ERP in action — Challenges and benefits for management control in SME context

ERP systems have fundamentally re-shaped the way business data is collected, stored, disseminated and used throughout the world. However, the existing research in accounting has provided only relatively few empirical findings on the implications for management control when companies implement ERP systems as the technological platform. Especially scarce are the findings concerning the production phase, after implementation, when the information processes, related work practices and the new information contents can be seen as established. In this paper we explored and theorized the benefits, challenges and problems for management control when an ERP system is in use, four years after the implementation. Our findings also illustrate why and under what circumstances these challenges and benefits may exist. For a holistic view of the organization our findings, based on a qualitative case study, are constructed from the viewpoints of people at different levels and functions of the organization. Top management expected a new strategic control system, but due to the many challenges it ended up with merely financial accounting based control. At the operational level, serious challenges lead to inadequate usage of the ERP system. Management control produces the financial basic data and must contend with many practical problems caused by ERP implementation.     

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.     

Generalized Forecast Error Variance Decomposition for Linear and Nonlinear Multivariate Models

We propose a new generalized forecast error variance decomposition with the attractive property that the proportions of the impact accounted for by innovations in each variable sum to unity. Our decomposition is based on the generalized impulse response function, and it can easily be obtained by simulation. The new decomposition is illustrated in an empirical application to US output growth and interest rate spread data.     

Trust and economic growth: a robustness analysis

This paper analyses the robustness of results on the relationshipbetween growth and trust previously derived by Knack and Keefer(1997) and Zak and Knack (2001) along several dimensions, acknowledgingthe complexity of the concept of robustness. Our results showthat the Knack and Keefer results are only limitedly robust,whereas the results found by Zak and Knack are highly robustin terms of significance of the estimated coefficients and reasonablyrobust in terms of the estimated effect size. The improvementin robustness is caused by the inclusion of countries with relativelylow scores on trust (most notably, the Philippines and Peru).Overall, our results point at a relatively important role fortrust. However, the answer to the question how large this payoffactually is depends on the set of conditioning variables controlledfor in the regression analysis and—to an even larger extent—onthe underlying sample.     

Modeling the Impacts of Corporate Commitment on Climate Change

The aim of this paper is to propose an integrative framework for understanding the determinants of business strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of these determinants on performance. The proposed structural equation model is based on a survey of 319 Canadian manufacturing firms. The study calls into question the traditionally positive relationship between a firm's environmental commitment and its economic motivations. However, the results also show a win–win relationship between the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and financial performance. This study contributes to the understanding of the motivations underlying the efforts manufacturers make to tackle climate change and their economic benefits. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Macroeconomic Consequences of Outsourcing: An Analysis of Growth, Welfare, and Product Variety

Outsourcing of non-core activities is nowadays a common business strategy. Declining transaction and transportation costs caused by the advent of Information and Communication Technology are a potentially important driving force behind this development. This paper provides a theoretical framework for analysing a firm's incentive to follow such a strategy of outsourcing and its consequences for macroeconomic variables like growth and product variety. We divide production activities into core and non-core activities. Non-core activities can be performed within the firm or can be mediated by the market. We derive conditions under which outsourcing occurs, and under which outsourcing is socially desirable. These conditions do not necessarily coincide. Outsourcing may hence be a profitable strategy for firms, while it is socially suboptimal. Crucial parameters in the model are the relative scale of core versus non-core activities, management costs, transaction costs and love for variety of consumers.     

SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THE SUCCESS OF 'MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES'

Questionnaire data were obtained from 128 managers representing all levels and functions of a large manufacturer. Variables describing the superior/subordinate relationship were related to respondent's perceptions of the values of management by objectives using correlational methods. These relationships were then moderated using personality and situational characteristics of the respondents.
The involvement of the boss is generally related to positive orientations     

A conditional version of working's model

Working's (1943) model is shown to imply conditional Engel curves of the Working form when the income elasticity of demand for the group of goods as a whole is about unity.     

Die ökonomischen Konsequenzen der Korruption

Korruption ist ein weltumspannendes Ph?nomen, das—wie die jüngsten F?lle bei BMW, Infineon, Siemens und Volkswagen deutlich machen—auch in Deutschland aktuell ist. Wie ?u?ert sich Korruption, welche Folgen hat sie für die Volkwirtschaft, und wie l?sst sie sich bek?mpfen? Robert Vehrkamp behandelt die ?konomischen Konsequenzen der Korruption, Johann Graf Lambsdorff und Mathias Nell die Reformma?nahmen, die für ihre wirksame Bek?mpfung erforderlich sind.