Over the past two decades, research in both the management accounting and marketing disciplines has reported insightful developments, theoretically and empirically, in which both are implicated, yet research into the interface between the two disciplines remains relatively unexplored. In the management accounting literature, a strategically-orientated approach has evolved in which customers, customer satisfaction, customer value and competitive positioning have developed as key management themes requiring a re-evaluation of the existing management accounting information for decision-making. In marketing, research on �market orientation�, has emphasised similar and interrelated themes of customers, competitors, and the interfunctional coordination of organisational activities in the creation of customer value and the ascertainment and calculation of profits. Taking market orientation as a point of departure, in this thesis a conceptual framework is developed which reflects the theoretical links between management accounting and market orientation at a product decision-making level. The undertaking of two in-depth organisational case studies is reported in which market orientation and management accounting for each functional area is analysed and discussed. A greater functional and organisational emphasis on customers� vis-�-vis competitors was found as was an emphasis on informal means of information communication and coordination between functional areas. Despite consistent cross-functional understanding of customers� product-attribute needs in both case studies, the findings indicate the use of �traditional� accounting information for product-level decision-making and an absence of market-orientated accounting information. Exploration and description of the industry and organisational context in both case studies provides an insight into several factors - formality, strategic orientation, organisational structural costs and resource capability � that appear to influence market orientation and the adoption of market-orientated accounting for product decision-making.

<p>The purpose of this study is, on the basis of institutional theory, to contribute with more</p><p>understanding about resistance to management accounting change and also to survey reasons</p><p>for the resistance and how to cope with the resistance.</p><p>The study is a qualitative case study and semi-structured interviews have been used to</p><p>complement the study’s theoretical area, consisting of scientific articles.</p><p>The conclusion from the study is that resistance to management accounting change can be</p><p>understood and explained by the institutions of each organisation and its underlying structures. A</p><p>further conclusion is, with the structures in mind there are many reasons for resistance and also</p><p>many ways to cope with the resistance. A model has been produced in purpose to create</p><p>understanding and to survey the resistance to management accounting change.</p>

Professor Lars Östman har tidigare i boken Styrning med redovisningsmått, EFI 1977, i en empirisk studie undersökt ekonomiska styrsystem i större divisionaliserade företag. Östman kartlade inställningen bland ledande personer i divisioner som hade ett resultatansvar utan några egentliga krav på finansiella aktiviteter samt hur de arbetade med styrsystemen. Sedan dess har nya typer av organisationsstrukturer växt fram. I Sverige har ett flertal svenska storföretag bolagiserats under 1980-talet, samtidigt som styrsystemen har anpassats. Bolagisering brukar sättas i samband med en ytterligare decentralisering av divisioner. Då denna studie kan betraktas som en fortsättning av Östmans arbete, har det ansetts naturligt att utgå från Östmans beteendeinriktade synsätt för att komplettera tidigare studier med de nya typerna av ansvar och hur dessa upplevs inom bolagiserade storföretag. Avhandlingens syfte är att undersöka bolagiserade koncerners ekonomiska styrsystem och vilka effekter olika redovisningsmått har givit upphov till. Undersökningen avser perioden 1986-1989 och utfördes inom fyra koncerner: Alfa-Laval AB, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Sandvik AB och Stora Kopparbergs Bergslag AB. Undersökningen visar bl a aktörernas inställning till vissa redovisningsmått och vilka åtgärder som de bolagiserade enheterna vidtagit med anledning av styrsystemens utformning. En slutsats är att den gängse föreställningen om att ansvaret skall begränsas till det påverkbara inte skall uppfattas som helt allmängiltig. I situationer som de i avhandlingen studerade kan ett vidare formellt ansvar leda till positiva effekter utan att några direkt negativa effekter uppstår. Studien har genomförts som en praktikfallsstudie med intervjuer som den dominerande datainsamlingsmetoden. I boken redovisas ett relativt stort empiriskt material som kan vara användbart för bedömning av tänkbara effekter vid förändringar av ekonomiska styrsystem. Boken kan vara av intresse för såväl praktiker som teoretiker och kan närmast betraktas som en given referens inom ämnesområdet bolagisering. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1994</p>

