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In many industries (e.g. cars and clothing) manufacturing complexity and unpredictability have increased over the last couple of years because of an increasing variety of products and shortening product life cycles. At the same time the manufacturers in these industries appear to have more problems with maintaining high quality levels. This paper aims to develop a methodology to study the effects of these developments on quality management systems.

At three European automotive manufacturers the two trends have been studied by means of a case study approach. Simons' four levers of control model is utilised to categorise and interpret the results of the case studies.

The application of a management control model in the field of quality management is found to be useful in explaining what changes are necessary to maintain high quality levels. From the case studies in the automotive sector it is concluded that there is a shift in quality management systems from a diagnostic towards a more interactive approach. This is in line with what can be expected as a result of the increasing uncertainty in the automotive sector, caused by shortening life cycles of car models and smaller batch sizes.

This research presents a novel application of Simons' four levers of control model to the field of quality management. Based on the experience with three case studies at European automotive manufacturers, this approach seems to have potential.

Internal Control – Integrated Framework (COSO Report, 1992) defines internal control, suggests a framework for internal control, and presents criteria to use in evaluating controls. The document also provides guidance to management developing a report on controls for use by external parties. SSAE 2, “Reporting on an Entity′s Internal Control Structure over Financial Reporting” (1993) offers assistance to the practitioner reporting on management′s assertion regarding internal control over financial reporting. Discusses and provides an example of management′s report on internal control prepared according to COSO. Also discusses the accountant′s examination under SSAE guidance of management′s assertions and subsequent report and provides an example of the accountant′s report. Concludes by discussing the new business opportunities for the accountant which may result from external reporting on internal controls over financial reporting.

A theoretical model, which describes continuous improvement and benchmarking processes, was developed. The model was based on the concepts that improvements in management inputs should produce organizational benefits and that management inputs are limited by budget constraints. The model was developed using health and safety as an example of operational management issues. In this example, organizational benefits related to reductions in the number and costs of accidents and management inputs referred to the provision and costs of accident prevention control measures. The utility of the model was demonstrated with five health and safety scenarios, which tested the model against the continuous improvement philosophy and benchmarking with respect to reducing costs, improving performance, minimising organizational change and assessing performance within different work environments.

In developing countries, how risk management technologies influence management accounting and control (MAC) practices is under-researched. By drawing on insights from institutional studies, this study aims to examine the multiple institutional pressures surrounding an entity and influencing its risk-based management control (RBC) system – that is, how RBC appears in an emerging market attributed to institutional multiplicity.

The authors used qualitative case study research methods to collect empirical evidence from a privately owned Egyptian insurance company.

The authors observed that in the transformation to risk-based controls, especially in socio-political settings such as Egypt, changes in MAC systems were consistent with the shifts in the institutional context. Along with changes in the institutional environment, the case company sought to configure its MAC system to be more risk-based to achieve its strategic goals effectively and maintain its sustainability.

This research provides a fuller view of risk-based management controls based on the social, professional and political perspectives central to the examined institutional environment. Moreover, unlike early studies that reported resistance to RBC, this case reveals the institutional dynamics contributing to the successful implementation of RBC in an emerging market.

COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements and adapt their ways of working. Yet, we know little about how management control might be enacted in the future of the sustainable workplace. The objective of the study is to examine the patterns of management control change in the Big 4 accounting firms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adopting an exploratory qualitative research design, the authors draw on 42 interviews with directors and associates in the Big 4 professional services firms.

The findings reveal two pathways of management control change including alignment and displacement. The authors found that relatively minor adaptions to action and result controls were relied upon to respond to substantial cultural and personnel control changes.

The contributions are threefold: the authors take a temporal perspective to (1) unpack the changes to management control arrangements; (2) theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways encompassing pace, scope and longevity of management control change and (3) contextualise management control arrangements in a hybrid work setting.

1. COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements.

2. Literature has focused on traditional, onsite work settings and largely ignored change pathways.

3. The authors take a temporal perspective to unpack changes to management control arrangements.

4. Big 4 firms adapted to hybrid work with substantial changes to personnel and cultural controls.

5. The authors theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways.

COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements.

Literature has focused on traditional, onsite work settings and largely ignored change pathways.

The authors take a temporal perspective to unpack changes to management control arrangements.

Big 4 firms adapted to hybrid work with substantial changes to personnel and cultural controls.

The authors theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways.

The purpose of this inductive, exploratory study is to provide foundational insights into the role of management control in dealing with dysfunctional behaviour within accounting schools in changing environment of Australian universities.

Evidence is drawn from semi-structured interviews with 28 current or previous heads of school, research deans, deans of teaching and learning, school managers and human resource managers from 16 Australian universities and interpreted from the theoretical perspective of rational choice theory.

