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This paper analyzes what factors drive a company’s decision to align financial and management accounting policies as a measure of integration of management accounting and financial accounting at the highest hierarchy levels of a company.

Research hypotheses for six different determinants are developed: company size, number of operating segments and subsidiaries, internationality of the business, business strategy, company life cycle stage, and leverage. The hypotheses are tested using International Financial Reporting Standards 8 (IFRS 8) segment report data from a large sample of 175 German publicly listed companies.

A higher internationality of the business causes companies to choose a lower degree of integration. Companies with a prospector (defender) strategy choose a lower (higher) degree of integration. Companies in later life cycle stages and with higher leverage choose a lower degree of integration as well. Company size does not impact integration.

Companies have to decide whether, and to what extent, to integrate financial and management accounting and align the two sets of accounting policies. German companies have traditionally kept the two sets separate. As the research reported in this paper sheds light on when companies do not consider integration to be beneficial, it is useful for practitioners.

The legal reporting requirements in Germany as well as German accounting traditions make the German setting particularly suited for examining the integration of management accounting and financial accounting. Using the number of adjustments to financial accounting policies made for management accounting purposes is a novel approach, and the number of adjustments is a more fine-grained measure of integration at the highest hierarchy levels of a company than the measures used in prior literature.

The aim of this study was to appraise the delivery of information communication technology (ICT) projects and identify key determinants for stakeholder integration.

Given that empirically, little was known about stakeholder integration in the ICT sector and its influence or effect on project delivery; qualitative method was used. Forty-seven semi-structured interviews were carried out to derive senior project practitioners and policymakers' constructs of stakeholder integration and infrastructure performance improvement of ICT projects. The verification and validation of the proposed assessment tool were achieved through the use of focus group discussion.

As established in this research study, there is a need for project delivery teams to evaluate the level of stakeholder integration, the formulation of a project business case, the project processes and issues of compliance and regulation in ICT projects. What is evident in the findings of the study is that the management model adopted for the stakeholders in the Kenyan ICT sector ought to make communication the fulcrum of their engagement.

The inferences made herein are critical in contributing to knowledge regarding the ICT infrastructure project management terrain in developing countries. There is evidence in the study to conclude that the concept of stakeholder management and integration has implications for the sustainability of ICT projects. One of the issues that predominantly featured in the research was the input of stakeholder integration in terms of project sustainability.

Supply chain management (SCM) is becoming a popular concept both in research and in practice. At the EurOMA Conference in Copenhagen in 2002 many papers focused on SCM as a research topic. Similarly, an increasing number of companies are establishing positions as supply chain managers. SCM is also a popular theme for trade journals and management conferences. The quest for integration is an explicit or implicit assumption in most literature within SCM. The basic hypothesis is “the more integration – the better the management of the chain”. This article discusses what the term “management” in the concept of SCM stands for. The integration assumption as a “cure all” prescription for SCM is challenged, and questions raised as to when it is possible and desirable to exercise management in supply chains. The main thesis is that it depends very much on the “environment” of the supply chain and the power relations between the participants in the supply chain.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and generate propositions of factors that affect the degree of performance management process integration in retail supply chains.

The performance management processes of two retail supply chains were explored and their degree of process integration was classified. Differences in the degree of performance management process integration and affecting factors lead to the generation of five propositions.

Dependence, brand importance, business process integration, performance demand and the existence of a performance management standard seem to be positively related to the degree of performance management process integration in the relation. Both factors that affect process integration in general and performance management process integration specifically are included. Some insights on integration in a vertically integrated retail chain were provided.

This study has specified the knowledge in process integration to the performance management process and expanded it into a retail context. It has generated a number of propositions on factors that affect the degree of performance management process integration, including a factor that was not found in previous research on manufacturing supply chains. The contribution to process integration theory is however limited until the propositions are validated in a broader study.

Knowledge in affecting factors is useful when “performance management managers” need to communicate integration ambitions with other managers within and outside their own company. The detailed descriptions of performance management processes and integration practices can serve as inspiring benchmarks, as in the daily groceries supply chain, where the industry standard is especially interesting. They can also indicate practices to avoid, as in the home textiles supply chain. Another managerial take-away is the need to handle each relation, manufacturer-wholesaler and wholesaler-retailer store, with their specific affecting factors in specific ways.

Previous knowledge on performance management process integration is mainly based on manufacturing companies. This study expands existing knowledge into a retail context.

In the past few years, management systems implementation and certification has become a common practice among different types of organizations. In this context, quality management systems certification, according to the ISO 9001 standard is in the spotlight, due to over than 1.000.000 certified organizations by the end of 2009. Quality management systems can be integrated with an increasing variety of other subsystems implemented according to other standards, including environmental systems, health and safety, social responsibility, R&D, risk, or human resources, and subsystems raised from specific standards designed for specific activity sectors (HACCP, automotive or aeronautics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and software). Due to this evolution, careful attention should be taken on how these different subsystems have been and should be articulated, harmonized and integrated. Thus, this paper intends to approach different strategies to achieve integration, with several levels of intensity, depth and authenticity between the different subsystems, and report some final recommendations related with good practices assuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the integration process.

A case study methodology has supported this research. Three case studies were conducted on Portuguese companies that have an integrated quality, environmental and safety management system.

If the companies' strategy is to implement more than one management system, there is a clear advantage of doing it supported on an integrated approach, avoiding the development of organizational “islands” related to each subsystem. This organizational “archipelago” structure is completely far way from any global optimized solution, based on a holistic perspective.

