career local managers. As the number of local managers increased, the expatriate Japanese managers started to become more aware of the impact of their cultural capital. This has resulted in changes in the MCS package for local managers in the US subsidiary. Originality/value This study revealed that even when the strategy of a company and the environment in which it operates changes, an MCS package may not change quickly. The authors show that the cultural capital of managers plays a role in MCS stability and change.
Accounting for purpose: traditional Chinese philosophies and management control systems in Chinese companies
Jesse Jingyuan Yang, Chris Akroyd, Yuqian Zhang
Meditari Accountancy Research, 2025
Purpose Successful for-profit companies often share a key trait: a benevolent purpose toward stakeholders, which helps them grow faster and outperform the market. Yet, how companies achieve this purpose remains poorly understood. This paper aims to explore traditional Chinese philosophies to uncover how Chinese companies integrate benevolent stakeholder purpose into their management control systems (MCS). Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an exploratory qualitative study of three Chinese companies, analyzing how senior managers connect traditional Chinese philosophies – Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism – to their company’s purpose. Using Simons’ “levers of control” framework, the study reveals how these philosophies influenced managers’ application of MCS to guide and motivate employees toward fulfilling that purpose. Findings The authors found that Confucianism motivated managers to build a people-oriented atmosphere within the companies the authors studied. This shaped corporate culture and values, achieved through belief and boundary systems. Buddhism fostered a managerial mindset of ethical behavior, which shaped long-term company values, which was also accomplished through belief and boundary systems. The Taoist principle of Wu Wei encouraged a noncoercive management style, which shaped a balance between short-term and long-term goals, accomplished through diagnostic and interactive systems. Originality/value This study demonstrates how traditional Chinese philosophies shape senior managers’ understanding of purpose and the ways in which this is accomplish through the use of MCS in their companies. It provides novel insights into the connections between Chinese philosophies and corporate purpose and presents avenues for further qualitative research into the ways MCS are used in Chinese companies.
Brewing a service-identity: management controls in craft beer servitization
Julia Yonghua Wu, Chris Akroyd, Frederick Ng
Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 2025
Purpose This paper aims to examine the management controls that support (and fail to support) a craft brewery’s servitization journey from start-up, through growth, to maturity. It enriches our understanding of how management controls can facilitate the discovery of a service-identity that provides the foundation for servitization. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on in-depth interviews, fieldwork and secondary data analyses, this paper reports on a longitudinal case study of a craft brewery. The authors trace the case company’s servitization journey using a service-dominant logic theoretical perspective. This perspective focuses us on how the value of a product is cocreated with customers, rather than being created by the firm and then distributed. Findings The study found that many management controls emerged at the craft brewery from start-up to maturity. Some management controls supported a goods logic, while others supported a service logic. The findings highlight how people and cultural controls in particular enabled the company to move toward a service logic focused on servitization. These management controls informed the evolution of offerings, structure reconfiguration and resources at the craft brewery necessary to support servitization. Originality/value Studying a craft brewery contributes an alternative type of manufacturing context and shows how service-identity features such as craftiness, collectiveness, neolocalism and innovation affect a company’s servitization journey.