The findings suggest the incidence of a range of dysfunctional behaviours occurring in accounting schools. Even when such behaviours are limited in frequency, their consequences are nevertheless found to have far-ranging and potentially destructive change impacts for both individuals and the university. Formal management control systems designed to address such behaviours are perceived to be largely ineffective in identifying, managing, eliminating or even mitigating the consequences of such dysfunctionality. Instead, it is informal control processes that are preferred in dealing with dysfunctionality.

This study enhances our understanding of the role of management control in dealing with dysfunctional behaviour within university accounting schools, and points not only to the difference between the design and use of management controls but also to the implications of this disconnect between the underlying intent of control design and their actual use in the context of environments that are subject to significant change.

This study examines the relationship between the use of management controls and the perception of meaningful work. Meaningful work is an important driver of individual performance of managers, and employees and can be enabled by sufficient use of management controls. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.

Based on bibliometric analyses and a structured literature review of academic research studies from the organizational, management and accounting literature, the authors develop a conceptual model of the relationship between the use of management controls and the perception of meaningful work.

First, the authors propose that the use of formal management controls in a system (i.e. the levers of the control framework) is more powerful than using unrelated formal controls only. Second, they suggest that the interaction of a formal control system together with informal controls working as a control package can even stretch the perception of meaningful work. Third, they argue that the intensity of the control use matters to enhance the perception of meaningful work (inverted u-shaped relationship).

This study presents the first conceptual model of the relationship between the use of management controls and the perception of meaningful work. It provides valuable implications for practice and future research in the field of performance management.

The purpose of this paper is to show that steering overall performance requires not only juxtaposing indicators focused on economic, social and environmental performance but also negotiating the measurement of performance metrics with all the stakeholders.

This is an action-research and intervention-research project aimed at experimenting an integrated and negotiated management control system for overall performance. The choice for the case study is a hospital in the Middle East that practices green management and that has to be self-financed while accepting all patients, even those who cannot pay.

The integration of the three dimensions of overall performance requires involving all stakeholders in the implementation of innovative management control.

The case is a pilot experiment and shows the conditions for an appropriate design of an overall performance management control methodology. However, further experiments should be carried out to shed light on the factors that form invariants regarding integrated performance log-books.

The study design is that of a management control methodology that enables the short- and long-run economic impacts of social and environmental performance.

The action-research process has proved to be a learning experience for the hospital and both internal and external stakeholders. However, replicability remains to be proven through experimenting the method in various settings.

This paper shows the need for negotiation of overall performance with all stakeholders to design and implement an appropriate participative approach to management control.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which both formal and informal control, operating as a package, are implicated in responding to organisational change arising from the introduction of the Australian Federal Government’s Clean Energy Act (2011).

This investigation is based on a review of archival data, and semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 staff at different hierarchical levels within an Australian renewable energy company.

Although formal management control systems and informal control both played important roles in the organisation’s reorientation to organisational change, it was the latter form of control that predominated over the former. The influence of the prevailing organisational culture, however, was pivotal in orchestrating both formal and informal control efforts within this organisation.

This study contributes to management control theory and practice in two ways: first, it provides much needed empirical evidence about the ways in which management controls act as a package; second, it offers insights into the relative importance of the components of a management control package in the context of a particular organisational change. In addition, it responds to Laughlin’s (1991) call for empirical “flesh” to be added to the skeletal framework he advocates to make this conceptualisation of organisational change, “more meaningful”.

This study aims to reinforce the important role of management control systems (MCSs) in managing change through adopting a unique approach to the conceptualisation of Simons’ (1995) levers of control, specifically focussing on the enabling (beliefs and interactive) and constraining (boundary and diagnostic) levers of control and empirically examining their association with management innovation and organisational performance.

A mail survey questionnaire was used to collect data, with the Dillman (2007) tailored design method used in regards to the development of questions, and the personalisation and distribution procedures. A total of 645 questionnaires were distributed to either the Financial Controller or Chief Financial Officer of manufacturing business units identified in the OneSource database.

The findings reveal that the use of enabling controls was directly associated with organisational performance and with three management innovation dimensions (new structures, processes and practices) with new structures positively associated with organisational performance. It was also found that the use of constraining controls was indirectly, through the extent of adoption of new management techniques, associated with organisational performance.

The findings have important implications for managers in respect to how they use controls to enhance innovation and organisational performance.

The findings highlight the importance of the use of MCS, specifically both enabling and constraining controls, in facilitating change (management innovation) and performance. Hence, the findings provide empirical evidence in support of Simons’ (1995, 2000) theoretical assertion that the levers coexist to provide benefits to organisations.