Responsibility in action: expressions of values in a Swedish company

Abstract

Purpose -To illustrate and discuss how different types of responsibility values are mobilised in a Swedish international company. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is informed by a constructivist pragmatism framework. The part of the study related to the case site was inspired by an ethnographic research approach and involved intensive face-to-face observations over a period of two years. Data was collected at four main levels: external and internal documents, observation of project meetings, interviews with project members, and informal talks with organisation members. Findings -Possible conflicts of interest between human and business perspectives are exposed. Awareness of these interest-conflicts, however, facilitates a potential bridging of the two perspectives. Our findings suggest possible explanations as to why management control (MC) models work in practice. Although values pertaining to shareholder maximisation are given prominence in external communication, the internal MC model also emphasises the values considered necessary and desirable by professionals, such as confidence, commitment and respect. The study reveals that the way values are handled affects the responsibility taken by employees in everyday situations. By using the constructivist pragmatism framework, it becomes clear that values cause people to act, and not MC systems.Originality/value -Although many studies have described the shortcoming of MC models, few studies platform from the concept of responsibility. In this paper it is shown how accounting communicates values underpinning responsibility, and contributes towards explaining why certain types of MC models can be more successful than others.

Balanced scorecard and controllability at the level of middle managers – the case of unintended breaches

“…There are also examples of multi-stakeholder MCSs such as the BSC that explicitly allow for controllability. For instance, Baldvinsdottir and Johansson (2006) investigate the "steering wheel" that is used at all levels of Tesco, including each individual store. The enactment of the steering wheel takes place during the managerial process where the steering wheel is the starting point for communication about the reasons for the obtained results.…”

Researching the lived experience of corporate governance

“…This literature has been trying to open the “black box” of corporate governance. For example, interviews with directors (Hendry, 2005; McNulty and Pettigrew, 1996, 1999; O'Higgins, 2002; Pettigrew and McNulty, 1995; Roberts et al , 2005), remuneration committee members (Main et al , 2008), and internal auditors (Zain and Subramaniam, 2007), observations of board meetings (Brundin and Nordqvist, 2008; Huse, 1998; Parker, 2007b; Samra‐Fredericks, 2000a), organizational ethnography on shareholder values (Baldvinsdottir and Johansson, 2006), observations of auditors at annual general meetings (Catasus and Johed, 2007), interviews with managers on the significance of stakeholders (Enquist et al , 2006), and interviews with auditor‐chief financial officer dyads (McCracken et al , 2008) have been conducted in order to gain insights into some of the key processes that can make corporate governance effective. This alternative literature has evolved pragmatically, mainly around the sphere of the boardroom, justifying its various research approaches with reference to the insights that it has produced into a range of corporate governance discussions, such as effective boards, auditor independence, and management accountability to shareholders.…”

Work Values and Its Impact on Managerial Effectiveness: A Relationship Study in Indian Context

“…Research interest in WVs has been triggered by the wave of globalization and the ensuing need for crosscultural business interactions (Nair & Ghosh, 2006). There is at present a growing body of research suggesting that WVs have the power to influence the beliefs, attitudes, motivation, satisfaction and commitment, as well as the behaviours of organizational members, and ultimately corporate outcomes (Alas, 2008;Alas et al, 2009;Baldvinsdottir & Johansson, 2006;Cennamo & Gardner, 2008;Chen & Tesone, 2009;Talwar, 2009). Managerial effectiveness is a key element to the survival and success of any organization; highly effective managers have been found to be more compatible, satisfied and productive, work with a greater sense of loyalty and responsibility (Abugre, 2014;Dolan & Richley, 2009;Jena & Sahoo, 2014;Nwokah & Ahiauzu, 2008;Ruiz, Wang, & Hamlin, 2013).…”