Citation
K.J. Euske (2015), "A Review of:
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Company
Management Control and Uncertainty edited by David Otley and Kim Soin was written on behalf of the Management Control Association. According to the editors, all of the authors who have contributed to the book are members of or closely associated with the Management Control Association.
The book does a good job of making clear that the ubiquitous nature of uncertainty is a real consideration in management control system design and evaluation. However, as Otley and Soin indicate in the introductory chapter, the authors of the various chapters in the book do not have a single conceptualisation of uncertainty. The conceptualisations vary from uncertainty being a subjective phenomenon to it being an objective phenomenon. Regardless of the conceptualisation, uncertainty is a reality for management control systems in organisations. The arguments related to the interaction of management control systems with uncertainty vary from management control systems as a way to deal with uncertainty to management control systems exacerbating the issues generated by uncertainty.
The topics of the chapters in the book are diverse, with a range of methodologies espoused, including qualitative. The chapter titles and authors are:
Management Control and Uncertainty – D. Otley and K. Soin.
Transfer Pricing: Insights from the Empirical Accounting Literature – M. Cools.
Management Accounting Research: A Review of Current Developments – R. Speklé and A. Kruis.
From a Make-or-Buy to Coordinating Collaboration: Management Control in Strategic Alliances – S. Anderson and H. Dekker.
Researching the Human Side of Management Control: Using Survey Based Methods – S. Widener.
Management Control under Uncertainty: Thinking about Uncertainty – D. Otley.
Managing through Uncertainty – M. Bourne.
Uncertainty as a Determinate of Performance Measurement and Compensation Systems: A Literature Review – M. Abernethy and J. Mundy.
Controlling Creativity and Innovation: Paradox or Necessity – J. Pfister.
Managing Management Controls – S. Tessier.
Feel the Risk: Strategic Investment Decisions in an Uncertain World – E. Harris.
Management Control and Uncertainty: Risk Management in Universities – K. Soin, C. Huber, and S. Wheatley.
Management Control, Regulation and Investment Uncertainty in the UK Electricity Generation Market – L. Warren.
Management Control Research and the Management of Uncertainty: Rethinking Knowledge in Management – O. Saulpic and P. Zarlowski.
Cultural Theory of Risk and the Notion of “Management Accountants as Strategists” – P. Linsley and A. Linsley.
The Existential Perversity of Management – A. Lowe and I. De Loo.
Middle-Range Thinking and Management Control Systems – J. Broadbent and R. Laughlin.
Otley and Soin have done a good job of quality control. In general, each chapter in the book is well-done. Each chapter makes a positive contribution to the literature and to those of us who think about using and designing management control systems.
Two notable strengths of the book are:
the introductory chapter written by Otley and Soin provides a vehicle to demonstrate the unity of focus on the topic of uncertainty, as it relates to management control systems for each of the chapters in the book; and
a number of the chapters refer to other chapters in the book.
The cross-referencing not only contributes to the conceptual unity of the book but also provides the reader with links among the chapters.
Who would find this book useful? The diversity and breadth of the topics covered make this book useful to at least three groups of individuals: management control systems researchers, management control system doctoral students, and a broad group identified as non-management control system researchers. Allow me to discuss the groups in reverse order.
Understanding what “others” do is useful. Given the organisation and coverage of the book, it would serve as an excellent mechanism to introduce individuals like financial accountants and non-accountants to the research considerations when the focus is management control systems. The book also introduces readers to some of the different factors that are involved in management control systems. However, as useful as such a reading would be, of the three groups, this seems to be the least likely group to read the book.
The groups who are more likely to read the book are management control system doctoral students and seasoned management control system researchers. For both groups, the book has value. The topics covered in the book make it an excellent read for doctoral students. The book offers the novice researcher exposure to a broad range of potential research topics plus thoughts on how the research effort relates to the teaching endeavour and the management of the research ideas. For the more experienced or “mature” researcher, the book is a handy source of the current work across a broad spectrum of management control system topics. It also provides ideas that a researcher could use to develop research projects.
The edited book is a positive addition to the management control system literature. I do recommend reading the book.