Implementing MFRS 15 in a Malaysian telecommunications company: A case study using the Burns and Scapens institutional framework

Abstract

Although IFRS 15 and its Malaysian equivalent MFRS 15 have attracted extensive research on financial reporting outcomes, little is known about how organisations translate these standards into everyday routines. This paper examined how adopting MFRS 15 triggered organisational change in a large Malaysian telecommunications company, pseudonymized as BETA. Drawing on the Burns and Scapens (2000) institutional framework, this study classified the change along three dichotomies: regressive versus progressive, formal versus informal, and evolutionary versus revolutionary. The study used an explanatory single-case design based on five semi-structured interviews with senior finance and accounting personnel conducted between November 2019 and January 2022, supplemented by annual reports and internal documents. The analysis identified five themes: adaptability and resilience, stakeholder requirements, productivity and performance, structure and system change, and resource constraints. The change was predominantly progressive and formal, driven by regulatory mandate, board oversight and hierarchical authority. Informal engagement through training, site visits, and discussions complemented formal enforcement, particularly in addressing resistance and resource limits. The change combined evolutionary elements, such as early preparation and phased implementation, with revolutionary elements, notably the redesign of systems, controls and revenue-based performance indicators. The findings suggest that regulatory accounting change is absorbed through the interplay of formal rules and informal routines. Because the evidence comes from five finance participants in one firm, the study offers analytical insight rather than generalisation, and future research should include other functions and organisations.