Styrsätt från privata sektorn såsom NPM har implementerats i den offentliga sektorn med syfte att förändra arbetssätten som styr aktörerna i de offentliga organisationerna. Arbetssätten har dock i många fall lett till ett detaljstyrt arbete för medarbetarna i offentliga organisationer, vilket hämmat aktörernas möjlighet att skapa värde för medborgarna. Ett större handlingsutrymme av styrningen för aktörerna skulle däremot kunna visa sig vara fördelaktigt för värdeskapandet. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur verksamhetsstyrningen inom hemtjänsten påverkar värdet som skapas och inte skapas mellan diverse aktörer. Studien implementerar ett tjänstelogiskt perspektiv vid undersökandet av brister eller möjligheter i värdeskapandet mellan aktörerna. En fallstudie har valts med utgångspunkt i en hemtjänstenhet i Karlstads kommun. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med 12 deltagare i hemtjänsten i Karlstads kommun. Varav 5 var personal, 5 var kunder, en enhetschef och en gruppledare.  Resultaten visar på hur styrningen i hemtjänsten består av en detaljstyrning med fokus på tid och med lite handlingsutrymme för personalen. Tidsstyrningen skapar stress för personalen som också behöver balansera kundernas varierande behov med styrningen. Tack vare en bra samverkan i enheten lyckas dem utföra arbetsuppgifterna som de ska. Dock lämnar styrningen en hel del att önska för alla aktörer. Styrningen i hemtjänsten visar på att personalen inte ges rätt förutsättningar för fortsatt värdeskapande. Det ges lite möjlighet till att beakta diverse kundbehov som kan anses vara av värde.  Det handlingsutrymme som erbjuds personalen innebär däremot att de trots allt kan finna diverse vägar runt styrningen för att hantera denna, även om det inte alltid fungerar. Tjänstelogiken belyser hur brister i styrningen påverkar värdeskapandet mellan aktörerna, oftast på grund av tidsbrist. Logiken visar också på hur möjligheterna till att skapa värde sker när personalen kan använda sina resurser till fullo. Tjänstelogiken kan således ha en funktion att fungera som ett diagnostiskt verktyg av styrningen i offentliga organisationer. Däremot kan mer data och större tillgång till organisationen vara till hjälp för framtida studier. / Management concepts, such as NPM, has been implemented from the private sector to the public sector with the purpose to change the way the various people in the public sector are being governed. This way to work has in many situations led to the staff in the public sector to being micromanaged, which has led to complications in their possibilities to create value for the citizens. A bigger room by the governance for the staff to take their own action could show to be more beneficial for the value creation.  The purpose with this study is to examine how the governance of home care is affecting the value creation between different actors in the organization. This study implements Service-dominant logic as a perspective to examine the deficiencies and the possibilities in the value creation between the different actors.  We chose to do a case study based on the home care in Karlstad county. Semi-structured interviews were performed together with 12 participants from the homecare in Karlstad county. These consisted of 5 staff, 5 clients, 1 manager and 1 group leader.  The results show how the governance of home care consists of micromanagement, with the focus on managing time and offering little room for staff to take their own action. The management of time causes stress for the staff, who also must balance the various needs of the clients with a micromanaged governance. However, thanks to a good cooperation in the home car unit they manage to do this to a certain extent. Although, the governance of the organization leaves something wanting for all the involved actors.  The governance of home care show that the staff hasn’t been given the right basis for a continuous value creation. It leaves to little room for the staff to take the client’s needs into consideration. Although, the staff are offered some latitude in their work. Meaning they can find their ways around the governance to work with it, even if that doesn’t always work. Service-dominant logic emphasizes how the deficiencies in the management are affecting the value creation between the actors, mostly due to a lack of time. The logic also shows how the possibilities to create value happens when the staff can fully use their resources. Therefore, service-dominant logic could have a function as a tool for management in the public sector. However, more data and a bigger access to the organization itself could be helpful in further studies.

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.

Bakgrund: Förändringar i omvärldsfaktorer så som ränta och inflation har skapat förändringar av faktorer i investeringskalkyler. Detta påverkar riskbenägenheten hos företagen, hur påverkar detta investeringsviljan och hur ändrar det förutsättningar för nuvarande investeringar. Beteende hos beslutsfattare kan reflekteras i bolags prestation. Syfte: Syftet var att förstå och förklara hur förändrade faktorer påverkar förutsättningar för en investering. Utöver det utreddes hur chefers psykologiska aspekter påverkar investeringsbeslut och på vilket sätt de går till väga. Genomförande: Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär. Empiriska data insamlades från fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter som är i ledningsroll i olika företag inom olika branscher. Slutsats: Investeringar utvärderas under investeringens livslängd ifall investeringen ska fortgå. Vissa beslutfattare låter psykologiska faktorer påverka deras investeringsbeslutsfattning. Investeringsbeslut bör grundas i investeringskalkyler för att säkerhetsställa att en investering har bra utfall / Background: Changes in external factors such as interest rates and inflation have led to alterations in the factors considered in investment calculations. This affects the risk appetite of companies, influencing their willingness to invest and altering the conditions for current investments. Decision-makers' behavior can be reflected in a company's performance. Purpose: The purpose was to understand and explain how changing factors impact the conditions for an investment. Additionally, the study investigated how psychological aspects of managers affect investment decisions and their approach to the process. Methodology: The study has a qualitative nature. Empirical data was collected through five semi-structured interviews with respondents holding managerial positions in various companies across different industries. Conclusion: Investments are evaluated throughout their lifespan to determine if they should continue. Some decision-makers allow psychological factors to influence their investment decision-making. Investment decisions should be based on investment calculations to ensure favorable outcomes

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.

Master thesis in the Business Administration and Economics Programme - Controller, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University in Växjö, 4FE18E, spring 2022.   Title: The impact of digitalization on management in the construction industry - An interview study on digital tools   Authors: Filip Euström & Sajjad Ameen Supervisor: Kim Eriksson Examiner: Jan Alpenberg   Background: The construction industry is often referred to as a conservative industry where changes are both difficult to get through and take a long time. Digitalization is an example where the construction industry has fallen behind. The industry often works with low margins, which means that efficiency and productivity play major roles. Digital tools can therefore contribute to higher efficiency and productivity.   Purpose: The purpose of the study is to contribute with an understanding of the ways in which digitalization has affected management accounting and management control as well as project management in the construction industry. Furthermore, the authors will also study how the construction industry has been affected by the development of digitalization in general.   Method: The authors have conducted a qualitative interview study where the empirical data consists of 13 semi-structured interviews with people from six different companies where they have different types of roles and experiences in the construction industry. With theory from scientific articles and literature, the collected empirical data could be analyzed.   Conclusion: The study has shown that digitalization has had a major impact on the construction industry, not least on management. The digital tools have not only improved the way the industry works, but it has also improved management accounting and management control as well as project management through, for example, systems that control, among other things, cost, schedule and quality. It has also been shown that training its existing staff is the answer to several of the challenges facing the construction industry. / Examensarbete, Civilekonomprogrammet - Controller, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet i Växjö, 4FE18E, vårterminen 2022.   Titel: Digitaliseringens påverkan på styrning inom byggbranschen  - En intervjustudie om digitala verktyg   Författare: Filip Euström & Sajjad Ameen Handledare: Kim Eriksson Examinator: Jan Alpenberg   Bakgrund och problem: Byggbranschen benämns ofta som en konservativ bransch där förändringar både är svårt att få igenom och tar lång tid. Digitalisering är ett exempel där byggbranschen hamnat efter. Branschen arbetar ofta med låga marginaler vilket gör att effektivitet och produktivitet spelar stora roller. Digitala verktyg kan därför bidra till högre effektivitet och produktivitet.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att bidra med förståelse för de sätt som digitaliseringen har påverkat verksamhets- och ekonomistyrningen samt projektstyrningen inom byggbranschen. Vidare kommer författarna även att studera hur byggbranschen har påverkats av digitaliseringens utveckling generellt sett.   Metod: Författarna har genomfört en kvalitativ intervjustudie där den empiriska datan består av 13 semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer från sex olika företag där de har olika typer av roller och erfarenheter inom byggbranschen. Med teori från vetenskapliga artiklar och litteratur kunde den insamlade empirin analyseras.   Slutsats: Studien har visat att digitaliseringen har haft en stor påverkan på byggbranschen, inte minst styrningen. De digitala verktygen har inte bara förbättrat branschens arbetssätt utan det har också förbättrat verksamhets- och ekonomistyrningen samt projektstyrningen genom exempelvis system som kontrollerar bland annat kostnad, tidsplan och kvalitet. Det har även visat sig att utbildning av sin befintliga personal är svaret på flera av utmaningarna som byggbranschen har.

Bakgrund: Under de två senaste decennierna har efterfrågan på hållbarhetsinformation ökat vilket har lett till införandet av tvingande reglering på hållbarhetsrapportering, exempelvis genom Direktiv 2014/95/EU. Till följd av tvingande hållbarhetsrapportering måste företag implementera hållbarhetsstyrning för att efterleva kraven på hållbarhetsrapportering.  Syfte: Syftet med studien är att förklara hur hållbarhetsstyrning i företag har påverkats till följd av tvingande reglering på hållbarhetsrapportering och hur hållbarhetsstyrning har påverkat rapporteringskvaliteten på hållbarhetsinformation. Metod: En kvantitativ metod genom innehållsanalys och kvasiexperiment ligger till grund för studien. Innehållsanalysen genomförs på tio svenska börsnoterade företags års- och hållbarhetsrapporter för räkenskapsåren 2013–2022.  Resultat: Resultatet visar att tvingande reglering har ett positivt samband med hållbarhetsstyrning. Kulturella-, administrativa- och cybernetiska kontroller har haft störst ökning till följd av tvingande reglering. Vidare förekommer ett positivt samband mellan hållbarhetsstyrning och rapporteringskvalitet. Kunskapsbidrag: Studien bidrar till litteraturen om sambandet mellan hållbarhetsstyrning och hållbarhetsrapportering. Vidare bidrar studien med metodologiskt bidrag genom ett konstruerat hållbarhetsstyrningsindex. / Background: Increasing demand for sustainability information during the last two decades has led to enactment of mandatory sustainability reporting, for example through Directive 2014/95/EU. As a result of mandatory sustainability reporting, companies must integrate sustainability management control systems to comply with reporting requirements.  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how sustainability management has been affected due to mandatory reporting on sustainability and how sustainability management has affected the quality of sustainability reporting. Research method: The study applies a quantitative method through content analysis and quasi-experiments. The content analysis is carried out on ten Swedish listed companies’ annual- and sustainability reports for the fiscal years 2013-2022. Results: The result shows that mandatory regulation has a positive relationship with sustainability management. Cultural-, administrative- and cybernetic controls have had the greatest increase due to mandatory regulation. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between sustainability management and reporting quality.  Contributions: This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between sustainability management and sustainability reporting. It also makes a methodological contribution through a constructed sustainability management control index.

Titel: Motiverande verksamhetsstyrning – En kvalitativ studie om motivation i fastighetsmäklaryrket och PAR-ramverkets påverkan. Översikt: Fastighetsmäklarbranschen har påverkats av ekonomiska faktorer under senaste tiden, vilket har lett till lägre bostadspriser och en ostabil marknad. Detta har resulterat i mindre försäljningar och en högre konkurrens bland fastighetsmäklarna. Statistik har visat en ökning av avregistrerade fastighetsmäklare senaste året och därför är det viktigt att förstå vad som kan motivera dem att stanna kvar i yrket under tuffare perioder. Till skillnad från tidigare forskning, som främst fokuserat på belöningar, undersöker denna studie flera olika delar inom verksamhetsstyrning som motivationsfaktorer. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om olika aspekter inom verksamhetsstyrning kan motivera fastighetsmäklare att stanna kvar i yrket, särskilt under konkurrenspräglade och ekonomiskt osäkra tider. Genom att applicera PAR-ramverket, som inkluderar personal- åtgärds- och resultatkontroller, strävar studien efter att analysera hur dessa styrmedel kan påverka motivationen hos fastighetsmäklarna. Metod: Studien använder sig av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats. Datainsamlingen har skett via inspelade intervjuer där frågorna är baserade på den teoretiska referensramen. Urvalet består av åtta registrerade fastighetsmäklare från tre olika städer med varierande erfarenhet. Slutsats: Utifrån analysen har slutsatsen dragits att samtliga delar inom PAR- ramverket kan motivera fastighetsmäklare att stanna kvar i yrket. Motivationsfaktorerna kan däremot skilja sig från person till person, därför att det viktigt för cheferna att förstå vad som motiverar deras fastighetsmäklare. / Title: Motivational Management Control – A qualitative study on motivation inthe real estate brokerage profession and the impact of the PAR framework.Overview: The real estate brokerage industry has recently been affected by economicfactors, leading to lower housing prices and market instability. This hasresulted in fewer sales and increased competition among real estate agents.Statistics have shown an increase in deregistered real estate agents overthe past year, making it important to understand what can motivate themto remain in the profession during challenging times. Unlike previousresearch, which has primarily focused on rewards, this study examinesvarious aspects of management control as motivational factors.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether different aspects ofmanagement control can motivate real estate agents to remain in theprofession, especially during competitive and economically uncertaintimes. By applying the PAR framework, which includes personnel, action,and results controls, the study aims to analyze how these controlmechanisms can affect the motivation of real estate agents.Method: The study employs a qualitative research method with a deductiveapproach. Data collection was carried out through recorded interviews,where the questions were based on the theoretical framework. The sampleconsists of eight registered real estate agents from three different citieswith varying levels of experience.Conclusion: Based on the analysis, the conclusion is that all parts of the PARframework can motivate real estate agents to stay in the profession.However, motivational factors can vary from person to person, making itessential for managers to understand what motivates their real estateagents.

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.