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Despite extensive adoption of Simons’ Levers of Control (LoC) framework, there is still considerable diversity in its operationalization which impedes the coherent development of the literature and compromises its value to researchers. The purpose of this paper is to draw researchers back to the conceptual core of the framework as a basis for stable, consistent definitions of the domain of observables.

We derive the conceptual core of the framework from Simons’ writings. We highlight instability in existing operational definitions of the LoC, weaknesses in the extent to which these definitions reference this conceptual core, and inconsistencies in the restriction of LoC to formal information-based routines.

We draw on the inconsistencies identified to build the case for commensuration or a “common standard” for the framework’s use on two levels: the constructs within the framework (through reference to the conceptual core of the framework) and the framework itself (through explicit inclusion of informal controls).

We illustrate the benefits of commensuration through the potential to guide the scope of the domain of observables in empirical LoC studies, and to study LoC as complementary or competing with other management control theories.

Our approach to resolving tensions arising from inconsistencies in the empirical definitions of LoC differs from others in that we focus on the strategic variables underlying the framework to define the conceptual core. We believe this approach offers greater potential for commensuration at the level of the constructs within the framework and the framework itself.

The main purpose of this paper is to assess the patterns in the public discourse of successful chief executive officers (CEOs) in terms of performance, with the CEO's strengths and aspects to improve.

This paper aligns with the literature that appraises CEO public discourse and relevance. From the literature review, the strategic levers in CEO discourse toward high performance are identified. The CEO letters in the period 2017–2019 of the top 25 best performing CEOs (BPCs) according to Harvard Business Review ranking 2019 are qualitatively examined through a multiple close reading analytical technique and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) is applied to assess the patterns.

The paper delivers a three-dimensional model representing how the identified strategic levers are articulated by BPCs in the BPC's discourse following diverse patterns. This paper points out BPC's strengths, among them a high level of moral reasoning compared to previous studies and improvable areas such as the extended absence of autocritique at the firm and personal level or the lack of leverage on the need for agility and proactive adaption.

This paper contributes further CEO awareness of the strategic role of the discourse and offers clues to enhance CEO awareness, as well as criteria for boards of directors to appraise CEO discourse.

Adopting a novel approach, this paper addresses the strategic levers triggered by CEOs in their letters from a managerial implication perspective, providing relevant theoretical insight on how they are articulated.

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding regarding corporate turnaround. An integrated discussion regarding different corporate failure factors, conditions, symptoms followed by turnaround strategies and its results have been provided.

Authors have done a comprehensive systematic and integrated literature review study of research articles on corporate turnaround. The paper reviewed discussed different dimensions of turnaround management. The authors applied thematic reductionist categorisation with logical arguments to develop an integrated turnaround canvas (ICT).

An ICT has been developed. ICT is a holistic framework to comprehend turnaround strategy. Impact of precondition and turnaround levers on cash flow dynamics and the operational and strategic levers for successful turnaround performance of the firm has also been presented. Authors have also tabulated the entire spectrum of corporate turnaround.

This conceptual work would help researchers interested in turnaround research to anchor their study at different points in ICT canvas. This could be at the decline precondition stage, corporate failure state, turnaround levers (strategic and operational) application phase and in terms of turnaround performance.

The ICT canvas would help managers to identify the set of corporate failure preconditions which might lead their firm to decline phase. The ICT canvas would also help managers based upon the identification of decline preconditions to select an appropriate turnaround interventions required to arrest the corporate failure. Finally, the ICT canvas would help in identifying the operational and strategic levers for successful turnaround implementation and thus achieving the desired corporate performance.

This is one of the first studies to provide an integrated perspective on corporate turnaround as the developed ICT canvas consisted of identification of decline preconditions, corporate failure, turnaround levers (strategic and operational ) and turnaround performance.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze specific levers of value creation in small and mid-size private equity deals. Private equity firms add value through various types of value creation measures in their portfolio firms to achieve abnormal returns. Established literature has shown that value creation measures differ across portfolio firms due to the different development stages of the firm and different buy-out types. Despite the fact that the majority of deals belongs to the small and mid-size segment, prior studies mostly analyzed large private equity buy-outs or mixed samples.

To explore value generation measures in small and mid-size buy-outs, a single case study format was applied studying the carve-out of QUNDIS from Siemens Building Technologie by CAPCELLENCE as an exceptional successfully private equity deal within this segment.

The analysis shows that operational and governance improvements are common value creation measures in all buy-outs. The results suggest a lower leverage for smaller private equity deals indicating that financial engineering is less important. Furthermore, in small and mid-size deals, the strategic focus is growth contrary to downsizing and refocusing in large buy-outs.

Results of a single case study should be generalized cautiously, as they are perceived as less robust compared to empirical methods or multiple case studies. However, this method is appropriate for explorative studies.

The paper is original in exploring certain value creation measures applied by private equity firms in their portfolio companies in the small and mid-size segment.

A comprehensive “health promoting schools” (HPS) approach is advocated by the World Health Organization to foster the health of students. To date, few studies have evaluated schools' capacity to implement it in an optimal way. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that identifies core features likely to facilitate the incorporation of innovation, such as HPS, into school functioning.

The framework was built by combining dimensions derived from two major strands of literature, i.e. management and HPS. It has taken root in Zahra and George's model of organisation absorptive capacity (AC) for new knowledge but has been adapted to better explore AC in a school context. The contrasting cases of two secondary schools that adopted a HPS approach in Quebec, Canada, for at least three years were used to illustrate the value of the framework.

