IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/arjpps/arj-06-2021-0168.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Management-control-system configurations in medium-sized mechanical-engineering firms: an exploratory analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Fabio Santini
  • Luca Elisei
  • Teemu Malmi
  • Luca Scrucca

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio Santini & Luca Elisei & Teemu Malmi & Luca Scrucca, 2022. "Management-control-system configurations in medium-sized mechanical-engineering firms: an exploratory analysis," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(6), pages 834-853, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:arjpps:arj-06-2021-0168
    DOI: 10.1108/ARJ-06-2021-0168
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ARJ-06-2021-0168/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ARJ-06-2021-0168/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/ARJ-06-2021-0168?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Valeria Vannoni & Federica Palazzi & Annalisa Sentuti & Francesca Sgrò, 2024. "The Role of the Management Control System in Supporting ESG-Focused Transformation in Financial Intermediaries: A Case Study of an Italian Bank," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, January.
    2. Federica Palazzi & Francesca Sgrò & Massimo Ciambotti & Nick Bontis & Lorenzo Gelsomini, 2023. "The moderating effect of corporate size on the relationship between prospector strategy and management accounting practices," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 135-165, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:arjpps:arj-06-2021-0168. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.