the private sector by Horton et al. (2004) who noted its
importance by stating:
. . .given the novelty of the issues being discussed (so
that it was not even clear initially what would be the
most important questions to ask) and the need to ensure
that the views of the most important protagonists were
obtained, the flexibility of semi-structured interviews
greatly outweighed the limitations on statistical analysis
that would result.
The initial interviews also allowed the development of
preconstructed interview guides that could be used for the
formal interviews and for the subsequent questionnaire.
The formats of the interview guides were adapted to incorporate
the issue of capital charges (defined as depreciation
and imputed interest on the book value of fixed assets)
pertinent to the two departments, Finance and Estates,
and both were designed so that the interview could be
completed within approximately one hour. The questions
within the interview guides were made up of both open
and closed-ended questions.
The guide produced for interviewing individuals within
the Estates division of the Trusts (available from the authors
on request) contained two sections pertinent to the aspect
of coupling:
• The records section included questions relating to the
record keeping of capital assets such as where they were
kept, how they were kept, who maintained them and
subsequently used them. The answers to these questions
provided insights into the relationships between the elements
and, if it was found that a completely separate set
of capital asset records was maintained for Estates purposes,
then the lack of integration and articulation would
suggest that coupling was loose.
• The financial section comprised questions relating to the
financial consequences of accounting for capital assets.
This included behavioural issues surrounding the budgeting
process, acquisition and disposal of assets and
general questions on the perceived impact of capital
charges. Again, the answers to these questions reflected
upon the extent of coupling through the extent of integration.
The Finance-related interview guide (available from the
authors on request) was lengthier than the Estates version
and the sections relevant to coupling were:
• Questions on internal issues were concerned mainly with
the procedures for producing asset-related information
and how policies to deal with such matters as depreciation
and the categorisation of the state of assets were
determined. They also dealt with the cash consequences
related to the flow of resources measured as capital
charges.
• The budget section questions dealt with the extent of
inclusion of capital charges in the budget process, the
involvement of budget holders with capital charges and
the interviewee’s role in the process. This reflected on
whether the accounting innovation represented by cap-
Table 1
Profile of interviewees.
Position Trust
Financial Controller 1
Director of Finance 1
Estates Manager 1
Senior Assistant Director of Finance 2
Assistant Estates Manager 2
Estates Manager 2
ital asset accounting had permeated the organisation or
whether it had been limited to meeting the requirements
of imposed accounting regulation. Loose coupling would
be evidenced by the existence of the latter case.
• The financial section related to how the details relating
to capital charges in the external annual report and
accounts were generated.
To maintain anonymity, codes have been used to
attribute quotations. Table 1 provides a key to assist in the
interpretation of the qualitative evidence.
After the interviews a questionnaire was developed
and distributed to the Directors of Finance of the 14 NHS
Trusts in Wales. The questionnaire was split into sections
and comprised a mixture of dichotomous (yes/no), multichotomous
(several possible answers) and open-ended
style questions.
• The questions in one section related to the asset register
and the frequency of its use. The frequency indicated
whether the arrangements were simply to provide
required information or whether, being more frequent,
the measures and verifications had entered more deeply
into the organisational culture.
• A second section used general, open-ended questions
relating to the introduction of capital charges and their
impact on budgetary control to identify the extent to
which these changes relating to RAB had been integrated
into the organisation so as to provide cohesion between
units.
The results of the interviews were transformed into an
appropriate format and analysed on the basis of themes by
two researchers working independently using the qualitative
data package, NVIVO.8
Statistical analysis of the questionnaires was not undertaken
due to the small sample size. However, a 100%
response rate was achieved with all of the fourteen NHS
Hospital Trusts in Wales responding. The results therefore
provide conclusive evidence from the Wales perspective. In
some cases the questionnaire was completed by the Director
of Finan