Exploring management control system typologies: an organisation-level view
Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change
ISSN: 1832-5912
Article publication date: 10 August 2020
Issue publication date: 18 October 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Management controls are the processes and mechanisms managers use to influence the behaviour of individuals and groups towards the organisation’s objectives and goals. Discrete management controls and management control system (MCS) frameworks have been extensively researched, but there is little research on organisation-level MCS types. This study aims to identify organisation-level MCS types.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on the MCS type literature, the competing values framework and the upper echelons theory to form organisation effectiveness and top management team constructs to characterise firms. Cluster analysis was used to group a sample of 318 firm-years into MCS types.
Findings
This study reports a theory-based measurement construct that is initially validated with new empirical data. The authors found from the empirical data four different categories of firms based on the general type of their MCSs labelled clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchy.
Originality/value
This study makes two contributions to the MCS literature. Firstly, it presents a theory-based measurement construct to identify organisational and top management attributes that can be used to classify organisations’ overall MCS types. Secondly, it demonstrates how information from annual reports and other publicly available data sources can be used to identify the overall MCS types of organisations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by University of Jyväskyla grants 1/13.00.04.00/2015 and 2018 awarded to Tapio Jukka.
Citation
Jukka, T. and Pellinen, J. (2020), "Exploring management control system typologies: an organisation-level view", Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 427-445. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAOC-11-2019-0116
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited