The controller's role in management

Sathe, Vijay

doi:10.1016/0090-2616(83)90004-9

Cited by 82 publications

(92 citation statements)

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“…A second and related contribution of the paper arose out of the empirical fieldwork which showed that organizational tensions may not necessarily follow the conventional expectations often found in the finance literature where the accountant's role of corporate policeman may at times conflict with other perceived roles such as business partner (Sathe 1982;1983;Jablonsky et al, 1993;Järvenpää, 2007;Baldvinsdottir et al, 2009). Although we found evidence in our fieldwork of accountants acting as traditional custodians of the budgetary system, we found that the marketing and/or revenue management functions could also be portrayed as the corporate policemen when they sought to protect the corporate brand against unplanned price discounting or short-term cost saving tactics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling strategy through dialectical management

Seal

Mattimoe

2014

Management Accounting Research

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Abstract. Controlling strategy has been portrayed as a matter of managing tensions. But what are these tensions and how do they arise in firms? In this paper, organizational strategy is represented by a target operating model that is maintained by dialectical relationships between functional areas. Using a pragmatic constructivist framework, the functional areas may be conceptualised as specialised managerial topoi. Drawing on field work in the hospitality industry, the paper employs an actor-based research methodology to show that organizational tensions may develop out of conflicts between the different goals and logics associated with the various functional areas such as marketing, sales, revenue management and finance. Although there was evidence of accountants acting as custodians of the budgetary system, in some situations, other functional areas such as marketing or revenue management seemed to be the corporate policemen as they protected the corporate brand against unplanned price discounting or short term cost saving tactics. Rather than seeing functional specialisation as a disruptive obstacle to organizational coherence, the paper presents arguments and evidence which suggest that with the deployment of the principles of dialectical management, tensions between the different business functions can enhance strategic control and development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling strategy through dialectical management

Seal

Mattimoe

2014

Management Accounting Research

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“…La plupart sont rédigées pour le compte d'associations professionnelles, (Ardoin et Jordan, 1979 ;Anthony, 1988 ;Jordan, 1998 ;Bescos, 2002) et elles ne se sont que très rarement et partiellement attachées à l'étude de la relation entre les contrôleurs de gestion et les opérationnels (Sathe, 1978 ;Sathe, 1983 ; études ponctuelles, particulièrement citées dans les études nord-américaines (Siegel et Sorensen, 1999). Concernant la comptabilité, la trésorerie ou les systèmes d'information de gestion, il semble qu'il s'agisse davantage de zones de responsabilités ou de services chapeautés par le directeur du contrôle de gestion plutôt que de tâches incombant directement aux contrôleurs de gestion d'une équipe (Jordan, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…Il semble toutefois que les problématiques associées à la place de la fonction demeurent d'actualité. Les études présentant l'évolution de l'activité du contrôleur de gestion tentent de plaider en faveur d'une diffusion du modèle du contrôleur « puissant » (Siegel et Sorensen, 1999 et al, 1955 ;Sathe, 1978 ;Hopper, 1980 ;Sathe, 1983) (Sathe, 1983, p. 31). Le rôle d'aide à la décision -the service roleidentifie les managers opérationnels intermédiaires comme les premiers clients des contrôleurs, leur tâche principale étant de fournir aux managers les informations nécessaires à leur autocontrôle (Hopper, 1980, p. 402).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

La fonction contrôle de gestion : proposition d'une typologie

Lambert¹,

Sponem²

2009

Comptabilité Contrôle Audit

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Résumé :L'objectif de cet article est de comprendre la place et le rôle de la fonction contrôle de gestion afin de proposer une typologie des fonctions contrôle de gestion. Celle-ci est réalisée à partir de douze études de cas ayant donné lieu à 73 entretiens. Quatre idéaux-types sont mis en évidence : la fonction contrôle de gestion partenaire, discrète, garde-fou et omnipotente. Cet article montre que la fonction contrôle de gestion peut remplir des rôles divers : aide à la décision locale, surveillance discrète, centralisation du pouvoir, légitimation interne et externe des décisions et formation des managers. Mots clés : contrôleur de gestion, typologie, business partner Abstract:The aim of this article is to understand the position and role of the management control function to propose a typology of management control function. This typology is drawn out of twelve case studies and 73 interviews. Four ideal-types are brought to light: The partner, discrete, foolproof, and omnipotent management control functions. This article shows that the management control function can fulfil diverse roles: aiding local decision-making, providing discrete surveillance, centralising power, providing internal and external legitimisation for decisions, and shaping managers.

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“…Figure 2: Possible reporting relationships in the controller's organization (Merchant, 1998, p. 642 (Sathe, 1983;Merchant, 1998, p. 642;Anthony & Govindarajan, 2004, p. 74 …”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%