IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acctbr/v41y2011i5p439-458.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effects of uncertainty on the roles of controllers and budgets: an exploratory study

Author

Listed:
  • Frank G.H. Hartmann
  • Victor S. Maas

Abstract

This paper explores how contextual uncertainty and the use of the budgetary system explain cross-sectional variation in the organisational role of business unit controllers. We argue that there are complementarities between the role of the budgetary control system (i.e. coercive vs. enabling) and the role of the controller (i.e. corporate policeman vs. business partner). Thus, we explore both the direct effect of uncertainty on the role of the controller and the indirect effect through the role of the budgetary control system. Using survey data from 134 business unit controllers, we find that uncertainty provides a partial explanation of the variation in the role of budgetary control systems and in the role of controllers. In particular, our data suggest alignment between the coercive (enabling) use of the budgetary control system and the role of controllers acting as corporate policemen (business partners). These findings add to our understanding of the functioning of business unit controllers within their organisational context.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank G.H. Hartmann & Victor S. Maas, 2011. "The effects of uncertainty on the roles of controllers and budgets: an exploratory study," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 439-458, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:41:y:2011:i:5:p:439-458
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2011.597656
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2011.597656
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00014788.2011.597656?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. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara Weißenberger, 2016. "The Dark Side of Tight Financial Control: Causes and Remedies of Dysfunctional Employee Behaviors," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 17(1), pages 69-101, April.
    2. Ágnes Szukits, 2022. "The illusion of data-driven decision making – The mediating effect of digital orientation and controllers’ added value in explaining organizational implications of advanced analytics," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 403-446, September.
    3. Fukushima, Kazunori & Yamada, Akihiro, 2024. "Does budget target setting lead managers to engage in unethical behavior for the organization?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4).
    4. Nitzl, Christian, 2016. "The use of partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in management accounting research: Directions for future theory development," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 19-35.
    5. Timur Pasch, 2019. "Strategy and innovation: the mediating role of management accountants and management accounting systems’ use," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 213-246, July.
    6. Erland Hejn Nielsen & Steen Nielsen, 2020. "Preparing students for careers using business analytics and data-driven decision making," Economics Working Papers 2020-08, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    7. Cäker, Mikael & Siverbo, Sven, 2018. "Effects of performance measurement system inconsistency on managers’ role clarity and well-being," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 256-266.
    8. Lukas Goretzki & Kari Lukka & Martin Messner, 2018. "Controllers’ use of informational tactics," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 700-726, September.
    9. Bo Karlsson & Anders Hersinger & Monika Kurkkio, 2019. "Hybrid accountants in the age of the business partner: exploring institutional drivers in a mining company," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 185-211, July.
    10. Juan Manuel Ramon-Jeronimo & Raquel Florez-Lopez & Pedro Araujo-Pinzon, 2019. "Resource-Based View and SMEs Performance Exporting through Foreign Intermediaries: The Mediating Effect of Management Controls," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-26, June.
    11. Szukits, Ágnes, 2019. "Controllers’ profession in contemporary organisations – Evidence from Hungary," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 24(1), pages 8-31.
    12. Ilenia Ascani & Marco Gatti & Maria Serena Chiucchi, 2021. "Pandemia e sistema di budgeting: quali effetti sulla figura del controller?," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(3), pages 65-86.
    13. Robert Rieg, 2018. "Tasks, interaction and role perception of management accountants: evidence from Germany," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 183-220, August.
    14. Bo Karlsson & Monika Kurkkio & Anders Hersinger, 2019. "The role of the controller in strategic capital investment projects: bridging the gap of multiple topoi," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(3), pages 813-838, September.
    15. Thomas Borup Kristensen & Henrik Nielsen, 2020. "Configuring a profile-deviation-analysis to statistical test complementarity effects from balanced management control systems in a configurational fit approach," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 439-475, February.
    16. Bisbe, Josep & Kruis, Anne-Marie & Madini, Paola, 2019. "Coercive, enabling, diagnostic, and interactive control: Untangling the threads of their connections," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 124-144.
    17. Walid Cheffi & Ahmed Abdel-Maksoud & Muhammad Omer Farooq, 2021. "CSR initiatives, organizational performance and the mediating role of integrating CSR into management control systems: Testing an inclusive model within SMEs in an emerging economy," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 333-367, September.
    18. Alexander Brüggen & Victor S. Maas & Alexandra Van den Abbeele, 2021. "Replication in experimental management accounting research - an editorial," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 155-160, June.
    19. E. Van Der Hauwaert & W. Bruggeman, 2012. "The balanced scorecard as an enabling technology – the role of participation," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 12/816, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    20. Granlund, Markus & Lukka, Kari, 2017. "Investigating highly established research paradigms: Reviving contextuality in contingency theory based management accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 63-80.
    21. Lorenzo Lucianetti & Valentina Battista, 2015. "La manipolazione dei valori di bilancio: pressione del management e tratti personali nell?attivit? del controller," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(1), pages 101-132.
    22. Bhimani, Alnoor & Sivabalan, Prabhu & Soonawalla, Kazbi, 2018. "A study of the linkages between rolling budget forms, uncertainty and strategy," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 306-323.
    23. Christian Nitzl & Wynne W. Chin, 2017. "The case of partial least squares (PLS) path modeling in managerial accounting research," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 137-156, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:taf:acctbr:v:41:y:2011:i:5:p:439-458. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RABR20 .

    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.