Organisations adopting digital technologies are seeing alterations in the structure and nature of data they track and process. Within this landscape of change, accounting systems tend to focus on the collection and aggregation of financial transaction data and the provision of quantitative and non-financial information to support decision-making processes. Evidence is, however, emerging that accounting controls and financial reporting are being reshaped in digitalising environments. We consider a number of accounting issues tied to the intersection of digitalisation and organisational processes highlighting the control implications of these changes. We identify related research possibilities and discuss the value of methodological pluralism in studying accounting in digitalising contexts.

We employ a qualitative approach to explore whether and how the use of performance measurement systems differs between public and private providers in Swedish and Finnish primary care, from the perspective of primary care centre managers. The two settings are similar in terms of decentralised healthcare systems but differ in terms of organisation of primary care and governance principles for public and private providers. Our findings highlight the importance of considering contextual factors when interpreting results on differences between public and private providers. We observe a) increased goal clarity and an increased use of management controls when payment is separated from provision, b) a similar use of control practices between public and private providers when they operate under the same governance principles, and c) differences in control practices when the “rules of the game” differ. We identify two actions that can facilitate performance management at the provider level. One is for purchasers or owners to clearly communicate the scope of services for which providers are responsible for to improve their goal clarity. The other is for an actor at the national level to facilitate access to reliable data to enhance appropriate performance management and the sharing of experiences among providers.

Contemporary digital technologies provide new opportunities for organizing work within the finance function. In this study, we examine two digital technologies that are particularly relevant to the operation of finance functions-automation and analytics. We argue that variation in the use of these technologies is related to the interplay between firm-level digitalization strategy and the objectives of the finance function. Drawing on prior literature, we distinguish between two finance function objectives: an efficiency objective and a business partnering objective. Based on survey responses from 137 finance function professionals and complementary insights from 11 interviews, we show that the use of digital technologies within the finance function is associated with both firm-level digitalization strategy and the specific objectives of the finance function. Specifically, we find positive interaction between an emphasis on firm digitalization strategy and an efficiency objective on the use of both automation and analytics. In contrast, digitalization strategy and a business partnering objective have positive but independent effects on the use of analytics. We also find that finance functions that simultaneously use automation and analytics have lower effectiveness, which might be a result of resource constraints. Overall, our paper adds to our understanding of the drivers and consequences of digitalization in the finance function.

Adopting an institutional logics lens, this study examines how different professional groups interpret and respond to incompleteness during the development of an accounting construct in a U.S. teaching hospital. Using an interventionist research design, we co-developed the construct by integrating financial and clinical data to identify and reduce unwarranted cost variations. Drawing on 28 interviews conducted in winter 2018 and spring 2023, alongside field observations, our findings reveal distinct professional responses. Frontline clinicians recognized the construct's incompleteness but saw value in it as a discussion aid. Guided by a hybrid logic of professional autonomy and patient-centered care, they adopted a reflexive change response, selectively using the construct to enhance decision-making. Hospital managers, operating within a segmentation logic of performance and compliance, viewed incompleteness as a manageable limitation. Their pragmatic negotiation response balanced internal support for the construct with external reporting requirements. Clinician-managers, positioned between clinical and managerial logics, experienced tension when the construct failed to satisfy either. Reflecting a dominance logic where clinical concerns prevailed, they ultimately adopted an active resistance response. We contribute to accounting research by demonstrating how institutional logics shape the performative effects of accounting incompleteness. Although incompleteness is widely recognized as socially constructed and interpretively flexible, our study explains why professionals respond to the same incomplete construct in different ways. We show that institutional logics influence the performative capacity of accounting constructs by shaping how professionals interpret and respond to perceived incompleteness-either enabling uptake, redefining purpose, or undermining legitimacy-depending on how that incompleteness aligns with or challenges dominant logics.

