| 1. |
- Cäker, Mikael, 1972, et al.
(författare)
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Management control in public sector Joint Ventures
- 2011
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 1044-5005 .- 1096-1224. ; 22:4, s. 330-348
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cooperation among public sector organizations (PSOs) is increasingly important in the management of resources in welfare systems. A Joint Venture (JV) is an organization form that enables PSOs to cooperate with each other in order to achieve economies of scale. However, JVs contain interrelated horizontal and vertical control relationships (between the owners and between the owners and the JV Company) that complicate their control. The first aim of this paper is to map the dynamics in vertical and horizontal control packages in municipal JVs and to describe the relational factors that affect them. Based on three case studies we conclude that vertical control packages are affected by: goodwill trust and competence trust; parent differences in management style and size in combination with control competence; parent diversification (low relatedness between the JV's activity and the parents’ other activities); and the horizontal control package (e.g., rules for parent interaction and distribution of work). Horizontal control packages are affected by: goodwill trust, system trust and calculative trust; parent differences in size; and efforts to achieve equality. The second aim of the paper is to contribute to the discussion on the relationship between trust and control. We observed that trust is potentially unaffected by the introduction of formal controls. We also found that trust has an inverted “crowding out” effect on control. A high ambition to maintain trust leads to underdeveloped formal controls. In addition, we found that the ambition to preserve trust may inhibit the realisation of economies of scale.
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| 2. |
- Figge, Frank, et al.
(författare)
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Value drivers of corporate eco-efficiency : Management accounting information for the efficient use of environmental resources
- 2013
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - : Elsevier. - 1044-5005 .- 1096-1224. ; 24:4, s. 387-400
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Eco-efficiency is oftentimes considered the gold standard for managerial decision making in an environmental context because it seemingly reconciles the efficient use of capital and the efficient use of environmental resources. We challenge this view by disaggregating eco-efficiency to provide an in-depth analysis of corporate eco-efficiency and to identify the drivers of an efficient use of environmental resources. By building on the value-based approach in financial management, we extend the rationale of economic value drivers to develop drivers for the efficient use of environmental resources. We apply this logic to analyze the carbon-efficiency of major car manufacturers worldwide. The analysis clarifies the conceptual relationship between the use of economic and environmental resources by firms. The analysis shows that the drivers of capital efficiency and eco-efficiency are not fully congruent. These findings underpin critical voices that question the supposedly unproblematic link between corporate eco-efficiency and economic value creation. We illustrate that the efficient use of environmental resources is complementary rather than instrumental to capital efficiency. Consequently, the challenge of managing eco-efficiency is to unshackle it from the current capital-oriented domination. The findings provide managerial guidance on the value-creating use of environmental and economic resources. Conceptually, our argument contributes to the debate between critical and managerial perspectives on environmental accounting and helps to address the current standoff between these two camps.
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| 3. |
- Johansson, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Governing cooperation hazards of outsourced municipal low contractibility transactions : An exploratory configuration approach
- 2011
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 1044-5005 .- 1096-1224. ; 22:4, s. 292-312
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Increasingly, public sector organizations (PSOs) outsource the delivering of important welfare services. This gives rise to important questions of how PSOs can control their suppliers. The purpose of this paper is to show how PSOs manage cooperation hazards of low contractibility transactions, i.e., activities expected to be difficult to govern. The paper applies a taxonomic configuration approach which means we apply a holistic view on the governance of suppliers and search for internally congruent governance packages that also are adapted to the context of the transactions. Three theoretically meaningful and qualitative different configurations appear in the empirical material. We find indications of the importance of internal congruence in governance packages in order to effectively deal with cooperation hazards and that the intensity in and types of controls in inter-organizational relationships are affected by the amount of cooperation hazards. A conflict between a relational and a market-based governance package in one of the configurations is argued to be the main driver behind lower expectations about positive behaviour from suppliers
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| 4. |
- Johansson, Tobias, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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The appropriateness of tight budget control in public sector organizations facing budget turbulence
- 2014
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - : Elsevier. - 1044-5005 .- 1096-1224. ; 25:4, s. 271-283
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the public sector, budget deviations are an important performance dimension. Because of political and institutional pressures, it is crucial that public sector organizations neither overspend, nor underspend. Budget deviations actualize the issue of tight budget control. In this article we hypothesize that when public sector organizations face budget turbulence, the implementation of tight budget control is a functional response that increases the likelihood of meeting budget targets. Our study, combining survey and archival data from 196 Swedish municipalities, confirms our hypothesis. If budget turbulence is substantial, public sector organizations benefit from tight budget control as they seek to control budget deviations, but if turbulence is only marginal, they can conduct activities in the same manner as last year and additional direction from tight controls has no effect on budget deviations. A more general contribution of the paper is the evaluation of the effect of environment and tight budgetary control fit on budgetary performance.
