The just design and use of management control systems as requirements for goal congruence

Management control systems (MCS) are designed to achieve the greatest possible goal congruence, such that people pursue personal goals that are conducive to the organizational goal. Both the use and the design of MCS are crucial for achieving goal congruence, but they are thought to be contingent to specific external situations. We analyze the basic concepts of justice and fairness, and argue that these two facets of justice, which we label “formal” and “informal” justice, need to be put in the context of MCS use and design. We argue that both formal and informal (in)justice are determinants for MCS to achieve specific levels of goal congruence, independently of the situation.We conclude that there are two stable types of goal congruence, labeled “maximum goal congruence” – where both MCS design and MCS use are just – and “minimum goal congruence” – where both design and use are unjust; and two unstable types of goal congruence, labeled “occasional goal congruence” – where the MCS design is unjust but its use is just – and “perverse goal congruence” – where the design is just and the use is unjust. This provides a framework for future empirical research on the subject.     

Performance management: a framework for management control systems research

This paper proposes a framework for analysing the operation of management control systems structured around five central issues. These issues relate to objectives, strategies and plans for their attainment, target-setting, incentive and reward structures and information feedback loops. Their central focus is on the management of organizational performance. Because the framework has been inductively developed, its application is `tested' against three major systems of organizational control, namely budgeting, economic value added and the balanced scorecard. In each case, neglected areas of development are exposed and fruitful topics for research identified. It is believed that the framework can usefully be developed further by its use in analysing other instances of management control systems practice, and that case-based, longitudinal studies provide the best route to this end.     

Strategy and management control systems: A study of the design and use of management control systems following takeover

This paper describes and analyses the approach taken by four well-known Swedish companies to management control following takeover. The findings suggest two factors which can explain how the management control systems were designed and used after an acquisition: the corporate strategy of the acquirer and the business strategy of the acquired company. The case studies show how these forces could impose mutually inconsistent requirements on the management control system of the acquired firm, and also how these inconsistencies were resolved.     

An extended likelihood framework for modelling discretely observed credit rating transitions

The estimation of the parameters of a continuous-time Markov chain from discrete-time observations, also known as the embedding problem for Markov chains, plays in particular an important role for the modeling of credit rating transitions. This missing data problem boils down to a latent variable setting and thus, maximum likelihood estimation is usually conducted using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. We illustrate that the EM algorithm is likely to get stuck in local maxima of the likelihood function in this specific problem setting and adapt a stochastic approximation simulated annealing scheme (SASEM) as well as a genetic algorithm (GA) to combat this issue. Above that, our main contribution is to extend our method GA by a rejection sampling scheme, which allows one to derive stochastic monotone maximum likelihood estimates in order to obtain proper (non-crossing) multi-year probabilities of default. We advocate the use of this procedure as direct constrained optimization (of the likelihood function) will not be numerically stable due to the large number of side conditions. Furthermore, the monotonicity constraint enables one to combine structural knowledge of the ordinality of credit ratings with real-life data into a statistical estimator, which has a stabilizing effect on far off-diagonal generator matrix elements. We illustrate our methods by Standard and Poor’s credit rating data as well as a simulation study and benchmark our novel procedure against an already existing smoothing algorithm.     

A contingency framework for the design of accounting information systems

Most of the research to date concerning the design of an accounting information system has taken a rather narrow and inflexible view of accounting information. The primary intent of this paper is to provide a broader and more adaptive framework for designing such systems. A contigency approach, which takes into account the environment, organizational attributes, and managerial decision making styles, is advocated. In this context, several hypotheses are offered concerning the requisites of an accounting information system.     

The use of performance measurement systems in the public sector: Effects on performance

We study the use of performance measurement systems in the public sector. We hypothesize that the way in which these systems are being used affects organizational performance, and that these performance effects depend on contractibility. Contractibility encompasses clarity of goals, the ability to select undistorted performance metrics, and the degree to which managers know and control the transformation process. We expect that public sector organizations that use their performance measurement systems in ways that match the characteristics of their activities outperform those that fail to achieve such fit. We test our hypotheses using survey data from 101 public sector organizations. Our findings indicate that contractibility moderates the relationship between the incentive-oriented use of the performance measurement system and performance. Using the performance measurement system for incentive purposes negatively influences organizational performance, but this effect is less severe when contractibility is high. We also find that an exploratory use of the performance measurement system tends to enhance performance; this positive effect is independent of the level of contractibility. The effectiveness of the introduction of performance measurement systems in public sector organizations thus depends both on contractibility and on how the system is being used by managers. These findings have important implications, both for practice and for public policy.     