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This chapter explores how Internet-based Technologies (IBTs) affect accounting processes and Management Control Systems (MCS). It covers five potentially disruptive IBTs: Cloud Computing, Big Data & Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Blockchain. IBTs offer opportunities to enhance MCS through data-driven control. Data-driven control enables effective guidance of employees' efforts by incorporating nonfinancial indicators (for example, customer sentiment) during goal setting. It also enables timely effort and goal adjustment by facilitating real-time monitoring and feedback, as well as effective goal congruence by facilitating transparent sharing of information amongst employees. Alternatively, IBT-enabled data-driven control presents several challenges for MCS, such as demotivation of employees due to 'surveillance' and/or tight algorithmic control over their activities. Data-driven control also poses other challenges, including issues with data governance, quality, and security, as well as biases and explainability-related issues with control models. Legal and ethical liability concerns also arise over autonomous task execution.

ABSTRACT Management control systems (MCS) have been known to produce unintended, dysfunctional consequences. However, relatively little is known about how MCS can contribute to the inertia and even decline of a firm. Our analysis in the abductive mode was triggered by a surprising case study observation that although Nokia Mobile Phones (NMP) certainly had many capabilities that could have facilitated a timely response to disruptive environmental change, this did not happen. In developing an explanation for this, we draw on the managerial cognitions literature, showing how the cognitions at NMP, developed in the era of organizational success, became embedded in its MCS. This embeddedness, in turn, intensified existing cognitions. As the cognitions became less accurate over time, the once effective MCS started to cause various inertial effects, such as suboptimal and slow decision‐making. We contribute to the literature on the dysfunctional consequences of MCS by theorizing how MCS can contribute to inertia via cognitions in two ways: first, by reinforcing prevailing cognitions and hence preventing management from realizing a need for change; and second, by moderating the impact cognitions have on actions by delaying actions based on renewed cognitions. Both ways may be fatal, especially in hyper‐competitive contexts.

Purpose Interest has grown in how management controls operate together as a package of interrelated mechanisms. This study aims to contribute to the topic by focusing on a single industry in one country, addressing controls in medium-sized enterprises (MEs). It explores how accounting and other forms of control commonly combine and the associations these combinations have with firm characteristics and context. Design/methodology/approach This study used a cross-sectional sample of 242 firms. Data were collected in 2015 from a survey of the Italian mechanical-engineering industry. Findings The MEs studied used two different control configurations. One group relatively strongly emphasized most studied controls, except for centralizing decision-making and strong hierarchy; the other relied on centralization and emphasized other controls less. Size, task programmability, outcome measurability, complexity in terms of the extensiveness of the product range and environmental unpredictability can predict the configuration in use. Originality/value No broad-based empirical evidence on control configurations in MEs currently exists. Previous research has focused on to what extent control systems affect business effectiveness or efficiency, without assessing how, and in which contexts, they combine.

Most cross-cultural studies on management control have compared Anglo-Saxon firms to Asian firms, leaving us with limited understanding of potential variations between developed Western societies. This study addresses differences and similarities in a wide variety of management control practices in Anglo-Saxon (Australia, English Canada), Germanic (Austria, non-Walloon Belgium, Germany) and Nordic firms (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). Unique data is collected through structured interviews from 584 strategic business units (SBUs). We find that management control structures in Anglo-Saxon SBUs, relative to those from Germanic and Nordic regions, are more decentralized and participative and place greater emphasis on performance-based pay. Comparing Germanic SBUs to Nordic ones, we find Germanic SBUs to rely more on individual behaviour in performance evaluation, whereas Nordic SBUs rely more on quantitative measures and value alignment in employee selection. We also observe numerous similarities in MC practices between the three cultural regions. The implications of these findings for theory development are outlined.