Based on the conclusions that we were able to find out, this paper is an important contribution to the integrated management systems research area, because it states different integration approaches and levels of integration and what are the features that characterize each one of those approaches and levels.

The idea of implementing supply chain management (SCM) principles for the construction industry was embraced by construction stakeholders to enhance the sector's performance. The analysis from the literature revealed that the implementation of SCM in the construction industry enhances the industry's value in terms of cost-saving, time savings, material management, risk management and others. The construction supply chain (CSC) can be managed using the pull or push system. This chapter also discusses the origin and proliferation of SCM into the construction industry. The chapter revealed that the concept of SCM has passed through five different eras: the creation era, the use of ERP, globalisation stage, specialisation stage and electronic stage. The findings from the literature revealed that we are presently in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era. At this stage, the SCM witnesses the adoption of technologies and principles driven by the 4IR. This chapter also revealed that the practice of SCM in the construction industry is centred around integration, collaboration, communication and the structure of the supply chain (SC). The forms and challenges hindering the adoption of these practices were also discussed extensively in this chapter.

The purpose of this paper is to define the integration capability dimensions and create a model for self-assessing the integration capability in inter-organizational projects.

A theoretical construct of, referred in this study as integration capability framework is elaborated following a systematic literature review. Thereafter, an integration capability self-assessment model, based on maturity thinking, is derived from the theoretical framework. The self-assessment model is further developed and tested for validity within five inter-organizational project networks in cooperation with industry practitioners, representing construction, industrial engineering, and mining sectors.

The results show that inter-organizational projects can use the developed model in self-assessing the maturity levels of various integration mechanisms, thus the state of integration capability at any point in time during inter-organizational projects.

This study is an attempt to identify how the integration capability dimensions can be self-assessed in inter-organizational projects, through the maturity levels of various integration mechanisms. The results offer insights for both academics and project management practitioners.

This paper proposes a framework that describes the boundary spanning supply chain management (SCM) initiatives taken by leading companies. Supported by existing literature and interviews with managers from large companies reflecting a cross section of businesses, the framework suggests four motivating domains or factors that could support SCM initiatives. They are supply chain understanding, design, improvement, and coordination. Based on the sand cone model, the framework also suggests four levels of SCM integration over which these motivating factors are relevant to the firm and/or supply chain. They range from no integration outside the functional silos of a single firm to a fully integrated multi‐tier supply chain. Unlike existing frameworks that are based upon the flow of material and information through the supply chain, our framework is derived by combining the concept of integration with the motivating domains that characterize SCM initiatives. It captures the combined and overlapping impact of supply chain initiatives from a more strategic perspective and is a useful additional resource for practitioners who seek to chart potential improvements to their supply chain from a competitive standpoint.

This study attempts to examine the performance differences between firms with and without integrated management systems (IMSs), and the impact of three integration strategies (i.e. implementing quality management system (QMS) first, then environmental management system (EMS) (QMS + EMS); implementing EMS first, then QMS (EMS + QMS); implementing QMS and EMS simultaneously (QMS − EMS)) on firm performance to reveal the IMS–performance relationship and provide empirical evidence.

Two panel datasets were collected during 2009–2019. This study used the Mann–Whitney non-parametric test and a sample of 33,155 observations from 4,316 Chinese listed firms to compare the performance differences between the IMS and non-IMS groups through performance indicators. This study also examined the effects of three integration strategies on firm performance using a cross-sectional time-series feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regression model and a sample of 11,289 observations from 2,037 firms.

The results show that significant performance differences exist between IMS and non-IMS firms; however, the performance of firms with an IMS is not always better than that of firms without IMS. Furthermore, the simultaneous integration strategy has a positive impact, whereas sequential integration strategies (QMS + EMS and EMS + QMS) negatively affect firm performance. Compared with the EMS + QMS strategies, the QMS + EMS strategies have a more prominent effect on firm performance. Simultaneous strategies are more effective than sequential strategies.

Firms should fully consider the potential benefits and costs associated with the difficulties of IMS implementation and the implementation order of different management systems and the potential effects of the management systems in different conditions. Firms also should try to develop internal capabilities through implementing different integration strategies.

By comparing performance differences between firms with and without IMS, this study enriches the understanding of the performance benefits of IMS implementation in the Chinese context. By examining the impact of integration strategies that follow different sequences on firm performance, this study promotes an in-depth understanding of the integration strategies and their performance implications beyond simple descriptions and also provides new insights into operations strategy models.

The purpose of this paper is to study how the expression “integrated management systems” is interpreted in literature, what it means to have an integrated management system (IMS) and what the results of this are.

A literature review was conducted based on Scopus using the search term “Integrated Management Systems.” In the chosen articles, effects of integration, scope, level and extent of integration and if the approach is inside-out or outside-in, have been analyzed.

Most articles on IMS conclude that integration is beneficial regarding cost saving, operational benefits and improved customer satisfaction. The general approach in the articles, describes an inside-out approach with focus on integrating existing management standards. The scope of integration covers typically management systems for quality, environment and occupational health and safety.

An IMS is found to be a system that integrates existing management standards based on an inside-out approach. This indicates possibilities for both practical improvement and research in exploring how integrated stakeholder needs could be managed, possibly as process-based IMSs.

This paper sheds light on the ambiguous interpretation of the IMS concept.