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| 5. |
- Strömsten, Torkel
(författare)
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Visiting Professor
- 2012
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - 1044-5005 .- 1096-1224.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Carlsson-Wall, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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The interdependencies of intra- and inter-organisational controls and work practices-The case of domestic care of the elderly
- 2011
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - : Elsevier: 24 months. - 1044-5005. ; 22:4, s. 313-329
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The paper gives a grounded account of inter-organisational controls and work practices in the public sector to complement previous literature's strong focus on inter-organisational customer–supplier relationships in the private sector. We draw theoretically on Hopwood's (1974) administrative, social and self controls, which enable us to analyse the influence of non-managerial controls on behaviour. Empirically, a case study of inter-organisational cooperation between home help units and health centres is used as the basis of analysis. Most inter-organisational controls were developed locally and involved a mix of administrative, social and self controls. Intra- and inter-organisational social and self controls were important forms of control which impacted on intra- and inter-organisational work practices and we see the need for a broad conceptualisation of control (Van der Meer-Kooistra and Scapens, 2008). Inter-organisational social controls created an informal hierarchy that by-passed the formal hierarchies of the two organisations. Self controls reinforced the importance of being flexible to accommodate pensioner's wishes and needs in specific care situations. We also show the importance of the internal financial situation of home help units for the analysis of the interdependencies of intra- and inter-organisational controls and work practices.
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| 9. |
- Kraus, Kalle, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of the corporate balanced scorecard on corporate control-A research note
- 2010
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - : Elsevier. - 1044-5005. ; 21:4, s. 265-277
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The paper explores the adoption of the corporate balanced scorecard (CBSC) and its impact on corporate control of business units. Following interviews with senior corporate managers in 15 of Sweden's largest multinational companies, 8 were found to adopt CBSC. However, CBSC had little impact on control at the corporate level. Corporate control was financially focused in all the companies: mainly financial measures were important, standards were only set for financial measures and rewards were largely based on financial performance measures. Top management's need for simplicity and comparability internally, and capital market pressures motivated the financial focus.
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| 10. |
- Strömsten, Torkel, et al.
(författare)
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Going public: The role of accounting and shareholder value in making sense of an IPO
- 2012
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Ingår i: Management Accounting Research. - : Elsevier. - 1044-5005. ; 23:3, s. 186-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study draws on interviews with corporate executives from four companies that went public and financial analysts involved in evaluating these firms. Top managers in all companies became more focused on short-term financial results than they had been when the companies were private. We contribute to existing research by analyzing, empirically and theoretically, the processes producing this focus. Following an IPO process offered a unique insight into a gradual increase in emphasis on accounting metrics through the outcomes of guided and restricted sensemaking. When preparing for the IPO, guided sensemaking produced an IPO prospectus incorporating quantitative and qualitative commitments. Quantitative commitments were based on accounting metrics, such as earnings per share and profit margin, which provided an important foundation for the financial focus. These commitments became the anchor for subsequent sensegiving and restricted sensemaking when the companies were listed. With the financial analysts as the social anchors, the richer communication in the prospectus was narrowed down to comprise an exclusive focus on the quantitative accounting commitments. The long-term accounting commitments in the prospectus were transformed into short-term targets that must be met when the financial measures served as specific and concrete extracted cues to quickly provide structure to the uncertain situation, gain the financial analysts’ confidence and sustain action. One year after the IPO, the financial focus was taken for granted and managers had accepted the rules of the game.
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