This study examines the influence of cultural regions on the interdependence between delegation of authority and other management control (MC) practices. In particular, we assess whether one of the central contentions of agency theory, that incentive contracting and delegation are jointly determined, holds in different cultural regions. Drawing on prior literature, we hypothesise that the MC practices that operate as a complement to delegation vary depending on societal values and preferences, and that MC practices other than incentive contracting will complement delegation in firms in non-Anglo cultural regions. Using data collected from 584 strategic business units across three Western cultural regions (Anglo, Germanic, Nordic), our results show that the interdependence between delegation and incentive contracting is confined to Anglo firms. In the Nordic and Germanic regions, we find that strategic and action planning participation operate as a complement to delegation, while delegation is also complemented by manager selection in Nordic firms. Overall, our study demonstrates that cultural values and preferences significantly influence MC interdependence, and suggests that caution needs to be taken in making cross-cultural generalisations about the complementarity of MC practices.

This study examines productivity among professionals (i.e., physicians, psychologists, therapists, and nurses) in a mental healthcare clinic, a complex task environment. We investigate the effect of an identity actualization intervention and provision of group-level relative performance information (RPI) reports. We hypothesize that identity actualization should increase perceived goal interdependency and social identity salience and thus lead to higher productivity. Furthermore, we posit that access to group-level RPI reports should increase professionals’ productivity when they have taken part in the identity actualization intervention. We argue that identity actualization enhances the relevance of productivity, allowing group-level RPI reports to trigger engagement in social comparison and impression management among professionals. We test our predictions using a field experiment with a nested design in the mental health division of a large North European university hospital system. Our findings show that receiving group-level RPI reports drives physicians and psychologists to act more productively, while participation in an identity actualization workshop has the opposite effect. These effects appear in one important dimension of productivity – the share of time spent on evidence-based diagnosing and treatment planning activities. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

This study examines productivity among professionals (i.e., physicians, psychologists, therapists and nurses) in a mental healthcare clinic. We investigate the effect of dialogue and Relative Per-formance Information (RPI) reports. We hypothesize that dialogue increases perceived goal inter-dependency, group identity, the quality of relationships between management and professionals, as well as perceived organizational support, and thus leads to higher productivity. Furthermore, we posit that RPI reports increase professionals’ productivity when they have taken part in dia-logue. We argue that dialogue enhances the relevance of productivity allowing RPI reports to trigger professionals’ involvement in social comparison and impression management. We test our predictions using a field experiment with nested design, which we conduct in the mental health division of a large North European university hospital. Our findings show that RPI reports drive physicians and psychologists to act in a more productive manner, while dialogue yields the oppo-site effect. These effects appear on one dimension of productivity. On other productivity dimen-sions and for other occupational groups, we do not find significant effects. Implications for re-search and practice are discussed.

This study investigates subordinate participation in the planning processes of top management. Specifically, this study examines the independent and joint effects of subordinate participation in strategic planning and action planning on management control (MC) effectiveness. While these planning processes have been subject to significant research, little is known about the interrelationships between strategic planning and action planning. This study hypothesizes that strategic planning and action planning have both independent and joint effects on MC effectiveness. This study draws on a large survey database of top managers across 11 countries. The analysis shows that participative action planning has positive, direct effects on MC effectiveness, while no significant association is found for participation in strategic planning. We also find that participative strategic planning and participative action planning are interdependent control choices. However, contrary to expectations, we find that they act as substitutes rather than complements.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether certain configurations of management controls dominate in certain societies (socio-cultural contexts) and whether the effectiveness of a given archetype of management control systems (MCSs) varies depending on the socio-cultural setting the society in which it operates. The study focuses on three socio-cultural groups and the corresponding institutional contexts (an Anglo-Saxon group, a Central European group, and a Northern European group) and three MCS archetypes (delegated bureaucratic control, delegated output control, and programmable output control). We use unique data from a cross-national, interview-based survey encompassing 610 strategic business units from nine countries (seven European countries plus Canada and Australia). The idea that firms tend to adapt MCSs to the socio-cultural context does not gain empirical support in this study. No significant differences in the distribution of MCSs between the three socio-cultural groups are noted. However, we do find that programmable output control has a more positive impact on effectiveness in Anglo-Saxon cultures, while delegated output control has a more positive impact on effectiveness in Northern Europe. Taken together these findings indicate that distinct differences between societies make a particular MCS design more appropriate in a given society, but where such differences are not dramatic (as in the present case), multiple MCS designs can be found in the same society.

