Institutionalizing XBRL in the UK: an organizing vision perspective

Abstract

eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) presents opportunities for integrating the flow of financial information within communities of diverse organizations which can significantly enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of underlying business information supply chains. Using the organizing vision framework to examine the emergence of XBRL in the United Kingdom, we explore how institutional arrangements are brought about and shape collective action when heterogeneous organizations engage in complex patterns of interaction in attempts to develop XBRL as an ICT innovation. We find that, initially, XBRL entrepreneurs in the UK may have undermined community understanding of XBRL by adopting a technical lexicon that created confusion in the community. Furthermore, lack of adequate tools prevented curious organizational actors from appreciating XBRL benefits in practice. Current and ongoing participation of regulators is increasingly legitimizing XBRL while their coercive influences are increasing urgency and enhancing organizational participation for refining the organizing vision of XBRL in the UK. This paper contributes to existing literature by highlighting the value of the organizing vision framework as a compelling tool to illuminate and explain the institutional impacts of heterogeneous networks of organizational actors on emerging ICT innovations such as XBRL.