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In this paper, we investigate whether internal control and whether corporate life cycle would affect firm performance in the emerging markets of China.

We use Chen, Dong, Han, and Zhou’s (2013) internal control index on the effectiveness of internal control and Dickinson’s (2011) definition on firm life cycle. We use multivariate regression analysis.

We find that the internal control improves corporate performance. When dividing firm life cycle into five stages: introduction, growth, mature, shake-out and decline, we find that the impacts of internal control on firm performance vary with different stages. The positive impact of internal control on firm performance is more significant in maturity and shake-out stages than other stages.

Our findings would have implications for the regulators and policy makers with regards to the importance of internal control in corporate governance and the effectiveness of implementing standards and guidelines on internal control in public firms.

In addition, our findings on the various roles of internal control at different stages of firm life cycle would help managers and board of directors find more focus in risk management and board monitoring, respectively.

Although the prior literature have examined the link between internal control, information quality and cost of equity capital (Ashbaugh-Skaife, Collins, Kinney, & LaFond, 2009; Ogneva, Subramanyam, & Raghunandan, 2007), our study would be the first attempt to investigate the link between internal control and firm performance during different stages of firm life cycles.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to propose that the nature and degree of control during new product development (NPD) outsourcing depends upon its initiation stage or implementation stage; second, to delineate the moderating effect of globalization and digitizability that further influence the link between NPD stage and control systems.

The authors propose a conceptual framework and develop a series or propositions.

The nature and degree of control systems required in NPD is contingent upon the stage of the NPD process and this relationship is moderated by the degree of globalization and digitizability.

The paper offers a conceptual platform that can be explored in future empirical research. The paper offers a series of propositions as well as measurement items to enable this task.

The research underscores the idea that instituting appropriate control systems in outsourcing NPD is a complex process that requires careful consideration of the nature of the activity, the nature of the control and firm strategy.

This paper is the first to conceptually examine the domain of the three-way intersection of NPD stage-gate process, outsourcing relationships and control systems. By doing so, the authors extend each of the three individual research domains in new directions as well as enhance the understanding of the interrelationships among these three domains.

A systems perspective of waste management allows an integrated approach not only to the five basic functional elements of waste management itself (generation, reduction, collection, recycling, disposal), but to the problems arising at the interfaces with the management of energy, nature conservation, environmental protection, economic factors like unemployment and productivity, etc. This monograph separately describes present practices and the problems to be solved in each of the functional areas of waste management and at the important interfaces. Strategies for more efficient control are then proposed from a systems perspective. Systematic and objective means of solving problems become possible leading to optimal management and a positive contribution to economic development, not least through resource conservation. India is the particular context within which waste generation and management are discussed. In considering waste disposal techniques, special attention is given to sewage and radioactive wastes.

This study aims to investigate the effects of project-level external knowledge search breadth and search depth on the innovation performance of open innovation (OI) projects in large firms; it further considers these effects mediated by two forms of control mechanisms (process and outcome control) when the level of project complexity and the two stages of a project – early (problem definition) and late (solution development) – are taken into account.

Based on a survey of 187 managers responsible for an OI project, the authors use theory on behavioral-based control mechanisms to explore whether the effect of external knowledge search breadth and depth on OI performance is contingent on having the right levels of control mechanisms in place.

The results showed that the control mechanism mediates the relationship between external knowledge search breadth and depth and OI project performance. Furthermore, project complexity is an important moderator of these effects, especially for outcome control.

A better OI project’s performance is not achieved by external knowledge search breadth and depth alone, but by building process and outcome control mechanism on it to balance knowledge sharing and protecting tension. Furthermore, Outcome control is only helpful with less complex OI projects.

This study aims to examine the association between the use of three types of controls (input, behaviour and output) with the level of employee organisational commitment (EOC) across organisational life cycle (OLC) stages.

Data were collected by a survey questionnaire from a random sample of 343 general managers in Australian manufacturing business units.

The level of EOC was found to be highest in growth and revival stage units, suggesting that EOC relates to the level of innovation. The analysis revealed that the types of controls were significantly associated with the level of EOC. In particular, a significant positive association was found between input controls and the level of EOC in both the birth and revival stages.