This study examines management control (MC) combinations that are effective in different strategic contexts through two related approaches – MC as a package and MC as a system. First, this study identifies how a set of MC practices combine (i.e. MC packages) to achieve effective control outcomes for firms operating in defender and prospector strategic contexts by applying fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Using data from a survey of top managers the analysis reveals that there are multiple ways by which firms can effectively combine MC practices in a given strategic context. Furthermore, the analysis shows that not all MC practices found to be relevant in isolation are relevant when examined simultaneously as a package. Second, based on a comparison of effective MC packages this study examines interdependencies between MC practices (i.e. MC systems). Results show that in defender firms a diagnostic control use of accounting and mechanistic structural controls act as complements, while mechanistic structural controls and measure diversity act as substitutes. In prospector firms an interactive control use of accounting and organic structural controls are found to have complementary effects. These results indicate that the effectiveness of accounting control and structural control choices are determined not only by their fit with strategic context but also by how they fit with each other. This study also demonstrates how an understanding of MC packages can provide guidance for theory development and empirical analysis of MC systems.

This article provides a review of managerialist studies in management accounting, as presented in ten leading accounting journals over the past 25 years. The review covers both interventionist and non-interventionist studies in which at least one of the aims is to directly support or help organizational decision-making and control. Non-interventionist research reviewed is descriptive or conceptual in nature, or develops models, algorithms or frameworks of managerial relevance. Interventionist research reviewed covers both traditional action research as well as studies applying the constructive research approach. The contribution of various strands of managerialist research is assessed and the potential of this kind of research in management accounting for the future is discussed.

There is growing interest in how management controls operate together as a package of interrelated mechanisms. Although theoretical debate dates back to the seminal paper of Otley (1980), there remains little empirical analysis of how control mechanisms combine. To increase knowledge in this area this study explores how multiple accounting and other control mechanisms commonly combine and the associations these combinations have with firm context. From a cross-sectional sample of 400 firms, this study presents an empirically derived taxonomy of five control configurations used by top managers, labelled as simple, results, action, devolved, and hybrid. Many of these patterns closely resemble control configurations common to the literature, while others represent distinctively contemporary arrangements, such as flexible variants of traditional bureaucracy (action), and instances where multiple and seemingly conflicting control types intermesh (hybrid). In analyzing these configurations this study provides accounting and control researchers with empirical observations to refine and extend existing control frameworks and theory.

A significant amount of attention has been devoted to understanding the relationship between strategy and control. While much progress has been made a number of important questions have so far received little attention: (1) how do management controls combine to achieve effective control outcomes for different firm strategies? and (2) are there multiple, equally effective control combinations in a given strategic context? This study addresses these questions by drawing on the Miles and Snow (1978) typology to hypothesize the control combinations expected to be effective for different strategic contexts. Expectations are tested through a novel method termed fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) using data obtained from a cross sectional survey. The study contributes to the literature by providing evidence on how control attributes combine within and across strategic contexts and demonstrating that effective control can be achieved through multiple configurations. In doing so the study provides insight into the interdependence and relative importance of control attributes for achieving effective control outcomes in different strategic settings.

Why has accounting, one of the eldest disciplines in business, only recently started to consider family business, the prevalent form of economic organization in the world, as a relevant research context? What is the role of accounting in family business? Which accounting issues are relevant in family business? How are different accounting practices implemented in family business? And how do these practices affect various family business outcomes and dynamics? This article aims to answer these and other questions by focusing on three key family business characteristics: 1. involvement of the family in ownership, governance and management, 2. socioemotional wealth, and 3. succession. Given the distinctive features, aims and foci of financial and managerial accounting, the article points out that distinctive research questions, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks are needed to study financial and managerial accounting in a family business context. We suggest several topics in both financial and managerial accounting relevant to family business that can be explored by future research. In particular, we propose that managerial accounting represents an area in family business that requires increasing attention from accounting scholars.