Management control for gender mainstreaming – a quest of transformative norm breaking

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Elisabeth Wittbom
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Transport System ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Gender Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Core Business ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the gendered dimensions of management control. Gender mainstreaming is a worldwide strategy for gender equality. The question raised in this paper is how a management control system functions under the pressure of mainstreaming gender into a core business. Design/methodology/approach – The evidence stems from a case study at two Swedish Governmental public transport administrations. Interviews, observations of meetings and close reading of documents furnish this paper with data over a five-year period regarding the management control of the policy goal of a gender-equal transport system. The practice of management control for gender mainstreaming is studied by adopting sociological institutional theory and a gender perspective. Findings – The management control system proves to hamper gender equality. In a technocratic core business, the control system fails to support gender mainstreaming. In this paper, the control of a gender-equal transport system results in a quantitative perspective on women and men instead of a qualitative gender perspective on the transport system. Practical implications – This paper has practical implications both for accountants being involved in management control for gender mainstreaming and for all persons involved in promoting gender mainstreaming. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the scarce literature from research with a gender perspective on management control systems. Being exposed to gender mainstreaming, the gender perspective discloses dysfunctional dimensions within the management control system.

scholarly journals Exploring management control system typologies: an organisation-level view

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tapio Jukka ◽  
Jukka Pellinen
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Management Controls

Purpose Management controls are the processes and mechanisms managers use to influence the behaviour of individuals and groups towards the organisation’s objectives and goals. Discrete management controls and management control system (MCS) frameworks have been extensively researched, but there is little research on organisation-level MCS types. This study aims to identify organisation-level MCS types. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on the MCS type literature, the competing values framework and the upper echelons theory to form organisation effectiveness and top management team constructs to characterise firms. Cluster analysis was used to group a sample of 318 firm-years into MCS types. Findings This study reports a theory-based measurement construct that is initially validated with new empirical data. The authors found from the empirical data four different categories of firms based on the general type of their MCSs labelled clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchy. Originality/value This study makes two contributions to the MCS literature. Firstly, it presents a theory-based measurement construct to identify organisational and top management attributes that can be used to classify organisations’ overall MCS types. Secondly, it demonstrates how information from annual reports and other publicly available data sources can be used to identify the overall MCS types of organisations.

Verbal tones in sustainability assurance statements

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aminu Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
The One ◽  
Language Expectancy ◽  
Societal Expectations ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to examine, through the lens of language expectancy theory (LET), how sustainability assurors use optimism and certainty in possible persuasion attempts. The paper also explores a number of explanatory variables that could offer insights into the use of these verbal tones in sustainability assurance reports. Design/methodology/approach First, the paper relies on DICTION standard normalised optimism and certainty ranges in conjunction with descriptive statistics to analyse how sustainability assurors use optimism and certainty. Second, the paper uses quantile regression with robust standard errors to investigate the association between the measures of verbal tone used in this study and several possible explanatory variables. Findings Consistent with LET, the study documents that sustainability assurors exercise caution in using both certainty and optimism in persuasion attempts. The paper also finds that possible explanatory variables significantly associated with optimism include praise, assurance level, legal system and report location. However, reference to sustainability management control (SMC), status of assurance providers, praise, legal system and financial performance appear to explain the use of certainty. Research limitations/implications The paper does not, at this stage, claim causality between the two measures of verbal tone, on the one hand, and the possible explanatory variables explored, on the other hand. It rather reports their possible associations. Furthermore, the study only measures reference to management control system and not reliance on it. Practical implications The main findings of this study imply that the use of optimism and certainty exhibits likely cautious practice by assurors. Nevertheless, assurors are more likely to use certainty more flexibly and appear more discreet when using optimism. Social implications The findings of this paper also indicate how societal expectations play an important role in ensuring cautious persuasive behaviour by sustainability assurors in using verbal tones within sustainability assurance statements. This suggests that stakeholders may place reliance on attestations expressed in these statements. Originality/value The paper represents the first attempt to test LET in sustainability accounting by analysing verbal tones used by sustainability assurance providers. It contributes to the sustainability assurance literature in that it empirically demonstrates how sustainability assurors, as expert communicators, use optimistic tone and verbal certainty in careful persuasion attempts.