This study contributes to both the management control system (MCS) literature and practice. First, because only a limited number of studies have examined the effect of MCSs on the level of EOC, and there is no published study to date which has examined the association between the types of controls with the level of EOC from an OLC perspective, this study fills a gap in the literature by examining these associations. Secondly, the findings have important implications for Australian manufacturing organisations. Specifically, by providing an insight into the association between the types of controls with the level of EOC across OLC stages, the results suggest that managers of organisations in the birth and revival stage need to place greater emphasis on input controls so as to enhance the level of EOC.

Recently, it has been recognized that production control systems for multi‐stage manufacturing processes can be classified into push‐type and pull‐type systems. The push‐type systems are commonly defined as those types of materials requirements planning system which utilize the forecast of demands. The pull‐type systems, on the other hand, are those where order quantities are determined on the basis of real demand. Describes a hybrid push/pull production control system, operated periodically, which combines the benefits of both systems. Discusses theoretical arguments in support of this system and numerical studies are shown to give insight into the system′s performance. Hybrid push/pull‐type systems can attain a higher degree of effectiveness if they are appropriately operated.

Maintaining cooperation and avoiding opportunism is essential for a healthy venture capitalist (VC) – entrepreneur relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of control and trust for developing a cooperative VC-entrepreneur relationship in an agency environment in the Indian context.

The study adopts a multiple case study approach to investigate ten VC-entrepreneur dyads. It uses data collected from both primary and secondary sources. Content analysis was used as the data treatment technique.

The empirical evidence indicates that VC-entrepreneur relationships emerging in the early stages suffer from low agency risks and use more of relational mechanisms to curb opportunism and develop cooperation while relationships at an advanced stage suffer from higher agency risks and employ more of control mechanisms to address it.

The findings can be utilized to enhance cooperation in VC-entrepreneur relationship by identifying the appropriate context to apply relational or control mechanisms, which would eventually lead to better performance of the venture.

This distinction results in the development of a theoretical model which shows how the dual governance mechanisms of control and trust interact with one another to affect confidence in partner cooperation as an entrepreneurial venture raises multiple rounds of venture capital across various stages. The data collected from Indian VC-entrepreneur dyads offers a rich description of the relationship dynamics across the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Some companies to aid the product development process have implemented a stage‐gate framework, as a high‐level representation of the activities required. Such a framework allows the development process to be closely monitored and controlled, using stages of work and review gates. Six different companies have been examined to show the variations in representation. Each approach was compared to a generic four‐staged framework. Companies which are organised mainly in cross‐functional teams adhere strongly to the four stages, namely a low‐phased approach. However, companies organised with a strong functional structure tend to have more phases and gates within each stage, i.e. a high‐phased approach. These additional phases tend to be placed late in the product development process rather than at the start where their effect would be greater. A generic representation of the product development process applicable to various organisations and industrial sectors, provides an architecture for carrying out any business process improvement project.

A classic paper on the development of governmental financial control systems argues that such developments occur within the framework of a three‐stage model of evolution. This paper examines the validity of Dean’s model of evolution and argues that the model represents such a general level of historical description that a much more comprehensive examination of historical and current context is required if the past development of current systems and the design of future changes in those systems are to be properly understood. Evidence to support this claim is provided in the form of summary evidence based on an exhaustive inquiry into changes in both the UK and Nigerian governmental financial control systems over the last 35 years. This leads to suggestions that a model based on evolution and experimentation in response to contextual changes offers a better route to future research and improved practice.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a framework of management control that accommodates phenomena found in literature, like the importance of social factors for coordinating behavior, rule‐following behavior and the evolutionary nature of control. Phenomena that the dominant economic view, based on self‐interested actors and financial incentives, cannot easily absorb.

The framework characterizes control as the coordination of behavior in organizations. It is based on two‐stage rationality in which rule‐following behavior gives meaning to self‐interest, and in doing so, coordinates behavior.

Management control of two‐stage rational behavior involves managing the various elements of the framework in combination. The evolution of the coordinating rules in an organization will be partly autonomous and partly formed within the organization. Therefore, management control entails influencing the development path of the organization. Although it is concerned with the formation of controls in an organization, it is not exclusively concerned with the design of controls.

The framework provides broader opportunities for managing an organization than the theory based on simple rational choice.

In this socio‐economic approach, management will not consider controlling the “economic man” to be its core activity; instead, management will be coordinating the behavior of authentic human beings.

These aspects of management remain undervalued in mainstream literature on management control. The non‐mainstream literature does pay attention to these aspects; however, they are seldom integrated in one theoretical structure that is based explicitly on a broad conception of human behavior. The socio‐economic view can offer valuable insight into management and organization.