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The purpose of this paper is to explore how hierarchical accountability can be enacted and accounting control systems mobilized in a way that promotes a sense of felt responsibility.

The paper draws on interviews, shadowing and observations to explore the implementation of a strategy for “increasing accountability” in a Norwegian Oil Company. The case provided an opportunity to explore the dynamics of hierarchical accountability and felt responsibility, and in particular Roberts (2009) concept of “intelligent accountability”, in an empirical context.

The case study explores how the strategy of increasing accountability at OilCo was enacted around three operational issues; the control of costs, roles and relationships in the complex matrix structure, and the operation of the management system. It traces how the long history of Beyond Budgeting practices and philosophy in OilCo resulted both in an explicit recognition of the incompleteness of accounting numbers, and trust-based practices which avoided many of the dysfunctional individual and organizational effects typically associated with the exercise of hierarchical control.

The paper explores empirically how OilCo’s embrace of Beyond Budgeting practices and philosophy had created the conditions under which a more intelligent form of accountability could emerge. As a European case study, it calls into question the Anglo-American tradition of accounting research which suggests that externally imposed accountability within a hierarchy mitigates against employees’ felt responsibility.

The purpose of this paper is to provide new insights into the implementation of large‐scale learning projects; thereby better understanding the difficulties, frustrations, and obstacles encountered when implementing enterprise‐wide e‐learning as a tool for training and organization transformation in a complex organization.

Information‐sharing disturbances, one of five categories of disturbances that emerged from a grounded theory open coding procedure applied to empirical data collected through a longitudinal field research, are in focus. Third generation activity theory, specifically the notions network of activity systems, disturbances, tensions and contradictions, is used as an analytical lens through which to understand the role of information sharing in a large‐scale implementation.

The study has identified how information sharing disturbances became a critical factor in the implementation of e‐learning in a large company. A number of tensions that point to potential contradictions have been identified. Ways in which to deal with such tensions in future implementations of e‐learning have been suggested.

Activity‐theoretical discussion of e‐learning in a large organization, identifying underlying tensions, is of relevance to large organizations introducing new technologies for working and learning.

The study has identified the causes of an important type of problem that can slow down or hinder e‐learning adoption in an organization, and thereby pointing out shortcomings of standardised e‐learning applications.

Empirical studies of enterprise‐wide implementations of e‐learning have rarely been reported on in the research literature.