Esta tese busca investigar como o controle gerencial pode apoiar o gerenciamento do relacionamento com empresas terceirizadas. A literatura oferece pouca evidência empírica sobre o papel do controle gerencial no relacionamento entre empresas, vindo esta pesquisa a ampliar o conhecimento sobre relacionamento entre empresas por meio do uso da Teoria Institucional e da Análise do Discurso. Esta tese adota uma abordagem interpretativa e conduz uma pesquisa qualitativa baseada em um único estudo de caso em uma empresa de distribuição do setor elétrico. Buscou-se analisar não apenas se existe o controle gerencial, mas de que forma este influencia o relacionamento entre empresas. Dentre os resultados apresentados está o fato de que, embora a existência da controladoria não necessariamente contribua para apoiar o gerenciamento das empresas terceirizadas, a existência da sua estrutura, em decorrência do seu uso, trouxe impacto e gerou aperfeiçoamento ao processo, como por exemplo, o uso do Balanced Scorecard para criação de indicadores financeiros na avaliação de fornecedores. Não foram encontradas muitas das ferramentas apregoadas pela literatura como apropriadas ao gerenciamento do relacionamento entre empresas, tais como custo-alvo, open-book, contabilidade da cadeia de valor, sistemas de informação integrada e custo total da propriedade. No entanto, foram encontrados diversos mecanismos de controle informais, não financeiros e qualitativos. Isto porque a empresa pesquisada optou por estabelecer o controle nas atividades e não nas informações financeiras, como se percebe no discurso da realização de fiscalizações e auditorias para controle da qualidade. Assim, enquanto as demais formas de controle atuam constantemente no dia a dia da empresa, os controles contábeis são empregados apenas esporadicamente para determinadas avaliações. A motivação para isso é explicada pela Teoria Institucional, uma vez que este tipo de acompanhamento é capaz de promover incentivo, comunicação, controle e estabilidade nas relações, sendo mais prático, fácil e aceitável politicamente. No entanto, a tentativa de inclusão de medidas financeiras se trata de uma melhoria. Ainda como resultados desta pesquisa, foram identificados diversos discursos relacionados entre si. Alguns são contraditórios, como é o caso dos discursos da contratação com base na avaliação financeira dos fornecedores e com base no menor preço, sendo que o discurso da avaliação financeira é relativamente recente e surgiu em função de problemas e prejuízos financeiros ocorridos com fornecedores e espera-se que, no futuro, tal discurso se sobreponha ao discurso do menor preço. É interessante observar, ainda, o relacionamento entre dois outros discursos: controle e confiança. Observou-se que a confiança em terceirizados que prestam serviços há mais de duas décadas oferece resistência à implementação de um novo sistema de avaliação de fornecedores, fazendo com que a classificação e a premiação dos fornecedores não tenham trazido implicações práticas na contratação dos mesmos. Isto corrobora com a ideia de que quanto maior a confiança, menor o controle. Por outro lado, certas ferramentas de controle gerencial, como o open-book, não são implementadas, justamente porque não há confiança nas informações financeiras prestadas pelas empresas terceirizadas. Ferramentas de controle gerencial poderiam aumentar a confiança entre as partes do relacionamento. Como conclusão, pode-se dizer que os valores e crenças influenciam desde a decisão de terceirizar ou não as atividades e quais atividades terceirizar, até a forma como as empresas terceirizadas serão selecionadas, contratadas, avaliadas e acompanhadas. Todo o processo de mudanças políticas, econômicas e administrativas permeou a forma como a empresa pesquisada se relaciona com seus fornecedores e como o controle gerencial pode auxiliar o gerenciamento deste relacionamento. / This thesis investigates how management controls can support the management of relationships with third-party companies. There is little empirical evidence in the accounting literature regarding the role of management controls in the relationship between companies; this research aims to expand knowledge about this relationship, through the use of Institutional Theory and discourse analysis. This thesis adopts an interpretative approach and conducts a qualitative research based on a single case study in a distribution company of the electric sector. This study examines not only which management controls are used, but also how they affect the relationship between companies. The findings show that, although the existence of the Controllership department does not necessarily contribute to supporting the management of third-party companies, the existence of its structure, impacted and improved the process. One example of this was the use of the Balanced Scorecard for creating financial indicators in evaluating suppliers. It was also found that many of the tools, which appear frequently in the literature, are appropriate to the management of business-to-business relationships. Examples are target costing, open-book accounting, value chain accounting, integrated information systems and total cost of ownership. In addition, this study found evidence of several informal, non-financial and qualitative control mechanisms. This is because the case company focused on establishing control on the activities instead of the financial information. This was observed in the discourse about quality control fiscalisation and audit checks. Thus, while other forms of control act constantly in the company\'s day-today; accounting controls are employed only sporadically for certain reviews. The motivation for this is explained by institutional theory, since this type of monitoring is able to promote encouragement, communication, control, and stability in relationships, being more practical, easier, and more politically acceptable. However, the attempt to include financial measures was an improvement. Moreover, this research also identified that several discourses were related to each another. In fact, some of them are contradictory, for example the discourses about hiring based on the financial assessment of suppliers, or based on the lowest price. The discourse of financial evaluation is relatively recent and has emerged in light of problems and financial losses which happened with suppliers. It is expected that, in the future, such a discourse replaces the idea of choosing according to the lowest price. It is interesting to note the relationship between two other discourses: control and trust. It was observed that the trust on contractors providing services for more than two decades creates resistance to the implementation of the new system of evaluation of suppliers. This makes the ranking and the rewards of the suppliers to have brought practical implications in hiring them. This corroborates with the idea that the greater the trust the less the control. On the contrary, certain tools of managerial control, such as the open-book, are not implemented, because there is no confidence in the financial information provided by third-party companies. Managerial control tools could enhance trust and confidence among the parties of the relationship. As a conclusion, it can be argued that the values and beliefs influence the decision to outsource activities and which activities, and also the way companies selected will be hired, evaluated and monitored. The whole process of changing political, economic and administrative influenced the way this company relates to its suppliers and the managerial control can help the management of this relationship.