Management control system effectiveness

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Su ◽  
Kevin Baird ◽  
Herbert Schoch
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Units ◽  
General Managers ◽  
System Effectiveness ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – This study aims to examine the association between the use of three types of controls (input, behaviour and output) with the level of employee organisational commitment (EOC) across organisational life cycle (OLC) stages. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by a survey questionnaire from a random sample of 343 general managers in Australian manufacturing business units. Findings – The level of EOC was found to be highest in growth and revival stage units, suggesting that EOC relates to the level of innovation. The analysis revealed that the types of controls were significantly associated with the level of EOC. In particular, a significant positive association was found between input controls and the level of EOC in both the birth and revival stages. Originality/value – This study contributes to both the management control system (MCS) literature and practice. First, because only a limited number of studies have examined the effect of MCSs on the level of EOC, and there is no published study to date which has examined the association between the types of controls with the level of EOC from an OLC perspective, this study fills a gap in the literature by examining these associations. Secondly, the findings have important implications for Australian manufacturing organisations. Specifically, by providing an insight into the association between the types of controls with the level of EOC across OLC stages, the results suggest that managers of organisations in the birth and revival stage need to place greater emphasis on input controls so as to enhance the level of EOC.

General Motors India (2009)

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Keyur Thaker
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Management Control ◽  
General Motors ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Vision

Subject area Management control system, corporate performance management, budgeting, planning, multinational organization. Study level/applicability Graduate and executive education level management programs. Case overview General Motors India (GMI) operations established in 1994 and grew steadily, unlike her startling global performance. In 2007, GMI unveiled its new vision and mission for aggressive growth, expansion and establishing presence across all segments. With increased globalization of General Motors Corporation (GMC), the strategic importance of GMI for sourcing was envisaged. The case describes the organization structure and management control systems at GMI and the changes onto new strategy and vision. The case narrates the unique futures of its control systems such as dual reporting and matrix organization, business plan deployment (BPD), budgeting, performance measurement and compensation system. Expected learning outcomes The financial planning and control system in a large decentralized multinational subsidiary. Typical organizational responsibility structure and administrative and functional, dual-control mechanism. Appreciate strategic planning and budgeting process and how the strategy is cascaded through multiple key result areas and the BPD board. The business environment and strategy dynamics and its relationship with the prevalent control system. Opportunity for students to speculate the changes in control system in wake of radical changes in the business and company environment. Opportunity to introduce Simmons (1995) levers of controls and management control system package. Supplementary materials Teaching notes.

Effects of using the management control system on individual performance with the intervenience of feedforward and organizational learning

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilse Maria Beuren ◽  
Vanderlei dos Santos ◽  
Daniele Cristina Bernd
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to empirically examine the effects of using the management control system (MCS) on individual performance mediated by organizational learning. Complementarily, it evaluates the moderating effect of feedforward on the relationship between MCS use and organizational learning. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling and mediation and moderation analyses were used in a sample of 194 managers from Brazilian companies listed in the Exame Magazine’s “Best and Biggest” ranking. Findings The results reveal that using the MCS from a cybernetic perspective contributes to organizational learning, contradicting theoretical arguments and empirical evidence that this hinders learning and that feedforward can strengthen this relationship, as long as it is in line with the way of using the MCS. A mediating effect of organizational learning on the relationship between MCS use and individual performance has also been confirmed. Practical implications The results demonstrate the effects of MCS use on individual performance and organizational learning by taking a taxonomy of cybernetic use and comprehensive MCS use as a basis. The results provide insights to managers by revealing that MCS use not only influences task performance through organizational learning but also tends to generate cooperative, persistent and initiative-taking behaviors. Originality/value The study provides an approach to the behavioral consequences of using the MCS (score-keeping use and comprehensive MCS use) and the role of specific cognitive and motivational mechanisms in individual performance from a multidimensional perspective (task-based, contextual and general).