INTRODUCTION
Advances in Management Accounting, 2025
Beyond compliance: sustainability reporting challenges and the future of integrated reporting in Indonesia
Iwan Suhardjo, Christopher Akroyd, Meiliana Suparman
Asian Review of Accounting, 2025
Purpose This study examines the challenges of mandatory sustainability reporting and the perceptions that managers have of integrated reporting (IR) in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in stakeholder and institutional theories, this interpretivist study uses a qualitative methodology employing semi-structured interviews with managers from Indonesian listed companies. This study explores the experiences of managers with mandatory sustainability reporting and analyzes their views using thematic analysis. Findings Our findings extend prior research by identifying four interrelated sustainability reporting challenges: framework proliferation, materiality determination, assurance inadequacies, and resource constraints, forming a self-reinforcing cycle that perpetuates symbolic reporting despite mandatory requirements. Managers expressed a split view on IR, some saw it as a tool to improve communication, while others preferred separation to meet diverse audience needs. The study shows how organizations navigate institutional pressures and stakeholder expectations. These findings have timely implications for regulators, underscoring the need for standardized frameworks, sector guidance, and capacity building for meaningful adoption. Research limitations/implications While this study offers new insights, its focus on managerial perspectives is a limitation. Incorporating views from other stakeholders such as investors and regulators could provide other understandings of sustainability reporting challenges and IR adoption. Originality/value Our contribution lies in explaining how Indonesian listed companies navigate systemic sustainability reporting challenges under POJK51, conceptualizing these challenges as interlinked rather than discrete issues. By focusing on stakeholder and institutional tensions, we offer a grounded theoretical lens that can inform the design of future IR practices in developing countries.
Sustainability performance and reporting in Indonesian listed companies
Iwan Suhardjo, Chris Akroyd, Meiliana Suparman
Pacific Accounting Review, 2025
Purpose This study aims to understand sustainability performance in Indonesia, which is a populous nation with abundant natural resources and mandatory sustainability reporting for listed companies, and a high level of corruption. By investigating the motivations and practices of Indonesian companies, they provide insights into how sustainability is interpreted and implemented. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research approach, informed by stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory, was used. Semi-structured interviews with 27 managers from eight Indonesian listed companies and three managers from two large Indonesian institutional investors were carried out. Content analysis of company sustainability and annual reports was also conducted to triangulate the interview data. Findings This study shows that mandatory reporting in Indonesia does not automatically impact how companies address material issues due to a lack of regulatory detail. The study reveals that there is a hierarchy of relevant stakeholders with both institutional investors and lenders prioritizing financial materiality over impact materiality with institutional stakeholders driving sustainability in environmentally-sensitive industries. The findings also show that companies report on sustainability mainly for legitimacy purposes, which is driven by regulatory and institutional pressures. Environmentally-sensitive industries prioritize impact materiality due to heightened legitimacy risks. The institutional investors focus on “Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO)” as a key governance mechanism while treating environment social and governance risk ratings mainly as supplementary information. Practical implications This study offers practical implications for institutional investors and regulators in developing economies. It highlights the need for clearer materiality guidance and stronger governance mechanisms, such as UBO transparency, to enhance sustainability performance in high-corruption environments like Indonesia. Originality/value This study reveals the influence that mandatory sustainability reporting has in Indonesia, showing that regulatory compliance does not necessarily lead to sustainability impact. The authors also show how institutional factors in developing economies shape double materiality implementation. The research exposes critical gaps in reporting practices, emphasizing the need for a context-specific approach to sustainability performance and reporting.
Control strategies for impactful exits in impact private equity firms
Syrus M. Islam, Chris Akroyd
Accounting and Finance, 2024
Traditional private equity firms aim to maximise their financial returns when exiting an investment. In contrast, a major consideration for impact private equity firms is to ensure an impactful exit from their investments – increasing the chance of impact continuity in portfolio companies post exit. However, impactful exits may not be realised due to ownership‐, management‐, and operations‐related threats. Drawing on data from 45 impact private equity firms, we identify the control strategies that impact investors use throughout the investment lifecycle to manage impactful exits from investment. We also highlight how control‐related issues differ between traditional and impact private equity firms.
