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Ekonomistyrning i interorganisatoriska relationer / Management control in interorganisational relationships

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.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-1542
Date January 2003
CreatorsSahlin, Charlotta, Vretenbrant, Anders
PublisherLinköpings universitet, Ekonomiska institutionen, Linköpings universitet, Ekonomiska institutionen, Ekonomiska institutionen
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageSwedish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
RelationMagisteruppsats från Internationella ekonomprogrammet, ; 2003:16

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