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Purpose – In the last decades, Italian healthcare organisations have been subject to important normative changes, aimed at increasing their efficiency. As a response, performance measurement and evaluation (PME) systems have been introduced. The present study attempts to examine PME system changes as institutional processes. In studying such processes the healthcare literature acknowledges the presence of two logics: managerial and professional, as peculiar to healthcare settings, whose convergence or divergence can explain the success of any institutional process.

Design/methodology/approach – We adopt Busco et al.'s (2007) framework as an approach for unbundling PME system change into four relevant coordinates, namely: (1) the object (PME system), (2) the subjects (institutional forces), (3) the place and time of change (the managerial and professional logics) and (4) the how and why change happens (change as an institutional process). We conducted a longitudinal case study at a large teaching hospital in Southern Italy, directed to interpret PME system changes during the period from 1998 until 2009.

Findings – Our observation distinguishes episodes of successful institutional processes, where the introduced innovations are transformed into objectivated practices, from episodes of missed institutionalisation, where new procedures were rapidly abandoned.

Research and social implications – This theoretical framework can be useful for interpreting the PME system changes in different institutional contexts.

Originality – The Busco et al.'s framework allows us to understand PME system changes by integrating the perspectives from Neo-Institutional Sociology, representing healthcare organisational responses to external institutional pressures, and Old-Institutional Economics, conceptualising PME system changes as an institutionalisation process.

Purpose – This study attempts to explore further the relation between performance information and trust as the main control levers in inter-firm transactional relationships.

Design/methodology/approach – After discussing the interaction between information and trust from different theoretical perspectives, the study examines the case of a multinational company working in the pharmaceutical industry. Material has been collected through interviews with managers and documental analyses, focusing on the relations between the company and its partner suppliers.

Findings – A theoretical systematisation is provided, distinguishing three main perspectives: (1) the transactional perspective, strictly derived from transaction cost economics assumptions, which denies any role to trust; (2) the relational perspective, which, in examining inter-firm trust, assumes similarities with inter-personal trust; (3) the institutional perspective, which, based on the sociological distinction of “trust in abstract systems” and “trust in persons”, is intended to identify institutional factors explaining management accounting changes. Case discussion shows that the institutional propositions fit the empirical evidence better, for both trust in persons and in systems are important as control levers, but their relevance differs along the value chain: while trust in persons is more relevant in the less-programmable phases, trust in systems is more developed in the more programmable one.

Research implications – The paper contributes to the literature on inter-organisational control by providing more insights into the interaction between information and trust as control levers.

Originality/value – The focus on value chain phases enables us to analyse how different control patterns or archetypes can be co-present in a given relationship.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to present a state of the art of performance measurement and management control systems based on the papers presented in the 6th Conference on Performance Measurement and Management Control in Nice, France, 2011. The chapter is structured around two main topics: performance measurement and control systems.

Methodology/approach – The chapter is based on a thorough review of all the papers presented at the conference. Each paper was classified according to the topic it dealt with and the methodology used in the paper.

Findings – We structure the papers around the following topics: cost measurement and management, mapping the landscape, financial measures, nonfinancial performance frameworks, performance measurement design, sector-specific measures, and marketing measures within performance measurement. The topics identified in management control systems are compensation, management control systems' design, motivational aspects, strategy, risk management and enterprise software, governance, nonprofit organizations, and innovation.

Research limitations/implications – The chapter provides a comprehensive review of these topics. The review is limited to the selection bias implicit in the papers submitted to the conference. However, with almost 200 papers, the conference includes a large set of papers and topics. The analysis indicates that the field is dynamic with close connections to practice and promising research lines.

Practical implications (if applicable) – This state-of-the-art review reveals relevant research findings for companies and organizations. It also indicates that the research community is tackling important issues to society and the evolution of research promises to offer interesting alternatives to tackle these problems.

Social implications – Performance measurement and management control systems are important topics for management. Recent work is extending the implications of these fields beyond companies to include nonprofit organizations and public sector departments. Advances will definitely shape the way societies are designed.

Originality/value of chapter – The chapter provides a review of the field based on the contributions at the conference. As such it portrays the state of the field and gives researchers as well as practitioners a quick way to update their knowledge of the topics that are dominating the field.

Purpose – Interorganizational cost management among companies can lead to significant cost reductions. However, the determinants of the implementation and long-term use of open book accounting as a tool in interorganizational cost management still remain unclear. We contribute to the academic literature by examining the influence of different determinants on the propensity to use open book accounting.

Design/methodology/approach – We conduct an experiment and use a covariance-based structural equation model to analyze the influence of the amount of the initially offered cost information, the offer of a relation-specific asset, and the relative power structure. The model introduced in this paper also integrates aspects of user acceptance that are derived from the Technology Acceptance Model.

Findings – The results demonstrate that both groups of variables have a significant effect on the willingness to use open book accounting. We also show that users of a management device are influenced in their choice by the perceived ease of use of the instrument; yet the extent to which open book accounting can help them achieve their goals (perceived usefulness) has an even stronger influence.

Research limitations/implications – Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the determinants that lead to the successful implementation of open book accounting as an interorganizational cost management tool, and help companies to avoid pitfalls during the implementation process.

Originality/value – This is the first study to analyze the simultaneous influence of different situational and attitudinal determinants on the propensity to engage in interorganizational cost information exchange.