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.

More than three decades ago the notion of trust was introduced into the management accounting (MA) literature, and a growing stream of empirical papers elaborating on the relation between MA controls and trust signals the importance andvitality of this research area. However, a closer look at the literature shows that while major insights have been made, there is also considerable confusion around both research models and the meanings of key concepts. Accordingly, the time seems opportune to conduct an extended and critical review of the legacies of this literature. More precisely, the aims of the study are to (i) analyze how MA and trust have been conceptualized and related to each other; (ii) identify weaknesses andknowledge gaps in the literature; and, (iii) based on these, suggest how the literature may be synthesized and developed in the future. In so doing, this thesis analyses 37 empirical studies focusing specifically on the association between MA and trust. Overall, two key findings emerge from the analysis. A first key finding is that the area can be characterized as fragmented. More specifically, many different terms are used to denote similar concepts, and vice versa. The literature is also characterized by different levels of analysis, and different, potentially conflicting research models. The literature is also underpinned by different theoretical perspectives, of which some have conflicting assumptions. The second key finding is that there are several knowledge gaps and weaknesses in th eliterature. For example, while a majority of studies shows that MA is a factor affecting trust, MA itself is oftentimes left unexplained. Also, many studies conceptualize trust from the perspective of only one party in a relationship, and the questions of how and why MA and trust (co)develops and emerges over time are largely unaddressed. Furthermore, while researchers have empirically studied both personal trust and system trust, respectively, no one has modelled how they may be interrelated. Based on these findings, a model is proposed which not only synthesizes the extant literature, but also indentifies new, potentially important associations between different MA and trust factors. The model—consisting of twelve propositions—also theorizes how these factors affect each other over time. The thesis concludes with a number of suggestions for how to develop this research area in the 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.

Abstract This dissertation aims to provide an extensive picture of management accounting systems and explore the relationships between management accounting systems, strategy, information technology, manufacturing technology and organizational performance. The dissertation consists of four essays. The first essay focuses on the adoption and benefits of management accounting practices, whereas the second essay studies the relations between customer-focused strategy, performance measurement techniques, information technology and their link to customer performance. The third essay studies the relations between manufacturing technology, information technology, strategy and organizational performance. The fourth essay, in turn, studies the management accounting systems and their relations to strategy and information technology. The first three essays employ the survey method while the last essay employs the case method. The framework used in this dissertation is the contingency theory. The results indicate that financial performance measures will be important in the future and that greater emphasis will be placed on contemporary management accounting practices such as customer satisfaction surveys and employee attitudes. Also, the relative benefits from the previous three years and the future emphasis in the next three years are generally greater when the size of the firm increases. The results show that there is a significant association between customer performance and the three-way interaction involving customer-focused strategy, contemporary performance measures and advanced information technology. The proposed three-way interaction between financial performance measures, customer-focused strategy and advanced information technology is not supported at conventional levels of statistical significance indicating that financial measures are not important in the model. The results also indicate that contemporary performance measures do not help highly customer-focused firms to achieve customer performance. For firms with a low customer-focus, emphasizing contemporary performance measures and advanced information technology assists in enhancing customer performance. The results also suggest that manufacturing technology and information technology together help firms to improve their organizational performance regardless of their emphasis on differentiation strategy.

This master thesis compares management accounting (MA) in China and Germany. It starts by analyzing the conceptual development over time. Afterwards, it categorizes the spread of the methods and explains conceptual differences in more detail. Subsequently, macroeconomic factors that have influenced the development of MA are described, evaluated, and future implications for the further development of MA are derived. For this purpose a traditional literature review is used. The MA practice in Germany is further disseminated than in China. Moreover, German management accountants are characterized as business partners while Chinese management accountants are perceived as analysts and inspectors. Other conceptual differences in terms of MA are the data source, the overall orientation, country-specific techniques, and the organizational structure. Most of the differences between German and Chinese MA can be allocated to political, economic, foreign, educational, academic, and cultural influences. The future implications for the further development depend on each factor individually.

"Customer Profitability Analysis in the Service Industry" aims to describe the practical application of customer profitability analysis techniques in holding XYZ, which provides ICT services to the hospitality industry. The thesis starts with a theoretical part. It describes several management accounting techniques for measuring customer profitability. The second part of the thesis demonstrates the application of some of these techniques in a real-life environment. Implementing management accounting tools, business processes and changing the accounting data structure are described step by step.

The management accounting literature (e.g., Cooper and Kaplan 1988b; Shillinglaw 1982) argues that cost information is beneficial for marketing management in order to improve the business profitability. Accounting for strategic management also proposes the use of accounting information on cost drivers, business strategy, market and competitors (e.g., Shank and Govindarajan 1993). In the accounting and control literature it is also suggested that a company gains if it includes interactive control systems, with the participation of the various functional areas, including marketing, in addition to the traditional diagnostic systems (Simons 1995b). Moreover, the marketing literature states that there is a loss of influence and stature of the marketing department (Webster Jr et al. 2005) and relates this in part to the lack of performance measures (see Ambler 2003b; McGovern et al. 2004; Nath and Mahajan 2008), particularly the financial ones (e.g., Schultz and Gronstedt 1997). The marketing literature also recognises the usefulness of cost accounting information (e.g., Dunne and Wolk 1977; Kirpalani and Shapiro 1973; Winter 1979), in particular the information from the activity-based costing systems for marketing management (e.g., Goebel et al. 1998; Lere 2001). Although the literature in both accounting and marketing note benefits from using accounting information, the interaction, communication and the exchange of information between marketing and accounting departments is poor (Phillips and Halliday 2008; Srivastava et al. 1998) and little researched (De Ruyter and Wetzels 2000; McManus and Guilding 2008). The purpose of this research is to understand what influences the ability of the accounting system to meet the managers’ demand of accounting information, as well as why and how marketing managers are demanding accounting information. In keeping with the exploratory and explanatory research nature of the research an interpretative case study was conducted (see Lukka and Modell 2010; Mason 2002; Yin 2009). Two companies were selected from the Portuguese fashion retail sector (cf. Perloff and Salop 1985; Snyder 1989; Swartz 1983). The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observation, and documents. The analysis and comparison of these two cases revealed that the use of accounting information was influenced by both structural and functional factors. From the structural point of view, it was important for the two companies to have very detailed accounting information in the system and have the financial and non-financial databases integrated. The mentality of the management control staff – oriented towards the real needs of the managers – was also a key factor. From the functional point of view, it was observed that two complementary forms of transmission of accounting information contributed to the effectiveness of its use. The self-service access to updated information and both automated and customised reports, contributed the accounting information being frequently accessed and interpreted by all managers – particularly commercial and sales managers. The face-to-face presentation and discussion of management accounting reports positively influenced the collective use of accounting information – in order to diagnose problems, find solutions and align the various managers in the implementation of plans. As a result, these interactions were still opportunities for mutual learning. Managers learned the potential of the accounting system and accountants perceived the specific needs of each manager. Therefore, it enabled both financial and management accountants to create and to maintain the management accounting system adapted to the managers' demand. Managers in both companies seek information to analyse sales, control costs and manage profitability. In one of the companies the information was also used strategically – the cost drivers, the market situation and the competitors’ accounting information were analysed. In one company, the accounting information was also used to protect the marketing department, i.e., the accounting information was used to maintain or increase the funds allocated to the marketing budget. In this particular case of marketing performance measurement, the unit of analysis was the marketing project and the metric was the contribution to profits. In conclusion, the marketing managers in these companies do seek management accounting information. Regular face-to-face, multi-functional and multi-hierarchical interaction is a key factor for the use of the accounting system; this is where managers learn the potential of the accounting system and accountants understand the real managers’ needs of accounting information.

The diploma thesis is about management control system. The first part contains the analysis of the subject, the factors, components and tools of management control. In the second part is about the difference of management control in profit and non-profit organizations.

The thesis "The possibilities of application of management accounting components into the small size companies (on the example of a concrete company)" engages in the question, whether it were possible to identify components of management accounting, that would be applicable in the small size companies. The first part focuses on the introduction of the company, on the market company operates on and on the general characteristics of the small and mid-size companies. It provides information on the company performance and identifies a need of the introduction of accrual principle into the company's accounting. The next part deals with the discrete features of the proposed performance management system. It answers the question, whether to orientate the system primarily on performance or responsibility, designs the appropriate calculation system and the basic system of plans and budgets. Later, it focuses on the existing organizational structure and the definition of the structure of the responsibility centers. In the last part, there can be found a proposal of the management profit and lost statements as of the basic statements providing the information on the partial as well as overall performance measurement.