This study explores socio-cultural aspects of management control in a Chinese Indonesian manufacturing company. Ethnographic data collection methods were combined with grounded theory data analysis to explore how cultures, ethnic differences, history, politics, and commercial considerations shaped management controls. A combination of emic and etic methods were used to generate grounded comparisons with nomethetic research on culture and control in a cultural contingency tradition.Chinese Indonesians own most Indonesian private domestic capital despite being an ethnic minority (3-4% of population) and having suffered extensive discrimination. The case links the Chinese businessmen's values to socialisation during childhood and then examines how their interaction with the Javanese culture of pribumi employees, ethnic tensions between employers and employees, and organisational and economic factors affected management control. Consistent with previous cultural contingency research the Chinese owners' preferences resided with controlling behaviour through personnel and behavioural controls, low budget participation, centralisation, subjective rather than objective controls, and tentatively, few rewards tied to results and the use of group rewards. Whether Chinese managers exhibited longer term orientations concerning planning and rewards could not be ascertained. However, ethnic tensions and commercial considerations mitigated the owners' ability to control according to cultural preferences. Based upon these findings reflections on past research and suggestions for further developments are made with respect to methods, methodology, and incorporating a broader range of theories and issues, especially ethnicity, politics, and history.

Purpose-This study aims to provide insight into the meaning and perceptions of leadership and its subsequent management control system (MCS) practices in family business in less developed countries. More specifically, the study attempts to understand the cultural context of family business and its importance in developing its leadership and MCS, the production and reproduction processes of the culture into the MCS and the resulting MCS. Design/methodology/approach-We shared the view that organizational reality is negotiated and constructed by collective participants' consciousness. The study used interpretive case study. Interviews, observation and documentary analysis were used to collect the data. Findings-Leadership and MCS of family business is embedded in its societal culture. A leaderowner is not a creator but a mere manager of organizational culture because he/she is also a product of the societal culture. The owner and his/her inner circle (family and non-family members) may collectively play crucial roles in producing and reproducing the legitimate MCS based on the extended family concept. In this sense, cultural control based on shared family norms is the most dominant one and simplifies process and result controls. However, business pragmatism may go hand-in-hand with the culture in giving room for MCS transformations. Research limitations/implications-The family business under study is still run by the family's first generation, has no subsidiaries and is embedded in Javanese paternalistic culture. Although rich in details, the sample size of the study is a limitation. Practical implications-This study encourages the owners of a family business to consider the use of strong cultural control along with bureaucratic controls to create a sustainable organisation. Originality/value-This study offers insight to help understand and explain how leadership and MCS practices in family business are embedded in broader societal culture in less developed countries.

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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.