Firms, institutions and management control: the comparative analysis of coordination and control systems

1999 ◽  
Vol 24 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 507-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Whitley
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Management Control ◽  
And Control ◽  
Coordination And Control

scholarly journals People in suits: a case study of empowerment and control in a non-profit UK organisation

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-528
Author(s):  
Roxana Corduneanu ◽  
Laura Lebec
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Interactive Systems ◽  
Employee Perceptions ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
And Control

PurposeDrawing on Simons's levers of control (LoC) framework, the primary aim of this study is to advance an understanding of the balance between empowerment and constraint in a non-profit UK organisation. In particular, this study examines the antecedents and manifestations of LoC (im)balance, in relation to employees' level of engagement with the control systems in place.Design/methodology/approachFor this study, 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with different organisational members, from directors to non-managerial staff, to gain an in-depth appreciation of the main differences between managerial intentions in the design of management control systems (MCS) and employee perceptions regarding the role of such systems.FindingsThis research reveals that suppression of interactive systems and internal inconsistencies between different types of controls hinder the balance between empowerment and constraint. This imbalance is then found to have important consequences for employee buy-in, in some cases, defeating the purposes of control.Research limitations/implicationsThis study enhances our understanding of the gap between the design of control systems and the employee perceptions of it in an unusual organisational setting (non-profit and bringing together clinical and non-clinical staff and operations).Originality/valueThe study of MCS and its role in organisations has long been the focus of both academic and practitioner research. Yet, while extant literature focused on management's perspective on MCS, few studies have explored employees' attitudes and behaviours that accompany the implementation of control. What is more, little is known about the specific uses and behavioural outcomes of MCS in the context of non-profit organisations. Drawing on Simons's LoC framework, this paper addresses these gaps in the literature and investigates the balance between control and empowerment of employees in a UK non-profit organisation with significant clinical remit.

Do management control systems in SMEs reflect CEO demographics?

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Mie Reheul ◽  
Ann Jorissen
Keyword(s):  
System Design ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Upper Echelons ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Evaluation Systems ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
And Control

Purpose – Drawing on upper echelons theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether CEOs place their distinctive marks on the design of planning, control and evaluation systems (i.e. management control systems (MCS)) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – The authors use survey data from 189 Belgian SMEs and perform regression analyses to investigate the relation between the CEO demographics tenure, education and experience and various aspects of MCS design, controlling for the classical contingent variables. Findings – CEO tenure and education are related to evaluation system design, but there is no link between CEO demographics and planning and control system design. The lack of managerial discretion concerning planning and control systems could be explained by their more external and observable character, giving rise to pressures to comply with institutional norms (“good practices”). The presence of discretion concerning the design of evaluation systems could be due to their internal character. Practical implications – Since evaluation systems are an important determinant of work-related attitudes and can lead to dysfunctional behavior, it is important for company owners and board members to consider the demographics of present or new CEOs, and to understand the associated inclinations reflected in evaluation systems. Originality/value – The authors apply a more comprehensive approach than (the few) existing SME studies by relating a larger number of CEO demographics to a more comprehensive set of MCS elements, controlling for a larger group of contingent variables. Moreover, the authors fill gaps in the upper echelons and MCS literature.

Flexibility and control in managing collaborative and in-house NPD

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emer Curtis ◽  
Breda Sweeney
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Business Models ◽  
New Product ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Operational Constraints ◽  
And Control

Purpose Prior literature provides little insight on how management control systems have responded to the growth of collaborative new product development (NPD). The purpose of this paper is to contrast the use of budgets to manage collaborative and in-house NPD and to consider the implications for enabling flexibility. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on the findings of a case study company in the medical devices industry that uses two different business models for its NPD activities. While the company engages in in-house NPD for its own products, it also engages in collaborative NPD services with a range of customers. Findings The study illuminates how two types of budgets (annual and project) can have very different impacts on flexibility under different business models. The annual financial budgets imposed rigid constraints on in-house NPD and resulted in reduced flexibility, whereas in collaborative NPD, they had little impact on flexibility. Project budgets created hard operational constraints in collaborative NPD which generated a highly pressurised yet highly creative environment, whereas project budgets had little impact on flexibility in in-house NPD. Originality/value The study contributes detailed empirical insights into the control systems used to manage collaborative NPD from the supplier perspective, where creativity is largely responsive and contrasts these with the management of in-house NPD where creativity is largely expected. The authors also contribute an analysis of the key control systems and other factors that sustain flexibility in this highly pressurised open innovation environment.

Creativity Research in Management Accounting: A Commentary

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Speckbacher
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Leadership Management ◽  
Creativity Research ◽  
Process Perspective ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
And Control

ABSTRACT Building on the insights from the case studies presented by Cools, Stouthuysen, and Van den Abbeele (2017) and Davila and Ditillo (2017) as well as existing literature on creativity, several suggestions for future creativity research in management accounting are made. Pointing at research in psychology and sociology, I suggest using more context-specific definitions and theories of creativity, and focusing on its process perspective. While the widely assumed tension between creativity and control is primarily driven by the “creativity maximization fallacy” and by the use of broad brush concepts of creativity and control, studying how management control systems influence the creative process of divergent and convergent thinking seems a promising task for management accounting researchers. Finally, creativity in organizations is typically a team sport and thus the relation between leadership, management control, and creativity in teams seems particularly interesting.

Emergent short-term forecasting through ant colony engineering in coordination and control systems

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Valckenaers ◽  
Hadeli ◽  
Bart Saint Germain ◽  
Paul Verstraete ◽  
Hendrik Van Brussel
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Ant Colony ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Short Term Forecasting ◽  
And Control ◽  
Coordination And Control

Performance Management in Dutch Central Government

2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico P. Mol ◽  
Johan A.M. de Kruijf
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Research Management ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Familiar Expression ◽  
And Control

This article investigates how and to what extent performance indicators in Dutch central government are actually embedded in performance management. In a case study encompassing 12 government organizations, the relevance of the indicators presented is analysed in three stages: (1) with respect to the responsibilities for results intended in performance measurement, (2) with respect to responsibilities actually implied in resource allocation and (3) with respect to responsibilities ultimately to be inferred from governance – planning and control – systems applied. In our research, management control systems appear to be only partially tuned to the performance indicators specified in advance. The familiar expression ‘What you measure is what you get’ is thereby invalidated by all kinds of restrictions imposed on a manager’s actual responsibility for measurement outcomes.

scholarly journals Organisational culture, environmental management control systems, environmental performance of Pakistani manufacturing industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1293-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tze San Ong ◽  
Hussain Bakhsh Magsi ◽  
Thomas F. Burgess
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Control

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of organizational culture (OC) on a firm’s environmental performance (EP) via the mediating variable of environmental management control systems (EMCS). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 314 Pakistani manufacturing firms via the questionnaire survey, and the structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships. Findings The stable and flexible values of OC affect the effectiveness of formal and informal EMCS. Informal EMCS mediates the relationship between flexible values and EP, whereas formal EMCS mediates the stable values and EP. Overall, the data reveal that the integration of environmental culture within an organization’s culture and control systems leads to improve EP. Originality/value The study is one of the first, to the author’s knowledge, that links OC, EMCS, and EP in a developing economy, in this case Pakistan.

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