Integrated Performance Plans in Higher Education as means of accounting change : insights into the Italian context

This study aims to understand whether the disclosure provided by the Integrated Performance Plans (IPPs) issued by Italian State Universities is substantive or formal. In particular, this research, using the interpretative lens of Middle Range Theory (MRT) by Habermas, investigates the level of interrelationship that exists between the different sections of the IPP (strategic planning, organizational performance, risk analysis, transparency and anti-corruption, and individual perfor-mance) and it verifies the degree of disclosure thoroughness contained in these dif-ferent sections. Analysing a sample composed by the last IPP published by 66 Italian Universities and adopting a meaning-oriented content analysis, final results show that although the findings show a generally positive level of information, in the preparation of the Plans a prevalent attitude of formal compliance with the law seems to persist.

As the meaning-oriented content analysis has shown, in most cases disclosure is used by Italian universities for essentially symbolic purposes. The analysis offers the chance for a twofold contribution to theory and practice. Firstly, it expands the theoretical debate offering newer insights on how infor-mation is disclosed and the factors influencing disclosure behaviours towards specific accountability purposes. Secondly, it presents interesting practical and policy-making implications, suggesting them to pay effort in designing solutions to ease the substantive operationalization of holistic systems, not fully achieved yet. [Publisher's text].