Management control systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Su ◽  
Kevin Baird ◽  
Herb Schoch
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Organizational Life ◽  
Organizational Life Cycle ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Stages ◽  
General Managers ◽  
Diagnostic Approaches ◽  
Complementary Nature

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between the interactive and diagnostic approaches to using controls and Miller and Friesen’s (1984) organizational life cycle (OLC) stages (birth, growth, maturity, revival). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a random sample of 343 general managers in Australian manufacturing organizations. Findings The results indicate that both approaches are used to a greater extent in the growth and revival stages than the birth and maturity stages, whereas the interactive and diagnostic approaches are used to a similar extent in each of the four OLC stages. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the management control system literature by examining the use of the interactive and diagnostic approaches from an OLC perspective. The findings highlight that the complementary nature of the interactive and diagnostic approaches applies in each OLC stages, and suggest that similar attention should be placed on the use of both the interactive and diagnostic approaches in each OLC stage. Practical implications The study provides managers with an insight into the prevalence of the use of interactive and diagnostic approaches across the birth, growth, maturity and revival stages. Originality/value This study contributes to the management control system literature by adopting the configuration approach to examine how multiple contingent variables simultaneously affect the approach to using controls. Specifically, this study examines how organizations adjust their emphasis on Simons’ (1995) interactive and diagnostic approaches to using controls as they move across different development stages. These development stages were labelled as OLC stages and are determined based on the simultaneous consideration of multiple contingent factors.

Management control system, leadership and gender ideology

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujoko Efferin ◽  
Dianne Frisko ◽  
Meliana Hartanto
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Gender Ideology ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organisational Effectiveness ◽  
Gendered Leadership ◽  
And Gender

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the relations between management control system (MCS), leadership style and gender ideology. It investigates how a female leader’s gendered personal values are formed, translated, produced, and reproduced in her leadership style, the subsequent MCS and organisational life. Design/methodology/approach This is an interpretive case study that uses the anthropological lens of emic and etic views. The emic view is derived from the interpretation of the company’s subjects. The etic view refers to the interpretation of outsiders (the researchers and previous literatures). The combination of these two views enables an in-depth understanding of the case. Interviews, observation and documentary analysis were used to collect the data. Findings In a gendered society, a female leader will gain full respect if she demonstrates leadership behaviours that fit her subordinates’ gendered expectations. The leader’s and followers’ common gendered cultural background will result in leadership and followership that support each other. Gendered leadership produces gendered MCS. Gendered MCS is based on gendered cultural values that direct the behaviour of organisational members to focus on certain competencies based on a single gender perspective. In turn, the gendered MCS sustains and reinforces the gendered leadership. Research limitations/implications The study does not focus on the potential value of including feminine measures in MCS. In the future, MCS literatures need to explore the strategic advantages of introducing measures into the system in order to develop feminine competencies in organisation. Furthermore, the processes by which MCS reinforces gendered practices in a society are not explored in the study. Therefore, another important next step is to examine the patterns of the reinforcement processes and their magnitude in strengthening the biases beyond organisational boundaries (e.g. in professional and industrial practices). Practical implications This study encourages leaders to consider the use of masculine and feminine characters in MCS to increase organisational effectiveness, build a more humane organisational atmosphere, establish organisational cohesion and harmonise different personal aspirations. Originality/value MCS literatures tend to hide gender bias in the system. This study offers insight on how MCS translates, produces and reproduces societal gendered practices in organisational life.

