Bakgrund: Global konkurrens och teknologisk utveckling förkortar produkters livscykler och produktutveckling blir därmed ett allt viktigare element inom organisationer. Vid utvecklingen krävs styrning för att säkerställa att de innovationer som skapas är i linje med företagets mål och strategier. Ett av de mer välanvända styrsystemen som används vid produktutveckling har kritiserats för att vara en för linjär process som exkluderar lärande från utvecklingsarbetet. Alternativa metoder har på senare tid dykt upp i både forskning och på företag för att möjliggöra en mer dynamisk utvecklingsprocess. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera hur produktutvecklingsprocessen ser ut i några svenska företag. Vidare ska studien öka förståelsen för hur produktutvecklingsprocessen styrs i dessa företag och även identifiera och analysera de hinder som finns för innovation i denna process. Metod: Detta är en deduktiv flerfallstudie där semistrukturerade intervjuer och dokument har använts för att samla in det empiriska materialet. Slutsats: Utifrån studiens resultat bekräftas en generell produktutvecklingsprocess som presenteras i studiens referensram. Dessa är konceptualisering, prototyputveckling, lansering och uppföljning. Däremot finns det tecken på att företag med agila utvecklingsmetoder inte följer denna standardiserade modell. Vidare beskrivs vilka styrverktyg som används för att styra en produktutveckling. Dessa har kategoriserats efter Malmi och Browns styrpaket. I slutsatsens tredje och sista punkt presenteras hinder mot innovation som har identifierats i produktutvecklingsprocessen. Ett tydligt hinder som har identifierats är att Stage-Gate och kvalitetssäkring bromsar innovation efter tidiga stadier i processen. Ytterligare ett tydligt hinder är att ett fokus på att förkorta “time-to-market” kan göra att vissa innovationer inte hinner inkluderas i produkten. / Background: Global competition and technological advancements have shortened the product life cycle of countless products worldwide. Product development is therefore becoming an increasingly important element in organizations. In the process of product development, management control is required to ensure that new innovation follows the strategy and goals of the organization. The Stage-Gate system is a well-used new product development model that has been criticized for being too rigid and hinders learning in the development process. As of recent years, alternative methods have appeared in studies and in businesses in order to enable a more dynamic process. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the different stages of a product development process at a number of Swedish firms. This study also aims to increase the understanding of how the product development process is being managed in these companies as well as to identify and analyze factors that can hinder innovation in the new product development process. Method: This is a deductive case study with a multiple-case design. Semi-structured interviews and documents have been used for the collection of empirical data. Conclusion: The results of this study settles a general development process as presented in the study’s theory chapter. The development process includes the following phases: concept development, prototype development, market introduction and follow-up. However, there are implications that show that companies who use an agile development model do not follow the aforementioned development process. This study also concludes the elements of a management control system that is used in the product development process at Swedish companies. These elements are categorized by the management control systems package of Malmi and Brown. Lastly, challenges to include innovations to the product is being identified. An obstacle that has been identified is the use of Stage-Gate and quality assurance that hinders innovation in the later stages of the development process. An additional obstacle is that a focus on shortening the time-to-market period may hinder some innovations of a product because of a short deadline.

Den ökade oron för olika miljö- och samhällsrisker i kombination medföretagsskandaler har medfört ett ökat intresse för företagens sociala ansvar. Ettsamhällsansvar har därmed blivit en ny nödvändighet för företag, där företagbland annat förväntas arbeta mot och hantera hållbarhet. En förutsättning föratt styra mot hållbarhet är att företagen skapar en balans mellan ekonomiska,ekologiska och sociala målsättningar. Styrsystem är ett verktyg med olikakontrollmekanismer för att styra mot organisatoriska målsättningar. För att styramot hållbarhet bör styrsystem kontrollera och styra mot ekonomiska, ekologiskaoch sociala målsättningar. Tidigare studier visar emellertid på en betydandeproblematik, där traditionellt utformade MSC drivs av ett ekonomiskt intressemed en potentiell påverkan på samhällets välfärd. Dessutom tenderar denekologiska och sociala dimensionen av hållbarhet att inte tas i beaktning. Syftet med denna studie är således att skapa en förståelse för hur stora företagmed ett hållbarhet- och intressentperspektiv styr verksamheten mot hållbarhet.Malmi och Browns (2008) styrsystemramverk och tidigare forskning inomområdet styrsystem tillämpades för att skapa förståelse för hur stora företagintegrerar ett intressent- och hållbarhetsperspektiv i styrpaket, samt vilkakontrollmekanismer som företagen tillämpar vid hantering av hållbarhetens tredimensioner. För att besvara studiens syfte har studien antagit en kvalitativdesign med datainsamlingsmetoden dokument, där elva stora företags års- ochhållbarhetsredovisning analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Studiensresultat indikerar att stora företag hanterar dess ekonomiska, ekologiska ochsociala påverkan med en styrning med utgångspunkt från samhället ochintressenters behov. Detta påvisar att ekologiska och sociala frågor kanintegreras och hanteras med företagens styrpaket. Resultatet indikerar vidare entillämpning av samtliga fem kontroller i Malmi och Browns (2008)styrsystemramverk vid styrning mot hållbarhet. Studien främsta bidrag är enutökad förståelse kring ramverkets konfiguration vid hållbarhetsstyrning, därföreställningen om prestation innefattar en bredare uppsättning av intressenter. / The increased concern about various environmental and societal risks incombination with corporate scandals has resulted in an increased interest incorporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility has become anew necessity for companies, where companies are expected to managesustainability. Sustainability management requires companies to manage andcreate a balance between economic, ecological, and social goals. Managementcontrol systems (MCS) refers to different controls in managing organizationalgoals. A MCS should manage economic, ecological, and social goals in order tosteer towards sustainability. Previous studies, however, highlight that traditionalMCSs are driven by an economic self-interest with a potential impact onsociety’s well-being. In addition, the ecological and social dimension ofsustainability tends to be underrepresented. The purpose of this study is to identify how large companies with a sustainabilityand stakeholder perspective steer their operations towards sustainability. Malmiand Brown's (2008) MCS framework and previous research in the field of MCSare applied to generate an understanding of how large companies integrate astakeholder- and sustainability perspective in the MCS package, as well as whichcontrol mechanisms companies apply when managing the three dimensions ofsustainability. To achieve the purpose, a qualitative design with a documentstudy has been used. The document study consists of eleven large companies'annual and sustainability reports and were analysed with a qualitative contentanalysis. The results of the study indicate that large companies manage theireconomic, ecological, and social impact with a MCS package based on the needsof society and stakeholders. This demonstrates that ecological and social issuescan be integrated and managed with companies' MCS packages. The resultfurther indicates an application of all five controls in Malmi and Brown's (2008)MCS framework when steering towards sustainability. The main contributionof the study is an expanded knowledge about the framework's configuration insustainability management, where the notion of performance includes a broaderset of stakeholders.

Bakgrund: Den pandemi som drabbade världen under 2020 tvingade många organisationer att ställa om till arbete på distans. Denna typ av plötslig omställning skapar många olika utmaningar, två av dessa är hur en säljkår skall styras samt hur själva försäljningsarbetet behöver anpassas. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att öka förståelsen för hur Covid-19 pandemin påverkade säljprocessen och säljstyrningen i B2B säljkårer samt vilka lärdomar som kan dras från detta. Metod: Studien utgår från den kritiska realismen och har ett abduktivt angreppssätt. Vidare använder studien sig av en kvalitativ metod där fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer har utförts med individer som arbetar med B2B försäljning. Studien är designad som en tvärsnittsstudie där fokus ligger på att hitta mönster och samband mellan de olika fallföretagen. Val av respondenter skedde genom ett målstyrt urval från författarnas professionella nätverk där krav utformades för att säkerställa att relevanta företag ställde upp. Slutsats: Studien mynnar ut i att hur säljkårer förändrar sig beror till stor det på vilken typ av försäljning som bedrivs samt vilka externa och interna faktorer som finns. Samtliga fallföretag genomförde någon form av förändring i styrningen, för att öka mätbarheten eller tydligheten i arbetet. Den sociala styrningen påverkades negativt och är en mycket viktig aspekt i styrningen av en säljkår som behöver hanteras när arbete sker på distans. Digitala möten fungerar bra för de flesta företag och kommer troligtvis vara något de fortsätter med i framtiden, i alla fall till en viss grad. Vid komplex försäljning fungerade digitala möten inte alltid lika bra på grund av den höga grad av tillit som krävs för sådana affärer / Background: During 2020 the world was struck by a pandemic, forcing many organizations to switch to remote work. A sudden change like this creates many different challenges, two of these are how a salesforce should be managed and how the sales-process should be adapted to this new scenario.  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of how Covid-19 affected the sales process and sales management control systems in B2B salesforces and what lessons can be drawn from this. Method: This study is based on critical-realism and has an abductive approach. Furthermore, the study uses a qualitative method for which four semi-structured interviews were executed with individuals working with B2B sales. The design of the study is cross-sectional were the focus lies on discovering patterns and connections between the different case-companies. The participants of the study were chosen from the authors professional networks where requirements were formed to make sure the participants were relevant.  Conclusion: The study shows that how salesforces change is largely dependent on what kind of sales they are performing and what internal and external factors are present. All investigated companies went through some type of change to increase the measurability or clarity of the work. Social control was affected in a negative way, it turns out that this is a very important aspect of sales management that needs to be addressed for a salesforce working remotely. Digital meetings worked well for most companies and will most likely be something they will be doing in the future, at least to some extent. However, during very complex sales, digital meetings did not work as well because of the high grade of trust required in that type of business.

Den ideella sektorn ses som komplex och heterogen, vilket försvåras ytterligare av att många organisationer idag efterliknar den struktur av vinstdrivande företag. För att belysa detta har uppsatsen som syfte att undersöka en egen kategori av ideella organisationer som genom sin egna lagstiftning differentierar sig från andra organisationer, nämligen studentnationerna vid Uppsala universitet. Stockholms nation, Södermanlands-Nerikes nation och Östgöta nation analyseras i syfte att undersöka hur styrsystem och kontrollmekanismer används för att kontrollera beteenden hos den ideella arbetskraften bestående av studenter, samt motivationens betydelse i styrprocessen. Den metodiska ansatsen för studien är genom intervjuer med personer inom nationernas ledning. Resultaten visade att nationernas styrprocesser var likartad, med övervägande fokus på belöning/kompensation, administrativa kontroller och kultur och mindre på planering och cybernetik. Studiens slutsats poängterar studenternas inre motivation som avgörande vid utformningen av nationernas styrprocess, utan en upplevd inre motivation blir tillämpningen av styrsystem och kontroller ett meningslöst projekt.

This study addressed the perceived relationships among management control systems, business strategy, and organizational performance in U.S. minority-owned manufacturing businesses. Hofer's contingency theory provided a framework for the study, which included a quantitative, survey-based correlational design. Research questions focused on the relationship between financial- and nonfinancial-based management control systems as well as low-cost leadership and differentiation strategies, and how these practices impacted organizational performance. A random sample of 1,000 participants was selected from a population of 2,583 minority-owned manufacturing businesses in the United States. Results of the principal component analysis, Pearson's zero order correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis indicated that financial- and nonfinancial-based management control systems and differentiation strategies were significantly positively related to organizational performance. Low-cost leadership strategy was positively related to organizational performance but was not statistically significant. This study could promote positive social change by providing organizational finance managers with information regarding the appropriate mix of financial and nonfinancial management control system strategies necessary to achieve desired organizational performance.

Background – Under the acceleration in globalising tendencies of monopoly capitalism aided by social hyper-connectivity and a supply of cheap international labour, fashion companies struggle to find sufficient agency to manoeuvre their way out of the unsustainable, self-inflicted problems. Since fashion companies' rhetoric on sustainability matters is often far ahead of corporate action, it requires further development and engagement by all actors. Purpose – The purpose is to investigate motivational bases for the engagement in sustainability development (SD) among employees and review the compatibility between management control systems (MCSs) in order to incentivise sustainable behaviour. Methodology – With the Design Thinking approach as baseline, a single case study design is guided by both the resource-based view as well as institutional theory to explore individuals’ motivation for engaging in SD and identify MCS misalignment inefficiencies from a bottom-up perspective. Primary data is sought through semi-structured interviews with employees of the case company, which is complemented by secondary data documents and a conceptual framework grounded in literature. The data is analysed qualitatively and quantitatively through iterative coding cycles in MAXQDA. Findings – The data not only reveals the relative importance of different determining variables of sustainable behaviour at three institutional context levels of analysis, but also allows for their categorisation into behavioural progressions in engaging in SD. Even though varying motivational bases respond to different external stimuli depending on the personal interest in sustainability topics, findings on misalignment inefficiencies point towards informal MCSs requiring reinforcement by formal MCSs. Here, a lack of knowledge or perceived incompatibility with conventional business practices hamper transformational change in SD. Implications – The single case study implies that even though dominant cultural controls have institutionalised sustainability awareness among employees, the fashion SME needs to support the engagement of employees in SD with strong sustainability leadership showing courage behind conviction and assigning clear responsibilities as well as a personal purpose to the corporate sustainability missions. Additionally, MCSs need to be set up that allow for an enhanced learning culture and increase the flow of ideas even beyond corporate walls. Since findings are limited to the single case study as well as to its institutional context, this research refers to general implication of institutional theory with resource-dependent arguments as suggested by Oliver (1997) to incentivise the engagement of employees in SD. Originality– The novelty of the work lies within the Design Thinking approach, as employee profiles on progressive behaviour for engaging in SD are theorised and crucial MCSs incentivising these specific motivational bases are derived for the case company. In addition, the ideation process leads to the theoretical establishment of an incentivisation network in which social relationships between departments are rewarded that enable collaboration, creativity and productivity in favour of SD based on Social Physics.

Background: Management Control Systems are shown to be valuable tools for managing different contexts and enhance organizational performance. To succeed with intended strategies, organizations must balance different levers of controls (LOC). The right balance is argued to be dependent on the external environment and contingent factors that surrounds the organization. To understand the role of MCS, one must explore different contexts. Hence, this paper broadens the knowledge about the role of MCS by studying the unexplored context of post-Covid-19. When facing uncertainty, MCS are claimed to be especially important for organizational performance – something that tested in this paper. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between MCS, organizational performance, and the external environment. Also, this paper tests if uncertainty has a moderating effect on these relationships. Method: This study is based within the positivistic paradigm and follows a deductive research approach. It addresses a quantitative methodology where data is gathered from 164 Swedish managers through a structured questionnaire. The empirical data is analysed using multiple linear regressions with- and without moderating effect. Conclusion: The results partly support the alleged positive relationship between the use of MCS and organizational performance. Three out of four LOC are found to be positive correlated with organizational performance. The study did not find support for the claim that uncertainty has a moderating effect on these relationships. This occurrence can be explained by the phenomenon of organizational learning.