Background: Inter-organisational ways of working have become more and more common during the last decades. In order to attain efficiency and productivity, such inter-organisational relationships need to be governed and controlled. However, studies have shown that inadequate control is one of the main reasons for why inter-organisational relationships fail. One of the means that can be used for governing and controlling a business is management control. The use of management control in inter-organisational contexts is a quite unexplored area of research at the present time, which might seem somewhat surprising considering the fact that inadequate control is a common explanation for why inter-organisational relationships fail. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe management control in horizontal inter-organisational relationships, as well as to analyse the design of inter-organisational management control systems, using relation specific characteristics as a starting point. Delimitation: The possible influence that trust might have on inter- organisational management control will not be discussed in this thesis. Realisation: A case study of a network consisting of three companies that jointly develop a fuel cell air supply system for vehicle applications. The empirical data was gathered through visits at each of the three companies, including an interview with each company’s general manager. Conclusions: The character of inter-organisational relationships can change over time, which might make it necessary to change inter-organisational management control systems. Some aspects that should be kept in mind when designing an inter-organisational management control system are: the match between the relationship and the control system, the openness within the relationship, the balance between control and commitment, as well as the trade- off between the costs and the benefits of a certain system. The possible effect that external factors might have on inter-organisational management control is yet another aspect that should be considered.

Under senare år har frågor om delegering och självständighet ofta stått i centrum för styrsammanhang. Inom de flesta företag finns emellertid också en typ av enheter där behovet av samordning dem emellan är viktigt. Ett tydligt exempel är samordningsbehovet mellan en produktionsenhet och en försäljningsenhet som tillsammans ansvarar för samma produkt. Denna studie visar dels hur man mer utförligt kan beskriva verksamhetssambanden mellan enheter, dels hur ekonomisk styrning sker i några företag där sådana samband föreligger. När styrningen i företagen studeras är ett av syftena att se hur ekonomisk styrning samverkar med andra styrinstrument och vilka effekter detta kan leda till. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

Globalization has among other tendencies led to the emergence of new ways of doing business. One of the ways for organizations to meet the demands of a new competitive landscape has been through management accounting change, a field which has become increasingly popular in research. This paper builds on that research and seeks to investigate the case of the implementation of a new management accounting system in a Swedish company which was triggered by strategic change. Commonality through the interactive approach is by some researchers seen as a key to successful change. This approach is contrasted to the importance of symbolic constructs and change recipients’ cognitive effort to understand the meaning of change for which Framing theory is applied. The paper comes to the conclusion that both approaches are necessary in a change process, and shows further that their usage will depend on the process’ timeframe and change recipients’ position in the organization.

This research constructed the structural relationships between competitive strategy, size of business unit, task environment, organizational structure, information asymmetry and the information characteristics of management accounting system (MAS). In addition, the structural model included the impact of MAS design, by way of job-relevant information, on managerial performance. There were two kinds of relationship, including the effects of intervening variables, 28 hypotheses were studied. This research collected empirical data of 107 middle-level managers who serviced in those manufacturing companies listed in Taiwan Stock Exchange Market, and used the method of path analysis to test the hypothesized intervening effects. The empirical evidence of this research revealed as follows: 1.Those business units that adopted differentiation strategy have faced relatively high variable task environment, and adopted cost leadership strategy have faced low variable task environment. 2.Those managers of big business units perceived usefulness of broad and aggregated MAS information would be higher than those of small business units. 3.Those managers of business units perceived relatively high usefulness of broad and aggregated MAS information would have high managerial performance than those who perceived low usefulness of broad and aggregated MAS information. 4.Those managers of business units perceived relatively high usefulness of broad and aggregated MAS information would have more job-relevant information than those who perceived low usefulness of broad and aggregated MAS information. 5.Not anticipated effects this research hypothesized, the data revealed those business units that adopted differentiation strategy had low degree of decentralization, and adopted cost leadership strategy had relatively high degree of decentralization. 6.Not anticipated effects this research hypothesized, the data approved the indirect effects of decentralization on strategy type and broad and aggregated MAS information, but those business units which adopted differentiation strategy had relatively low degree of decentralization would perceived high usefulness of broad and aggregated MAS information. 7.The empirical results verified the indirect effects of job-relevant information on broad and aggregated MAS information and managerial performance.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the perceived decision-relevant information (PDRI) as an intervening variable between two kinds of management accounting systems - broad scope and aggregation (broad scope MAS/aggregation MAS) and managerial performance. This study also examines the impact of strategy types (differentiation and low cost strategies) on the relationships between broad scope MAS/aggregation MAS and PDRI, and between PDRI and managerial performance. For testing the 18 hypotheses, this study mainly employs the path analysis, and adopts a questionnaire survey sampling from plant managers and their subordinate in Taiwan¡¦s electronic companies listed in Taiwan Stock Exchange Market. Deriving from the 112 effective matched responses, the study reveals the following results: 1. Both the relationships between broad scope MAS and managerial performance, and between aggregation MAS and managerial performance are positive. 2. There is a full mediating effect of PDRI between broad scope MAS and managerial performance. In which, the relationship between broad scope MAS and PDRI is positive, and the relationship between PDRI and managerial performance is also positive. 3. There is a partial mediating effect of PDRI between aggregation MAS and managerial performance. In which, the relationships between aggregation MAS and PDRI, and PDRI and managerial performance are positive. 4. When companies tend to adopt a differentiation strategy, there is a full mediating effect of PDRI between broad scope MAS and managerial performance. In which, the relationship between broad scope MAS and PDRI is positive, and the relationship between PDRI and managerial performance is also positive. Besides, when companies tend to adopt a differentiation strategy, the full mediating effect is more pronounced than that of the overall sample companies. 5. When companies tend to adopt a low cost strategy, there is not a mediating effect of PDRI between broad scope MAS and managerial performance. In which, there isn¡¦t a relationship between broad scope MAS and PDRI, but, the relationship between PDRI and managerial performance is still positive. 6. Comparing with the low cost strategy, when companies tend to adopt a differentiation strategy, under the broad scope MAS as antecedent variable, the positive relationship between broad scope MAS and PDRI is stronger, but, the positive relationship between PDRI and managerial performance is not stronger. 7. When companies tend to adopt a differentiation strategy, there is a full mediating effect of PDRI between aggregation MAS and managerial performance. In which, the relationship between aggregation MAS and PDRI is positive, and the relationship between PDRI and managerial performance is also positive. 8. When companies tend to adopt a low cost strategy, there is also a full mediating effect of PDRI between aggregation MAS and managerial performance. In which, the relationship between aggregation MAS and PDRI is positive, and the relationship between PDRI and managerial performance is also positive. 9. Comparing with the low cost strategy, when companies tend to adopt a differentiation strategy, under the aggregation MAS as antecedent variable, the positive relationship between aggregation MAS and PDRI is not stronger, and the positive relationship between PDRI and managerial performance is not stronger either. 10. Strategy type is not associated with two kinds of MAS. That is, no matter differentiation strategy or low cost strategy that company tends to adopt, both strategies can not impact the level of using broad scope MAS or aggregation MAS by managers. From above results, this study provides important management implications, and presents contributions for academy in researches and suggestions for business in practice. Finally, the research limitations and possibly future researches are presented.

<p>Background: Inter-organisational ways of working have become more and more common during the last decades. In order to attain efficiency and productivity, such inter-organisational relationships need to be governed and controlled. However, studies have shown that inadequate control is one of the main reasons for why inter-organisational relationships fail. One of the means that can be used for governing and controlling a business is management control. The use of management control in inter-organisational contexts is a quite unexplored area of research at the present time, which might seem somewhat surprising considering the fact that inadequate control is a common explanation for why inter-organisational relationships fail. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe management control in horizontal inter-organisational relationships, as well as to analyse the design of inter-organisational management control systems, using relation specific characteristics as a starting point. </p><p>Delimitation: The possible influence that trust might have on inter- organisational management control will not be discussed in this thesis. </p><p>Realisation: A case study of a network consisting of three companies that jointly develop a fuel cell air supply system for vehicle applications. The empirical data was gathered through visits at each of the three companies, including an interview with each company’s general manager. </p><p>Conclusions: The character of inter-organisational relationships can change over time, which might make it necessary to change inter-organisational management control systems. Some aspects that should be kept in mind when designing an inter-organisational management control system are: the match between the relationship and the control system, the openness within the relationship, the balance between control and commitment, as well as the trade- off between the costs and the benefits of a certain system. The possible effect that external factors might have on inter-organisational management control is yet another aspect that should be considered.</p>

The purpose of this study is, on the basis of institutional theory, to contribute with more understanding about resistance to management accounting change and also to survey reasons for the resistance and how to cope with the resistance. The study is a qualitative case study and semi-structured interviews have been used to complement the study’s theoretical area, consisting of scientific articles. The conclusion from the study is that resistance to management accounting change can be understood and explained by the institutions of each organisation and its underlying structures. A further conclusion is, with the structures in mind there are many reasons for resistance and also many ways to cope with the resistance. A model has been produced in purpose to create understanding and to survey the resistance to management accounting change.