Can the integration of a tax-compliant transfer pricing system into the management control system be successful?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Hummel ◽  
Dieter Pfaff ◽  
Benedikt Bisig
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Transfer Pricing ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pricing System ◽  
Transfer Prices

Purpose This paper aims to draw on Adler and Borys’ (1996) concept of an enabling use of bureaucracy to examine how the integration of a single-book tax-compliant transfer pricing system into the management control system is related to the perceived success of that transfer pricing system. Design/methodology/approach Based on survey data from Swiss multinational firms, the authors test a structural equation model. In addition, the authors conduct interviews with executives from three multinational enterprises. Findings The authors find that the integration of a tax-compliant transfer pricing system into the management control system may be perceived to be successful in achieving both tax compliance and internal (control) purposes. This is particularly true when the transfer pricing system is transparent and can be amended in the case of fundamental management control problems. Research limitations/implications The typical shortcomings of a survey-based research apply to this study. Future research could build on this model and more closely investigate the relationship between transfer pricing system integration and an enabling use of the transfer pricing system. Practical implications Based on this study’s findings, the authors recommend that a strong integration of tax-compliant transfer prices into the management control system should be accompanied by internal transparency and the ability to repair the transfer pricing system. Originality/value Prior research on the integration between transfer pricing and management control systems has either been analytical or based on case studies. This cross-sectional analysis provides reliable insights into different levels of integration, use and the success of transfer pricing systems.

scholarly journals Does business strategy and management control system fit determine performance?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tapio Jukka
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Cluster Analysis

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between business strategy, management control system (MCS) type and performance. Does the alignment of organisation business strategy and MCS fresult in better performance?Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on the business strategy and MCS type literature to identify business strategies and MCS types. A scoring method was used to identify business strategy types and cluster analysis to identify MCS types from a sample of 80 firms and 621 firm-years of data. Analysis of variance was used analyse the differences.FindingsFour types of MCS were identified and were labelled clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchy. The sample was split into defender, analyser, prospector and reactor strategies. The results showed defender strategies performed better with hierarchy or market type MCSs while prospector strategies performed better with clan or adhocracy MCS types. Analysers performed acceptably with all MCS types.Practical implicationsThe results of this study suggest that organisations should align their business strategy with a certain MCS type to achieve good performance. Also, alignment of top management and business strategy is supported as the top management properties differ between the MCS types.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the management control and strategy literature by demonstrating how the alignment between organisation business strategy and organisation-level MCS type determines organisational performance. The results suggest that differing business strategies yield better performance when aligned with the appropriate management controls represented by an MCS type.

A maturity model for evaluating an organisation’s reflective practices

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanna Pekkola ◽  
Sanna Hildén ◽  
Johanna Rämö
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Competence Development ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Reflective Practices ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Development Activity ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – This study aims to examine how to measure and evaluate the level at which the management control system of the organisation supports reflective practices. Though the literature on management control has recently recognised the value of reflection as a tool for organisational learning, there are few practical means of analysing the management control system alongside reflective activity. To improve and develop reflective practices for more comprehensive and systematic utilisation, the management control system has to support these practices. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on the current literature on reflection, reflective practices and management control and the pulling together of these three areas to determine how the evaluation and measurement of reflective practices should be organised. Based on that, the maturity model for measuring how the management control system supports reflective practices is elaborated. The empirical data testing the maturity model was collected from three case organisations. Findings – As its main contribution, the study composes a maturity model for evaluating the stage of reflective practices within organisations/an organisation. The existing literature does not present models or frameworks for evaluating the maturity of this kind of competence development activity. The presented model has many advantages that make it useful for pragmatic assessment and facilitation of competence development processes. Practical implications – As a practical tool, the maturity model helps to prioritise development actions when there is a need to enforce creative thinking (transformative learning) and sense-making within the organisation. Because an organisation cannot implement all the best practices in one phase, the maturity model can be used to introduce them in stages. Originality/value – The study advances one way of defining measures for reflective practices such that they are led from the literature on such practices. In addition, the study composes a maturity model for evaluating an organisation’s stage of reflective practice. Before an organisation can develop and manage its reflective practices or identify necessary changes, the current state of its reflective practices should be analysed.

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