Contemporary performance measurement systems: A review of their consequences and a framework for research

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the literature on the consequences of contemporary performance measurement (CPM) systems and the theories that explain these consequences. The framework is based on an in-depth review of 76 empirical studies published in high-quality academic journals in the areas of accounting, operations, and strategy. The framework classifies the consequences of CPM into three categories: people's behaviour, organizational capabilities, and performance consequences. This paper discusses our current knowledge on the impact of CPM, highlighting inconsistencies and gaps as well as providing direction for future research.     

Eco-control: The influence of management control systems on environmental and economic performance

Eco-control is the application of financial and strategic control methods to environmental management. In this study, we investigate to what extent eco-control influences environmental and economic performance. Using survey-data from a sample of Canadian manufacturing firms, the results suggest that eco-control has no direct effect on economic performance. A mediating effect of environmental performance on the link between eco-control and economic performance is observed in different contexts. More specifically, eco-control indirectly influences economic performance in the context of (i) higher environmental exposure, (ii) higher public visibility, (iii) higher environmental concern, and (iv) larger size. This study contributes to the management accounting literature by providing insight into the roles and contributions of management accounting in the context of sustainable development.     

A review of dashboards in performance management: Implications for design and research

Dashboards are expected to improve decision making by amplifying cognition and capitalizing on human perceptual capabilities. Hence, interest in dashboards has increased recently, which is also evident from the proliferation of dashboard solution providers in the market. Despite dashboards' popularity, little is known about the extent of their effectiveness, i.e. what types of dashboards work best for different users or tasks. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive multidisciplinary literature review with an aim to identify the critical issues organizations might need to consider when implementing dashboards. Dashboards are likely to succeed and solve the problems of presentation format and information load when certain visualization principles and features are present (e.g. high data-ink ratio and drill down features). We recommend that dashboards come with some level of flexibility, i.e. allowing users to switch between alternative presentation formats. Also some theory driven guidance through pop-ups and warnings can help users to select an appropriate presentation format. Given the dearth of research on dashboards, we conclude the paper with a research agenda that could guide future studies in this area.     

The role of management control systems in planned organizational change: An analysis of two organizations

In the management control literature there is growing interest in the role of management control systems (MCS) in planned organizational change. The existing literature is concerned with either rational, technical change principles or more social and political interpretations of MCS facilitated change. This paper aims to extend this literature by combining technical approaches to MCS facilitated change with a behavioral approach in the study of two similar organizations. Moreover, the paper employs a holistic approach to change to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role of MCS in planned organizational change. A framework by Huy [Huy, Q. N. (2001). Time, temporal capacity, and planned change. Academy of Management Review 26(4), 601–623] is used to provide an integrative approach that focuses on both rational, systematic practices and the behavioral processes involved in their implementation. This is achieved by identifying four idealized intervention types: commanding, engineering, teaching and socializing. Understanding the application of these four intervention types requires analysis of the way they interact through time.     

Centralized end-to-end identity and access management and ERP systems: A multi-case analysis using the Technology Organization Environment framework

System security is a top issue facing global organizations. This study investigates the constraints and benefits of a successful centralized end-to-end identity and access management (CIAM) implementation and the moderating role that ERP systems have in the implementation. We apply the Technology Organization Environment (TOE) framework to a case study approach. We find that organizational and technological factors result in lapses in IT governance and act as barriers to CIAM. Environmental factors also hinder CIAM implementation. Additionally, ERP systems facilitate the development of a CIAM due to integration and standardization of identities and automated provisioning. When the ERP system supports CIAM, the organization and its employees experience significant benefits including single sign-on capabilities, increased security and privacy, efficiencies in user provisioning and password management, and audit process improvement. Our results will be of value to any organization implementing CIAM and ERP. Researchers can also use our findings to further study IAM, ERP or extensions to the TOE framework.     

Applied management information systems: Business analysis

This is the second in a series of three articles presenting thoughts on applied management information systems, current practice and future potential. It presents an overview of methods of business analysis, in the context of the strategic positioning for management information systems proposed in the first article of the series.     

The relationship between business strategy, management control systems and performance: Evidence from China

Over the past two decades, China has emerged as a global economic power, ranking behind only the USA, Japan and Germany. China's continuous global economic power has therefore prompted a surge in interest in understanding Chinese business practices. This paper reports on the results of a survey on the contingent relationship between business strategy, management control systems (MCS) and performance in Chinese Enterprises. The analysis is based on data gathered from 215 enterprises operating within the Xinjiang autonomous region of China. For those firms that were classified as pursuing differentiation strategy, the use of more non-financial based MCS has a positive effect on performance and this finding is consistent with the literature. We also found that for those firms classified as pursuing a low cost strategy, the use of more financial based MCS had a positive effective on performance as suggested in the literature. Our research has implications for understanding management accounting practices in Chinese enterprises.     

