The Project to Improve Financial Reporting and Auditing (PIFRA): Issues in the implementation of ERP in Public sector of Pakistan

This is a case study on PIFRA (Project to Improve Financial Reporting and Auditing) in the public sector of Pakistan. It investigates the process of implementation of New Accounting Model (NAM) and SAP as a reform imitative to overhaul the century old archaic financial management system. This study has three dimensions: implementation of SAP as an integrated system for budgeting and accounting offices at all levels of Government; introduction of modified cash basis of accounting; and the World Bank as a meaningful force for change. New institutional sociology (NIS) and institutional logic have been employed to analyse the process of change at macro as well as micro level. The concepts of isomorphisms in general and cognitive-cultural in particular, legitimacy, decoupling, and agency have been used to understand and assess the extent of institutionalization. The analysis has been divided into three areas: SAP implementation, organizational change, and training. In SAP implementation, separation of audit and accounts, duality of control and role of the World Bank have been analysed to comprehend the issues and their implications for institutionalization. In organizational change, change management as a component of the project, role of the PricewaterhouseCoopers as an architect of NAM and as a supervisory consultant, technical staffing, core team and resistance have been evaluated through NIS. In training, multiple perspectives of training and its distinct relation with institutionalization have been investigated. It is a qualitative study with interpretive approach. Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews, project documents and reports generated by the World Bank and the project management team. The thesis seeks to contribute in terms of its three dimensions and the use of NIS and institutional logic to have a broader picture of the change. Moreover, the identification of training as a driving factor in institutionalization and the role of accountants in post-SAP implementation scenarios also make a contribution to the accounting literature. Contributions towards policy and practice have been made in terms of advice for the World Bank, Government and practitioners when undertaking such projects in future.