IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ebg/iesewp/d-1073.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Social Dynamics of Justice: How the Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Justice Interplay With Formal and Informal Elements of Management Control Systems

Author

Listed:

Abstract

Management control systems (MCSs) are used by organizations to try to make sure that their goals are accomplished. MCSs are used to set goals and objectives, to measure accomplishments and to reward or punish people according to results. In this chapter, we argue that the social dynamics associated with MCSs vary according to whether or not justice is embedded in the way the systems are designed and used. We build on the model proposed by Cugueró-Escofet and Rosanas (2013), which shows that both formal and informal justice help to fuel the social dynamics of the design and use of MCSs in order to strive for better alignment between individuals and organizations. Afterward, we propose two contributions made by this model. The first one involves showing that separating ex-post and ex-ante justice, and separating ex-ante justice into formal and informal justice, can add to our current understanding of the social dynamics of justice. The second involves looking into the possible effects that different states of interest alignment can have in terms of creating short-term and long term-term fairness. We close by showing the possible conclusions that can be derived from our analysis, which are important in terms of research and to the practice of organizational justice. We include possible proposals for future empirical validation of the model and also possible cautions when using ex-post fairness perceptions as a tool to look into the ex-ante formal and informal justice of MCSs.

Suggested Citation

  • Cugueró-Escofet, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep Maria, 2013. "Social Dynamics of Justice: How the Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Justice Interplay With Formal and Informal Elements of Management Control Systems," IESE Research Papers D/1073, IESE Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebg:iesewp:d-1073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/WP-1073-E.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Trevor Hopper & Andrew Powell, 1985. "Making Sense Of Research Into The Organizational And Social Aspects Of Management Accounting: A Review Of Its Underlying Assumptions [1]," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 429-465, September.
    2. Merchant, Kenneth A., 1985. "Budgeting and the propensity to create budgetary slack," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 201-210, April.
    3. Thomas Ahrens & Christopher S. Chapman, 2004. "Accounting for Flexibility and Efficiency: A Field Study of Management Control Systems in a Restaurant Chain," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 271-301, June.
    4. Widener, Sally K., 2007. "An empirical analysis of the levers of control framework," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 757-788.
    5. Sim B. Sitkin & Robert J. Bies, 1993. "The Legalistic Organization: Definitions, Dimensions, and Dilemmas," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 345-351, August.
    6. Demski, Js, 1976. "Uncertainty And Evaluation Based On Controllable Performance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 230-245.
    7. Josep Maria Rosanas, 2013. "Decision-Making in an Organizational Context," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-32415-3.
    8. Ashton, Robert H., 1976. "Deviation-amplifying feedback and unintended consequences of management accounting systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 289-300, October.
    9. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    10. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Brownell, Peter, 1999. "The role of budgets in organizations facing strategic change: an exploratory study," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 189-204, April.
    11. Chenhall, Robert H., 2003. "Management control systems design within its organizational context: findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 127-168.
    12. Pallot, June, 1991. "The legitimate concern with fairness: A comment," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 201-208.
    13. Van der Stede, Wim A., 2000. "The relationship between two consequences of budgetary controls: budgetary slack creation and managerial short-term orientation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 609-622, August.
    14. Davila, Tony, 2005. "An exploratory study on the emergence of management control systems: formalizing human resources in small growing firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 223-248, April.
    15. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Brownell, Peter, 1997. "Management control systems in research and development organizations: The role of accounting, behavior and personnel controls," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(3-4), pages 233-248.
    16. Shapiro, Debra L. & Buttner, E. Holly & Barry, Bruce, 1994. "Explanations: What Factors Enhance Their Perceived Adequacy?," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 346-368, June.
    17. Mundy, Julia, 2010. "Creating dynamic tensions through a balanced use of management control systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 499-523, July.
    18. Davila, Antonio & Foster, George & Li, Mu, 2009. "Reasons for management control systems adoption: Insights from product development systems choice by early-stage entrepreneurial companies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 322-347, April.
    19. Bisbe, Josep & Otley, David, 2004. "The effects of the interactive use of management control systems on product innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 709-737, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cuguero-Escofet, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep M., 2012. "The just design and use of management control systems as requirements for goal congruence," IESE Research Papers D/949, IESE Business School.
    2. Cuguero, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep M., 2011. "The next generation of management control systems: Justice and fairness as antecedents for goal congruence," IESE Research Papers D/917, IESE Business School.
    3. Chenhall, Robert H. & Moers, Frank, 2015. "The role of innovation in the evolution of management accounting and its integration into management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Ellen Haustein & Robert Luther & Peter Schuster, 2014. "Management control systems in innovation companies: a literature based framework," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 343-382, February.
    5. Demartini, Maria Chiara & Otley, David, 2020. "Beyond the system vs. package dualism in Performance Management Systems design: A loose coupling approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Gerdin, Jonas & Johansson, Tobias & Wennblom, Gabriella, 2019. "The contingent nature of complementarity between results and value-based controls for managing company-level profitability: A situational strength perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Anderson, Shannon W. & Nair, Sujay & Jiang, Yile (Anson), 2021. "Manager ‘growth mindset’ and resource management practices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Andrea Fried, 2017. "Terminological distinctions of ‘control’: a review of the implications for management control research in the context of innovation," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 5-40, February.
    9. 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.
    10. Müller-Stewens, Benedikt & Widener, Sally K. & Möller, Klaus & Steinmann, Jan-Christoph, 2020. "The role of diagnostic and interactive control uses in innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. Davila, Toni & Foster, George & Li, Mu, 2005. "Designing management control systems in product development: Initial choices and the influence of partners," IESE Research Papers D/598, IESE Business School.
    12. Adler, Paul S. & Chen, Clara Xiaoling, 2011. "Combining creativity and control: Understanding individual motivation in large-scale collaborative creativity," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 63-85, February.
    13. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "Effects of management control mechanisms: towards a more comprehensive analysis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 185-219, February.
    14. Bedford, David S. & Malmi, Teemu & Sandelin, Mikko, 2016. "Management control effectiveness and strategy: An empirical analysis of packages and systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 12-28.
    15. Bisbe, Josep & Batista-Foguet, Joan-Manuel & Chenhall, Robert, 2007. "Defining management accounting constructs: A methodological note on the risks of conceptual misspecification," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 789-820.
    16. Davila, Antonio & Foster, George & Li, Mu, 2009. "Reasons for management control systems adoption: Insights from product development systems choice by early-stage entrepreneurial companies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 322-347, April.
    17. Chaturika Seneviratne & Zahirul Hoque, 2024. "The interplay of episodic power in enabling and coercive budgetary designs in universities: A case study," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 1011-1036, March.
    18. Ewelina Zarzycka & Justyna Dobroszek & Lauri Lepistö & Sinikka Moilanen, 2019. "Coexistence of innovation and standardization: evidence from the lean environment of business process outsourcing," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 251-286, October.
    19. Erkki K. Laitinen & Aapo Länsiluoto & Soila Salonen, 2016. "Interactive budgeting, product innovation, and firm performance: empirical evidence from Finnish firms," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 293-322, November.
    20. Emer Curtis & Breda Sweeney, 2017. "Managing different types of innovation: mutually reinforcing management control systems and the generation of dynamic tension," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 313-343, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Organizational justice; fairness; goal congruence; management control systems;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:ebg:iesewp:d-1073. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Noelia Romero (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ienaves.html .

    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.