Business as Usual? An Institutional View of the Relationship Between Management Control Systems and Strategy

Tucker, Basil P.; Parker, Lee D.

doi:10.1111/faam.12050

Cited by 25 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 114 publications

(165 reference statements)

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“…The paper highlights that in the higher education sector, PM is conducted for external and internal purposes. Accounting and management scholars have pointed out the different motivations for the use of PM and have distinguished between the rational and symbolic uses of PM (Agostino and Arnaboldi, 2017;Mouritsen, 1994;Tucker and Parker, 2015). The external use of PM is an attempt to increase accountability, and thus, has more symbolic characteristics that is intended to be used for operational and strategic rational decision-making.…”

Section: Rq3 How Is Pm Used?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, many accounting scholars have highlighted the limitations of the classical Weberian rational choice approach and suggest that accounting, in general, and PM, in particular, may have many complex roles in organisations and society (Burchell et al, 1980). It has also been established that PM tools are adopted to meet organisational needs for institutional, social and political legitimacy (Brignall and Modell, 2000;Modell, 2001;Tucker and Parker, 2015). In general, Mouritsen (1994) proposes that accounting systems contribute to the rational co-ordination of activities, but not always.…”

Section: The Rational and Institutional Views On Pm In Public Sector mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This implies that PM has a role in legitimising the organisation to its stakeholders, but is not really used as an input for decision-making purposes (Mimba et al, 2013). PM systems may be adopted by public sector organisations for ceremonial and symbolic reasons, apart from performance-related issues (Tucker and Parker, 2015).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rational and symbolic uses of performance measurement

Dobija

Górska

Grossi

et al. 2019

AAAJ

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a deeper understanding of the uses and users of performance measurement (PM) in the university context. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data were gathered from four universities. This approach allows for a multilevel and comparative analysis based on the neo-institutional theory. The results are discussed alongside interdisciplinary literature on the use of PM in the public sector. Findings PM practices at universities have become increasingly popular on institutional, organisational and individual levels. The results indicate that different types of PM are used in universities and that the extent, and scope of PM used by various actors differ. Universities often use PM in a ceremonial and symbolic manner, with the aim of legitimising themselves externally as research-oriented institutions. The use of PM depends on both, exogenous factors (such as isomorphic pressures) and endogenous factors related to the different responses of organisations and individual actors (university managers, and academics). However, the analysis at the internal level reveals different attitudes and some resistance to the use of such kinds of PM. In universities with a local focus, the use of PM for rational decision-making is generally loosely coupled with the reporting performance for external accountability purposes. Moreover, the internal use of PM can be also symbolic. Research limitations/implications This paper focusses on four case studies that are currently undergoing changes. The comparative analysis is supported by the use of different data collection methods and several in-depth interviews with key university actors. Originality/value The authors assume that the use of PM depends on a number of exogenous and endogenous factors. PM uses and users are discussed in the specific context of the higher education system in Poland. The four business school cases facilitate a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences in terms of the uses and users of PM in the context of internationally and locally oriented universities.

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Section: Rq3 How Is Pm Used?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Rational and Institutional Views On Pm In Public Sector mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rational and symbolic uses of performance measurement

Dobija

Górska

Grossi

et al. 2019

AAAJ

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“…Institutional logics comprise formal and informal rules of action and interactions along with interpretations that guide and constrain decision makers (Thornton and Ocasio, 1999) to obtain legitimacy (Friedland, 2012) within fields of activity. The use of management accounting tools, particularly management control systems (MCS), helps organisations to strategically respond to institutional pressures for sustainability (Norris and O'Dwyer, 2004;Tucker and Parker, 2015;Wijethilake et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional drivers of environmental management accounting adoption in public sector water organisations

Ferdous

Adams

Boyce

2019

AAAJ

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences on the adoption of environmental management accounting (EMA) in corporatised water supply organisations, from an institutional theory perspective, drawing on the concepts of reflexive isomorphism and institutional logics. Design/methodology/approach The primary research involves case analysis of three companies in the Australian water supply industry, drawing on interviews, internal documents and publicly available documents, including annual reports. Findings Two key drivers for the adoption and emergence of EMA are: the emergence of a government regulator in the form of the Essential Services Commission (ESC) and community expectations with regard to environmental performance and disclosure. The water organisations were found to be reflexively isomorphic, while seeking to align their commercial logic to “sustainability” and “ensuring community expectations” logics to the legitimate adoption of EMA. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by providing case study evidence of the intentions and motivations of management in adopting EMA, and the nature of that adoption process over an extended period. Further, it provides empirical evidence of the applicability of reflexive isomorphism in the context of EMA and institutional logics.

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“…The control archetype approach we apply in this study, based on Speklé's (2001) TCE theory of management control, provides notable opportunities to develop a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of control, beyond the examination of single control mechanisms in much of literature (Shields, 2015). There are a range of alternative control frameworks in literature; however, the consideration of different sets of control mechanisms applied together is very limited (Malmi & Brown, 2008;Merchant & Van der Stede, 2012;Simons, 1994), particularly in the context of the factors we consider, notably strategy (Tucker, Thorne, & Gurd, 2009;Tucker & Parker, 2015). Speklé (2001) conceptualises a series of control archetypes which are argued to be exercised in association with variation in the activity traits (based on TCE theory).…”

Section: Literature Review and Theory Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multinational headquarter control of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries

Matolcsy

Wakefield

2017

The British Accounting Review

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This paper examines how contingent factors relevant to the viability of wholly owned foreign subsidiary operations affect the management control system exercised by multinational corporation headquarters. We focus on two sets of contingent factors: first, strategic factors relating to corporate and competitive strategy; and second, integration factors relating to integration internal and external to a multinational corporation. We apply a control archetype approach to more comprehensively consider control exercised, relative to extant literature. Our evidence is based on data from a cross-sectional survey completed by 159 multinational corporation headquarters. Our findings indicate activity sharing corporate strategies, low cost competitive strategies, and higher internal integration, affect greater degrees of control. Differentiation based competitive strategies and external integration appear to have less substantial and narrower implications on the degree of control exercised. These findings are robust to sensitivity testing and are consistent with our expectations that headquarters exercise a higher degree of control in contexts perceived as less problematic.

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Business as Usual? An Institutional View of the Relationship Between Management Control Systems and Strategy

Cited by 25 publications

References 114 publications

Rational and symbolic uses of performance measurement

Rational and symbolic uses of performance measurement

Institutional drivers of environmental management accounting adoption in public sector water organisations

Multinational headquarter control of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries

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