INTRODUCTION
H. David Akroyd
Advances in Management Accounting, 2024
Unpacking Environmental, Social, and Governance Score Disparity: A Study of Indonesian Palm Oil Companies
Iwan Suhardjo, Chris Akroyd, Meiliana Suparman
Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2024
BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING: A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ETHICAL SUSTAINABILITY GOVERNANCE
Iwan Suhardjo, Chris Akroyd, Meiliana Suparman
Corporate Governance and Sustainability Review, 2024
Enhancing Decision Making and Mitigating Cognitive Biases: Design and Implementation of a Visualization Education Platform
30th Americas Conference on Information Systems Amcis 2024, 2024
Evaluating the outcome effectiveness of the global reporting initiative transitions
Ramona Zharfpeykan, Chris Akroyd
Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal, 2023
THE NEW MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING ECOSYSTEM: A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW AND PATH TO THE FUTURE
Chris Akroyd, Kevin E. Dow, Andrea Drake, Jeffrey Wong
Advances in Management Accounting, 2023
Management control systems effect on the micro-level processes of product innovation
Sharlene Sheetal Narayan Biswas, Chris Akroyd, Norio Sawabe
Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change, 2023
Religiosity and accountants' ethical decision-making in a religious country with a high level of corruption
Nirupika Liyanapathirana, Chris Akroyd
Pacific Accounting Review, 2023
Performance management and open innovation: evidence from Brazilian startups
Anderson Betti Frare, Chris Akroyd
Management Decision, 2023
Collaborative inter-organisational relationships and management control change
Sharlene Biswas, Chris Akroyd
Accounting and Finance, 2022
Management control systems and the strategic management of innovation
Sharlene Sheetal Narayan Biswas, Chris Akroyd
Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 2022
Packages of management control systems, entrepreneurial orientation and performance in Brazilian startups
Anderson Betti Frare, Ana Paula Capuano da Cruz, Carlos Eduardo Facin Lavarda, Chris Akroyd
Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change, 2022
Factors influencing the integration of sustainability indicators into a company's performance management system
Ramona Zharfpeykan, Chris Akroyd
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2022
Imprinting founders’ blueprints on management control systems
Chris Akroyd, Ralph Kober
Management Accounting Research, 2020
The emergence of management controls in an entrepreneurial company
Chris Akroyd, Ralph Kober, Danni Li
Accounting and Finance, 2019
Management controls and pressure groups: the mediation of overflows
Stephen Jollands, Chris Akroyd, Norio Sawabe
Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, 2018
ERP systems and management accounting: New understandings through “nudging” in qualitative research
Gary Spraakman, Winnie O’Grady, Davood Askarany, Chris Akroyd
Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change, 2018
Chapter 2: Beyond budgeting: Distinguishing modes of adaptive performance management
Winnie O’Grady, Chris Akroyd, Inara Scott
Advances in Management Accounting, 2017
The MCS package in a non-budgeting organisation: A case study of Mainfreight
Winnie O’Grady, Chris Akroyd
Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 2016
The governance of inter-firm co-development projects in an open innovation setting
Sharlene Biswas, Chris Akroyd
Pacific Accounting Review, 2016
How management control practices enable strategic alignment during the product development process
Chris Akroyd, Sharlene Sheetal Narayan Biswas, Sharon Chuang
Advances in Management Accounting, 2016
Employers’ Perceptions of Information Technology Competency Requirements for Management Accounting Graduates
Gary Spraakman, Winifred O'Grady, Davood Askarany, Chris Akroyd
Accounting Education, 2015
Core values as a management control in the construction of "sustainable development"
Stephen Jollands, Chris Akroyd, Norio Sawabe
Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 2015
A revenue management perspective of management accounting practice in small businesses
Frederick Ng, Julie A. Harrison, Chris Akroyd
Meditari Accountancy Research, 2013
Article type: Guest editorial from: Journal of accounting & organizational change, volume 9, issue 4
Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change, 2013
The integration substitute: The role of controls in managing human asset specificity
VG Sridharan, Chris Akroyd
Accounting and Finance, 2011
The roles of management control in a product development setting
Chris Akroyd, William Maguire
Qualitative Research in Accounting Management, 2011
Executing management control through decision technology
Pacis 2010 14th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, 2010

Christopher Lorin Akroyd

EDUCATION

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Scopus Publications

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS