Reconhecida como uma das maiores empresas do Brasil, controlada pelo governo, a Petrobras apresenta um processo de internacionalização dividido em duas fases: (i) busca de melhores condições contratuais para o abastecimento do mercado interno e (ii) posicionamento mundial, segurança financeira e internacionalização da marca. Ambas as perspectivas de atuação internacional promoveram o aproveitamento de vantagem competitiva, ainda que sob comportamentos distintos. Diante disso, o objetivo do presente estudo é mensurar o impacto do processo de internacionalização no sistema de controle gerencial da unidade de estudo: Petrobras Uruguay Distribución, subsidiária no segmento de downstream1 e constituída em 2006 por meio de um processo de reorganização societária decorrente da aquisição dos ativos da Shell. Para atender a este propósito, analisam-se as possíveis alterações dos sistemas de controle gerencial e a relação existente, em termos de proximidade e afastamento da literatura presente e o caso estudado. Para tanto, o capítulo de revisão de literatura representa o embasamento teórico responsável pelas abordagens das características dos sistemas de controles, identificação dos contextos influenciadores de seu desenho e destaque para os tipos de internacionalização, nas tangentes comportamentais e motivacionais, além de abordar as teorias de ciclo de vida organizacional. O método aplicado no teste do referencial teórico foi o estudo exploratório com caso único, mediante a aplicação de um questionário padronizado. As variáveis de pesquisa consubstanciaram-se no relacionamento da literatura abordada e as questões de pesquisa e foram classificadas, segundo a natureza, em contingentes e identificadoras. Os resultados obtidos possibilitaram avaliar o nível do impacto do processo de internacionalização e a capacidade de adaptabilidade da organização aos novos contextos, comprovando que o empreendimento de novas estratégias, sejam elas internacionais ou em novos negócios, influencia o desenho do sistema de controle gerencial que refletirá, na proporção do interesse dos gestores, num processo de controle mais adequado à organização. / Known as one of the biggest companies of Brazil, controlled for the government, Petrobras presents an internationalization processs divided in two stages: (i) searchs of better contractual conditions for supplying domestic market; and (ii) world-wide spotting, financial security and internationalization of the mark. Both perspectives of international performance had promoted the advantage competitiveness, even tough under distinct behaviours. The objective of this study is to measure the impact of the internationalizations process on the management control system of the leading: Petrobras Uruguay Distribución, subsidiary in the downstream segment and created in 2006 by a process of sould reorganization in face of the acquisition of Shells assets. To answer to this purpose, was analyzed the possible changes of the management control system and the existing relationships, in terms of closeness and distance of this literature and the study. Therefore, the chapter of literatures revision represents theoretical basement which is responsible for the approaching the characteristics of the controls systems, identification of the contexts that influence of this design and prominence for the types of internationalization, on the behaviours and motivational aspects, besides approaching the theories of corporate life cycle. The method applied in the test of the review of literature was the exploratory cases study approaching an unique case, by the application of a standard questionnaire. The research variables a related to the relationship of the literature and the questions of research, witch were classified, according its nature, in contingents and identifiers. The results obtained made possible to evaluate the level of the impact of internationalization process and the capacity of adaptation of organization to the new contexts, proving that the use of new strategies, international or new businesses, influence the design of the management control systems that it will reflect, in the ratio of the managers interest, a control process more adjusted to the organization.

As mudanças turbulentas no ambiente de negócios e a tendência de novas tecnologias para o gerenciamento da base de clientes sinalizam o caminho aos administradores para a gestão e maximização do valor da base de clientes da empresa. No contexto do aparelhamento aos gestores, os sistemas de controles gerenciais focados nos clientes servem como facilitadores do alcance dos objetivos organizacionais. A forma como são desenhados e a forma como são utilizados podem contribuir diretamente no desempenho do sistema e indiretamente para o desempenho organizacional. Assim, o presente estudo buscou, sob a perspectiva da teoria da contingência, compreender, no ambiente empresarial brasileiro, a influência de fatores contingenciais externos e internos no desenho e uso de sistemas de controle gerenciais focados nos clientes e se ambos, na prática, podem contribuir para a melhoria do desempenho desses sistemas nas organizações. Os dados de uma amostra formada por 83 empresas brasileiras foram coletados através de uma pesquisa tipo survey(levantamento). Para a análise dos dados foi adotada a técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais com o método de estimação PartialLeast Square (PLS). Os resultados comprovaram todas as hipóteses de pesquisa. Conclui-se que as características do ambiente participam sobremaneira nas decisões que envolvem a configuração dos fatores contingenciais internos e estes no desenho de Sistemas de Controle Gerencial (SCG) focados nos clientes. O desenho dos SCG focados nos clientes representa, entre as hipóteses de pesquisa estudadas, aquele que se revelou mais forte em termos de associação com o uso intensivo desses mesmos sistemas.O desenho e o uso de SCG focados nos clientes, considerados na forma de artefatos, representados pela Análise da lucratividade do cliente, Valor vitalício do cliente e Valor econômico do cliente podem, inclusive, contribuir para o desempenho econômico da organização. Os resultados da pesquisa estão sujeitos a algumas limitações: i- os respondentes são, na sua maioria, representantes da área de Controladoria. ii- a amostra, constituída por 83 empresas, foi intencional, portanto, os resultados não podem ser generalizados para a população.Estas limitações remetem a novas oportunidades de pesquisa, tais como: i- verificar a possibilidade de estabelecer um arranjo (fit) entre fatores contingenciais, desenho, uso de SCG focados nos clientes e desempenho; iirealizar este modelo de pesquisa com outro público alvo; iii- verificar o impacto de variáveis como \"satisfação do cliente\"; \"lealdade do cliente\" e \"retenção do cliente\" no desempenho econômico da organização. / The changes in the turbulent business environment and the trend of new customer valuation technologies are evidences that challenge the management team to manage and maximize the value of the company customer basis. In the context of managerial tools, the customer oriented management control systems trigger a process that enables the management to reach the company targets and goals. The way they are designed and the way in which they are used can directly contribute to the system performance and indirectly for the economic organizational performance. Therefore, this study sought, based on the contingency theory to understand, in the Brazilian business market, the influence of the environment and internal contextual contingency factors over the design and use of the customers oriented management control systems and if both, in practice, can contribute to the improvement of the model and the own performance of the organization. The data of a sample made up of 83 Brazilian companies have been collected by means of a survey. For the data analysis was adopted the SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) technique and PLS (Partial Least Squares) as a method for estimation. The outcomes have proved all of the hypotheses of this research. It is therefore concluded that the characteristics of the environment are rightly taking part on the decisions that involve the configuration of these internal contextual contingency factors and these on the design of customer oriented management control systems. The design of the customer oriented MCS (Management Control Systems) represents, among all the hypotheses that were studied, the one which has shown itself to be stronger in terms of association with the intensive use of these systems. The design and use of customer oriented MCS which are considered in this study to be in the form of certain artifacts were represented by the Customer Profitability Analysis; Customer Life time Value; and Customer Equity and in its set can even contribute to the overall performance to the firm. The results of the research are subject to certain restrictions: i- the-respondents are in its majority, representatives of the Controllership area. ii- the sample, consisting of 83 companies was intentional, therefore, the results may not be widespread for the population. These constraints address to new opportunities of research, such as: i- to verify the possibility of establishing a fitting-out between internal contextual factors, design, use of customer oriented MCS and performance; ii- have to carry out this model of research with the other public target; iii- to see the impact of variables such as \"satisfaction of the customer\"; \"loyalty of the customer\" and \"retention of the customer\" on the economic performance of the organization.

Para assegurar o alcance de seus objetivos, as organizações utilizam sistemas de controle gerencial (SCG), os quais podem ser analisados sob duas dimensões distintas. A primeira é a dimensão desenho, que compreende as características de configuração técnica dos SCG. A segunda é a dimensão uso, que representa as diferentes finalidades de aplicação dos SCG nas organizações. Além disso, o escopo de análise pode considerar o conjunto de SCG ou apenas parte dele. Pode-se afirmar que as pesquisas sobre SCG têm se caracterizado por uma abordagem reducionista em relação à dimensão analisada e, também, em relação ao escopo de controles considerados na análise. O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar o conjunto de SCG, em suas dimensões desenho e uso, e identificar sua contribuição para a formação e implementação da estratégia organizacional. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo de caso em uma instituição de ensino superior brasileira, explorando aspectos relevantes da configuração e uso dos SCG. Concluiu-se que as principais contribuições dos SCG para a formação e implementação da estratégia organizacional são: (i) direcionar a formação da estratégia organizacional; (ii) comunicar diretrizes, propósitos e prioridades; (iii) definir limites de atuação da organização e de seus membros; (iv) monitorar realização de planos e (v) estimular a aprendizagem organizacional. Constataram-se, como resultado da pesquisa, características dos SCG que prejudicam o estímulo à aprendizagem organizacional: (i) o desconhecimento ou invalidação dos critérios de mensuração pelos gestores; (ii) a fraca conexão entre controles cibernéticos e controles de planejamento; (iii) a ausência de uma visão integrada dos resultados apontados pelos diferentes SCG; (iv) a falta de articulação dos SCG com informações tipo feed-forward com outros SCG e (v) o uso interativo com foco exclusivo em aspectos internos à organização. O aperfeiçoamento desses aspectos pode proporcionar melhor aproveitamento dos benefícios do SCG e aperfeiçoar o modelo de gestão. Este trabalho não contemplou controles de remuneração e recompensa, nem controles informais, de maneira que se recomenda, como oportunidade de pesquisa futura, incluir esses controles na análise da configuração e uso dos SCG nas organizações. Assim, espera-se que os resultados deste trabalho contribuam para o desenvolvimento da teoria sobre SCG e, também, para maior efetividade de seu uso nas organizações, provendo elementos relevantes para uma melhor compreensão de sua influência na formação e implementação da estratégia organizacional. / In order to ensure the achievement of its objectives, the organizations use management control systems (MCS), which can be analyzed by two different dimensions. The first is the design dimension, which comprises the features of the MCSs technical configuration. The second is the use dimension, which represents the different purposes of MCSs application in the organizations. Moreover, the scope of analysis can consider the set of MCS or just a part of it. In general, the research on MCS has been characterized by a reductionist approach regarding the dimension analyzed, and also regarding the scope of controls considered in the analysis. The objective of this research is to examine the MCS package, in its design and use dimensions, and identify its contribution to the formation and implementation of organizational strategy. This way, it was carried out a case study in a Brazilian higher education institution, exploring relevant aspects of configuration and use of MCS. It was concluded that the main contributions of MCS to the formation and implementation of organizational strategy are: (i) guide the formation of organizational strategy; (ii) communicate guidelines, goals and priorities; (iii) define the domain of organizational activities and organizational members; (iv) monitor the achievement of plans; and (v) stimulate the organizational learning. In addition, as findings of this research, it was concluded that the features of the MCS that undermine the incentive to organizational learning: (i) the ignorance or invalidation of the measurement criteria by managers; (ii) the weak connection between cybernetic controls and planning controls; (iii) the lack of an integrative view of the results indicated by different MCS; (iv) the lack of articulation between MCS with feed-forward information and others MCS; and (v) the interactive use with exclusive focus on internal aspects of organization. The improvements of these issues may support better usage of the MCS and provide additional benefits from management model. This study did not contemplate reward and compensation controls, neither informal controls, so it is recommended, as an opportunity of future research, include these controls in the analysis of MCS design an use in the organizations. Therefore, it is expected that the results of this study contribute to the development of MCS theory, likewise to a greater effectiveness of MCS use in the organizations, providing relevant information to a better understanding of its influence in formation and implementation of organizational strategy.

The budget is widely criticised for consuming time and resources without adding sufficientvalue, however, it is undeniably one of the most important tools for planning andcoordination. This case study examines a company that has abandoned the budget andreplaced it with new planning and forecasting processes to achieve a dynamic process with aforward-looking mentality and less focus on details. The objective of the study is toinvestigate the experiences of the new processes and how the ways of working have beenaffected from a management accounting change perspective, with a focus from thecontroller’s perspective. The changed planning processes are conceptualised as a part of theorganisation’s rules and routines.The findings showed that the purpose of the new processes was unclear in some respects,and although the new rules were accepted, many old routines had not yet changed.Perceived lack of system support combined with a conviction that certain aspects of the oldprocesses were essential to perform qualitative work, are two explanatory factors. The levelof detail had decreased in many aspects, but time has not yet been freed up for thecontrollers in favour of value-adding activities.

Today's society is a vulnerable society. Climate change and social injustices are genuine threats to how the lives of future generations are going to be, and humans are the cause of these problems. Sustainable development needs to be achieved if we want future generations to have a good and dignified existence. Companies have a significant impact on society, and therefore play an essential role in how successful we are in achieving sustainable development. Past research has found that control systems, especially reward systems, can be important to implement sustainability in companies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to get a deeper understanding of how organizations implement and steer sustainability by including it in their control systems, and particularly, how reward systems are used in the context of sustainability. By studying past research and theories regarding sustainable development, management control, performance measurements and reward systems, we have gained knowledge and an understanding of how these areas are connected. To achieve the purpose of this study, a qualitative study was done in which we conducted eleven semi-structured interviews with managers and sustainability experts from six different companies. Based on the empirical findings of the study, we were able to make several conclusions. First, sustainability is integrated into already existing control systems, which often interact and are related to each other, and we found that there is a balance between social and environmental dimensions. Companies choose to focus on sustainability issues were they have the most negative impact, and they include sustainability mostly in their cybernetic and administrative controls, for instance through performance measurements (KPIs) and policy documents. Also, several companies incorporate sustainability into their reward systems, such as rewards for safety parameters and reducing CO² emissions. What kind of rewards that are given for sustainability performance differ, some companies give monetary rewards while other give non-monetary. Non-monetary rewards are in the findings presented as most valuable for sustainability. We can also conclude that there are challenges with rewarding sustainability, but many respondents have overcome them and use reward systems as a way of implementing sustainability. Those who do not reward sustainability today can imagine doing so in the near future.

Abstract Small businesses are numerous in any country. However, we have very limited knowledge regarding their management accounting (MA) and management control systems (MCS). Traditionally, it has been stated that small firms do not need and use MCS due to their simple structures and poor resources. On the other hand, a few studies on high technology firms have shown that these firms have developed their MCS and are also utilizing sophisticated management accounting practices and information. The aim of this study is to analyse small firms' use of MCS practices as well as to examine the role of MCS practices and information of small firms in a contingency theoretical framework. Furthermore, the study is not only focusing on small, rapidly growing firms but also on traditional, more stable small firms, all employing from 10 to 49 persons. Based on the survey responses of 183 managing directors of small Finnish firms, the study describes the diffusion and penetration of MCS practices and information among small firms. Two theoretical models are constructed linking the use of MCS with strategy, perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU), use of diversified management team and financial performance of small firms. Tests are made by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggest that small firms do use a wide range of MCS practices and information. The main results also indicate that the use of a more diversified management team seems to increase the use of MCS practices and information. The use of more advanced practices is related to small firms which have been more profitable or which have had lower growth rates in sales. In addition, the use of MCS seems to be associated with small firms' strategies, both realized and intended. The pursued strategy seems to drive small firms' profitability and growth in net sales. However, such an association was not found between the intended strategy and financial performance after two years. The use of MCS seems to have only a few positive effects on small firm's financial performance. Nevertheless, more use of advanced dimensions of MCS seems to predict significant improvements for longer-term growth in net sales.

This dissertation explores regulation’s influence on risk management and management control systems (MCS) in banks. The dissertation comprises of an introductory chapter, two published book chapters, one of which is an extensive literature review, and two working papers, presented at several European conferences. The overall objective of this dissertation is to explore how banks are responding to banking regulation in light of the 2007-08 financial crisis and what the implications of those responses are, particularly in relation to risk management and MCS, and their interactions. The overall research question is therefore: what influence does regulation have on risk management and management control systems in banks over time? The intended ambition is to contribute to existing knowledge on the relationship between bank regulation, risk management, and MCS by providing several practical and theoretical contributions. The dissertation employs an adapted theoretical framework and uses institutional theory and contingency theory to expose tensions between, the demands for uniformity residing in banking regulation, and the demands for uniqueness residing inside banks themselves as they seek to maintain control over the design and use of their organizational controls. The empirical material used in the longitudinal case study is gathered from a large European bank. The main findings of the dissertation are as follows. In Paper I, the findings show that banking regulation’s influence on risk management and management control is mixed, which in turn can influence risk management’s integration with MCS. The paper also finds that very little knowledge exists about regulation’s influence on risk management and MCS. In Paper II, the findings show that while regulatory influence in IT control has increased over time, banks continue to exercise significant influence over regulatory demands. In Paper III, the findings show how regulation’s influence varies considerably over time and that increased regulatory pressure can lead to a higher degree of integration between risk management and MCS across the three dimensions of integration. In Paper IV, the findings show how regulation’s influence is shaping the mental processes of management and employees, and can vary significantly based on several identified factors.

La littérature en marketing souligne l’importance du personnel en contact avec la clientèle dans le secteur des services. Nous développons une recherche ancrée en contrôle de gestion qui intègre ce résultat en analysant le lien entre (1) le contrôle de la performance opérationnelle et (2) la performance organisationnelle dans l’hôtellerie. Nous considérons plus précisément les relations entre l’assignation des droits décisionnels, le système de mesure de la performance, et le système d’incitation dédiés au personnel en contact avec la clientèle ; et leur influence sur la performance de l’organisation. Ces relations sont étudiées à la lumière du critère stratégique d’orientation marché, traduit à partir d’une étude qualitative par le concept de proposition de valeur hôtelière. Afin de tester notre modèle fondé sur la théorie de l’agence et sur la base d’une étude menée auprès des hôteliers en PACA, nous utilisons une méthodologie quantitative, l’approche PLS. Les résultats conduisent, d’une part, à valider les liens de complémentarité entre les trois composantes du design organisationnel ; et d’autre part, à rejeter les hypothèses liées à l’existence de relations entre (1) le design organisationnel et la performance organisationnelle, et (2) la proposition de valeur et le design organisationnel. D’un point de vue global, ces résultats sont cohérents avec littérature, et montrent la nécessité de considérer l’assignation des droits de décision lors de l’étude des systèmes de contrôle de gestion. Ils offrent un éclairage sur le secteur des services en montrant l’importance de la mesure non financière dans les pratiques d’incitation aux niveaux inférieurs de la hiérarchie. / The marketing literature indicates that employees in contact with the customers in the service sector are prominent. This research in management accounting considers this result and investigates the relations between the control of operational performance and the organizational performance in the hotel industry. Specifically, we are interested in the relations between assignment of decision rights, performance measurement system and incentive system dedicated to employees in contact with customers, and we consider the effects of this organizational design on organizational performance. These relations are studied in light of the strategic concept of market orientation, this one being operationalized through a qualitative study of the concept of hotel value proposition. In order to test our agency model, we use a PLS approach on the basis of an empirical study of hotels in PACA. Our results indicate support to the hypothesized positive relations between assignment of decision rights and use of incentive systems, and between use of incentive systems and non-Financial measurement. We find no support to the hypotheses that organizational design is positively related to organizational performance, and that hotel value proposition influences organizational design. Overall, these results are consistent with prior literature indicating that assignment of decision rights and management control systems are complementary choices. Furthermore, they provide insights on the specificities of service activities, as they indicate the importance of non-Financial performance measurement in incentive systems at the worker level.

Bakgrund: Samhället efterfrågar idag allt mer att samtliga aktörer på marknaden ska arbeta med hållbarhet. Till följd av den snabbföränderliga marknaden ställs det krav på hur bankerna styr sin verksamhet för att möta denna efterfrågan och på så sätt fortsatt vara konkurrenskraftiga. För att styra organisationer i eftersträvad riktning krävs både formella och informella styrmedel. För att uppnå en flexibilitet för att på så sätt kunna följa med i hållbarhetsutvecklingen krävs därför en förståelse för de formella och informella styrmedlens anpassning och användning i samband med den hållbara integreringen. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur formell och informell styrning idag används av banker för att uppnå hållbarhetsmål inom banksektorn.   Metod: Studien är en kvalitativ studie med en tvärsnittsdesign där tre svenska banker studerats. Empirin består av elva semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetare på tre olika banker. Vidare utgår studien från en abduktiv ansats. Slutsats: Studien visar att bankerna använder sig av både formella och informella styrmedel för att integrera hållbarhetsmål. Det finns en viss variation mellan olika bankers användning av styrmedel men överlag används de informella styrmedlen kommunikation, kompetensutveckling och organisationskultur i större utsträckning än de formella styrmedlen. Slutligen påvisar studien att styrmedlen: kommunikation, kompetensutveckling och prestationsmätning efterfrågas av medarbetarna för att mer aktivt kunna arbeta med hållbarhetsintegrering. / Background: The society today is increasingly demanding that all companies on the market work with sustainability. As a result of the rapidly changing market, demands are made on how the banks manage their operations in order to meet this demand and thus remain competitive. In order to lead organizations in the desired direction, both formal and informal means of control are required. Achieving flexibility to keep up with sustainability developments therefore requires an understanding of the adaptation and use of formal and informal instruments when integrating sustainability.  Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate how formal and informal management control systems are currently used by banks to achieve sustainability integration in the banking sector.  Methodology: The study is a qualitative study with a cross-sectional research design in which three Swedish banks were studied. The empirical study consists of eleven semi-structured interviews with employees from three different banks. Furthermore, the study is based on an abductive approach.   Conclusion: The study shows that banks use both formal and informal management control systems to integrate sustainability goals. There is some variation between different banks use of the management control systems, but in general the informal management control systems, communication, competence development and organizational culture are used to a greater extent than the formal management control systems. In order for the banks to be able to integrate their sustainability goals, the study demonstrates the importance of communication, competence development and performance measurement being requested by employees in order to be able to work actively with the sustainability integration.

Management control research has often focused on finding the right fit between management control systems and the unique situational context of organizations, but few studies have examined the role of individual personality traits. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding about the relationship between the Big Five personality traits, management control systems and organizational commitment. We addressed the research gap regarding how the interaction between the Big Five personality traits and management control systems may affect organizational commitment. To answer the research questions, data was collected using a web survey, which was analyzed in statistical software. In total, 103 responses from managers across 30 Swedish companies, were obtained. Our findings indicate that the interaction of the personality trait conscientiousness and results control, and the interaction of the personality trait agreeableness, and cultural control may affect organizational commitment. Based on these findings, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.