The framework proposed is a multidimensional model that considers components such as modulators, antecedents, integration mechanisms and strategic levers as potential determinants of AC, i.e. acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation. The conceptual framework helped to qualify and compare AC regarding HPS in the two cases and holds promise to appreciate mechanisms having the greatest influence on it.

The framework can serve as a conceptual guide to facilitate the absorption of innovation in schools and to design future empirical research to better understand the underlying process by which schools strengthen their capacities to become settings conducive to the health of youth.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: ■ understand organizational turnaround and its sustainability;■ applying the understanding of turnarounds to distinguish between operational and strategic levers of a turnaround strategy; ■ analyze and evaluate past and present turnarounds from a sustainability perspective; and ■ formulate managerial actions to make turnaround sustainable.

Braithwaite Company Ltd. (Braithwaite) was a specialized engineering firm headquartered in Kolkatta, India. It primarily undertook structural steel fabrication to make railway wagons and bridge structures. It was incorporated as a private enterprise almost a century back. However, since its nationalization five decades ago, it has been operating as a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the aegis of Indian Railways, a department of the Government of India. The case documents the past three decades of the firm’s journey, during which it experienced three episodic turnarounds. Details of the first two turnarounds are presented as the background, in light of which sustainability of the third turnaround is to be examined. The case explores the sustainability of organizational turnarounds from the perspective of the current Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), the case protagonist. Braithwaite underwent financial and operational distress in 1992, 2005 and 2015 and negotiated them under different leaders. These leaders from diverse backgrounds used distinct tactics and strategies to bring about organizational turnarounds. The case provides data and information to assess the sustainability of the third turnaround. Hence, it allows a class to explore the paradoxical observation that while “turnaround” inherently implies sustenance of good performance over time, turnaround sustainability is not spontaneous in the real world. The case deals with the performance issues of PSUs, which make significant contributions to the national economy in the case of emerging economies (for example, 5%–8% of the Indian National gross domestic product is contributed by PSUs; https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/psus-are-crucial-for-indias-growth-but-only-if-they-play-a-strategic-role). Under government ownership and management, the poor performance of PSUs is often attributed to bad decision-making by its top management. In contrast, Braithwaite’s top management’s sound contextual decision-making resulted in a jump in its performance during each turnaround phase, but unsound fundamentals resulted in the unsustainability of the turnarounds. Hence, the case enables an exploration of the unique challenges faced by PSU that emanate from legacy roles, monopolistic markets and dual purpose – the concurrent pursuit of profits and social welfare. Consequently, the case allows an examination of the reasons for the distress of PSUs and the viability of turnaround strategies in the context of the broader Business–Government–Society landscape in emerging economies.

The case is written for use in the MBA elective course covering “Strategic Revival and Turnaround Strategies.” It can be used at the beginning of the course to identify reasons for organizational failure/distress or in the later part of the course to discuss the implementation of operational and strategic turnaround strategies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

This paper aims to tie together insights from the body of research on knowledge management (KM) and management accounting control systems to propose a conceptual model in which performance measurement systems (PMS) can play a role in translating knowledge resources into enhanced performance.

The underlying assumption of the “fit-as-mediation” approach signifies that knowledge features can play a role in the determination of the structure and implementation of particular managerial processes and this, in turn, may support information processing and lead to desirable results within organizations.

Synthesizing theory from performance measurement and the knowledge-based view of the firm, the paper’s analysis and discussions elucidate how the implementation of an overarching PMS, i.e. diversity of measurement, could translate the knowledge-related factors, i.e. knowledge resources and knowledge process capabilities, into enhanced performance. In particular, the proposed model shows that a comprehensive PMS plays an intervening role between KM and organizational performance.

The proposed model may inspire a new research agenda to show how knowledge initiatives are managed and measured in organizations and how they are properly aligned with specific managerial processes to deliver real value.

Drawing upon the conceptualized associations among KM, PMS and organizational performance, this paper recommends some practical guidelines by highlighting the importance of PMS whereby organizations may reap maximum benefit from their KM initiatives.

This paper sheds new light on the links between KM and organizational performance, and it appears to be the first study to propose an intervening effect of PMS between KM and organizational performance.

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.

Inspite of the attention resilience receives in relation to public policy and public management, very few studies have analysed the internal mechanics of public sector organisations to see what is producing their resilience. Considering management control systems (MCSs) as the drivers of organisational change, this paper aims to explore their role as determinants of resilience in the public sector. The paper attempts to open the black box of organisational functioning focusing on one complex component.

This paper adopted a qualitative approach for this longitudinal case study. This paper used a mix of primary and secondary sources in terms of direct observation, semi-structured interviews and internal document analysis. This paper used a framework drawing on Barbera et al. (2017) and management control’s constraining and facilitating concepts to explore how anticipatory and coping capacities of resilience are supported and reinforced by MCSs.

Findings suggest that MCSs support adaptive behaviour and assist decision-making by providing knowledge and ready-to-use answers to cope with external shocks. However, this is found in case of the adoption of facilitating MCSs, which empower managers and employees and are based on stewardship roles. In such a context, MCSs played an essential role in shaping anticipatory and coping capacities. At the same time, financial shocks fostered the investment in MCSs, cyclically strengthening or developing new anticipatory and coping capacities.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first attempting to identify how facilitating MCSs, as a driver of organisational change, can make an organisation more resilient. It shows how resilience capacities are generated and strengthened via MCSs.