Research in Management Control: An Overview of its Development

Abstract

This paper builds on a series of earlier reviews of the management control literature (Giglioni and Bedeian, 1974;Hofstede, 1968;Merchant and Simons, 1986;Parker, 1986) and considers the development of the management control literature in the context of organizational theories. Early themes which have provided the roots for the development of the subject area are explored as is more recent work which has evolved both as a continuation and a reaction against them, with Scott's (1981) framework being used to organize this literature. It is argued that one of the unintended consequences of the influential work of Robert Anthony (1965) has been a restriction of the subject to an accounting-based framework and that this focus needs to be broadened. The review points to the potential of the subject as a integrating theme for the practice and research of management and some themes for future research are suggested.

Balancing the management control package of small, rapidly growing firms in turbulent environments

“…Although components encompass a lateral orientation along the value chain (cf. Otley et al, 1995), control is cybernetic (Beer, 1966) and occurs formally top-down (Norreklit, 2000), assuming that the company strategy is correctly formulated by management (Mouritsen et al, 1995(Mouritsen et al, , 1996.…”

Control Systems for Quality Management

“…However, the existing literature on the relationship between organizational strategy and control systems is still at the beginning, incomplete and at its infancy (Chenhall, 2003;Daniel & Reitsperger;Otley, Broadbent & Berry, 1995). They shared a similar view that the issues of the relationship between organizational strategy and organizational control systems were not well addressed in the previous scholarly literature.…”

Managers and management control systems in the strategy process

“…Organizations have become more structurally differentiated, adopting the rationale that semi-autonomous units and their local managers may better serve the diverging demands of an increasing set of stakeholders (Berry 1994;Otley et al 1995). Management control systems (MCS) are often assumed to influence the behaviour of employees in such ways that the organization can achieve its goals (Merchant and Van der Stede 2006).…”