Abstract
This study uses survey data from top managers to explore how operational (e.g., cost types and cost center accounting) and strategically oriented (e.g., strategic and business planning) management accounting (MA) practices, diagnostic and interactive use of performance measures, and cultural controls are combined (management control package) to achieve high firm performance in family businesses (FBs). In previous research, such management control (MC) packages have received limited attention even though they offer an opportunity to reveal more information on the adoption of MA practices, use of performance measures, and MCs in FBs than analyses of individual control mechanisms. We chose a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) because this method allows for explicitly addressing the three major challenges of configurational theory: asymmetry, conjunctional causation, and equifinality. By applying QCA, our study identifies six equifinal MC packages (i.e., different configurations of MA practices, types of use, and cultural controls with similar associations with firm performance) and, thus, provides an exploratory approach to describe more complex MA and MC designs that are empirically observable. By further analyzing these MC packages with additional information on the intensity of competition, the intensity of attention focusing, the interpretation of information by top management, and the organizational culture, this study extends the existing literature on FBs. The key finding of our analysis is that, regardless of their business environment, successful FBs place a very strong emphasis on cultural controls and/or have a high degree of interactive use of performance measures to steer their business.
Highlights
Management accounting (MA) and management controls (MCs) enable more effec‐ tive management of businesses and, are considered essential elements and crucial factors in the creation of a competitive advantage and, firm per‐ formance (Simons 1995; Chenhall 2003)
Small circles represent peripheral elements Blank spaces indicate that the condition is redundant for achieving the outcome Scoring of additional variables is based on the mean of five-point Likert scale scores, similar to Henri (2009): ‘‘very low’’ [1.0, 1.8]; ‘‘low’’
The purpose of our study was to expand the current understanding of how the adoption of operational and strategically oriented MA practices, the use of performance measures (PMs), and the emphasis on cultural controls are combined in family businesses (FBs) (i.e., MC packages) while considering the competitive context in which these firms operate
Summary
Management accounting (MA) and management controls (MCs) enable more effec‐ tive management of businesses and, are considered essential elements and crucial factors in the creation of a competitive advantage and, firm per‐ formance (Simons 1995; Chenhall 2003). We define MA practices as operational (e.g., cost type accounting and cost center accounting) and strategically oriented (e.g., strategic and business planning) tools that can provide management with the information necessary to better plan and assess actions, subsequently anticipate the future, and support decision making (Roberts and Scapens 1985; Chenhall 2003). MCs such as cultural controls are not used pri‐ marily as an information system to support decisions but to ensure that employee behavior is in accordance with the organization’s goals (Simons 1995; Malmi and Brown 2008; Merchant and Van der Stede 2017).
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