This bachelor thesis centers on trust in relation to management control in a decentralized bank,and whether it pervades an Enabling control or Coercive formalization. The aim of the study isto understand how trust in a decentralized bank is affected based on its management controlsystems, established on the concept pair Enabling and Coercive within the case study company.Hence, this study will be about management control systems, in a business that historically andstill today, is characterized by rules, commissions and legislations that regulates its business.Prior enquiry has been conducted on how organizations use and apply enabling and coercive asmanagement control systems. Therefore, we wanted to study how the application of enablingand coercive formalization in a decentralized bank is reflected in the trust within the business. The study was made as a qualitative study with a deductive approach. The empirical evidencewas gathered through seven semi-structured interviews in Handelsbanken. The interviews werethe base for the conclusion in general terms. The interviews were recorded and then latertranscribed and formed the basis of the thematic analysis. The main conclusion that emerged from the study is that there is a coexistence of both enablingand coercive formalization in a decentralized bank. Both aspects that are characterized by acoercive environment, and aspects that are characterized by an enabling environment, affecttrust in the organization in different ways. The creation of relationships, as well as the creationof controls, which in theory are each other’s contrasts, increases trust in the staff of adecentralized bank. / Denna studie handlar om tillit i förhållande till verksamhetsstyrning i en decentraliserad bank,och huruvida den präglas av en möjliggörande eller tvingande formalisering. Syftet med studienär att förstå hur tillit bland medarbetare i en decentraliserad bank påverkas utifrån dessverksamhetsstyrning, med grund i begreppsparet Möjliggörande och Tvingande inomfallstudieföretaget. Därav kommer denna studie att handla om verksamhetsstyrning, i ett företagsom historiskt sett och än idag präglas av regler, lagverk och lagstiftning som reglerar dessverksamhet. Tidigare forskning har genomförts om hur organisationer använder och tillämparmöjliggörande och tvingande styrmedel som ledningskontrollsystem. Därför ville vi studera hurtillämpandet av möjliggörande och tvingande formalisering i en decentraliserad bank speglas itilliten inom verksamheten. Studien är av kvalitativ prägel med en huvudsaklig utgångspunkt i deduktivt ansats. Empirinsamlades in genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer i Handelsbanken. Intervjuerna ligger tillgrund för slutsatsen i generella drag. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades, som utgjordegrunden för den tematiska analysen. Den främsta slutsatsen som uppkom ur studien är att det finns en samexistens av bådemöjliggörande och tvingande formalisering i en decentraliserad storbank. Både aspekter somkaraktäriseras av en tvingande miljö, och aspekter som karakteriseras av en möjliggörandemiljö, påverkar tilliten i organisationen på olika sätt. Skapandet av relationer, samt skapandetav kontroller, som är två kontraster till varandra, ökar tilliten till personalen i en decentraliseradstorbank.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to show how management control systems are used in sustainability reporting.   Theoretical perspectives: Stakeholder theory, agency theory, and institutional theory have, together with earlier literature, been applied to the empirical findings to fulfill the purpose of this thesis. Methodology: A keyword frequency analysis based on annual reports from four Swedish retail firms have been analyzed over a five-year period. In total, 18300 words have been coded and analyzed based on seven concepts. The concepts are based upon Malmi and Browns' (2008) MCS framework and consist of financial controls, budgeting, non-financial controls, planning, governance structure, rewards and compensation, and cultural controls. In addition, two interviews were held to gain additional insights into the portrayal in the sustainability reports presented by their companies. Findings: The findings show that the portrayal of MCS in sustainability reporting is more complex than previous literature suggests and that there are more ingredients that affect sustainability reporting. The results presented also indicate that companies communicate differently with their stakeholders and that some stakeholders seem to have greater importance compared to others. It is also found that some companies find it difficult to provide a sustainability report even though they practice sustainability efforts because there are no clear regulations on what to report. This study also finds that companies choose to exclude some parts and include others to present themselves as good as possible although institutional pressures limit the extent of this.

Background: Management Control Systems (MCS) have been withheld as useful tools to support managers and increase performance, whereas Simons’ Levers of Control (LOC) increase the understanding of relations between different MCS. The characteristics of the public sector induce new dimensions of complexity in a municipal setting, where this study reveals how tensions exist between both levers and managers in turn impacting the performance of the organization.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to clarify the comprehensive use and efficiency of the MCS within Swedish municipal organizations. By using existing frameworks to acknowledge the unique challenges inherent, the relation between LOC and municipal performance is tested.  Method: The study reconciles with the pragmatic paradigm, following an abductive mixed-method approach. The research problem is addressed through a sequential explanatory method, where the quantitative research accounts for the foundation of the study, and to further enhance the understanding of the data, qualitative interviews were conducted.  Conclusion: This thesis reveals the intricate relationship between MCS and performance in Swedish municipal organizations, confirming the significance of MCS while challenging assumptions about LOCs’ direct impact on performance. By exploring the moderating role of professional discretion, the study underscores the importance of considering contextual factors in designing effective control mechanisms tailored to organizational needs.