The historical development of management accounting discursive role in NPM reforms

Much research has focused on the role and limitations that management accounting techniques have had in the development of New Public Management (NPM) reforms during the past 30 years. However, research of the origin of NPM, the reason for NPM reforms consumed with the role of management accounting from a historical perspective is limited. This paper investigates the historical and discursive development of management accounting in health care through general history, organisational and national documents along with academic literature. The framework is informed by the governmentality concept described by Miller and O’Leary (1987) and this is used to reflect on developments in the past century including the role of discursive formation and practice. The intention is to explain and put into perspective how the current role of management accounting developed. The aim is to guide future research on understanding the role of management accounting in health care