Management Control Research

Wrap-up for the first two weeks!

During the first two weeks the main goal was to provide a holistic overview and understanding
about management control research.
After these two weeks you should be able to:
1. Understand what are MACS (book, p. 5) + developed further in chapter 4 of the book.
a. Agency theory: Organizations are a web of two-person contracts between
owner (principal) and managers/employees (agents). MACS are used to monitor,
control, and motivate the agents (e.g. incentive system) owners position;
b. Nerve center: Managers need (formal and informal) information to support
their decisional, interpersonal and informational roles managers position;
c. Accounting symbolism: MACS are used in a ceremonial way: more symbolic
than functionalistic. Can be used either to influence or persuade (offensively) or
to a posteori justify decisions (defensively) accountings position;
d. Labor process: MACS are used to weaken and exploit workers (managers can
both be victims and users of MACS) workers position;
e. Dialectic controls: Historical analysis and evolution / change based on tensions
amongst organizational elements managers and workers position.

2. Understand two typologies about Management Control Research.

a. The three paradigms proposed by Chua (1986) and their main characteristics.

Laborprocess

Dialecticcontrols

Nervecenter

Agencytheory
Symbolism

Slides 15+16

Slides 17+18

Slides 13+14

See also three alternative approaches (attached) and DEBATE (lecture 1)

Mainstream accounting research Standard in USA, dominates PhD and Master programs
and academic journals.
Interpretive research Describe, understand and interpret the meanings that human actors
apply to accounting information.
Critical research Does not belief in a neutral view of the uses of accounting (often
researchers take a stance and are advocates for changes in the status quo).
b. The alternative classification proposed by Macintosh and Quattrone (2010)
chapter 3 of the book
MACS
Believing in reality
Individualism: positive, rational and market beliefs
Functionalism: on being fit
Contextualism: culture, society and resistance
Believing in relations
Structuration: structure, actions, and systems
Practices: uses and training regimes
Actor-networks: actions and diffused agencies
Note that we will develop further Baxter and Chua (2003) typology on week 6 as a course wrap-up!

3. Understand that research in management control can be done quite differently

according to the ontological (is there an objective truth?) and epistemological (what
is an acceptable truth?) assumptions. These assumptions have also methodological
implications (what method is seen as valid?).
Qualitative versus Quantitative methods
-

Focuses on everyday life realities

Representation by words, text and

talk
Emerging theory

Focuses on singular presumed-to-be

true reality
Representation by codes, counts and
quantification of phenomena
Theory testing

Both concerned with answering research questions, relating data analysis to research
literature. Trying not to distort and to be transparent.
Abernethy and Lillis (2001) and Kurunmaki et al. (2003) from Seminar 2 are
examples of each type of inquiry (to be developed further).
Case studies:

How do you evaluate the quality of research? What are exemplary case studies? What is
the role of theory in research?
Whats next?
Mainstream Accounting research (week 3)
Interpretive research (week 4)
Critical research (week 5)

Source: Smith, M. (2010) Research Methods in Accounting (2nd edition) (London: Sage Publications)