An integrated system for information security management with the unified framework

Information security management plays an essential role for drawing the roadmap of information security; thus, many theoretical methodologies and practical standards are brought into this domain. However, many standards and methodologies are too cumbersome to be adopted by an organization. Additionally, there is no unified framework to systematically handle the tedious tasks of information security management. This study’s primary goal is to design an integrated system for information security management (ISISM) that aims to use current methodologies and standards to solve the above-mentioned issues. Because business impact analysis and risk analysis are the most important areas within this domain, we carefully select the related methods and then integrate them into a unified framework, upon which the proposed ISISM depends. To achieve this outcome for this study, security requirement engineering is adopted, which enables the designed system to support system users in generating risk assessment reports with related information security policies.     

A fuzzy logic-driven multiple knowledge integration framework for improving the performance of expert systems

To maintain a high performance in an ill-structured situation, expert systems should depend on multiple sources of knowledge rather than a single type. For this reason, we propose multiple knowledge integration by using a fuzzy logic-driven framework. Types of knowledge being considered here are threefold: machine, expert and user. Machine knowledge is obtained by a back- propagation neural network model from historical instances of a target problem domain. Expert knowledge is related to interpreting the trends of external factors that seem to affect the target problem domain. User knowledge represents a user’s personal views about information given by both expert knowledge and machine knowledge. The target problem domain of this paper is one-week-ahead stock market stage prediction: Bull, Edged-up, Edged-down, and Bear. Extensive experiments with real data proved that the proposed fuzzy logic-driven framework for multiple knowledge integration can contribute significantly to improving the performance of expert systems. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The decision-influencing use of performance measurement systems in relationships between headquarters and subsidiaries

Although theoretical frameworks assume that performance measurement systems (PMS) can be employed for different uses, there is a lack of prior empirical research examining the use of PMS. In addition, recent International Business studies reveal many unresolved issues about the use of PMS to manage relationships between headquarters and subsidiaries. After summarizing the evolution of the use of PMS over three International Business eras, we focus on the decision-influencing use of PMS, operationalized as the influence of the PMS implemented by headquarters on subsidiaries’ decisions. Based on International Business literature and Management Accounting research, we hypothesize that the subsidiary participation in PMS design, measurement diversity in PMS structure, the linking of PMS to reward, as well as headquarters’ national culture, subsidiary size, and global pressure affect the influence of PMS on subsidiaries’ decisions. We collected data through questionnaires emailed to 100 subsidiaries. Findings show that PMS have a greater influence on decisions in cases of higher subsidiary's participation in PMS design, headquarters’ cultural tolerance for uncertainty, subsidiary size, and global pressure. Contrary to what is contended by advocates of multidimensional approaches to PMS, measurement diversity and the linking of PMS to reward mechanisms do not have a significant impact on the decision-influencing use. We discuss the empirical evidence providing qualitative arguments derived from a focus group, which reveals the existence of a PMS decoupling and helped us to describe four situations with different levels of decision-influencing use of PMS and different economic performance results. The presented quantitative and qualitative empirical evidence offers several insights for research on PMS within multinational companies.     

The Italian hedge funds industry: An empirical analysis of performance and persistence

This study analyses Italian hedge funds performance and persistence. The peculiarity of the Italian hedge fund industry is that 95% of the hedge funds are funds of hedge funds (FoHF), whereas only 5% of them employ other investment styles. Using monthly data on FoHF provided by MondoHedge, we examine the impact of both market variables and funds’ own characteristics on funds performance using panel data. We find that the European, the Japanese and the emerging markets equity markets, and the commodity market have a positive impact on Italian FoHF performances, while the US Bond Market negatively affects them. Moreover, we find performance fees and notice days to have a negative impact on funds performances. Finally, we test the presence of performance persistence. Employing two different nonparametric methods, we find that funds performances are persistent on a monthly and quarterly basis, while the regression-based parametric method provides evidence of persistence only on a monthly basis.     

The effects of management controls and national culture on manufacturing performance: An experimental investigation

The increasing dominance of Asian manufacturing firms in the global economy has raised an important issue: whether these firms' superior manufacturing performance is caused by their management control systems, the national culture of their employees, or the interaction of these two factors. This experimental study provides a direct test of the effects of national culture and management control system on manufacturing performance. The dimension of national culture studied was individualism (vs collectivism) because this work-related attribute has been noted as a major difference between Asian and Western cultures. In turn, the focus on cultural individualism motivated a study of two aspects of management controls: work flow interdependence and pay interdependence. The results are consistent with cultural individualism and management controls having independent, but not interactive, effects on manufacturing performance. The potential implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.