Paradigm shift in the microfinance sector and its implications for theory development: empirical evidence from Pakistan
Financial and non-financial subsidized resources at the disposal of international donor agencies available for continued support of the microfinance sector are not unlimited. One of the strategies resorted to by the donor community to ensure supply of financial resources to the sector was to make it lucrative to private-sector investment. Thus, for more than a decade now, the donor community has been emphasizing profitability on the part of microfinance institutions to enable the sector to attract commercial capital. This move on the part of the donor community led microfinance institutions to adapt both functionally and structurally to better cope with donor's expectations and show them profits. Many microfinance institutions set example of successful adaptation and reorientation of their tangible and intangible organizational elements to enable them to survive under these new conditions. Laughlin's (1991) Model of Organizational Change provides a theoretical base for understanding such an organizational change in the light of changing external circumstances. While the Model placated all the relevant research questions, it did not fully explain all the trends observed in the empirical data collected for the study, which lent a room for development in the Model.
Commercialization of Microfinance: Is the sector losing its identity by evading its original 'social service' responsibility?
The primary mission behind the inception of the microfinance sector was to enable the poor to have access to cheaper financial services because the mainstream financial institutions would not serve them and the alternative sources of finance, such as informal money lenders, would exploit them by charging them exorbitantly high interest rate. With the paradigm shift in the sector during the early 1990s, when the donor community started emphasizing self-sustainability and profitability on the part of microfinance organizations (MFOs), the main focus of these organizations underwent a drastic shift from following a social service objective to chasing profitability in operations. In Laughlin's (1991) terminology this was an internal change in the basic coherence of these organizations, which rendered other organizational elements incompatible with their primary objectives. MFOs could not cope with their dual responsibility of ensuring their operational and financial self-sufficiency as well as serving the poor while keeping their existing organizational structure intact. This case study provides empirical evidence as to the evasion of social responsibility by MFOs after responding to the paradigm shift in the sector.
A revisit of the participative budgeting and employees' self-efficacy interrelationship - empirical evidence from Indonesia's public sector
The study aims to investigate the effect of employees' participation in the budget construction process, through voice and trust, on employee self-efficacy and performance, in public sector organizations. Budgetary participation and employees' performance have been extensively researched in both private sector organizations and from the perspective of top management. We investigated the phenomenon in public sector organizations and from the point of view of lower level participating employees. We gleaned empirical data from 114 respondents in public sector organizations in Lampung, Indonesia, and analyzed it using SmartPLS to test our hypotheses. We found that in the course of budgetary participation, employees' expectancy attitude, in the light of the expectancy theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, predicted employees' behavior, and had a significant impact on their self-efficacy and performance. Employees' voice and interpersonal trust in the budget construction process would reap optimal benefit for the organization when participating employees perceive their participation to be objectively appreciated and encouraged by top management. The study has implications for top management's role in the budget construction process, and contributes to the management accounting literature in the context of the public sector in developing countries.
Strategic Performance Measurement System: A Service Sector and Lower Level Employees Empirical Investigation
Resorting to the Schatzki's (2002) 'site of the social' theoretical construct and stance on the peculiar 'sites' of construction and institutionalisation of social practices, we aim to locate the use and efficacy of strategic performance measurement system (SPMS) in service sector organizations and at the lower hierarchical level, and its effect on role clarity, employees' psychological empowerment and performance. This study aims to further the relevant literature, which covers the phenomenon in the manufacturing industry and at the upper level of the organizational hierarchy (Hall, 2008). A survey study of employees at the lower hierarchical level in the banking sector of the southern part of Sumatera including the provinces of Lampung, South Sumatera, Bengkulu and Jambi was conducted and data analyzed using SmartPLS. Our analysis of the empirical data we gleaned from our survey of 135 respondents endorsed the hypotheses set for the study confirming a positive impact of the use of CPMS on lower level employees' role clarity and overall performance in service sector organizations, however, did not support CPMS's effect on the employees' 'psychological empowerment'. The effect and efficacy of the use of SPMS on role clarify, performance and psychological empowerment in the manufacturing sector employees at the upper hierarchical level have already been empirically investigated (see Hall, 2008). This current study aims to not only extend such studies to the service industry but also contribute to the management accounting literature through extending the use of the strategic performance measurement system to employees at the lower hierarchical level in the service sector. It aims at apprising practitioners and policy-makers on the utility and limitation of the use of CPMS in these contexts.
The microfinance sector responds to the turbulent external environment: A case study of the Akrsp in Pakistan
The drastic shift in the microfinance paradigm during the early 1990s, when the donor community adopted a new approach as to the sustainability of microfinance institutions, changed the overall scenario of the paradigm. Instead of providing subsidized financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) for their life time, the donors started emphasizing self-sustainability, financial as well as operational, on the part of MFIs through making them adopt principles of commercialism. The shift in the donors' approach gave rise to a state of stiff competition among MFIs as they had to struggle for more business to ensure their survival in the long run. These new issues came as external disturbances for MFIs, which were previously heavily dependent on the donors' subsidized funding, and they had to adapt and reorient to the changed external conditions. The study resorted to two theoretical frameworks - Laughlin's (1991) Model of Organizational Change and Institutional Theory (DiMaggio and Powel, 1983) to placate two independent but mutually intertwined aspects of the research issue.
Interactive use of perfomance measurement systems and the organzation's customers-focused strategy: the mediating role of organizational learning
This study investigates the effect of the interactive use of performance measurement systems (PMS) on the company's adaptation of its customer-focused strategy. The authors used a self-administered survey study of 69 managers working in the Indonesia Stock Exchange-listed financial institutions. The authors' statistical analyses using SmartPLS 2.0 supported all hypotheses and revealed direct and indirect relationships among the hypothesized variables. However, based on the 'path analysis', using the Sobel's test and the Variance Accounted For (VAF), the empirical data revealed that the organizational members' direct relationship with the customer accounted for a greater contribution to the improvement in the customer-focused strategy compared to the organization's indirect relationship. This study provides evidence that an effective implementation and interactive use of PMS would leverage the organization's customers-focused strategy and help it gain a competitive advantage.